In an earlier post I mentioned the short but powerful vision one of our HHC staff members had one morning on the way to a prayer meeting. The individual saw the enemy tossing grenades at believers and then standing back to watch how those believers would react. Would they ignore the attack and ignore the grenade or would their attention be arrested and would they pull the pin? The key to understanding the vision is to realize that the enemy would not be able to cause destruction or devastation without the help or cooperation of the believer. Veterans who have handled actual live grenades know that the pins do not come out without some deliberate force. There simply would be no explosion without believers exerting some effort to pull the pins on the grenades.
Three of the most common grenades are deception (loss of truth), distraction (loss of focus), and dis-ease (loss of peace). The enemy is very proficient at creating tailor-made or custom-made assignments or grenades designed to entice us to react inappropriately and cause our own demise. One of the wisest pastors I’ve ever known used to say repeatedly, “It’s not what happens in life that does all the damage. It’s how we react that does all the damage.” It is vital during this hour of intense spiritual warfare and encroaching darkness that we discern the devil’s efforts and make up our minds that we are not going to pull the pin on his grenade no matter what. If we go ahead and pull the pin on the devil’s devices or schemes we will certainly take ourselves out of God’s plan and off our path, we will lead others astray and destroy others with the impact, and we will model wrong behavior under pressure.
In today’s blog I want to discuss the grenade of deception. The enemy is skilled in the art of seduction or the gradual moving of a believer from right conduct, right believing, and right devotion. Coupled with the process of seduction, the enemy, the father of lies, unleashes an array of lying spirits to distort our perception and attempt to entice us to believe a lie. This grenade is particularly effective even among the most seasoned of believers. The enemy’s goal with the deception is to convince believers of some untruth in an all out effort to redirect their lives. The distortion of the truth is just a tool for his greater goal of diverting us from God’s best. Deception, time and time again, is the devil’s choice weapon to accomplish his agenda of stealing, killing, and destroying.
The following “recipe for deception” will help you guard and protect your mind and heart from the schemes of the enemy. The first ingredient is to induce weariness in the heart and life of the believer. If we would learn to wait on the Lord for restoration instead of scurrying around trying to fix everything ourselves we could head of deception immediately. Next, the enemy adds a dash of pressure such as strife, responsibility, or financial challenges. Instead of casting our cares upon the Lord we try to bear up under the pressure as if that was some kind of believer’s badge of courage. The enemy will then add to the pressure a few setbacks, disappointments, or failures and we begin to think about throwing in the towel. At this point we are becoming more susceptible to deception. Next the enemy will fold in a few interpersonal issues and our thinking and behavior becomes more and more reactionary, a quality the enemy depends upon to get us to pull the pin. Finally, he inserts a lie or two and in many cases, the believer will buy the lie, and react in a destructive manner.
During this spiritually volatile time we need to be aware of how the enemy predisposes and prepares us to accept the lie as truth and then induces us to react in such a way that we bring devastation and destruction into our own lives. Remember to wait upon the Lord, roll the cares of life over on the Lord, realize that failing does not make you a failure, walk in love with people at all times, and measure everything you hear against the Word of God. Remember that without your cooperation – unless you pull the pin, the grenade of deception will not explode and damage your life and the lives of those around you.
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