Deceived

We see a lot of "opinions" in our world by the lost and the saved, and some of them are not so different. Those opinions by the born-again believers that mirror the world's knowledge are flawed, and in that flaw, there is a reason for it. Satan, the accuser of the brethren, has an all-out onslaught against those who love Jesus and want to live for Him. He first tempts, then he watches as those believers who are not aggressively following Jesus begin to compromise, and then the deception runs its full course to a life looking like truth, but the end is destruction. God doesn't want this to happen, and He gives warnings about the coming deception throughout His Word. In the second chapter of Colossians, Paul does give a vestage of truth for each of us to follow, and that truth is found in Colossians 2:1 I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally. ² I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. ³ In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. ⁵ For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.

Hmmm, a strong faith, Paul says, is what is realized through living as we should. But to live that life, we have to be surrendered to God's Will in all things and also realize that God wants to encourage us to pursue that kind of faith that changes us at our core. Basically, Paul is saying the faith walk of a born-again believer is one of great mountains and deep valleys, and the Holy Spirit is our helper to keep moving forward in this walk to a new "freedom" that is found in the grace of Jesus. Sadly, believers skip the necessary parts and miss the point that living for Jesus is not something of ourselves, but something made possible by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. We must realize the necessity of the Holy Spirit to be our guide and the Word of God to tell us where the potholes are. And there are potholes, but the Word of God gives us vision to see them and avoid them to continue to grow in our relationship with God.

Speaking of potholes. We have some shopping areas in our town where the potholes are 3 feet wide, and Andra and I always comment, "Why won't they fill in these potholes?" How does a born-again believer fill in the potholes in their faith walk? Step 1 - Admit that God is right and admit "that is a pothole!" Step 2 - Surrender to God's will and His Word and follow Him alone. No worldly person will agree that there are potholes in your life for you. God will, and He will repair it in love, tough love. Step 3 - You will realize how precious God's grace is, and it will do a radical change in your life at your core, or will. Step 4 - You will walk in freedom and leave the world of potholes and begin living in the "land of freedom."

The deceiver will try to keep you from getting things right, but God's grace is more powerful, and at every turn, God will come through to keep you focused on the freedom you have in Jesus. Look at what it says in Colossians 2:⁸ Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. ⁹ For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. ¹⁰ So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

No longer live like a slave to the world, but live victoriously in the life-changing grace God is giving you. Reject the world and run into the arms of Jesus, and His arms are wide open. Jesus is not the deceiver. He is the receiver.

Today's Message,

David Warren