The Spirit of Deception

The Spirit of Deception

Take heed that no man deceive you – Matthew 24:4 And Paul made clear that in the latter times believers would give heed to 'deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons' 1 Timothy 4:1.

About 2 years ago, God spoke to me - several times in the book Deuteronomy "to remove the sin among you" I didn't understand why it ministered to me so I brushed it off and soon after that "All hell broke loose in my life" I understand now that when the Holy Spirit tugs at our hearts, we need to search deeper into His word, pray and fast for revelation. As God is preparing me to serve again, he also tugged at my heart to re-read this scripture and to guard myself and avoid those things that one time caught me off guard. I want to share this experience with you so you can ask God to help you understand and to prevent the things or the people that are lurking in sin and is affecting you to prosper in your divine calling.  These scriptures are in the book of Deuteronomy, chapters: 13 through 24 --I now understand of the people, the places and things that God was trying to prevent my downfall. I know that I am not the only one that God disciplines for in Hebrews 12:6 tells us:  the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son/daughter." Also I read in Deuteronomy 23:14 For the LORD your God moves about in your camp (heart, mind, spirit) to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp (heart, mind and spirit) must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.

It was for me to understand this now, but two years ago, I didn't see past the chaos that was stirring up around me.  That is why it is so important, I emphasize crucial that we keep our hearts and minds clear from all sinful distraction, praying at all times for God to reveal the hearts and intentions of all those that are in your circle of friends, its unfortunate that even family members have to be removed, at least for a season or even for a life-time but always keeping them in prayers.

When we interact with others, a person’s appearance doesn't tell us how a person thinks and feels. What’s inside a person is what God sees. Many are good in hiding their true feelings and intentions. The Bible tells us in Romans 8:27 that God searches the hearts of men and women. That means that God looks deep inside of us instead of evaluating us by the way we look on the outside. God knows every thought of ours. God knows us the way we truly are, not just the way we seem to be. People are like books, you have to look inside to know what is really there.

Was I that gullible for trusting and believing those whom I thought were walking right with God?  I believe that when we encounter this first love with God, we want to serve, we want to pour of ourselves to others and bring them in and embrace them with the same Love God poured unto us.  We want to fix other peoples’ problems, heal their brokenness, set them free from bondage, we work so hard in doing those things and we are so busy wanting to be used by God that we think we are doing the righteous thing and we don’t guard our hearts, and we lose the mark to hear God when he is trying to warn us.  “Remove the Sin Among You” and that is when the spirit of deceptions comes in.....The spirit of deception will use partial truths to get you to believe a lie. The spirit of deception never gives you the whole truth; it only gives you enough truth to get you to buy into these lies.

We become an easy target for those who are being used by this spirit, its intention is to corrupt your mind; to poison and lead others astray from the truth and use the very WORD of God to distort your thinking, to stop believing in those that God put in Authority to lead you to the truth. The spirit of deception works to divide you from others by isolating you. You are picked off by this spirit much like a predator looks for the weakest animal in the flock and isolates it from the rest of the flock. There is protection in numbers and this spirit wants to get us by ourselves, away from everyone else. The spirit of deception always seeks to divide us rather than bring reconciliation on the contrary of God's plan is always restoration and reconciliation. However, many of us are seduced by the spirit of deception often times,we quit walking with the believers we once had incredible relationships with.

Once deceiving spirits have a hold - once you are believing something , you received  from them  - they will feed it and lead it on to other areas of control in your life in order to isolate you. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy any part of the abundant life God has for you (John 10:10). It attempts to blind you to the truth by veiling your eyes - the Bible becomes a hard book to read - anointed teaching is dull to your ears.  You life becomes their lies, your mind starts to think like them, Your behavior starts to walk like them, you start to speak like them.  The spirit of deception walks  you through intimidation that locks you in a prison of lies, it manipulates the Word of God. By the time you realize, it is too late, you are caught in a prison of deception.   This spirit doesn't like confrontation, it doesn't like to be corrected, and it refuses to be under authority. It loves power and yearns control; it will stop at nothing because the very core of their heart is rooted in sin. WOW!  In Ecclesiastes 12:14: God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.  This very thing happened to me, but because of God’s Grace, he pulled me up from the pit of deception and from this controlling spirit and removed ever y residue of every person in my life that has had any connection with this spirit. But unfortunately, I was left with the feeling of its deadly venom and many were hurt and affected because deception doesn't like to go down alone; it has to bring others down with it. But in Jeremiah 4:18 tells us: Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart! When covering the sins of others, there comes a multitude of  consequences.  God forgives us but the consequences of covering sin is a price we have to pay. The spirit of deception is depressing, discouraging, and destroying many of us Christians today.

Today I would like to encourage you to beware of the spirit of deception. Don’t entertain it in your life, in thoughts, words, or deeds. Don’t allow the spirit of deception working through others to influence your walk with the Lord. Lie plus lie equals lie. Truth plus truth equals truth. If we sow seeds of deception, we’ll reap a harvest of corruption. But if we sow seeds of truth, we’ll reap a harvest of blessings. We need to stand against this spirit or we will fall. Don’t agree with anything that doesn't line up with the Word of God. Walk in the light and walk in truth. Walk in the Spirit and walk in the Word. Walk in truth and your soul shall live.

Set me Free by Casting Crowns with lyrics

Written by Maribel Castillo
2/12/2013