Deceiving Deceptions

      We have been warned in so many ways about being deceived by those who are so good at deception, but do we really take the time to see it around us? The adversary has developed the art of deception from the time he used it in the garden of Eden to deceive Eve.  And he has had thousands of years of practice. His really good ones are those, like with Eve, that may have little points of truth, but he adds a lie or two or just twists it just enough to make it sound good, but it is not completely true. Satan is never going  to be the one  "to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth"! He hasn't ever done so nor will he. So we need to stop and think it through! Then seek the spirit in order to make that decision. Some are quite easily made, but others require work and effort to distinguish their falsehoods. May I just share an experience that woke me up to this again a few days ago?

      I allowed myself to get sucked into watching a facebook thing about weight loss. I usually just skip by them, but this one had some words that are sort of magical to me: "Mediterranean Diet". Now having spent some time in that area, I must confess I love most of the food there and my thought was, "Hmm! I might actually like to try that." See the big wonderful word that sparked an interest?! Also it showed a person mixing olive oil into what looked like yogurt or mayonnaise! That seemed simple enough! But I actually never found out because it never mentioned it.  One deception about these things is they always say "in the next 3 minutes we will show you how to . . . " and finish with whatever it is they are trying to suck you in to. Well, 3 minutes turned into 30 minutes and it ended up being pills you have to take. So why the olive oil stirring thing? 

     Deception can start with little things or gestures and sooner or later you lose! What did I lose this time. Thirty minutes of much more productive time use for sure!!! Not a super serious thing, but deceptions can suck us into much more serious things. A lot depends on when we recognize the deception and can get out. Sadly, I had watched things like this before and I should have been aware that it would be exactly the same. Again, they taunted me with the Mediterranean thing that I found hard to resist. And I also had the passing thought that maybe this time it would be different. Never has been yet!!!

     Again, I did not lose much, but I watched a short video about a man at a restaurant in a military uniform and how an older couple paid for his lunch because they appreciated his service to our country. He didn't just order something small either. I don't remember how a girl got involved, but somehow she paid for something for him. Well, there was another guy who WAS military eating with his wife and he knew right away that something was off. He was able to expose the guy who posed as a soldier. The deceiver did what he did just because he knew some people would pay for his food, clothes, etc., out of gratitude. The older couple saved all month to eat out once a month and yet paid for his dinner. The girl was not rich either. The real soldier did the right thing and helped the people get their money back. BUT how many others had been deceived and lost! And not just loss of money, but deception like this can cause huge issues of  mistrust, and I am sure you can see that things can get even worse!

     Yes, deception IS all around us in so many ways! Another reason that we need to stay in tune with the spirit  so we do not fall into deception and get trapped in Satan's chains!! Small steps either way can free us or trap us! Let's stay free by being obedient to the higher laws God asks of us! We can do this!!!