The fruit of the Spirit is in goodness, righteousness and truth. Everything good and wholesome is reflective of the fruit of the Spirit spoken of in the New Testament. These truths are under constant attack from Satan. (Galatians 5:22-23), “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
Some of the unscrupulous goals of the devil are to dilute the Truth of God’s Word with lies and deceptions; to create as many hurtful situations in a person’s life that he can; and to take as many of these unsuspecting souls to hell through trickery and tactful manipulation.
The evil in this world is anti God; disguised as truth. It’s an illusion of truth that takes on the appearance of light, but it is darkness at its deepest obscurity, reminiscent of the wolf in sheep’s clothing that eludes detection. Satan meticulously plots his next move and waits for the opportune moment to pounce on another innocent victim. The evil one possesses the outer beauty to deceive, but inside is death and ruination for anyone that allows him to acquire familiarity in their life.
Things aren’t always as they seem. The devil can take on the appearance of truth, looking like the real thing, yet given the chance he will ravage the innocence of the unsuspecting. The devil is sly and cunning. His craftiness is no match for the happy-go-lucky thrill seeker that is looking for unattainable happiness in things of this world. Good judgment is to seek the refuge of God’s harbor of calmness where safety and truth abound.
The devil wants to consume all that is good and replace it with confusion and heartache. He is the anti-spirit of holiness; hating truth. Lucifer, as he is known, wars against the supremacy of God and the wonderful influences of His attributes. The devil is hard pressed to deceive as many people as he can before he and his angels are thrown into the lake of fire where they will suffer the ultimate punishment for their revolt in heaven.
Hell was created by God to punish Lucifer and a third of the angels that followed his rebellious attempts to usurp God’s position and power. They were cast out of heaven until such time that God chooses to banish them to hell.
The devil is at enmity with God and His creation. In the Garden of Eden the treacheries and illusions of truth were centered upon Adam’s helpmate, Eve. As Lucifer slithered around the garden in the form of a serpent, familiarity of his presence resulted in Adam and Eve’s fall.
The devil beguiled Eve with lies and deception that caused her to sin against God. She in turn tempted Adam to sin, thus causing the separation between God and mankind, explained in (Genesis 3: 1-6) of the Old Testament.
The battle between good and evil is ongoing in the day in which we live. It is a relentless attempt by Satan to rape the natural emotions and affections of anyone walking with God and those that see the need to reach out to Him. (1 Peter 5:8), “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
His tactics are scrupulous, but limited. The devil has only the power that we allow him to have over our lives. (Philippians 4:13), “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”
(1 John 4:4), “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
The devil has no remorse for wrongdoings, and absolutely disregards our wellbeing. He promotes his deceptions under the guise of self absorbed attitudes of humanistic slothfulness and godless anarchy in people that disregard truth.
Why does mankind allow themselves to be taken in by illusions of truth exhibited by the imperfect spirit of Satan? Why does humanity have unrighteous desires to sin? The answer is simple. The lust for sin began in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve disobeyed God. It’s the Adam-nature that is present in every living soul; influencing better judgment. We inherited this sinful nature. Sinners need a Savior to set at liberty their soul that is held captive by Satan’s illusions of truth.
Jesus Christ is the Savior. There is no other way to obtain freedom except through His name. He is our only hope. His strength allows us to succeed in purity of heart, while walking in truth.
(Psalm 23:1-6), “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” v.2 “He makes me to lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the still waters.” v.3 “He restores my soul: He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” v.4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” v.5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.” v.6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
God is reality. He is not the illusion of Truth. He is Truth!
Written by,
Papa Boyd
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