[Day 29] Deception and Deceived


Image
DAY 29
Deception and Deceived


Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. "They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
John 8:31-36

What is the opposite of truth? I put it as: deceit.

Deceit has to do with deception, lies disguise as truth. For deception to work, there must be at least 2 elements. Firstly, it must be convincing, sometimes even accompanied by some logical explanation or evidence. Secondly, the deceived must be attracted to embrace it, believing that it is a good decision to do so.

Jesus talked about the power of truth to set us free from slavery. Sin enslaves. Truth liberates. In order to be free from deception, we must first allow truth to expose the lies in the deception. Once we believe in a lie, it lodged in our belief system. We need to know Jesus intimately, who is the Truth, for truth to dethrone lies in our belief system. Then, and only then the truth shall set us free.

We see many are deceived by the convincing lies of the enemy. When we believe in his lies, we are enslaved by him. Those lies tint our glasses, so that we cannot see God’s truth – about our identity, our value, our purpose, our destiny, God’s work, God’s hand, God’s love.

The deceived will always be vulnerable to deception. The deceived will not know nor able to recognize that they are deceived, until they know the Truth personally and intimately. They are unable to see that they enslaved until Truth exposes it.

Come to Jesus today, not just to “know about Him”, but experience Him in all His fullness. He wants you to know Him.


PRAYER FOCUS
Review areas of your life (where you struggle, see defeats, lack of fruits) and ask Jesus to expose any deep-seated lies. Repent from believing in the lies of the enemy. Renounce and reject those lies and enthrone Jesus, the Truth, over those areas.