Three sources of deception
Three sources of deception:
1. Through deceiving spirits (fallen angels)
There are three sources of deception:
1. Deception through deceiving spirits (fallen angels): Covered Below
2. Deception through ourselves (self-deception)
3. Deception through other people: a) In the World
3. Deception through other people: b) In the Church
1. Deception through deceiving spirits (fallen angels, demons)
In the spirit realm fallen angels are the source of deception. The greatest deceiver of all time is Satan. He and his fellow fallen angels (demons) are called deceiving spirits. “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons,” 1 Timothy 4:1 (emphasis added).
The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth” (John 16:13) while demons are deceiving spirits. The two spiritual camps are complete opposites in their work. Satan and his fellow fallen angels are the ultimate deceivers in all the depravity in this world. The Holy Spirit on the other hand is the ultimate conveyer of truth convicting each person through his/her conscience on what's right and what's wrong.
Why is there the Holy Spirit single handedly doing his work of conveying the truth verses so many fallen angels doing their work of endeavoring to deceive people?
It's because the Holy Spirit is omnipresent. Omnipresence is only the ability of God in his Trinitarian nature (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). All angels, that is, God's angels and fallen angels (including Satan) are created spirits with geographical limitation. Each angel (good or evil) can only be in one place at one time, not several places at the same time.
For more info on the nature of angels please read chapter 6 “The Nature of Angels: God's Angels and Fallen Angels,” in my book Breaking Curses, Including Generational Curses .
Thus evil spirits being able to only be in one place at a time assign themselves to each person in a particular area. Each evil spirit strives to succeed in deceiving an individual it has targeted in a particular matter(s). If it succeeds the individual is said to be deceived. The street terms are duped, bamboozled and fooled.
Being in this fallen world all of us have fallen to some deception at some point in our lives and in various ways. Deceiving spirits do have their areas of success in each of us. Fortunately we have the Holy Spirit. This is such a blessing. The Holy Spirit is God inside each of us. He is the “Spirit of truth” (John 16:13) that equips us with the truth against all the lies that deceiving spirits constantly throw at us.
How do deceiving spirits, including Satan, operate in our time?
Deceiving spirits, including Satan, do not operate the same way they did in the Garden of Eden. We do not see snakes or other animals talking to us with evil intent. Satan and his evil team endeavor to work against us in the unseen spirit realm.
However we're also to be mindful that there are more forces from God's kingdom in the spirit realm than Satan's forces. God's angels outnumber fallen angels by a 3 to 1 ratio. When Satan rebelled he somehow persuaded one-third of the other angels to join him (Revelation 12:3-4). Fallen angels are no match against God's angels.
That is why the bible says, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them…Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha,” 2 Kings 6:16-17.
Thus we're not to be afraid that evil spirits or fallen angels are plotting against us. We have more spiritual forces on our side working to stop their evil schemes. Chapter 6 “The Nature of Angels: God's Angels and Fallen Angels” in my book Breaking Curses, Including Generational Curses has more info on the nature of angels.
When fallen angels succeed in deceiving a person the result is that the person will follow their proposals instead of God's proposal. In other ways, the person will sin against God. This is what Adam and Eve did when they bought Satan's lies and abandoned God's truth.
As Christians we have extra strength at work in us to overcome such attempts. May our abiding in Christ be healthy enough to overcome the lies from deceiving spirits.
Three sources of deception: 2. Through ourselves (self-deception)
There are three sources of deception:
1. Deception through deceiving spirits (fallen angels): Covered Above
2. Deception through ourselves (self-deception): Covered Below
3. Deception through other people: a) In the World
3. Deception through other people: b) In the Church
Next Part Deception through ourselves
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