Last night, I went online to begin this post and tried to login to the TBTB dashboard that allows me to create the content that you see each time I publish one of my posts. I was immediately met with a message that stated the site was unsafe to visit and that it is possible that the website had been compromised. Maybe it was some simple error but the sign that flashed across my screen was “Certificate Expired…”
In fact, the messages created enough doubt that I was afraid to open the page I write from. There were paragraphs of information on what could happen if I dared to open the page. It occurred to me that I could pick up the phone and call a friend of mine to see what she thought. She’s an expert in this area.
When I reached her, my fears were quickly dispelled. She immediately knew the issue and assured me that the site was safe and that I should proceed. I was relieved. After all, I am not a technical expert and all I could think about were the cautions that I had to be careful of. In fact, Lori guided me through the process being able to bypass all the negativity and finally being able to write this post.
After I was safely logged in, I was waiting to be inspired with a topic to write about. This is what I do each time I write. I wait for guidance from the Holy Spirit and sit there until I feel compelled to write about something. Anyway, within several seconds I was nudged to write about Satan and deception. I know this may sound a little wild, but the topic resonated with me from the moment I thought about it.
I can’t help but realize that Satan acts much like the info I read when I went to the TBTB site. What struck me more than anything was the warning that somebody could be impersonating my real website. I was immediately reminded of how Satan imitates God at every turn. From trying to convince Eve in the Garden of Eden to eat the forbidden fruit, to the end times in Revelation and the beginning of eternity, Satan is relentless in His efforts to turn us from our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus.
The scary part of the deceptions of Satan is the fact that Satan usually uses some morsel of truth in his argument to convince us to turn from God. When we read about Satan during the end times, we are told that his “number” is “666”. God, signifying perfection and completion, is usually thought of as “7”. When you add Jesus and the Holy Spirit, you arrive at “777” as opposed to “666” – the number of Satan. This always reminds me that while there may be some truth to what Satan tries to get us to believe, he always falls short of the glory and power of God – certainly short of perfection.
Tonight is also a reminder that I need to make sure that I trust the people who I turn to for advice and counsel. Any of us, no matter how solid we are in our theology, can be tricked and unknowingly start to believe things that aren’t biblically true or in alignment with God’s will for our lives. This means that we have to make sure that we sit under knowledgable teaching and that we are transparent with our pastors and teachers so we can grow in our faith. Trust, transparency and knowledge are important elements of walking on our faith journey.
The apostle Paul, as well as Jesus and others, have tried to make sure that we are not deceived by the temptations of Satan. Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, tells his church there, and us, in 2 Corinthians 11:3, ‘But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” Paul implores us to make sure that we follow Christ and do not get led astray.
In my own life, I make sure that I have accountability partners who meet with me weekly to discuss our lives, share our experiences and to make sure that we can freely ask questions of each other and collectively grow our faith. I guess that you can say, in some ways, that we go through life together. My encouragement this evening is that God wants us to stay focused on Him and to dedicate ourselves to an eternal relationship with Him. My prayer is that we will help one another to stay strong in the faith, rebuffing the advances of Satan who constantly tries to shake our belief in God. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…