The Enemy’s Use of Deception
At the fall of
mankind where sin entered the world through Adam, the human mind went from
whole to distorted. Without accepting
the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, the minds of men and women remain
“unregenerate and cannot function properly”. (Anderson, 2003, p. 66) It is through Christ that all mankind has the
hope and promise of the ability to renew the mind. (Romans 12:2)
Dr. Anderson
reminds that the battle is for the mind. (Anderson, 2003) Satan knows the vulnerability of the human
mind and how to use it to his advantage.
The Bible calls him the “father of lies” (John 8:44), thief (Mark4:15),
tempter (1 Corinthians 7:5), schemer (2 Corinthians 2:11), and a deceiver that
leads people astray (2 Thessalonians 2:9; Revelations 12:9). Warren Wiersbe in his book, Be Joyful, reminds followers of Christ
that the “Christian life is not a playground, but a battleground”. (Wiersbe,
1989, p.49) He also points out that in
the book of Philippians the secret to joy and peace stems from the mind fixated
on Christ (Isaiah 26:3). In Philippians,
the word mind is used ten times, think is used five times, and remember once. This brings the total of references to the
mind and thought processes to 16 times. (Wiersbe, 1989)
No wonder the
enemy of mankind’s souls wants to get into the mind to destroy any work of the
Holy Spirit. Knowing this, what are the tools the enemy uses to deceive the
minds of men and women? “Satan’s purpose
is to cause us to think and live contrary to God’s plan for us”. (Anderson,
2003, p. 246) Here are just a few
examples of wrong thinking that the enemy can use to get a person off course:
the belief that things can give lasting happiness, addictions can bring
comfort, sin isn’t followed with consequence, people that don’t believe Jesus
is Lord can go to Heaven anyway, a person must live up to the image set up by
those around them, finding importance in finding approval of others above God.
Add to these the things people do to deceive themselves, such as: not following
the Bible’s standard, claiming to be sinless, allowing pride to convince
themselves they are something they are not or that they are wise, and not
controlling the tongue. (Anderson, 2003)
Examples of
faulty ways people think to defend themselves include: escaping into a fantasy
world, withdrawing from people, exploding in anger, blaming others for
circumstances, making excuses, and tainting the truth. (Anderson, 2003)
So how does one
defend themselves against the Deceiver? The
answer is seemingly simple, but impossible to carry out without the help of the
Holy Spirit. Followers of Jesus Christ can praise God that at the moment of
conversion God gives His children the Holy Spirit to live inside them. This
enables everyone in Christ to choose truth over the lies. If a person has surrendered their will and
their heart to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in them and gives them the
ability and power to take back their minds from the enemy. (1 Corinthians 2:10-16; John 14:16-17) With the help of the Holy Spirit living in
the heart of a believer, they can “take every thought captive to make it
obedient to Christ”. (2 Corinthians 10:5, New International Version)
This is indeed
sounds like a daunting task, but there are practical ways to purge the mind of deceiving
thoughts and replace them with God’s thoughts.
Knowing what the Bible says about the role of man and the benefits of
being a child of God is a start.
Discover what God says in His word about how humankind should live after
accepting His Son’s gift of salvation.
Decipher the thoughts that contradict what the Bible says, replacing
them with scriptures that speak truth.
Find a mature believer and counselor to aid in the process of defeating
the Deceiver.
Conclusion
Ignoring or
dismissing the unseen factors in counseling hinders the healing of a
counselee. Often misdiagnosed, a person
will go on in their life suffering from attacks from an enemy that has one
mission: to destroy. However, a Christian
counselor armed with the word of God and the Holy Spirit can enlighten one who
is willing and open to the leading of Jesus Christ. Deception will be banished and replaced with
the truth that only comes from God. “Discipleship counseling is not just a
technique we learn; it is an encounter with God, who is the wonderful counselor”.
(Anderson, 2003, p. 110)
No comments:
Post a Comment