The Power of Deception

By Andy Zoppelt

Satan's Stealth

The power of deception is to conceal the act and works of the devil. Deception's power is in its source and the
content that is hidden from us. When Satan temps us, he doesn't say "I am the devil and I want you to obey
me." We receive emotions and thoughts that are linked to our ego, to our desires and we make decision on that
basis. Satan does not give us his "bible" so that we would be familiar with his influence over us. No! Satan does
not want us to know when we are obeying him. There is no book that says, 1 devil 5:2, "When you have a
problem, focus on yourself and your inabilities, this will give me great pleasure and the opportunity to destroy
you." No! we do not see the Devil, nor are we aware that it is him. He hides himself in deception and causes us
to walk in darkness. His ability is in the power to "hid."

No one would willing fall down before Satan and say "I want to please you and bring glory to your name and
give you the opportunity to destroy me." Even though Satan has no written word, we often find ourselves doing
the very things that please him.

Deception will cause us to blame God for many things, where in reality those things come from Satan.
Deception causes us to position ourselves with Satan against God that is how the devil is worshipped through
subtle schemes.

Because we are not obedient to the written word that God has given us, we, by default fall to Satan's lordship.

"Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one
whom you obey-- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to
righteousness?" (Rom 6:16, NIV)

Whose Servant are you?

Paul makes it clear that ignorance does not remove the "fact" of whom we serve. Because we have no
knowledge that we are obeying Satan's deceptions, doesn't change the fact that we are his servants. If in fact
we are doing the things that please Satan and his kingdom, we are therefore his deceived and subdued
servants. Our "Choice," determines the person we love and serve. Obedience is the dividing line of whom we
are serving. "If" we are saved, we will not read the bible to get information….. we will read it to get instructions.

Consider the following verses in light of the Lordship of Christ and true salvation.

Heb 5:9, "And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal
salvation," (NAU)

A very specific group will enjoy eternal salvation: "those who obey Him." Grace is not the gift of God to learn
about Him, but the power to obey Him. Grace and truth are inherently linked to Jesus. If you want more grace,
you must walk in more truth and vise versa.

We have to be determined to make Jesus everything or we will fall into deception and ignore Him to a large
extent. We pamper sin and the sinner. We don't want to be offensive or too strict or restrictive…. that is
deception par excellence.

John 8:51, "I tell you the truth (no deception), if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." (NIV)

John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (NAU)
Plain and simple, if we love someone, we will please them. When we mix a lot of theological twisting and fancy
interpretation with the simple word, we are distorting and destroying the simple meaning that Jesus has
presented. By permitting such actions we are deceived by the power of Satan to having us obey him.

John 15:10 "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's
commands and remain in his love." (NIV)

I Jn 2:3-4, "By this we know that we have come to know Him, (How?) if we keep His commandments. The one
who says (the deceived person), 'I have come to know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar
(he is deceived), and the truth is not in him." (NAU)

Luke 6:46, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" (NIV)

Simply, why would we call someone our Lord and not make Him the Lord and obey Him? It is an oxymoron, it is
inconsistent, it is a paradox… it is deception!

Deception is the most powerful tool in Satan's arsenal. Through it, Satan can make us feel we are ok, when in
reality we are living a lie. Satan can divide the church, the family and our own walk with the Lord and cause us
to believe we are pleasing or in good standing with the Lord.

As long as the Devil can hide in darkness and convince us to unknowingly follow him, he will be eternally
grateful to us. Emotional problem, addictions, passive Christians and fighting Christians are bound by the
powers of Satan through deception. Our pride, our wants and lusts are the vails that Satan hides behind to
deceive us. He uses the power of the unseen to destroy us. When we are "getting into ourselves," his power is
planning the next step.

The opposite of deception is truth. That is why Jesus said that "the truth will make you free." Truth will give us
what is real and needed to be totally free. As we walk in obedience to truth, Jesus manifests and unveils
Himself. When we walk in the truth (light), we don't see our life, we see His. When we walk in Satan's lie, we
don't see Satan, we see ourselves.

Consider 2 Cor 3:18, for a moment, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." (NAU)

The Mirror

When a person looks into a mirror, they usually see their reflection. But when the true-unveiled believer looks
into the mirror, he sees Jesus. Why? Because, Jesus is his life. As we walk closer to the Lord, the Lord gives us
a revelation of Himself and gives us His life. Paul made that point clear in Gal 2:20, "I have been crucified with
Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…" (NAS)

And also in Col 3:4, "When Christ, who is our life, is revealed…" (NAS)

That is why the true believer sees things through the eyes of Jesus. Jesus reveals Himself to the believer and
the believer lives by the life of Christ. The believer sees Jesus in other brothers and in every situation. Christ is
his victory, his life, his hope, etc.. The true believer doesn't live by his circumstances or feelings, but Christ's
life and victory. I live by Jesus' feelings until they conquer mine. The true believer doesn't fight to obtain the
victory, he obtains the victory and fights from the victory. His peace is a person, his victory is a person, and his
life is in a person and so on.

As we believe in Jesus, He reveals and unveils Himself to us. The opposite is true of the powers of deception
working through the Devil; deception disguises the Devil and causes us to focus on ourselves. Truth illuminates
us and causes us to focus on Jesus and seeing Him.
Anointing Points To Jesus

The Devil will always point to you, while the Holy Spirit will always point to Jesus. The power of ego will either
lift you up in pride or tear you down in depression and frustration.

The power of humility will lift up Jesus and your brothers in the Lord.

The Devil doesn't want us to see him, he loves and uses his disguise very well. He is interested in distracting us
from our mission, he wants to hinder our loving and living by Christ in faith and obedience.

Conclusion

Satan will always draw a hopeless and disparaging picture for us. He will frustrate and confuse the issues. He
will put life constantly out of our reach. Our selfish needs will never be totally satisfied. Satan will have us
blame God for holding out on us. Satan will hid himself until he can kill us - and then he will reveal himself to us
- then it will be too late. Jesus made it clear that we are not to be deceived. We need council, we need
fellowship, we need leadership, we need to follow God's word and obey Him.

We are all deceived to the degree we submit to the "self-centered" life. I pray that we will see the work of Satan
behind the confusion, the frustration, the depression and the death. I pray that we will walk in the light as He is
in the light. "Sir we would see Jesus!"

We appreciate your comments or suggestions