Deceived by the deceiver.....

I went thru a time in my life where I was VERY deceived by the deceiver (satan).  I was deceived to the point where I almost lost my life.  As a new Christian I became involved with a woman's ministry that taught directly from the bible, yes, but in a way that was detrimental to a new christian. 

My life became a pit of despair and fear because I had not had the opportunity to get to know Christ as who He really is.... Love.... Light.... Hope.... Grace......   THAT is the foundation of who He is... the foundation that all else can then be built on.

I was in conversation yesterday with a guy friend from my church, who I assumed had a close walk with Christ.  During this conversation he mentioned that he no longer believed in God as his provider.... God was just there to give him a place in heaven.  How sad to not truly know the width, depth and breath of God's love....

I started opening up about that VERY dark time in my life.... a time where I got to what has been my lowest point.... a time where I no longer wanted to live.  The extreme fear I had developed thru teachings from that ministry had pushed me straight thru depression into a place where I no longer was healthy emotionally and mentally.

I truly was living in hell on earth at that time and could not tell reality from deception.  I was in a constant state of terror which I hid from everyone until it reached the point where it resulted in a hospital stay.  They diagnosed me as depressed with a severe psychosis.  Let me give you a little lesson on what that is.


As I sat here this morning praying and dwelling on the conversation yesterday what came to me is that so many ... probably all of us christians... are deceived by the deceiver in some way.  This poor guy is deceived into thinking that God is only there to get him to heaven.  He's missing a HUGE MONUMENTAL relationship that no other can compare too. 

Others are walking in out and out sin... deceived into thinking God is holding out on them and they need to grab for their own what He hasn't given them.  

I'm not trying to make excuses for anyone but what if we had a little more compassion and start praying for people instead of knocking them down... What if we started petitioning God on their behalf, asking Him to reveal the depth, the width and the breadth of His love to them. 

What if WE became His hands and feet, loving these people right where they are at and trusting God to do the changing in them.  We pay attention to the log in our own eye and ask God to enable us to live a life that He can shine thru... a life that will enable them to "taste and see that God is good..."  We aren't living a life like that when we play God and become judgmental toward others.

Yes, there may come a point in your relationship with someone that God asks you to gently and lovingly point out where they are being deceived.  But until HE has prepared their heart to hear it, I feel I am to keep my sticky dirty hands OUT of trying to play saviour.

When God brings people into our lives that are walking in obvious deception, could it be that He is wanting to teach US something?  Could it be that He is saying "Love them.... just love them.  Trust that I can change their hearts and that you are free to just love them." 

That is not to say that we don't have boundaries in our own lives where others are concerned.  We can't let their choices destroy us, so we do have to stick closely to God in prayer and ask Him to direct our steps. 

But during these times, more than ever, that is where we start to see the miracle of GOD working, not ourselves.  That is where our faith starts to stretch and grow because we realize that we can do nothing of real value.  It is HIM that has to do the work and we can only believe.... just believe.....