Deception

Revelation 20     Joel Keller

So that he might not deceive the nations any longer....     Revelation 20:3c

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if we - people - you & I - could not be deceived?  No darkness (figuratively).  No lies.  No manipulation.  No jealousy. Well, maybe some of these things would/could still exist, but we would see them for what they really are.  I find it interesting that the enemy's nature (his DNA) is to deceive.  

Deceive (definition): ensnare, to be false to, to fail to fulfill, cheat, to cause to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid, to while away, to give a false impression.  

Synonyms of Deceive: bamboozle, beguile, bluff, buffalo, burn, catch, con, cozen, delude, dupe, fake out, fool, gaff, gammon, gull, have, have on [chiefly British], hoax, hoodwink, hornswoggle, humbug, juggle, misguide, misinform, mislead, snooker, snow, spoof, string along, sucker, suck in, take in, trick, do a number on, lead one down the garden path, pull one's leg, pull the wool over one's eyes.     
                                                                         (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Have a look at the definition & synonyms above.  Don't you just get a "warm & fuzzy" feeling when these things happen to you?  No.  You get angry, and so do I.  And we should.  These are the works of the devil.  Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.  

There will be a time when the enemy will no longer be able to deceive anyone.  But, until that time, deception is rife.  Let's be aware and on the lookout for deception today.  Again, you don't have to be a wacko in the way you go about that.  But ask God to fine-tune your eyes & ears, that you might see the source of a thing or a situation.  If it smells anything like the list above, you know the source is not from God.  If it's from God, it will look like this: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Little children, let no one deceive you.  Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as He is righteous.  Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.  I John 3:7 & 8