“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3)
Dear People Who Keep Company with God,
In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve began life entirely dependent upon God and never questioned His wisdom and goodness. When the serpent tempted Eve, he first caused her to question God’s word, and then he caused her to question God’s goodness (Gen. 3:1-4). He deceived them, and they lost their place in paradise. At the cross, Jesus utterly defeated and disarmed the devil and took away from him the authority we lost in the garden. He has no weapon that can beat us. The only power that he has is the power of deception, and the thing about deception is that you don’t know you are being deceived. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be deception. But, once the truth is revealed and received, deceit loses all its power. The devil never changes his tactics. Satan is a masterful liar. Jesus said, “Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) Satan’s lies are so persuasive that he convinced a third of the angels to rebel against God (Rev. 12:3-4)! He wants to deceive you and cheat you out of your relationship with God and the glorious inheritance you have in Him.
One of Satan’s most potent deceptions is religion. It is so powerful that Paul connects religion with witchcraft (Gal. 3:1-3). When you are influenced by a religious spirit, you will be tempted to replace religious activity for the power of the Holy Spirit. The religious mind is Satan’s answer to the Holy Spirit. It so closely mimics the Holy Spirit that many sincere believers think the Holy Spirit is leading them when in fact it is a religious spirit. Religion allows you to stay in control. Therefore, it feels safe to your flesh because it tells you what to do externally and when you do it, your conscience is deceived by feelings of doing right. This replaces the inner peace of the Holy Spirit that comes from being in right relationship with the Lord. You become focused on doing good works for God and outward appearances instead of being Spirit-led. The ultimate goal of religion is to cut you off from a vital relationship with the Lord Himself. Religion allures you with the false promise that you can be spiritual. In the end, you are left tired and burned out.
When religion is present, there is also a poverty spirit. While a poverty spirit eventually causes financial problems, it first begins with a negative attitude that fosters the mentality of lack and limitation. It touches your time, talents, health, relationships and possessions. It will hold you captive and limit what God can do through your life. Rick Joyner, in his book Overcoming the Spirit of Poverty, wrote: “The spirit of poverty is a stronghold established to keep us from walking in the fullness of the victory gained for us at the cross, or the blessings of our inheritance in Christ.” The direction that your life is going has been influenced by your way of thinking. Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” If you think of yourself as inferior, defeated, or a failure, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. On the other hand, if you think of yourself as prosperous, healthy, and growing in Christ (Phil. 4:11-13), that will be what manifests in your life (3 John 2). To become all you were created to be you have to see and think of yourself as God does. Don’t limit God with small, defeated or poor thinking. Anything other than Christ and the finished work of the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit is designed to cheat you out of your treasure of face to face relationship with the Father and your godly inheritance. Don’t fall for it.
Many Blessings, BW