We walk through our days with heads somewhat buried in the sand at that which the enemy has become so successful at. We live as if every person present in time is sent by the Lord when in all actuality the enemy has sent some as well. We fear the challenge of backing away and pondering whether an open door is of the Lord or one opened with quite a cordial gesture until suddenly we find ourselves in the snare of the fowler. The very eagle meant for high flying is soon grounded if we live with no heavenly discernment. We live in a day of coming darkness when not every agenda is pure and not every motive is in alignment with the Lords will and heart. It will take a careful sifting now to choose wisely.

 

As I was walking with the Lord yesterday I made mention a curious prayer.. “Lord, keep me from the trickery of the men.” Where in the world did that come from?  The word “trickery” leapt in my heart and I knew the Lord was desiring me to take a look at something very subtle yet so very important in this season.

 

I am reminded quickly of the woman following Paul around for a few days until his restlessness turned Him around “come out of her.” I wonder how often the same scenario is before us, yet we see no harm and have no unction that something is dreadfully wrong. There are subtle signs Christ will show you as warnings..we must learn to heed them quickly.

 

You will have to turn from the wrongfully defined meekness that silently challenges nothing and backs down from any fight to not draw attention to oneself or to be a passive “peacemaker.” Make sure we understand the strong meanings of such words in this hour. Christ came to divide with a sword. In many ways, so shall we as we enter into fights against injustice and as we must now call things what they are and fight for truth.

 

Again and again in the scriptures we see Gods called people having to fight and lay down all self preservation for truth. They also had to be aware of false prophets and teachers. Paul’s warnings are pretty stern, yet, we wrestle with niceties that compromise the call of Christ to guard the flock fiercely. We must be as brothers and sisters who step in front of one another when we see the enemy come close …prepared to die to protect each other. We will have to learn to be like Deborah and not only judge with righteousness as her palm tree represents but also learn how to lead into war for victory. Perhaps also like dear Esther who came against the lies that would kill her people… she stepped into the fight and put herself between death and her people. Look around my friends… do you perhaps have any similar scenarios in your own life occurring?

trick·er·y

ˈtrik(ə)rē/

noun

1. the practice of deception.”the dealer resorted to trickery”
2. synonyms:
   1. deception, deceit, dishonesty, cheating, duplicity, double-dealing, legerdemain, sleight of hand, guile, craftiness, deviousness, subterfuge, skulduggery, chicanery, fraud, fraudulence, swindling…

Trickery is mentioned several times in the scriptures. Of course I had not remembered this at all. But the Lord surely had something very specific on His heart. I’ll just share with you the passages I found while looking up “trickery.”

Isaiah 25:11

And He will spread out His hands in their midst

As a swimmer reaches out to swim,

And He will bring down their pride

Together with the trickery of their hands.

 

Matthew 26:1-5

26 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, ^2 a“You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

^3 bThen the chief priests, ¹the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, ⁴ and ^cplotted to take Jesus by ²trickery and kill Him. ⁵ But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the ^dpeople.”

 

And as you read through this chapter you will come to a heart wrenching statement “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said,” What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you..” and they counted out to him 30 pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

 

Clearly we must be guarded and cautious in this hour from trickery …for it is what was used to plot against and take Jesus to kill Him. Do we think the enemy would not so try it against us? We must be “wise as serpents, innocent as doves.” There will be few flashing signs my friends behind the smile of one sent to catch you with trickery. Discernment is required… and a knowing that only Christ gives by His Spirit to see past what is in front of you as a mere mirage to what is truly in front of you. If we do not learn this it could be costly to us each.

 

Finally let’s glimpse at Ephesians 4 and because we must grasp the context let’s begin in the first verse:

Ephesians 4:1-15

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, ² with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, ³ endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you^[a] all.

⁷ But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore He says:

⁹ (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first^[c] descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

¹¹ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

So much to ponder friends…but so important. We must begin to discern what is true versus what is not. We can no longer take anything at face value and do not always assume everyone was sent by the Lord….make sure you take everything to prayer before commitments are made. Your Spirit will bear witness so do not dismiss any checks in your Spirit even if there seems to be no apparent reason for it. Much now will seem perfectly ok…yet there will be a hidden, or subtle, deception and it likely will take some time to detect. All the gifts within the body must be utilized to protect one another and hear fully the heart of Christ. Often it will take many together to discern hidden deception. Do not be afraid to seek counsel when you have questions. Often I find many have felt the warnings but no one broke the silence to have open dialogue and thus the enemy gained ground.

Love Much,

 

 

 

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