The Deceiver

From When The Devil Knocks by Pastor Craig Groeschel

‬Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭12:7‭-‬9

When you eat out at a restaurant, you get a little piece of paper as proof you received your food and the restaurant received your money. What’s it called? A receipt. When you realize the waiter refilled your lemonade six times without telling you refills aren’t free, what’s that? Deceit. 

Receipt and deceit come from two important words in the Bible: receive and deceive. 

The second half of these words is the same. “-Cieve” means to grasp, or take. What makes these two words significantly different is how they begin: “re-” and “de-”. In words like receive, “re-” means, back to the original place. In words like deceive, “de-” means, down from, off, and away from. 

Put it all together and to receive is to grasp back, or to get something back. Makes sense, right? A receipt is proof you got something back. But to deceive, is to take something away from, or down from, where it was. A receipt puts everything in the open. Deceit pulls everything into the dark.

Why focus on these two words? Because one of them describes our response to God, and the other describes the devil’s. Don’t miss this. We receive. The devil deceives.

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

‭‭John‬ ‭8:44

The devil has deceiver written all over him. God in His might cast Lucifer, the devil, down from Heaven when he tried to take away from God’s worship and glory. Then, Lucifer deceived one third of the angels and took them down from Heaven with him. Why? Because he hates God. He only desires to take away from God. 

But, God can’t be deceived. So, how exactly does the deceiver attack God? By trying to deceive God’s creations, including you. He questions God’s Word. “Did God really say that?” He denies God’s word. “Come on, the Bible doesn’t actually mean that.” And he twists God’s Word with lies. “God says He makes all things work together for good, right? Just try it once.” Everything the devil says sounds like a trick to get back what you think you deserve, but it’s actually a trap to take away what you’ve already been given. 

‬But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭11:3

The devil wants so badly to keep you from seeing God’s love and God’s truth.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:1‬

Back to you, the receiver. How do we fight back? By receiving God’s love and truth, the Gospel. You grasp back from the original place, the eternal gift you’ve already been given. Jesus died to make you free. He already paid the bill. You are about to read the paper-proof, the receipt, God’s Word. Read the truth, receive the truth, live the truth, and the truth will set you free. Because he who the Son sets free, is free indeed.  

‭‭So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

‬Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

‭‭John‬ ‭8:31‭-‬36

Pray: God, I receive Your love and truth. What deceptions have I believed? In the name of Jesus, I take back what the devil has tried to take away. Set me free from deceit. Amen.