Quick Read #24: Of Smoke and Mirrors…
But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God: (2Tim 3:1-5)
If there is one thing from the Bible that describes the world we live in, this is it. We are seeing Paul’s insightful words fulfilled before our eyes, the perfect picture of the here and now: morality put to death, decency crucified, the truth a failed idea. Yet, when all is said and done it is Satan’s domain, and he is likely pleased with his achievement so far: the author of confusion, the father of lies, the lord of smoke and mirrors. And content for us to live in his illusion of the true.
Anyone who has been through a maze will know how disorienting they can be. Now add elements affecting vision, perception and hearing, and you may begin to experience doubt and fear of losing control of your surrounds, if not your wits trying to find a way through. A more sinister form of doubt and fear can be triggered by Gaslighting, a psychological technique used to manipulate and control, through the use of false information, leading one to question what is real, what is not, and how would one know which is true.
This is the world Satan has prepared, his empire of confusion smoke and mirrors, and through the religion of evolution he has hidden its creation and wonder. He has set schemes in motion to keep us hard at saving it when it doesn’t need saving. He has set man against man, nation against nation, in all manner of contest from the absurd to the fatal.
We are trained not to think for ourselves or question our lives; those able to break through the deceit are often hounded and silenced. He has us attending one side of the panorama when the problem is on the other. It is the classic Gaslighting set-up as we don’t know it’s happening at all.
He wants us eager for success, to trust Ministers and Presidents declaring war without reason, that forcing democracy on peoples is good. That overpopulation is of major concern; and the planet is in peril due to our neglect. And it’s all a great diversion. He wants us under his yoke, to blind us to the fact he is subject to the LORD. He is without mercy, preferring we read our phone every day instead of the Word of God; our attention on the earth, not Heaven.
This is why he will use every trick up his sleeve; including the ruse he doesn’t exist, to hide the truth of the LORD Jesus Christ. He will persuade pliable minds that Jesus is not the Father but the Son. He loves religion, and happy to see continual theological argument, dividing church and men, while he sits in the Law to accuse. What the LORD makes easy he makes difficult, when all we need do is believe and be baptised as Jesus said.
Our future is of the Spirit and nothing to do with Satan’s illusion or the things of this world. It’s time to break free, stop living a falsehood and claim your inheritance. Jesus is not the author of confusion but our way, truth and life. He is eternal. And maybe it’s true the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but our redemption has already been sealed by His Blood.
In love and peace as always,
James