Subtle Deceptions...

“Tag, you’re it,” I say as I touch him on the shoulder, or catch him with a swoosh of my hand across his back. Immediately, I take off running and he is in chase. Just as he is about to catch me and I see no way out I put my hand up as if to say wait a minute (which slows him down a bit) and then I look off in the trees, sky or across the room (if we are in the house) point and say, “Look! What is that?”, which gives me the fraction of a second that I need to adjust to get away from being tagged. I run off laughing and allow him to make the tag within a short period of time, considering he is nearing only 5 years of age. Ha,ha,ha! The funniest part is watching him quickly turn around and use the same tactic. It is worth the laughs!

However, subtle deceptions in the spiritual realm, used by our enemy daily to distract us from the things of God, are not so funny. Let me say it to you this way. If you woke up this morning and your focus was on God, I can promise you the enemy has done something subtle to deceive you into shifting that focus away from God. Maybe the enemy used your spouse, children, neighbor, boss, peer, and/or one of the news channels to say, “Look! What is that?” Just enough distraction to get you focused on something else, which could end up being anything on a spectrum of bad to good, while he sits back and laughs at the results. Yes, I said, good. Because the enemy is crafty, and if he can get your focus off God by bringing something good into your life, he will. Just because something is good doesn’t mean it can’t be used for bad.

So, as you go through your week keep an eye out for those subtle deceptions that keep you from God’s Word, prayer, fellowship and intimacy with God.

Tag, you’re it!
Isaiah 26:3 (ESV) You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

His,
Vickie

P.S.  Please continue to pray about giving to our Costa Rica trip. The team is coming together and already prayers are being lifted for the missionary women/families that will be represented at the conference. We are fighting spiritually for these women/families as they prepare to enter the war zone spiritually in the days ahead. If your church has a missionary and/or missionaries serving at home or abroad please be lifting them in prayer weekly! They are fighting a battle that far surpasses what we see in the physical realm.

 Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)
...but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.