Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in Sidetracked In The Wilderness - # 57
Michael’s book is
available through:
Abiding Life Ministries
International
Littleton, Colorado
Notice: this email is part of a BLOG, called Getting Out of the
Wilderness. Why a blog? So that many can receive the weekly thoughts
I express on Michael’s writings in an easy manner
Even
though Satan is a defeated foe, God has allowed him the ability to impact a
Christian’s life through his vast array of counterfeit and deceitful
measures. We enter the last chapter of Sidetracked In The Wilderness with Michael introducing
to us some of the key tactics used to cause havoc in our lives. The title Michael gives this concluding
chapter is a clear warning to alert us to the subtlety that can catch us off-guard.
THE DEEPER WORK OF THE
ENEMY
excerpt
from pages 173-174 of SIW (5th printing,
March 1998)
excerpt
from pages 175-176 of SIW (14th printing,
March 2012)
(used with permission from
ALMI):
As
we begin to live out our life in Christ, experiencing the deeper walk that abiding
in Him yields, the works of the enemy correspondingly intensify. No longer will he use the obvious and overt
(lust, gossip, slander, and all worldly desire) to turn us away from Christ,
but rather sly new attacks which consist of well-placed lies (99% truth) to
thwart the production of so much fruit.
…I
have frequently watched him unleash everything at his disposal to drive a
brother or sister back to the state of saving self, denying the cross, and
unbelief in order to keep that one from abiding in the truth…A person moving in
a falsehood that will not bring deliverance will be greatly encouraged by Satan
along the way. Those who are on the path
of do’s (seeking God’s acceptance by performance) will likewise be urged along,
while those on the path of believing will find many obstacles.
…Satan’s
tactic is to either have us disregard him, treating him as though he does not
exist…or be consumed with fighting against him…
We must see that Satan is alive and very active, our adversary (1 Peter
5:8) against whom we battle, with his many schemes (Ephesians 6:11) and snares
(2 Timothy 2:26), and we must all take heed lest we fall
(1
Corinthians 10:12).
Satan
is, of course, a great liar – the father of lies (John 8:44). We will now turn our attention to some of his
most significant lies, which are most subtle and therefore most dangerous.
Michael
closes out his book with 9 lies the enemy tries to get us to buy into.
In
the next 9 weeks, we will look at each one of these individually.
Why,
we might ask, has God allowed Satan the power to be so cunning and deceitful in
Christians’ lives…when he is a defeated foe?
One answer has to be this: God is allowing a test of our faith to show
whether we will be strong in our trust of Him, or succumb to the deceit of our
defeated foe. Some of that is relative
to just how much “faith” do we have…how much truth have we gotten that we
completely trust God to do what He says He will do? The more trust in God, the less possible deceit
we can, or will, succumb to.
One
foundational truth we should always operate from is what Michael mentions at
the close: “Satan is, of course, a great liar – the father of lies (John 8:44).” There, God has given us a heads-up…beware…the
Liar will always be coming at us with Lies, Deceit, and Counterfeits. We have most of the battle won when we are
prepared with Truth BEFORE the Liar shows up!
Think about it…what lie could the Liar bring our way to deceive us as
Born Again Believers that there is “more than one way to get to Heaven”?
Think
long on those three statements in the 2nd paragraph above from SIW… In each case, the believer has GIVEN the
enemy ground to operate on and to bring more lies, more deceit, more
counterfeit to further keep that one from abiding in the Truth. He can’t make us do anything, but he can
deceive us far away from the freedom and victory that Truth gives us (John
8:32, 36).
And
goodness gracious, I already know the nine (9) lies that Michael has prepared
for us to study these next nine weeks…
Note:
if you don’t have one of Michael’s Sidetracked In The Wilderness books,
please contact ALMI
(www.abidinglife.com) and get one today!
To access ALL past weekly
blogs, go to Getting
Out of the Wilderness by logging onto www.leemcchristianministries.blogspot.com
NOTICE: another blog…on Michael Wells’ book, My
Weakness For His Strength, called Living Life With a Capital “C”. You can
access by logging onto www.leemccm.blogspot.com
Lee McDowell Christian Ministries
leemccm@gmail.com
1737 CR
2051 Nacogdoches, Tx 75965 936-559-5696
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