How are the Elect deceived? IMHO…
I received the following email question recently and feel lead to share it with our fellow Builders:
Hi Lori!
I started to text, but it got late. You began sharing your thoughts on the verse about the elect of God being deceived. I believe you were interrupted when you began sharing. I was a bit distracted that morning. Would you expound upon your thoughts for me? I’ve always wondered the same.
Lots of His Love,
BHS ♡
Hi BHS!
Lots of His Perfect Love back at’cha! :0)
Like you, I’ve often wondered about the elect being deceived in the end times. Deception includes control, fear, and judgment to name only a few villainous tools. I think, among other things, that we can view our world through the wrong filter so to speak. When we swirl about in our own “stuff” and forget to be still and know that He is God, deception is quite easy and even palatable…even amongst the elect. It’s a subtle shift that leads to becoming very acquainted to the whispers of our adversary…he often times agrees with our “wounded or fear-filled” dialogue and we then justify whatever it is that we’re saying…making it sound and seem justified and even quite religious. In fact it is just that, religious stuff that keeps Believers judging, arguing and bickering – and quite distant from Truth and Perfect Love.
Being still in the Presence, waiting for His voice to speak, keeps my ears quick to hear His tenor. My spirit responds to His Spirit and it resonates with The Word of Truth. Perfect love (1 John 4:18) , mature love, ALWAYS casts out fear (and everything that hangs out with fear) …it’s just the way love was designed to work. This maturity can only come through time saturating oneself in Perfect Love, practicing Perfect Love, walking in humility that yields Perfect Love, and by gauging everything against Perfect Love. This has got to be the way that we operate so as not to fall into judgment and deception.
When we judge ourselves, by ourselves, a hard fall is quickly coming…and we are deceived.
We need the fellowship of other mature Believers. Maturity that’s present in the lives of others has evidence and fruit following it. Mature love lives out loud and when necessary, uses words. Speaking the “truth in love” means that BOTH parties are okay after the “truth in love” has been spoken. It’s not a one sided experience where one person feels better while the other has “truth in love” barfed all over them. (Sorry for the frank visual here, but it works.) Perfect love doesn’t look like that. Sadly, the Church at large is very deceived in this area. The “truth in love”, done biblically, actually looks and feels good for both parties involved and no one limps away bloodied and bruised. Jesus took all those wounds and bruises for us and we don’t need to go around trying to replicate what He’s already finished…He showed us the ultimate response through Perfect Love. We have to view the world through the Perfect Love filter…
I wanna be guilty of loving well, of loving too much, of encouraging too much, of forgiving extravagantly, so I can be forgiven extravagantly!
I’ve gotta have a “Perfect Love” filter…that’ll keep me from being deceived…
That’s pretty much that… ;0)
That’s the short version of a long topic in my humble opinion…I hope you can follow my thoughts here…and I invite you to join our conversation! ;0)
joyfully,
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((¸¸.·´ .·´ -:¦:-Lori ~
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*