The fall of Afghanistan has coincided with my study on Galatians. What do the two have in common? They share what Jesus warned about in Matthew 24 regarding the last days: deception. The Galatians had been deceived by false teachers that Jesus alone was not enough to save a person. You had to obey the Law as well as believe in Jesus to be saved.
As I sat today watching our president speak, the secretary of state speak and other bureaucrats, generals and pundits speak, I considered most of them to be deceived, just as Jesus said we would be before His return. Their deception leads to the deception of the masses. I think these speakers believe what they are saying, but they have no clue how deceived they are.
Humanity has always been deceived. The difference between the Galatians and today is the deception is on a global scale, which is exactly what Jesus prophesied would occur in the last days. The world is watching and listening.
Why are leaders and people deceived? Because we have forsaken God’s truth in the Bible and rejected who Jesus is: “the way, the truth, and the life.” He came to bring light to the world to dispel the darkness, but “men love darkness.” We lack the wisdom and revelation knowledge that only God can give.
Are the Taliban deceived? Yes, big time. They believe they represent God and their way is the only way to live. Is God okay with rape, with women as less than human, with their god allowing mass killings and brutal murders of people who do not agree with their system of life? Terrorism is mass scale deception.
How about secular humanism or communism; are they forms of deception? Yes, and they are global in their reach to control humanity. At one point communism ruled close to half the population of the world. Secular humanism is in every nation on earth.
“Beware,” Jesus said. There will be false Christs, false prophets and false teachers who will deceive you right before He comes. False religions rule the hearts and minds of at least two-thirds of the world population.
Deception on a global scale is the theme of our generation. It denies that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world. It is the antichrist spirit. This makes sense because Satan will oppose all that Jesus is about and will try to duplicate a counterfeit Jesus. It will be so bad that even the elect will be deceived.
Galatians tells us Jesus alone is the way of salvation. All the promises God gave to Abraham are fulfilled in Him. By faith in Him can a person be justified. There is no other way!
All we are seeing unfold before our eyes in Afghanistan and what we are being told by our leaders is part of this global deception. When we hear them say, “May God bless America,” what god are they referring to?
We assume it is the God of the Bible. There is no other God but the Father of Jesus Christ, the God of Abraham. Does this God approve of abortion or gay marriage or sex outside of marriage? Often, the god they reference, they may think is the God of the Bible, but in reality, this god is not the Creator God and Father of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said there will be false Christs. We need to think in terms of what the concepts behind their words are. Deception can be using words that do not mean what we think they mean. When someone says they believe in Jesus, which Jesus? Ask them to define this Jesus of which they speak.
They may be well meaning, but they may not speak of the true Jesus, God who became flesh. The apostle John wrote that those who deny who Jesus really is are liars; the truth is not in them. They are antichrists; they are not born again.
Jesus told us this day of deception would come. It would encompass the world. He expected us to know this season of His return. It is our responsibility to be alert, aware and active. For we know not the hour when He will come!
Author’s Note: The Presence of God lives in us. The Word tells us the Holy Spirit comes into our lives the moment we are born again. We also know that the Father and Son abide in us as they have made Their home in us. This life we have in Jesus is a glorious one. We are being changed from one degree of glory to another to be like Jesus. We hunger for less of us and more of God to fill us completely. There are also moments when God’s presence fills the atmosphere where we worship as our Lord did when Solomon dedicated the temple or when Isaiah saw Jesus, the Lord of Hosts, in the temple, or when the Holy Spirit was poured out in Cornelius’ house in the book of Acts. When God acts in His glory, lives are transformed to live for His purposes and plans to redeem the world.
We have set our hearts on God to come in His glory at our “Hosting His Presence” event on Sept. 9-12. We do not want only an encounter with God but for Him to remain, so it is not just a visitation but a habitation that draws us daily to Himself. This glory moment will inspire us with dreams and visions to go into the world as Jesus sent His apostles and disciples to the nations of the earth. Begin praying now for this Holy Spirit gathering, that Jesus will be exalted, and we will see a nation transformed for Jesus.
Our gathering is free. You can register at eventbrite.com. {eoa}
Once a professional baseball player with the Chicago Cubs Organization, Blake Lorenz was called to Asbury Seminary after a radical encounter with Jesus, where he received his master’s degree. He has pastored in the Orlando area for 33 years and has been blessed with the opportunity to evangelize globally, visiting five continents and preaching the gospel to tens of thousands. Blake has also helped plant 500 churches. He has been working in Israel for the past 20 years, includes serving on the board of the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast in connection with the Knesset. In 2020, blakelorenzministries.com and the Awaken podcast launched to teach and challenge others to join him on a journey of anticipating the return of Jesus. He has used the three books he’s written in his seminars and conferences. He and his wife, Beverly, share three children and six grandchildren.
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