We always need to be on alert and use caution.  Things are not always as they appear.  At times we can allow what we find desirable to overshadow and hide the truth we do not want to see that is in details.  If we are not careful, we will only see what we want to see.

Other times, we may find something or someone that appears to be good only to find out later that we were deceived.  We often are not aware of all the facts or know the end result.

The picture to the right, is a pretty yellow flower and is something one might desire to have in their flower beds.  But there is more to this little flower (I found out recently) than just its beauty:

This is an invasive noxious plant known as the Buffalobur.  While it may have a pretty flower, it has an abundance thorns that can cause pain when you come in contact with them and supposed to have a mild toxin that causes the pain to linger for a time.  In the fall, the plant dries out, breaks off at the ground and then rolls along with the wind like a tumbleweed, spreading its 8,500 seeds it produces.  If that were not enough, in some places it hosts the Colorado potato beetle to cause more damage.

We need to use caution and not be taken in by what we may see on the surface.  The enemy tires to get us to focus on that which is desirable and ignore or devalue the negatives.  We must know the source and not trust what we see or feel.

2Co 11:13-15 ~ For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

The enemy often tries to portray himself as good, a friend who cares for you or as truth.  That is not the case though, Peter said “your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour”.  He lays traps and waits for your to fall.  He is after the result and may work on traps that takes years to develop in your life when he can rise and pounce on you.  No need to fear though as God says “Greater is He who is in your than he that is in the world”.  God will take care of it if you let Him.

There are examples of this through the Bible, even in the beginning:

Gen 3:1-5 ~ Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

There is a lot in this passage.  We notice the source is our enemy and his plan is to remove our trust in what God says and then plays up our flesh to lust for things which are wrong. 

The first step here, the enemy acts friendly, but the purpose of asking about what they may eat was to bring the issue to mind that he may attack it and lie to her.  She tells him what God had commanded them about the tree and he starts his lies by sowing seed that they could not trust God, that God had lied to them and that she would not die.  If that is not enough, he goes further and makes it sound like God was being evil against them by keeping them away from the fruit of the tree because God knew they would be just like Him.  Can you see the web of evil here?  The enemy tries to make us believe their are no rules, that we are free to do as we please and anyone that says different is evil and even uses partial truths such as they will know good and evil.

Once we the first step is complete, our flesh takes over and it births lust in our hearts “And when the woman SAW that the tree was GOOD for food and pleasant to the EYES and a tree to be DESIRED to make one WISE…”.  This little conversation with the enemy disarmed their reverence of God’s command and then allowed her flesh to look upon this object as desirable, pleasant to the eyes and then appealed to her intellect as it being able to make them wise and even to be equal with God.  This is the work of the enemy, to break your trust in God, to make you feel you have no responsibility and that those things which we clearly know are wrong, are really good.

So, the end of the work the enemy begun upon Adam and Eve, they took of the fruit of the tree with disregard to God’s commandment and that day, their spirit within them died just as God had promised.  Beyond this, God drove them out of the garden and set Cherubims and a flaming sword to guard the gate that they may not come back in and eat of the tree of life that they may live forever.

The enemy does not change, this pattern continues throughout the Bible and in life around us and often in our own lives.  The enemy is waiting to be your friend so that he may destroy you.  Does he really care about you, I mean, what have you done to him.  The enemy does not care anything about you, his only goal is to hurt the heart of God and the only way he can do that is to get you to turn away from God, as he knows how much God loves us all, or that you would hurt others. 

Remember:

Jas 1:13-15 ~ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

You are nothing to the enemy, but a tool for him to get back at God, his promises are empty and does not last, at the end of the day you are laid waste, lost and alone full of regrets and sorrows.  That is not a road to follow, but there is a narrow road that will lead to forgiveness, blessing, peace, fulfillment and love, that is the path we all must take.