Satanic Subtlety

In all our dealings with one another we are to reveal Christ. Thus we shall show that we have a genuine connection with the Saviour. God is to receive all honor, all glory. When Christ shall appear, those who are united with Him by living faith will be acknowledged by Him. He will not be ashamed to call them brethren….

The Lord, He is God, and beside Him there is none else. When Satan can bring his craftiness to bear on human minds, deceptive influences are received [as] from heaven. If his deceptions are allowed to enter, many souls will be ensnared by them, before it is seen that they are not from God, but from the enemy of all righteousness.

I assure you that it will be one of our perplexities to distinguish the genuine from the spurious. Deception steals in unawares, just as it stole into the heavenly courts. Satan sought to undermine the confidence of the angels in God’s government. He desired the place occupied by Christ, having it in his mind, that if he gained this position, to make an effort to take the place of God. Adroitly he presented his suggestions to the angels, and many of them received these suggestions. He left his insinuations in their minds to develop. They, not as cautious as their leader, began to communicate their new theories. Satan was the originator of the doubts that they expressed, but he presented them as the opinions of a large number of the angels, and as such, something that should be considered.

Today, Satan works with deceptive guile to captivate human beings by his deceptive theories. The warning to beware of allowing him to enter comes sounding down along the line to our time.

Let none suppose that because they have been used as the Lord’s instrumentalities, they are all-sufficient. The Lord uses men and honors them by giving them His wisdom, as long as they are true to Him, and do not gather glory to themselves. Those who take themselves out of the Lord’s hands, and think themselves capable of managing the work, are not led by His Spirit, but by “another spirit.” Satan steps in, and they change leaders. Then comes the crookedness and subtlety of the serpent’s guile.—Manuscript 37, May 1, 1903, “Directions for Work.”
The Upward Look p. 135
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Eileen who will be having a procedure done tomorrow morning. Rose
—-I normally do not ask for prayers for myself, but I am in need of them. I had a brain tumor removed 8 weeks ago and I am still having severe headaches from time I wake up, till time I go to sleep. Can’t seem to get any relief from medications. I am frustrated and just want my old self back. Can’t seem to do much of anything as I feel awful most of the time & I wear down so fast. Please pray the Lord will take this pain away & heal my broken body & spirit, that I may again be his servant. Jeanine
—-Please pray for a teen boy, David who was diagnosed with clinical depression and is not doing well. Renee
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Dear Friends,
Before I retired, I worked in the district court. When, a defendant was brought to our office because of a DUI (driving while intoxicated), I scheduled him for an alcohol evaluation. Quite a few do not take it seriously and failed to go to their alcohol evaluation. They seemed to think that when brought before the judge, the judge would let them get by with their disobedience.

Of course the judge never did. Instead, the defendant had to deal with something that should have been dealt with before sentencing. Sometimes the judge gave him another chance to go to a rescheduled evaluation. If the judge felt that the defendant would not go even if given another appointment, he would put him in custody until the evaluator had seen him. I’m sure at that point that he wished that he had gone to the evaluation the first time, for if he had, he would have been well on the way to putting it all in the past.

We, too, must stand before the judgment seat of God. Now is the time to make sure that we are ready for that fearful time. We must get ready now. Just as ignoring the appointment only made things worse, so we cannot ignore our sins: we cannot hide them. They must be dealt with. They must be confessed and forsaken or someday we will have to meet them before the judgment seat of God. John writes, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” 1 John 1:9-2:6

David sang of his experience when he tried to hide his sins, ” When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.” Ps 32:3,4 Holding on to our sin can only bring us pain. Clinging to our iniquity can only bring disaster. Indeed, if we regard iniquity in our heart, the Lord will not hear our prayers. (Ps 66:18) Isaiah tells us, “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Isa 59:1,2

Praise God! We do not have to stay in this condition. The goodness of God leads us to repentance. (Rom 2:4) He has given “His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 Therefore, “seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isa 55:6,7

Let us confess and forsake our sins while the door of mercy is still open. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor 6:2 Let us pray as did David, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: . . . Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” Psa 51:1-13

Rose