Deceived by miracles

Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Deception through MIRACLES.
Power to give LIFE.

Does this sound like a harmless entity?

We'd love to be able to trust in miracles, wouldn't we? We want to witness miracles, we want to partake of miracles, we love the idea of real miracles occurring, miracles that are irrefutable. We want miracles that even the most skeptic among us cannot help but believe. We do, don't we? Maybe you consider yourself a skeptic and that's not altogether a bad thing, is it? Being skeptical keeps us from being hoodwinked, right? The Catholic church believes in miracles and goes to great lengths to prove the validity of any miracle, right? True miracles are things we see everyday, right? The miracle of life, the miracle of our existence. Yet we mean something different than these common miracles when we discuss miracles.  Jesus went about performing miracles, didn't He?

Joh 2:11  This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

Joh 2:23  Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.

Joh 6:2  And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

Act 2:22  Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Act 2:23  Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain

Jesus did MANY miracles, so many we haven't even been told about them all.

Joh 21:25  And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

Real miracles. Blind men, blind from birth, were given their sight back! Just imagine you knew that man, perhaps you grew up right near him and saw him as a child blind, saw him as a teenager blind, you interacted with him, talked with him, walked with him, helped him, felt sorry for him as he became a man unable to see and therefore so incredibly limited in his life. Then Jesus comes along and the next thing you know is that man is no longer blind!  Can you let yourself imagine it!? Try!  He can see you! For the first time He looks upon you and when you speak he recognizes your voice and calls you by name, his joy boundless. "Look! I can see! I can see! I see YOU! It's a miracle!"  What would you think in that moment? Would you believe it was a real miracle? What other choice would you have? Seriously, what other choice, especially when that man tells you how he was healed. You couldn't doubt him, he was seeing!

Real miracles beyond the miracle of life and all that entails. Do you believe in them? Could you believe in them? You'd have no choice not if your life was touched by a miracle such as described in the previous paragraph.  You'd immediately believe that miracle was God sent, wouldn't you? Of course you would. And yet we read this-

Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do…

Deceived by miracles.

So you tell me, can we trust miracles? We want to because we do NOT want to believe that Satan can work miracles. We want to believe that ONLY God can do miracles, especially miracles of healing, surely He alone would do something that wonderful.  People do NOT want to believe that Satan, using His deceptive power honed to perfection, will work miracles we deem good- such as healing. The truth is, most people who believe in God do not want to believe that Satan is just as real as God. The Evil One has done a remarkable job at marketing himself so that the blinders he has crafted for people- yes, even God fearing people- fit perfectly about our eyes so that there isn't a glimmer of light that can enter in around them. Not a single bit of saving truth can penetrate those blinders. In fact the show going on behind the blinders suit us just fine, soothing us, lulling us into a false sense of security so that we WILL be deceived and ultimately the realization will come that it was a deception we chose, not one that was forced upon us. We choice deception when we turn from truth, whatever that truth is that is being presented. When we make the choice to accept some truth, but not all, we are NOT going to be SAVED! Jesus is the TRUTH! And if we reject any of HIS truth, then we are rejecting HIM.

No, people do NOT want to believe that they could be rejecting Jesus, especially those who claim to know Him and be known by Him. They want to hold fast to their blinders and keep them on tight to their eyes lest their delusions become apparent and they are forced to realize that there is truth out there they have rejected. They love their blinders because Satan has tailor made them to meet every desire they have- keeping them very comfortable in his masterful deception.

Deceived by miracles.

If we aren't willing to hold fast to all God's truth now, what makes us think that we'll be able to tell Satan's miracles from God's?

How many of Satan's miracles have been labeled God's already?  Not something you want to think about, well keep those blinders on,  the price you are paying for them is your eternal life, forsaking our loving Savior, Christ Jesus.

Deceived by miracles.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

GREAT SIGNS, GREAT WONDERS all meant for DECEPTION! And ONLY the VERY ELECT will NOT be deceived!

Only those whose eyes are NOT blinded by deception will see.
Only those who live in the TRUTH of our SAVIOR, all HIS TRUTH will not be deceived.

Remember this…

Luk 10:25  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 10:26  He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
Luk 10:27  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
Luk 10:28  And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.


What shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Jesus ANSWERED- What is written in the law? How readest thou?
And the man summed up the entire MORAL law written on the two tablets of stone by saying--
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.

Did Jesus rebuke the man? Did Jesus tell him that it would no longer be necessary to keep the moral law? It was a PERFECT opportunity to do so.  Did Jesus say that He'd come to replace the law, just believe in Him and forget about the law? Did Jesus tell Him that the moral law would not save him? Why not? Why didn't He? That's what people love to say isn't it? That the moral law is the law of the old testament and no longer valid. But that's not what Jesus said at all.

Jesus replied by saying THOU HAST ANSWERED RIGHT, THIS DO AND THOU SHALT LIVE.

Why would Jesus say that if it weren’t TRUE?  Was it only a valid answer until Jesus died?  If that's the case wouldn't Jesus have said so? Perhaps adding, that's right, do that and live, BUT also remember things are going to change after I'm gone. 

We have to LIVE IN THE TRUTH of our SAVIOR, not the lies people make up so that it's easier for us to pretend we belong to God, all the while we go about living selfishly only serving self even as we help others to serve our own egos.

By the GRACE of our LORD, more tomorrow!  We cannot let ourselves be DECEIVED! We cannot wear the blinders Satan has tailored made for us! We have to RESIST the DEVIL!

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

RESIST the DEVIL.   Yes, the Devil is very, very real and eager to please -- himself by lying and deceiving all who do not truly love Christ Jesus more than they love themselves.

Please LORD HELP US! SAVE US! TEACH US! LOVE US ALWAYS!

By YOUR GRACE.