Thursday; February 1

Very few days go by that I don’t receive some type of “wonderful offer” in my email or through a voice message.  I have won countless contests, I have been chosen to collect and distribute funds for some crown prince of an African country, I have been selected to have a seemingly unlimited amount of credit and I believe that I may have won a free cruise and all-expense paid vacation.  If I am so fortunate, why am I still having to work for a living?  I mean, with all these things going for me, wouldn’t you think that I could have reaped the benefits of my good fortune and spending the winters on an island somewhere?  While the questions are tongue-in-cheek, the answer is very real – these offers are deceptive.  They are schemes to get me to fall under a fraudulent spell so that someone can misuse me and/or my resources.  Most of us know this and do our best to protect ourselves from these imposters.
Now that we are in agreement about shams, let me ask another question – why are we so quick to fall for satan’s ploys?  We are good at protecting our finances, but do we practice the same restraint when dealing with the one who has built his spiritual kingdom on deception?  The devil’s first mention in the Bible is associated with a lie and he continues to pursue that route today.  Misrepresentation is his nature and he is a master at it … in fact, he is so good that even cautious people are caught up in his deceptive ways.  When Jesus chided the evil influences around Him, He also gave us a look into the nature of the devil by saying, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44). 
Let’s be even more cautious of the devil than we are of the financial frauds today.  Remember, all they can steal is our fiscal security – he can take our soul!
Think About It!

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