Today’s story is a story of deception. Joshua and the people of Israel had conquered city after city. The Canaanites were afraid of their powerful God. The Gibeonites didn´t want to fight against Israel and they made a plan to deceive them and force a peace covenant.
“But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly. And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.” Joshua 9:3-6
When the leaders of Israel saw the Gibeonites, they believed their story. They trusted in what they saw and didn´t take the time to consult the Lord before making their decision. And that led them to make a covenant with a people they should have conquered, as the Lord had commanded.
“Joshua and the princes of Israel were impetuous and didn’t take time to consult the Lord. They walked by sight and not by faith. After listening to the strangers’ speech and examining the evidence, Joshua and his leaders concluded that the men were telling the truth. The leaders of Israel took the “scientific approach” instead of the “spiritual approach.” They depended on their own senses, examined the “facts,” discussed the matter, and agreed in their conclusion. It was all very logical and convincing, but it was all wrong.” Warren Wiersbe, Be Strong.
I can´t count the number of choices I´ve made with things I could see that looked amazing but, in the end, ended up being wrong decisions.
Deception is one of the enemy’s favorite plans. The Bible tells us that he is the deceiver, that he disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Satan is a liar and tries to get us to listen to his lies and believe them.
He is a master of deception. He is an expert in making bad things glow before our eyes, making us bait the hook. Satan always wears a disguise and hides behind a mask.
We have to seek the Lord every day in order not to be deceived by our adversary. Only when our lives are rooted in the truth of God are we able to recognize the deception of the devil.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
Psalm 33:11
We have an Almighty God who can turn the plans of the people into nothingness. Our understanding depends on circumstances and emotions. But His counsel stands forever. God´s truth is revealed in His Word and we need to study it and obey it in order to see with our spiritual eyes instead of our physical eyes.
Let´s talk: What steps can you take today to turn your spiritual eyes on?
Content in His service,
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Some steps to keep our spiritual eyes on can be taken by praying and asking God to help us make our decision and choices according to what He wants, then remember to listen to hear and obey. Remember WWJD?, that would also be a help to start wearing those bracelets again! 😉
Great ideas! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
I can turn on my spiritual eyes by turning off my eyes to so much social media. I checked my FB and Instagram accounts recently and realized I averaged spending an hour on each every day. Yikes! If I chose to get in God’s Word for those same two hours each day … wow! I can imagine my spiritual growth would take off in a wonderful direction.
Trina, I haven’t checked but I know that my social media usage per day far exceeds that. I never thought about the fact that in cutting down on that nonsense could definitely increase my time with God. And I should make sure to use it in that way. Thank Lord for using Trina to point this out to me!! Amen.
I often ask God to reveal truth if we have a decision to make. Show us things things that are being hidden, etc. and we have found He’s protected us.
I love this and am so thankful. I needed to hear this because my husband and I have been TTC. I have been doing the tracking, the timing, and was considering medical testing for the both of us thinking that there were issues. The enemy has been feeding lies and deceit. I need faith in His plan and His timing more than anything.