By Rae Lynn DeAngelis
I was scrolling through my social media feed when something caught my eye, a video of a doctor removing a 6-inch parasitic worm from the tip of a woman’s thumb. I was fascinated by the clip at first, but after a few minutes, something about it felt off. That small voice in my head told me the video was a fake, but my trusting nature argued otherwise. Why in the world would someone go to the trouble of staging this kind of thing to make it appear real if it wasn’t?
I later learned the video was a parody, something created for the purpose of entertainment. For the record, I was not entertained. As soon as I realized it was fake, I felt betrayed. I don’t think anyone likes to be deceived.
It’s amazing how our gut knows when we have been duped. In this day and age, it’s hard to know what is true and what is not based on appearances alone. The increase in technology makes it difficult to know if what we are seeing, hearing, or even experiencing is real.
God has been unveiling all kinds of deception of late. I believe more is still to come. What was once considered “conspiracy” is now being exposed as truth.
I feel sad to realize that I’ve been duped for so many years. And even though I am horrified by the wickedness of the world, I am also thankful to know the truth when it comes out, because once we get over the initial shock, we realize, truth is freeing. Nagging questions get answered and it makes sense, no matter how disturbing.
How can we possibly end atrocities like human sex-trafficking, pedophilia, plots to depopulate, toxins in our food and environment, stolen elections, and false wars if we don’t know that it’s happening. Truth may be hard to accept, but it also has the power to set us free.
We are living in challenging times, friends. The increase in deception during what the Bible calls the last days is beyond what our minds could possibly imagine.
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
Deception has always been the enemy’s game-plan to destroy God’s creation, and humans are his top target. It started with Adam and Eve and continues to this day… Did God really say? You will not surely die! Take and eat. You will be like God. And on it goes.
Satan is a con artist. “When [the devil] lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). He also always leaves visible fingerprints when he lies: secrecy, shame, distortion, deception, and fear.
Praise God, we are not helpless victims. We have the Holy Spirit living inside us, and that means we are overcomers. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
The only power the enemy has over you and me as believers is the power we give him. The enemy cannot do anything without our permission. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you’ve got the power! And the truth will set you free.
God is lifting the veil, and the truth is coming out. Don’t be duped. Cling to truth. Trust your gut.
“Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).
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