By THE SPIRIT Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 6:
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Are we prepared for the cunning arts, deceit, craft, trickery of the devil? This issue is tied to chapter 4:
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
Trickery is the practice of deception. Every one of us has been deceived by someone who wants to take something in our possession. Whether it be money, trust, or vulnerability they took something precious. There are some who simply want us to stroke their ego by becoming their follower in some manner. Yet others simply want to steal our innocence. We must protect ourselves from their trickery, but how? As we become sensitive to The Holy Spirit Who resides in us we will get a witness about those who are our enemies and will be moved to keep our distance.
There are those who have become very skillful in their scheming to do us harm. Their intent is to plot to extract something we have. They will lie without blinking an eye straight to your face and use any means necessary to persuade you to submit to their scheme. Once again we must be led by THE SPIRIT to defend against such scheming. We must be perfected and matured in Christ to be fully equipped to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Knowing the Truth is the first step in protecting ourselves against trickery and deceit. Jesus spoke of The Holy Spirit being our source for Truth in John chapter 16:
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
The Holy Spirit is prepared to deal with every situation we find ourselves in. We must not let the pressure of time or men’s devices prevent us from seeking the Holy Spirit to confirm our intent, actions, or response. If we are not at peace, take no action. The Holy Spirit will give us peace concerning anything we are pursuing if it is intended by FATHER.
Often the Truth can be uncovered by asking more questions. People who are deceptive will typically attempt to give the minimum information and apply pressure for us to decide. That in itself will take the peace away. As we develop our sensitivity to The Holy Spirit we will be able to spot the wiles of the devil quicker.
Jesus made it clear that The Holy Spirit would guide us into all Truth. Shouldn’t our focus of being led by THE SPIRIT be the highest priority against the wiles of the devil?