Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK

“Creating a Fail-Safe System”
”As I stood at the window of my house looking out through the shutters, watching the mindless crowd stroll by, I spotted a young man without any sense arriving at the corner of the street where she lived, then turning up the path to her house. It was dusk, the evening coming on, the darkness thickening into night. Just then, a woman met him— she'd been lying in wait for him, dressed to seduce him. Brazen and brash she was, restless and roaming, never at home, walking the streets, loitering in the mall, hanging out at every corner in town. She threw her arms around him and kissed him, boldly took his arm and said, "I've got all the makings for a feast—today I made my offerings, my vows are all paid…” – Proverbs 7:6-14(MSG)

A man phoned his wife from the office and said that he and some of his office buddies were going on a weekend fishing trip. The truth was that he was having an affair with his secretary and used this as an excuse. "Be sure to pack my new pajamas," he told his wife.
When he returned on Sunday night he complained to her, "Why didn't you pack my new pajamas like I asked you to?"
"I did!" his wife said with a glare. "I put them in your tackle box!" Oops!
Have you ever been set up to fail? That no matter how hard you tried to complete a task given to you there was no possible way for you succeed—that failure was inevitable.
That is the way I feel about this passage. Everything was in place—the traps were set—she fixed her hair, put on her best perfume, dressed as seductively as possible. All that was needed for her to succeed was for a willing participant to take the bait. But look at the very last line: "I've got all the makings for a feast—today I made my offerings, my vows are all paid…” It is here that I find where this seduction carries its greatest weight. Ignore all the outward appearance—the sights and smells—it is in the fact that she gives this encounter a holy anointing, and once he accepts that premise there is no way he will be able to withstand her advances.
As we read Scripture we find that deception has continued to plague mankind from the beginning. Scripture reveals that deception always works in harmony with man’s desire for what they want or what they think they need! This is perhaps Satan’s greatest achievement, turning wants into needs!
Jesus, when responding to the disciples question about His Second Coming and the End of the Age, warned them repeatedly about deception. He indicated that deception would be a serious problem in the last days and that many people would fall. So great would be the deception that He warned us about it ahead of time. Lets see what Jesus says.
For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many. … and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. (Matthew 24:5, 11).

For false Christ’s and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time (Matthew 24:24-25).
What fascinates me about these statements, or perhaps better said discourages me, is not why people are deceived…but how! How can people not see, hear, smell the deceptions coming from these false prophets? The answer is simple—their leader knows how to set us up! He knows what buttons to push—words to say—visuals to put before us—emotions to tap into. He knows that we can easily be set up to fail.
The remedy? Do not let Christ out of your sight! Keep Him as near as possible. If you need a fail-safe system there is only One that has been proven to pass every test He has taken.
Pastor J. T. Carnell

Posted to Religious by Quentin Clingerman @ 4:22 pm EDT