Evil delusions ....

Sorry, this doesn't want to print out as it normally does.... Evil delusion..... Apparently it is no mistake to be working through 2 Thessalonians 2 at the same time as Halloween ....it has been thought provoking to say the least...not uplifting except to know that God is ultimately victorious... We as humans tend to follow the miraculous, the signs and wonders, the lies that make us feel better, look better, give us pleasure, or whatever rather than the truth. We laugh at the lies, saying they have no consequence to us, all the while going down a slippery slope into desolation, darkness all because we fail to believe the truth, love it, embrace it... Over the course of time, we have done is over and over again...falling for one deception after another, not realizing the cycle, not learning from our predecessors...you only have to follow the history of the Israelites in the Bible, the timelines of numerous nations to see their rise and fall and the reasons for each... Evil delusions have destroyed one people groups after another, one culture after another, one person after another...all the while Grace has also abounded, truth has been there to hang onto in the darkest of times....waiting it final victory whenever that will be... Father, I don't like darkness...I don't like lies, delusions...I like lightness, joy and victory....but Your word speaks of both very directly, succinctly....what the consequences are of each....help me to seek truth, light in times of darkness, finding your path through it all .... I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, Ephesians 1:18 NIV 2 Thessalonians 2 New International Version (NIV The Man of Lawlessness 2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. Stand Firm 13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you,whether by word of mouth or by letter. 16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. http://www.foxnews.com/world/slideshow/2014/10/30/photographer-21000-mile-journey-to-document-lives-anne-frank-friends-who-lived/?intcmp=latestnews#/slide/anne-frank-slideshow-1 Ray Stedman "What Paul is teaching us here is that God has a sovereign, elective principle that he carries out, on his terms. Here are those terms: Salvation is never based on natural advantages. What you are by nature does not enter into the picture of whether you are going to be redeemed or not. Second, salvation is always based on a promise that God gives. This is why we are exhorted in the Scriptures to believe the promises of God. It includes, in some mysterious way, our necessity to be confronted with those promises, and to give a willing and voluntary submission to them. The third principle is that salvation never takes any notice of whether we are good or bad. Never! That is what was established here. These children were neither good nor bad, yet God chose Jacob and passed over Esau. Father, again I must admit I don't understand very much. I am a finite creature, and I cannot fully understand how you act. But I believe you are faithful. Help me to be open and teachable in spirit, that I might recognize the marvelous grace that has reached out and found me." From Romans 9:1-13 Copyright © 2014 by Ray Stedman Ministries — This daily devotion is from the book Immeasurably More: a year of devotions from the writings of Ray Stedman; compiled by Mark Mitchell. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice and a hyperlink to www.RayStedman.org if the copy is posted on the Internet. Sent from my iPad