My Life: #19 The Shepherd Boy's Root Deception.

Satan has one thing going for him each and every time he sets a temptation before us – to be happy and think that God would not want His children to be unhappy or uncomfortable. Liar!

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. (Gen 3:1-7 NASB)

THE ROOT DECEPTION

The root deception was for Satan to get Eve to “be like God” – therefore, she would begin playing god. He presented the Truth in such a twisted way that she would evaluate things from an external perspective (the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes) and fell into the same playing-god pattern he himself suffered when he was in Heaven. Misery truly does love company.

Satan has one thing going for him each and every time he sets a temptation before us – to be happy. Thinking that God would not want His children to be unhappy or uncomfortable – all of mankind falls into the deception that Satan has to offer, i.e., divorce, remarriage, change of friendships, or simply setting up relational boundaries. Even though most know God had already spoken to this doctrinal error, they choose the way that makes them happiest or comfortable. Whenever we start changing the doctrines of God that He has already called absolutes, we run into the face of playing god, allow it to consume us, and thus begin to form a Christian lifestyle that matches our morbid beliefs – beliefs that deceive us into thinking that we have the privilege of making our own choices instead of releasing Christ’s choices within us and thus following His choice that matches the deeds and commands of His Father.

God was quite serious when He said, “For if you eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, you shall die.” Here is the reality of the two trees. Eve was already in the image of God, but Satan wanted her to be in the graven image of himself. His deception was simple. If he put the emphasis on what God said, with a reverse twist, she was more apt to cave in, which is exactly what happened. Eve’s identity was already perfect – being formed in the image (identity) of God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. In the world of modern psychology, we call this reverse psychology. The Tree of Knowledge was the graven symbol of the image (identity) of Satan. The Tree of Life was the eternal symbol of the image (identity) of God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. What we have before us is the first war for the identity of the human soul.

Since the Tree of Knowledge is based in satanic human logic and wisdom, we then are faced with the issue of self-logic vs. logic, or wisdom, that comes down from above into the indwelt human soul (mind, will & emotions). Check this out:

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. (James 3:13-17)

The clever twist that our enemy uses is through what we people-helpers call transference. Satan understands humans will not come to him directly to submit to his graven imagery (identity). Since this is true, he conducts an act of transference, projecting his motives & objectives to the human soul - in the form of human logic. This is the objective of the Tree of Knowledge.

Once the human is entangled in human logic, the enemy knows it will form (automatically) the self-life. When the individual is consumed by the earthly, natural & demonic elements of self-life, his objective in having humans playing god (idolatry) is complete. The result is that the human begins the downward spiral of self-deception, thinking not only about being the god of their own lives but believing they are truly significant outside of the indwelling Life of Christ.

2007 Dr. Stephen Phinney

For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (Galatians 6:3)

Each of our decisions that promote self-life produces daily dying. When humans attempt to determine with their own minds what is good or evil, Satan is there waiting to give us the fruit of living death of such a decision, which always puts God on the outside of the equation. Believe it or not, even hearing the Truth and following what you know is right is playing god unless it is Christ in the believer hearing His Father and following His ways through the born-again. There are millions of “emergent believers” following the rules and principles of Christ, but they’re still on their way to Hell. Any action that is not the actions of Christ in the born-again is PLAYING GOD.

How many times have you been in a discussion where you wanted someone to live by the standards of God? They disagree with you, and you begin forcing God’s opinion onto them. Yes, this is playing god. You are buying into the deception of the Tree of Knowledge, attempting to prove that God’s Truth is what enforces His Holy actions. The reality is, unless Christ in the believer is fulfilling the laws and guidelines of the Holy, it is pure self-life management. Only the Spirit can bring conviction upon another. Only the Spirit can use the Law as a tutor to lead that person to Truth, keeping in mind that the Truth is a person – Jesus.

When we attempt to steal the role of the Spirit, we assert ourselves as God, which usually ends in an argument or debate.

MY LIFE LESSON

When I decide to debate issues in life, I help advance the absolute worst form of playing god known to the Church and its society. Christendom is filled with so-called “Christians” pressing the Truths of God to a people that have no way of determining such Truths as truth. Most true indwelt Christians you talk to about Christ and His dominion know this; if the Spirit does not bring understanding to them – they won’t “get it.” My worst habit, due to my rejection issues, was debating fruitless minds, which were mastered by spiritual forces (Eph. 6:12). You know the gig, we do not fight flesh & blood, but powers of darkness. Ironically, I had my spiritual eyes opened to the fact that I was debating spirits of darkness. How foolish is that? It became imperative for me to experientially learn that self-proclaimed “Christians” who use earthly (knowledge), natural (common-sense), and demonic (satanic influence) wisdom to debate the ideologies of God are fools themselves. In my sadness, I realized I was assisting Satan to play god with God.

As a once self-proclaimed “doing” Christian, who debated spiritual forces, I was at the root of all church splits and factions. Ouch! Since I knew I was an indwelt Christian, I knew it would behoove me to see the spirit world and see who I was fruitlessly debating, arguing their point, or belaboring their interpretations of what God means by what God said. I then could stand against Satan, who used my horrific past to bring further division to the church. In fact, anyone who debates “powers of darkness” (demons) is either a fool or minimally acting as one. This clearly details the root of this shepherd boy’s deception.

The church is filled with “little gods” having wars among their own body members; deciding what is right for the church - ends up promoting self-righteousness, which ultimately accomplishes Satan’s primary goal of separating humans from the God of the universe. Therefore, my admission to this root deception was in realizing my actions were assisting others to debate God versus accept His immovable absolutes.

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

As for this shepherd boy, I continue to learn “we shall know them by their love.” To be totally honest with you, because of my childhood trauma, I was known for Christianized hate and divisive tactics! I became a better example of the Tree of Knowledge vs. the Life of Christ within my mortal body. To know I was assisting others to run from the Church faster than into it – well, shame cannot be sufficient to exonerate that. Thanks be to God, and the Grace of Jesus Christ, I am no longer functioning from the “doing” model of Christianity. Today I am obsessed with the doctrines of “Not I, but Christ.”

It is a sad state when authentic Christian’s trust falls to unbelievers quicker than their own people. I get that! I was one of them. I am always alert to the fact that thousands of Christians plot to destroy another Christian with their self-righteous words, deeds, and demands to pull themselves up by the bootstraps - assisting them to betray the indwelling Life of Christ. An act this shepherd boy refuses to propagate any longer.

In my next essay, “The Shepherd Boy Tells God What to Do,” I will elaborate on how my childhood surfaced a “man” who thought he knew better than God.