Living for Jesus Christ in a Broken and Sin-Filled World

'And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world-he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.' ‭‭‬‬(Revelation 12:9)What a disturbing Bible verse! Here we are told that Satan, the ancient serpent, the one who was cast out of heaven for rebellion and thrown down to the earth, is the deceiver of the whole world. Other Bible verses tell us much more about him, including exactly why he was cast from heaven. We’ll get to those, but the point for now is simply that he is the 'deceiver of the whole world.' (Sounds like that includes everyone).Do not think for a single moment that because you are smart or careful or attentive that you are safe from deception, scams, lies, or fraud. None of us are. Deception is so prevalent in our day that it is almost impossible for someone to have never experienced it. While we are living in a broken and sin-filled world, deception abounds both physically and spiritually. Physically in that some would love to trick you into handing over your life savings, or access to your credit cards and bank accounts; and spiritually in that the master deceiver and his minions would find great pleasure in preventing you from discovering or enjoying the peace and fulfillment which comes only by knowing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Satan’s domain (and deception) is tremendous; music, movies, information technology, sports, gambling, entertainment, government, education, health care, secret societies; almost anything one can imagine. His goal hasn’t changed: to destroy any relationship (or potential relationship) between a person and their Creator.Deception has been around a very long time. In the Bible, we are warned repeatedly to remain attentive and cautious to not be led astray from the truth. Both the Old and the New Testaments contain multiple warnings about deception. Of the 27 books in the New Testament, 16 warn us about this in one way or another. False Christs, false doctrines, false denominations, other gospels, doctrines of devils; deception in more ways than a person can keep track of. For the time being, we are living in a broken world filled with sin and rebellion. Followers of Jesus and followers of the master of deception are existing together. How can we find the truth? Look to the One who said: '... 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' (John‬ ‭14‬:‭6)‬ ‭