Acts 13:9-11
"Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, 'O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.' And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand."
In the face of sorcerer, Paul is filled with the Holy Spirit and blinds the man in a power encounter. Here we have the Spirit of truth against the forces of darkness, and every time this happens, the Spirit wins. You can count on it.
Notice for a moment the ways of the devil, full of all deceit and fraud. Whereas the Spirit is truth, Satan desires to distort God's ways and lead men and women away from the Lord. This is what he did with Adam and Eve in the garden, and this is what he continues to do in the world today. There are always two world views—God's truth and Satan's deceptions. They are at war with each other and the Bible is God's offer for you to join the winning side.
Satan is also the enemy of righteousness, perverting the straight ways of the Lord. His greatest desire is to replace a right relationship with God with one which makes friends with the world. Whereas the Spirit leads us to a close relationship with Christ, Satan would urge you to do anything which would strain this friendship. While he can't break a believer's friendship with God, he can so seriously hurt it that we find ourselves far from our Lord.
The Bible calls believers to resist the Devil, something we do in the power of the Spirit. Just as Paul blinded the man controlled by Satan, we can call on the Spirit's power to resist the Devil's deceptions in our lives. Just as Paul was able to stand and refute Satan's lies, we can ask the Spirit to give us wisdom and knowledge to recognize and rightly respond to an anti-Christ world view. Unfortunately, most of simply give in to temptation and never look to the Spirit's power.
The Spirit desires to empower your life, and all we need to do is ask him to fill us so that we can stand firm and blind the enemy.
LORD JESUS
Lord, I thank you for the power you provide to resist deception. I invite you to fill me and your church so that we rightly live for you in the world today. Amen.
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