The Enemy in the Camp

The most dangerous enemy is never the most obvious. He plays the long game. Over time, this kind of enemy will use our naivety, personal compromise, and spiritual blindness to construct his dark plan. The products of this deception are things we would never have imagined or allowed to rule our lives and communities. Trojan horses carrying deception have already entered the public square and, unfortunately, the halls of faith.

This is not a time for false bravado, nor is it time for fear. Neither option will allow us to partner with God in a work of restoration and reformation. We need to ask the Lord to awaken the slumbering areas of our faith. He wants us to see our world with the eyes of the Spirit, not through the lens of human emotion or logic.  What is seen will be a disturbing image for some. 

Once we have clarity of vision, we will be given an assignment that will not look like the assignments of those who continue to live blinded to spiritual realities. In Ephesians 4, Paul said once the Church has been equipped and matured we would look like this, "Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love."

At first, speaking the truth in love will sound foreign and out of step with the false reality being presented.  Those who hear your redemptive words might reject them out of hand. Don't forget, people were created by God to hear the truth, not lies. While the lies might seem to have center stage at this moment, truth will carry the day. The sound of Heaven – truth spoken in love – will eventually displace the sound of lies. 

When the Lord asks you to speak it will require courage to make a sound. Before you speak, discern the difference between personal preference and truth. And above all, make sure you are speaking and acting in love. Love is the only thing the enemy fears and it is the only thing that has the power to dismantle his plan of deception.