Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Thursday, February 27, 2020

"Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith."¹

"In a National Geographic article about the Portia spider, author Robert Jackson detailed the various ways it deceives its prey. Sitting still, the spider looks like a piece of dried leaf or foliage until a meal walks by. It also will crawl onto another spider's web and tap the threads, mimicking the actions of a trapped insect. When the host spider appears, the Portia devours it. Deception is the Portia's primary tool.

"Satan is like the Portia spider in that deception is his weapon of choice. He does whatever he can to counterfeit the words of Godâ€"to make the unwary and naïve think that God is present and speaking when in fact He is not. The apostle Paul wrote about Satan masquerading as an 'angel of light' and about his agents acting like 'servants of righteousness.' The book of Revelation says a day is coming when the satanic Antichrist and False Prophet will deceive most of the world. Only those who know the Word of God will be prepared and protected. Know the truthâ€"don't be deceived by a counterfeiter like Satan.

"The more you get to know the truthâ€"and the One who is Truthâ€"the easier it will be to spot deception when it appears."²

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please give me a love for your Word and a desire to know and understand your truth so I will never be led astray by the evil one or deceived by his devices. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NLT).
2. "Turning Point Daily Devotional," 9-23-05. Cited on Preaching Now, http://www.preaching.com/newsletter.

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