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

Friday, April 3, 2020

And he [Satan] said to the woman [Eve], "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?' And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'"¹

When God placed the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, he gave them a free will to choose whether or not they would follow God's ways or go their own way. He did this because he didn't create mankind to be puppets on a string. God gave Adam and Eve total freedom with one exception. That was they could eat of every tree in the garden but not of just one treeâ€"the tree of "the knowledge of good and evil."

Then came Satan (the father of all lies, deception and evil) disguised in the form of a serpent to tempt Adam and Eve. He said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.^"2

True, if they ate of the forbidden fruit, they would know the difference between good and evil, but what Satan didn't tell them was that if they ate of this tree, they would be forever confirmed in a state of evil and that they would die spiritually and be forever separated from God. Tragically, Adam and Eve took the bait and ate of the forbidden fruit. Mankind has paid the price ever since. They were deceived by a part truthâ€"the most deceptive form of lyingâ€"and chose to believe Satan rather than God.

Satan has been deceiving people the same way ever since. Every false religion has an element of truth. This makes their teachings believable to those who don't know and believe what God says in his Word, the Bible.

Satan also makes temptation sound very appealing by luring us with part truths. But he never reveals the tragic consequences of all sinâ€"the ultimate end of which is spiritual death and eternal separation from a holy and just God.

The good news is that God, because he loves us with an eternal love, gave his own Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place on the cross to pay the penalty for all our sins and defeat Satan's evil purposes for mankind. Be assured, according to God's Word Jesus is the only way to God and only he has the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Whatever you do, believe and trust Godâ€"never trust or believe Satan and/or man-made religions that claim there is any other way to God other than through accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.³

To believe and follow what God says leads to eternal life. To believe and follow Satan's lies leads to eternal death which is eternal separation from God in the place God's Word calls hell. Whatever you do, read and accept God's only plan of salvation at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please give me a hunger to study and know what Your Word teaches so I will never be deceived by Satan's lies. And help me to understand and accept Your only plan of salvation so that I can have the assurance that all my sins are forgiven and that I have received Your gift of eternal life. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus's name, amen."

1. Genesis 3:1-3 (NIV).
2. Genesis 3:4-5 (NIV).
3. See John 14:6 and John 3:16 in the Bible.

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