Two Worlds MediaFor the last year I have been working on a project with Julie Tadema. We are about to launch a book called The Ancient Deceptions — discovering the oldest tricks in the Book. We take a look at the first deceptions ever unleashed on this planet and the continual harvest of corruption from such poisonous fruit. I lay the deceptions out, and Julie uses case studies to define our way of escape. I have taught this numerous times and realized that the church often finds herself unskilled at contending with ‘the deceiver.’
This morning I came across this verse in Isaiah 44:20. It is reflecting upon someone who is practicing idolatry:
“He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say,’Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
So many are unfamiliar with the nature of the invisible, spiritual realm. It is critical that we know the Truth, Who sets us free…because IF you are deceived, you don’t know it.
Thank you for writing this essential book. I am excited to read it. I was reading Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship (1995) where he distinguished between cheap and costly grace. “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, it is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate” (pp. 44, 45). “Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field, it is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock” (p. 45). Your book points the way along the path to God, it is the food, drink, and restoration we need to encourage and strengthen us. Thank you for your obedience to the Lord.