July 24, 2019 – Click here to listen
Paul referred to Satan as “the God of this age.” This was a figure of speech and refers to his grasp on the world whereby, even though he has been defeated, is still blinding many people to the Gospel. He does this by deceiving us.
I was in the Mojave Desert one time and saw a mirage. A mirage is something that appears real or possible but is not in fact so. The mirage I saw appeared far in the distance and looked like a huge lake stuck right in the middle of this wretchedly hot and arid desert. It really looked inviting and if I had been on foot and didn’t know better I would have headed right towards it and likely died chasing it in the brutally hot sun. Many a pioneer was deceived by mirages and this was not lost on the demonic world.
Satan uses mirages as a primary weapon against us. He shows us the mirage of the cool people, the beautiful people, laughing and dancing the night away high on drugs. We don’t see those same people dying from overdosing or shaking uncontrollably and hugging a commode puking their guts out as their body screams for more drugs.
Some see the inviting mirage of drop-dead gorgeous men and women smiling and beckoning us to give up our wedding vows, but the devastation of HIV, STD’s, broken marriages and children being raised in broken homes is nowhere in sight.
We look in the distance and see ourselves flush with money, swimming pools, private jets, beautiful cars and mansions, but as we chase them or even attain them we find that they leave us unfulfilled and needing more.
There is no mirage that Satan can conjure up that will fill our souls with the peace, joy, and love that can only come from God. This world and everything in it including our flesh and our arch enemy Satan is perishing. Our hope comes from the true God through Jesus Christ. This is not a mirage and as we look to the distance and see paradise we can be assured there will be no disappointment when we arrive on that distant shore. Amen!
C.S. Lewis once said: “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
Isaiah 58:11
“And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”