-Strength for Today- “Bamboozled.” - Ecclesiastes 12:13.

Most of us at one time or the other have been: “bamboozled” or “deceived,” “duped,” or out wittingly “hoodwinked” by underhanded methods, from “car salesmen, “insurances salesmen,” and yes, “some who say that they’re Christians.” And for that cause alone, there’s a great need to know that “the truth of Christianity is the Bible,” and not the acid drops of blasphemous religiosity, which resides in a number “popular trends” whose purpose is “to foster a sense of godly righteousness.” But inwardly “there’s no soul-converting power,” but instead “a continuous interwar of unbelief.” So, why look at this subject now???

Because without God in the equation, Solomon said: ““Meaningless! Meaningless!”...“Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless” - Ecclesiastes 1:2. When Solomon says, “Everything is meaningless,” he didn’t mean “that everything in the world is of zero value.” Rather, his point is that “all human efforts apart from God’s will are meaningless.” But is saying that “Satan is a master at “customizing deceptions for believers” based on their “attitudes,” “biblical maturity level “current life situation,” and their “prone weaknesses.”?

Today, there’re too many believers that’re being “bamboozled in search of self-worth," of which Satan is using “to blind one of the wholeness they have in Christ Jesus.” That’s why the Apostle Paul said: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth,” (2 Timothy 2:15), which means that when there’s an intentional desire for righteousness, the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to the truth of God’s Word,” (Psalm 119:18), which “is “an enabling to obey His will.”??

Therefore, to stand on any other foundation is to become: “bamboozled by Satan’s targeted deception,” such as:?

• ?Dwelling of worldliness, “when there should be a thirsty soul seeking to be quenched with the refreshing Word of God, or?
• To profess your faith in Christ with your mouth, but for your actions to contradict Christianity.?

Again, any believer can overcome Satan’s targeted deception against them by doing what they already know to do, by:?

• Walking in the Spirit instead of the flesh or the senses, and?
• By inquiring earnestly of the Lord when they feel confused or uncertain.??

?Because when we don’t do these things, we become a willing “bamboozled participant in our own deception.” The problem with deception is we don’t fully comprehend we’re deceived until the consequences begin to manifest. But there’s purpose in life, and “it’s found in knowing God and keeping His commands.” That’s why Solomon ends his book this way: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of mankind” -Ecclesiastes 12:13.?

Author: Plez Lovelady, Jr., PhD