All of us at some point in time have been deceived by others. Some of us see through the deception must faster than others, but in the end most will see that they have been deceived. This in turn leads us to not trust anyone.
God tells us not to be deceived:
Galatians 6:7-10 English Standard Version (ESV)
7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
So if we can easily be deceived by other humans, then why would think that we could easily resist the great deceiver, Satan? Some how, we think of Satan as being this weak a feeble entity, but he is anything but.
Satan will deceive us through:
- Twisting the word of God
- Twisting what we hear from others
- Manipulating the truth
- Feeding on our fears
- Enhancing our already incorrect beliefs/thoughts
- Acting like he does not really exist
- Making us apathetic toward what is really important
- Making us angry about the good and right things
- False and empty promises
- Overwhelming us
Understand that Satan has been deceiving mankind since the dawn of time starting with Adam and Eve. When he twisted and manipulated God’s word and convinced Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit.
James gave us the following verse to help us with this issue:
James 4:7 New International Version (NIV)
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Whether you think you are being deceived or not, I urge you to pray to God and ask for Him help. Ask Him to show you how you are being deceived and what you can do to see the truth.