DECEPTION: Leads to Distraction from the Truth (Mind-Related) Deception is Satan’s attempt to get you to THINK contrary to who you are in Christ. At his very nature Satan was created to be a deceiver. He is the father of lies, and has become very experienced and subtle at deceptions of all kinds. His greatest deception is the way he presents his lies to us as our own thoughts. He speaks to us in first person singular, using our catch phrases, our words and expressions. For instance, if we were to have the thought, “Bobby didn’t say ‘hi’ to you this morning, maybe he doesn’t like you anymore,” most of us would be able to at least recognize that it is not our thought. So the enemy has learned to phrase his lies using our language, our own expressions, so we will accept them as ours, swallowing the lie in the words. So the deception becomes, “Bobby didn’t say hi to ME this morning, maybe he doesn’t like ME anymore.” So we begin to think about and judge the situation based on what we think we’re thinking, instead of what the truth is. It’s very subtle, but that’s the way it works. Pretty soon, we’ve entered into it. Cuz we figure, “okay, that’s us. That’s me. I didn’t know I thought that way!” You don’t! That’s the deception. So the enemy’s goal here is to get us to accept his thoughts as ours, and distract us from our focus on Jesus. TEMPTATION: Leads to Betrayal of Your Identity (Will-Related) Temptation is Satan’s attempt to get you to ACT contrary to who you are in Christ. ACCUSATION: Leads to Condemnation (Emotion-Related) Accusation is Satan’s attempt to get you to FEEL contrary to who you are in Christ.