THOSE DEVILISH DETOURS

I remember watching Saturday morning cartoons, and I recall when one character wanted to pull a fast one on another, they would take a detour sign that was meant to keep people off a closed road that ended abruptly at a cliff face and turn it away from the safe road towards this danger.

Satan does this same thing; the LORD intends for us to walk the "old paths" (JERE 6:16) - the safe paths of blessing and safety by following Him and His truth, wisdom and grace, but the devil will do all he can to detour us away from these pathways of peace and life (PSALM 16:11), these roads of righteousness; to lead us away from them and into peril and ruin instead.

And he is very subtle about his methods, using all of his wiles and craftiness to dissuade us from the LORD and His ways and bring us to danger and destruction. So what are some of these detours?

What about the detour of doubt? As in doubting GOD's Word; of doubting GOD's heart? The enemy will feed us lies and starve us of truth; and a lie can be as powerful as the truth, IF it is believed!

When the devil confronted Eve and tempted her to partake of the forbidden fruit, she examined this fruit up close and saw that it was good, pleasant to the eyes (GEN 3:6) but that the other fruit wasn't all that different from the other trees which also were pleasant to the eyes and good for food (GEN 2:9). To a rational mind, why should the fruit of this one tree be any different than the fruit from all the other trees? That tiny seed of doubt never stays tiny. If given the fertile soil of suspicion, questioning the integrity of GOD's truth, it will grow and blossom and bear baneful fruit! This devilish detour wrought the destruction of the entire human race, leading us all as a species into perdition.
Why would we doubt the One Person in or out of this universe Who is the very embodiment of truth? This One, the LORD God, that is actually incapable of telling a lie?

DEUT 32:4He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
PSALM 31:4-6 4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength. 5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. 6 I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the Lord.

JAMES 1:17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

And rather believe the whisperings of the devil who is a murderer and the father of lies?!

JOHN 8:44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Doubt can derail our walk of faith faster than anything, because our faith is based solely on truth - not our feelings, ideas, beliefs or circumstances all of these things can fail us, but the truth of GOD endures forever (PSALM 100:5) and if we doubt the truth of GOD, there is no other recourse for our faith! If we have truth as the foundation of our faith then everything can fail us, but we will remain standing strong because of our trust in GOD's Word!

PSALM 18:30As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
PSALM 56:4In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
PROV 3:5Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
PROV 30:5Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

Saturating our lives with all of the truth of GOD's Word, and applying it to our daily living is the sure way to be inoculated from iniquity and doubt and disbelief (PSALM 119:11). We need not fear being detoured by the devil if we do this!

And the detour of distraction, where our lives get so busy and cluttered that we forget to focus on the LORD and get caught, snared in these nets that hinder us (2 TIM 2:26) from moving forward in GOD's direction for our lives?

I find it ironic, what with all of our modern appliances like washing machines, dishwashers and other automated devices that save us time, we as a society are so driven, so fast-paced, so chronically short on time, that we seldom find time for sitting quietly and reverently with the LORD in worship and prayer. We have so many things that holler for our attention, and while we have every intention of making time for the LORD, those niggling, whispery thoughts plague us, detouring us from a whole-hearted focus on the LORD, His heart, His Word for us. 

I love the old expression by S.D. Gordon:

“You can do more than pray after you have prayed but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”

 "Neglect of private prayer is the locust that devours the strength of the church" ~ Charles Spurgeon

And here is one that is anonymous:

"If you only pray when you're in trouble, then you're in trouble!"

The devil wants our lives to be unfruitful, unproductive in any endeavor we might engage in for the purpose of furthering the kingdom of GOD. He understands that to obtain that objective, he must keep us distracted, on the go, always moving, seldom or better yet, never thinking, much less meditating on the LORD and His Word, on spending that hour in prayer, of communing with the LORD on a daily basis. He wants us involved in practices and time-consuming hobbies and activities that will yield nothing for the Kingdom and receive no commendation from our LORD. Saints, may we pray for some blessed pruning and see what needs to be cut out of our lives, so that we may focus better on those things that count for eternity!

Saints, we cannot hope to accomplish any more for GOD's Kingdom if we don't spend crucial time with the King than the disciples could feed the multitudes if they first didn't spend that necessary time in bringing the meager provision of bread and fish, and then receiving from Him those miraculously multiplying materials of meal to feed those thousands of hungry people!

Martha is a prime example of a distracted disciple, who for all her concerns in ministry, preparing a meal for the LORD, was missing out on "that better part" that her sister Mary was partaking of: sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning of Him (LUKE 10:40-42)! It's a spiritual truth that the LORD's work in our hearts and lives is more important than any work we might seek to accomplish in His name; in fact it's not until He has affected our hearts, as we abide in Him (JOHN 15:1-5), that we can even work any good works He has ordained for us with any measure of blessing and success (EPH 2:10)! 
Yes, even ministry can be a distraction if this, rather than the LORD Himself is our focus!
He is and must always be our highest priority - bar none!
For more on this, see the TTUF article by Anne Kisly:

The Priority of GOD's WORD

As pastor Sonny of our fellowship The ETERNAL LIVING WORD Church has been fond of saying, "Let us be intentional about the time we spend with the LORD" - make it a point, to make appointments with the LORD, and keep them (and don't keep the Holy Ghost waiting)!

Speaking of Sonny Islas, here is a great 7 Part series he taught that we all need to heed:

HINDERED PRAYER (the obstacles that will hinder our prayers being heard and answered)

What about the detour worry and fear? Did you know that the old English meaning of 'worry' was to torture? The enemy wants us traveling the tour of torture, rather than abiding in the peace that GOD provides for us.

Though we don't mean to, when we worry, what we are saying is that our trust in the LORD is not complete, not fulsome, not wholly surrendered in sweet abandon, and again, this stems from doubt in the LORD and His Word. Worry is a sin, because it's the emotional expression of disbelief. 
No doubt, the father of the demoniac son was extremely worried over the lad and when he brought him to the disciples, they could do nothing for them. IT was then that the LORD came down from that mountain of transfiguration where Peter, James and John witnessed Him in His glory.
When the LORD learned that the disciples were unable to cast out the demon, He became frustrated at their doubts. He then inquired of the father about this poor, possessed young man and it's then that the father expressed his own doubts in that tiny little word: "if":

MARK 9:22
22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

To which the LORD responded with an "if" of His own:

MARK 9:23
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

And notice what this distraught father said in return:

MARK 9:24
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

That this father confessed his unbelief would cause some to think there was nothing that the LORD could do for him, but that's not what we see here. Though the father is worried, though he is fearful concerning the welfare of his tortured son, he does have a measure of faith, perhaps such small amount as a mustard seed. Yet even that little amount of faith, in our Almighty GOD, is enough to move mountains (MATT 17:20)! See here, that it's not our faith, but Who is it we place our faith in, that get's things done.

And the LORD's actions after the father pleads with Him is most telling: He casts out this demon that has caused the poor lad to be both deaf and mute (a condition that the Jewish exorcists could not cure, for in order to exorcise demons, they would demand the spirit to name themselves, and then command them by name to come out. A demon that caused people to be mute couldn't obviously speak the name of the demon controlling them. It was understood that the Messiah would be able to cast out such demons as this and would be a sign that He is the Son of David, the true Messiah; see ISAIAH 35:5-7; MATT 12:22-24). But suddenly the young man falls down, as if dead! This is the moment of truth, the tipping point where this man's faith would either victor or be vanquished! Then the LORD, with His holy hand, takes hold of the lad, lifts him up, and he is liberated by the unholy and oppressive slavery to Satan!

As we grow in our relationship with the LORD, and understand to greater and deeper depths His love and His power, we will come to fear less, and become fearless no matter what life may throw at us (with the understanding that any hardships, trials, struggles, temptations that come our way must first cross the LORD's desk where He will stamp 'approved' if it's something He ordains for our lives, that will lead, if we yield to Him, to purification, to greater insights into the LORD's character, and experience that will lend hope sufficient for further trials down the road of life as well as reveal His great love for us!).

1 JOHN 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

There is nothing so brave as a trusting, loving heart for the LORD that declares "No matter what happens LORD, I will trust You, I will love You, because of Your love and care for me!"

JOB 13:15
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

And there is the detour of discouragement - and in these days, with all that's going on, not just in the world, but even in the church, where we see little if any genuine interest in growing in our knowledge of the LORD and His grace and truth.

We can sometimes in our efforts to declare truth to this Christ-rejecting world, or encourage saints in the church to holiness and truth find an apathy or even ridicule from either that leads us to surrender, to discouragement and feelings of futility. I recently had a blessed phone conversation with a beloved brother and we talked about this very issue. And it's one thing to find darkness in the world, but in the church of the LORD Jesus Christ, Who Himself declared that we are "the light of the world" (MATT 5:14)!? We see such darkness in the perilous provision of false doctrines, promoted by authors on 'Christian' best-seller lists. Such books as The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn, the Circle Maker by Mark Batterson, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen, Box of  Butterflies by Roma Downey, The Shack by William P. Young and too, too many others that are flooding the church!

The bizarre practices and beliefs of such 'churches' as Bethel Fellowship and the ministry of IHOP. And rather than fizzling out and disappearing, these doctrinally flawed fellowships are becoming models for other churches to follow - straight into perdition!
For more on this, check out these Facebook videos and articles that expose false teachers by name:

A TTUF CALL on APOSTASY: TIME to NAME NAMES

We see such things as women boldly and proudly shouting out their abortions while barrels full of babies overflow with condemning carnage; Satanic statues and churches are springing up across the nations; legitimization of 'Christian witches' and story time by cross-dressing transgenders and pedophiles making inch by inch headway in being accepted by our American society as a perfectly normal 'expression of beliefs and love.

It's more than evident that iniquity ("lawlessness" as in rebellion against the truth of GOD) is flourishing and acceptance of truth as even a concept is being ridiculed, how much more the very truth of GOD's Word!

Obviously such lawlessness tends to bring the love that professors of faith to cool (MATT 24:12) and lose the zeal and fervency that is the birth right of every born again believer in Christ! For more on this check out this article: Are You On F.I.R.E. for the LORD?

This is why we must seek godly fellowship among the saints!

HEBREWS 10:22-25
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

There needs to be some holy, righteous "provoking" among the saints - to love the LORD, to love one another and encourage each other towards a yielded and trusting heart in allowing Him to work those "good works" in us that He desires to see come to fruition in our lives. We are called to "exhort one another" as we see the Day of our Homecoming approaching; and I'll tell you saints something: 

The devil ALSO SEES THIS DAY APPROACHING and desires to detour as many of us away from the LORD's will as he possibly can. For if we are centered solely on the LORD, without doubts, without distractions, without worry and fear, without discouragement, then we will be most effective in working in His kingdom and deliver lost souls from the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of GOD's dear Son (COL 1:13)! 
Satan understands that he is in the end game, and I believe he knows his ultimate effort in this war has been utterly lost at the Cross of Christ (COL 2:15)! But that he desires to hurt GOD's heart the deepest way that he knows how, by deceiving souls and ensure their damnation - these souls He bled for, and to compromise Christ's disciples by indulging in carnal living as a result of following these devilish detours!

There is only one path to life, the LORD Jesus Christ, and yet there are multitudes of wayfaring ways that lead to wickedness - and it's all too easy for the undiscerning and the careless to lose their way and at times, finding the way back can be an even greater challenge!

May we determine in our hearts beloved, that no matter what may assail us, in any attempt by the enemy to detour us by these and other many othermethods, we will love the LORD, we will serve Him and His saints and we shall remain, by the grace of GOD, faithful on the road of HIS Righteousness, to stay the course and allow no deviations by the devil! We don't want to receive a rebuke from the LORD, but commendation for being a faithful servant; let us learn the lesson of wayward Israel that the LORD had to rebuke, because they failed to stay on the "old path of righteousness"!

JEREMIAH 6:11-19
11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord. 13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. 14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. 16 Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. 17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. 18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. 19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
AMEN.

Yours in the battle,

brother James