Being deceived, (or in deep confusion) and ‘in the dark’, not knowing in which direction you are headed...can be a horrific place of torment to find yourself in; trust me...I’ve been in such places on more than one occasion.

Years ago, I read an article about something that pilots have been known to experience called ‘spatial disorientation’. This phenomenon occurs when they are flying ‘blind’, maybe in heavy fog or cloud cover, and their body misperceives its position and motion relative to the earth, conflicting with their instrument panel on the plane. The lack of visual references messes with their sensory inputs, like the inner ear, and gives false sensations often leading to fatal accidents.

In other words, when they couldn’t see clearly, they ‘trusted their gut’ despite what the facts on their instrument panel were telling them...and they crashed into the side of a mountain or the ground, ending their life in a burst of flames.

Many deceived people today...are heading for that ‘mountainside’ when it comes to their eternal destiny as they trust in false teachings that have led many astray. They have trusted in their ‘doctrines’ and what the many ‘good people’ around them have told them...despite reading the contrary in their own Bibles. (Jer. 23:16-20). You don’t think those people in Matt. 7:21-23 discovered in the end that they too...were suffering from a form of ‘spiritual spatial disorientation’ when they heard the Lord tell them...’depart from Me, you who continue to practice sin’?

As the writer of Proverbs reminds us- ‘there is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof leads to death’. (Proverbs 14:12). The good news is this: Jesus came to ‘show us the way’...and He IS...the Way! (John 14:5-6). And there is more to it than just ‘saying Lord, Lord’! (Matt. 7:21)

I remember years ago, when God was first trying to get my attention on matters in which I have expounded upon here for the past 5 years. Trust me...He’s been trying for a long time to get me to the place where I am today, and I don’t advise taking the long scenic route like I did; much too costly and painful. But I had just come out of one of those ‘dark cloudy seasons’ early on in my spiritual walk of faith, and was trying to find my bearings; long story. I had been invited to attend a meeting in town where a guest speaker was doing some teaching and I will never, ever...forget that first evening session.

We were sitting up close to the front and I had my Bible opened on my lap, as we had been advised to do. The best way to explain what transpired that week (we were in sessions every night for 2-3 hours) and it was like having a ‘jack-hammer’ breaking up all the hard, fallow ground of my heart, with that jack-hammer being ...the word of God. And for the sake of this lesson today, think of God’s word being that ‘instrument panel’ on the plane I was referring to earlier. It was two passages in particular that were like red warning lights that went off inside of me when my eyes fell upon these verses. The first one was found in Galatians 5:24, and I will quote from the NIV because that was the version I was using at the time.

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” ‘Crucified’ meaning of course... having ‘put to death’. What also stood out to me was the fact this was inferring ‘past tense’. Those who belong to Jesus ‘have done’ this already- put that nature to death’. When I heard that read aloud and saw with my own eyes what was laying there before me in my own Bible...I didn’t even want to look up.

(This is about the time now where you might hear a little voice whisper-“But you were still ‘saved’, though”). May I advise you to resist that voice right now in Jesus name, and allow the Holy Spirit to continue sharing some truth with you here, please?

We were then directed back a few verses where Paul gives a lengthy list as to what many of those ‘fleshly passions and desires’ look/sound like in vs. 19-21, with the emphasis on: “I am telling you again...those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

The next passage I remember being directed to was in Ephesians 5:5-6, again, from the NIV-

“For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.”

Can I just tell you it was like reading that for the very first time...and it was a slap to my face and perception of ‘reality’...because none of that ‘fit’...with what I had been taught to believe, early on. Talk about the ‘instrument panel’ screaming one thing at me, but everything within me was telling me...”but that can’t mean what it says!” And yet, somehow, by the grace of God...some ‘good seed’ was implanted deep in my spirit that week, and finally...just a few short years ago...God had me in a place where He ...could begin to speak to me and cultivate some fruit in my life and teach me what it means to truly ‘abide in Him’. It just shames me that it took so long to get here. And please don’t interpret that where I am suggesting I ‘have arrived’.

I often refer you here to 2 Cor. 11:3-4, where Paul expressed concerns of the plethora of ‘gospels’ that would arrive on the scene and would lead many astray, just as Eve was deceived by the serpent. We all know how that played out. God gave a very specific word of instruction and warning in Gen. 2:17. And the very first thing the serpent did was cast doubt...confusion...and skepticism on what God said, before he turned it completely around to say just the opposite: ‘You surely shall not die!” (Gen. 3:4)

He still does that today, and God is once again...trying to awaken a sleeping and deceived church to wake up...before it is too late. So that verse in Romans 8:13...where Paul cautions us by saying...”If you continue to live according to the flesh...you will die...” – Yeah, that’s your instrument panel and you better sit up and give it another look, quickly.  And don't forget...the 'fear of the Lord' is not a 'bad thing' at all to be acquainted with; in fact...it is the beginning of both wisdom and knowledge. (Prov. 1:7; 9:10)