Disguise

In the last few days, words that tried to twist the core beliefs and values of my Christian Faith came to me, as advices. These words were like gifts in boxes. When the first box opened, it revealed words that said Christianity is a “white-man’s religion” and as an African, I do not have any business with Christianity. The second box carried words that tried to show how Christianity and other religions are the different tools that have created division in humanity. The third box was quite interesting. It carried words that believed that every “good man” is a Christian, because good is what Jesus is all about. As I opened these boxes of advice, I couldn’t help but smile. I smiled because, even if I know and understand better, it was surprising how these words were beautiful and appealing…like actual gifts.

The Walk

Christianity is “the walk with Jesus.” This walk is more spiritual than physical. Every day, we are on the move. As we move and keep moving, the Holy Spirit is leading us. That explains why the Bible says “…those that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24). In this walk with Jesus, without the leading and enablement of the Holy Spirit, the devil can easily toil with you. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, you cannot identify the devil’s deceits that are in golden boxes tied with silky shimmering ribbons. Without the Holy Spirit you can easily fall for the devil’s deceptive gifts.

The devil is very subtle and he masquerades as an angel of light and righteousness

The devil is a deceptive being. He is very crafty. In fact, he is craftiness. If he creates a fake Naira, it will be difficult for the Central Bank of Nigeria to discover that the Naira is fake. The citizens of Nigeria wouldn’t know the Naira is fake either. The fake Naira will look like the original ones. That is how good the devil can be at being and doing what he can only be and do—bad. Now, this same devil and his little demons masquerade as angels of light and righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). It means they can look exactly like angels of light, and act righteously…even when they aren’t. Let me give another example, to help us understand better.

Let’s say light looks like L.

If the devil decides to disguise himself as light, he’ll show up looking like L.

Same shape as the original light, same size and same colour. How then can we identify which one is the original and which one is the fake? Well, from my explanation, it is easy for you to say that the second big, bold L is what is representing how the devil impersonates. But, if I hadn’t associated the second L to the devil and just wrote, L, L, and then say, “You see these two Ls, one is the original and the other is fake. Now identify the fake.” How can you separate the fake from the original? Well, that’ll be a difficult one for you.

The devil will not always show up as “devil”

There are things that carry the devil’s signature all over them, like the devil is saying, “Hey everyone, I am the devil, and these are my demons. You see this chaos right here, we did that.” However, the devil and his little demons aren’t always bold and open like that. They have different ways to operate, and one of those ways is masquerading as angels of light and righteousness. Humans can hardly recognize them when they come in this disguise. The only help of humans is the Holy Spirit. It is only through the enablement of the Holy Spirit that a man can recognize the devil and his demons when they are masquerading as angels of light and righteousness. If you don’t have a personal, constant relationship with the Holy spirit, if you’re not able to understand the leadings of the Holy Spirit, how will you recognize when the devil disguises himself as an angel of light?

It isn’t about igniting fear

This isn’t one of those things that are said to get people scared. Someone might be reading this and might think I am just trying to scare people, but I am not. This right here is the reason why so many Christians are confused about simple biblical principles. We read the Bible in the flesh, interpret with our human senses and then willingly support ideologies that are inspired by the devil. We read several things online, and ask, “What should we believe now?” We can’t decipher when the devil is behind something. We don’t know what we shouldn’t criticize and what we should. We believe because it is worth saying, everywhere, every place and everyone is right. We don’t believe that the Holy Spirit can restraint us from doing something that looks reasonable. We don’t understand that God can call someone to a unique level of consecration, so when we “okay” a thing and that someone says he or she can’t do that, we accuse them of representing God wrongly.

Look at Bible characters…look at them closely

In the Bible, everyone who had a personal walk with God heard God, continuously. In Acts 16, the Holy Spirit didn’t allow Paul and Silas go into Asia. They tried to enter Bithynia; again, the Holy Spirit didn’t allow them. Their mission was to preach the gospel, so why was the Holy Spirit restraining them? Well, the Holy Spirit knows best. The Holy Spirit led them to Macedonia instead. While in Macedonia, they met a demon-possessed girl who was saying the truth about them, but the truth was coming from a demon, and of course, it was distracting to Paul. Paul, sensing it, asked the demon to come out of the girl. In our day and age, some of us believers will say, “But she’s correct…why was Paul angry?” Well, Correct doesn’t always mean God. Good + Good + More Good don’t always = God.

As a Christian, you can’t afford to do the walk with Jesus without the Holy Spirit

Your senses can’t be your guide. The devil knows you’re a Christian. The devil knows you know what his personal signature looks like. He can’t always bring you things that has his signature all over it. Sometimes, when he comes to you, he’ll disguise himself as an angel of light and righteousness, because he knows that’s what you can easily fall for, if you’re not sensitive to the Holy Spirit. You can’t keep being his prey. You can’t. Walking in the Spirit isn’t hard. Just make it a habit to spend time with Jesus daily. Read your Bible daily and pray daily. The more you spend time in the place of prayers and Bible study, the more you’re sensitive to the Holy Spirit. It is that simple. You can do it.

Trust me, the devil will make you believe you don’t have time for prayer and study, but you know how you’ll know he’s lying? Ask him, why do I have time to do things like working, going on Instagram and Facebook, chatting with friends, watching movies…but never have time to spend in prayers and Bible study? To think that the walk with Jesus is number one in our lives.

My prayer for you and me:

May we always desire to spend time with Jesus. May our spiritual senses come alive, like never before. May our lives never remain the same. Amen

Get in the Gym,

Stay Spiritually Fit.