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WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life. AN INVITATION TO YOU: To subscribe to this blog, click here.  To subscribe to this podcast, click here. If this blog and podcast have blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! Be sure to check out our Featured Book of the Week at the end of this post. ______________________________________ Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today's blog post on podcast. https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/WWW_03_29_21_Are_You_Being_Deceived_.mp3 ______________________________________ Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is March 29, 2021, and this is Episode #8 of Series 2021. This episode is titled "Are You Being Deceived?" _______________________________ Nearly every day someone says to me, "I'm so confused. I don't know whom or what to believe any more." Does this sound like you? If so, then listen up. Deception is rampant today and is destroying many people. What is deception? Deception is believing that something false is true or that something true is false. The Greek word meaning deception is the same word used to mean roaming or wandering around. This Greek definition implies that a deceived person has gone off course from the truth and is wandering around. Deception occurs through seduction. One is seduced--or drawn away from the truth--through deception. The dangerous thing about deception is that the deceived person does not know he is deceived. If he did know he was deceived, he would no longer be deceived. In other words, deception hides itself from its victim. Deception takes a truth and manipulates it by taking something away from it or by adding something to it. The result is a falsehood that sounds true or logical or even loving. But it is false, nonetheless. When we believe that something false is true, we fall into bondage. Deception carries within it a hook that catches us when we believe the deception. This hook is one of the ways Satan draws us from truth. The Bible warns us in several places not to be deceived. One such major warning given by Jesus Himself is found in Matthew 24: 3-13. In this passage, the disciples asked Jesus what would be the signs of the end times. Let's listen in on this conversation. and hear how Jesus replied to the disciples' questions: "While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. 'Tell us,' they said, 'when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?' Jesus answered, 'See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains." I find it extremely significant that the first sign Jesus gave as to what would signal the last days was the sign of deception. Now, in order to be theologically balanced, what Jesus described in Matthew 24 are events that have happened throughout history. There have been wars and rumors of wars throughout history. There have been nations rising against nations throughout history. There have been famines and earthquakes throughout history. There has been deception throughout history. But, what is different about our day is that all of these things that Jesus mentioned are converging. In other words, they are all happening with greater and greate...