LOOK FOR THE HOOK
How does Satan allure you? The word "allure" means "to attract with something desirable." No successful fisherman fishes without bait. The bait covers the hook.
Look at Psalm 5:9, NLT: "My enemies cannot speak a truthful word. Their deepest desire is to destroy others. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with flattery."
The bait on the hook is flattery. Satan whispers in your ear, "You deserve this. You've worked hard and you deserve this. You've earned a reward. This will feel good. You deserve it. Taste and see for yourself."
Look for the hook! The word "allure" sounds a lot like "a lure." Satan only has two tools, a lie and a counterfeit. A fishing lure is designed to be "fake food" that mimics the appearance of genuine food. Its sole purpose is to attract and then to ensnare.
The instant you take the bait, what you receive is the hook. It's called "bait and switch." You are ensnared by guilt, shame, disappointment, and addiction. You are another victim who has been lured and captured by someone whose "deepest desire is to destroy you." He entices you with flattery for the sole purpose of destroying you. You fell for the lie, you took the bait of Satan.
If you have any addictive behavior or disabling emotions, you can be certain you have listened to the flattery, believed the lie, and taken the bait of the one whose deepest desire is to destroy you. His sweet smelling flattery immediately turns into the foul stench of an open grave. John 10:10a, NLT says, "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy."
You are powerless to free yourself. Willpower will never free you. Only Jesus can do that. He will. Psalm 124:6-8, NLT says, "Praise the LORD, who did not let their teeth tear us apart! We escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap. The trap is broken and we are free! Our help is from the LORD, who made heaven and earth." John 8:36 says, "So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free."
Satan, your predatory enemy, "cannot speak a truthful word." He flatters you and lures you to "taste and see for yourself." He is fishing with a counterfeit, an inedible, artificial bait designed to look like real food. Jesus offers real food and lasting satisfaction. He, too, says, "Taste and see." But He says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). He says, "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life" (John 10:10, NLT).
Do you want the truth or the lie, the real thing or the counterfeit? How do you tell the difference? In today's Satanically inspired lie-filled age, truthtelling has been substituted for "fact-checking" which is actually a bigger lie which becomes truth-censorship. How perverted is that? Everything does desperately need to be fact checked. You don't fact check from the liar himself. Do you ask a scam artist if you can trust him? There are only two sources of accurate fact checking--the Word of God and the internal witness of the Spirit of God. Look for the hook!
