We bumped elk as we made our way down the ridge, but the big bull screamed his head off as he moved the herd with total chaos.
“It’s over,” Kevin said, “they are gone.”
“Nope…all a part of the delusion…stay fifty yards in front of me and move forward every time I give you three quick cow calls.” I hissed.
Kevin nodded in agreement, and then moved forward. The game of cat and mouse continued for another three miles. I shook the trees I knew the brute could see, screamed like a testosterone enraged beast, and made every move that a big ole bull would make, until we finally convinced the giant herd bull that we were the only adversary that could take his cows. At first, I only saw the ivory tips of the antlers, but even they told me the deception was complete…he was on his way…and pissed. The slobber that dripped off of his enraged lips told me we sealed the deal, and all that was left was a well-placed arrow from Kevin’s bow. The bull bled out in mere feet and dumped with in ear sight, completing the deception we began to weave from the first bugle.
That same bugle carried intent the second It was blown, but the end came after spent hours and several miles. We were prepared to do what it took to complete the deception and kill that wise ole beast.
Pursuit doesn’t only happen in the material world; it is also a very real thing in the metaphysical realm. There is a being hunting us. He has been sowing deception from our beginning, suggesting choices that would eventually bring to the end to us. The power of suggestion pulled our bull to its death. The first bugle was met with indecision and complacency, but the more I got the bulls ear the less he thought. Lust, Rage, and Prominence grew with every bugle, and estrus buzz I placed in his ear. The devil works in the same way.
His narrative usually places you as the center of the universe... In a world that dulls reality and allows you to live out the deception that will take you to the finishing arrow. John puts it this way… John 8:43-44 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
The Narratives of this world are a part of the death that surrounds the devil. He has the ear of humans and is playing on our rebellion against the truth. He hunts us with these lies … 1 Peter 5:8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. The division, riots, and lies in our world are the fruit of the decision that placed reality in the dark. The devil has been selling us bugles since the first decision we had to make. He is a patient hunter, willing to cross mountains to destroy, but his days are numbered, and his story is falling apart for those willing to go beyond the darkness.
How do we step out of this darkness? Regain reality? Three ways!
1. Do not get consumed by the Narrative: Everyone is trying to make you believe their story…so approach all information with that understanding. Some stories are real, some are lies, but understand that humans are easily manipulated by narratives…we are hard wired for it…as our very existence is captured within a story.
2. Become a Critical Thinker: God tells us to do this. Isa 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together.” He expects us to think critically, but we can’t do that correctly without Him. That’s why He told us to think with Him. Without Him we have no foundation from which to weigh our thoughts. We have no reality from which to draw reason from. We would be left alone thinking meaningless drivel. God is the meaning by his very definition. To be God, means that God is the source of all meaning. The definer of all things, both material and immaterial. We need his mind to even think. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” John 14:6
3. Get Connected: There has to be a source for our thought. No riverbed is a river without water. It may resemble a river, but it lacks the substance that contains life. Humanity is the same. We are just a hint of true human essence without the mind, heart, and Spirit of God in us. The human narrative, that denies God, produces the darkness, death, and decay we see in our world today. No living thing exist without nourishment, material or immaterial. When society severed its roots from God, decided to go at it alone, we cut off the very sustenance of life. If we are ever to bloom again, we have to reconnect. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5. The Good News is we can re connect. God has made a way back, a way of reconciliation. Jesus says,” Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” All you have to do is “Repent and Believe.” Repent means give up your kingship (human autonomy), turn away from the things that aren’t of the true King, and make a decision to follow Him. Belief is the realization and act of knowing that He is the definer of life, and the giving over of your will to His. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15. Life sprouts at the declaration of His kingship and transform into true humanity through His Spiritual Life that gets planted in us, “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ Acts 2:17-21….Connected.
This is the only way out of deception, the only way to true life, and the only way to combat the arrows of the who kills (Eph 6:16). Everything is a narrative, all that’s left is to choose your story… the Glory of truth …or the Damnation of lies.
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