S6 BONUS 11 | Protecting Yourself from Spiritual Deception
Carla used to be locked in a constant cycle of trauma response. That acute stress response that causes us to either fight, flight, freeze or fawn. There are ways to improve our response to perceived threats in general - and in the midst of an attack.
Hear how Carla has navigated trauma triggers and learn how to implement these strategies in your life too.
Deception in the Church
Carla shares her experience of attending a meeting with an organization that holds different doctrinal beliefs, highlighting the importance of sound doctrine based on the Word of God.
The Role of Scripture
It is paramount to know and understand the Word of God to protect oneself from spiritual deception.
"How to Study the Bible" course - helps listeners become more confident in studying the Bible.
Deception Tactics
The enemy uses half-truths and manipulates the truth to deceive people.
Biblical examples of deception, such as the temptation of Eve and Jesus in the wilderness.
Study the Bible
Read and meditate on the Bible, even if you feel intimidated or overwhelmed.
Don’t forget that the Holy Spirit can help you understand and apply Scripture.
Connect With Carla:
Inquire about 1:1 coaching ---> carlaagreswellness@gmail.com
Join In His Image Wellness Collective ---> carlaargeswellness@gmail.com
Come hangout on IG with me @carlaarges
Check out the blog
TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Carla: Hey friends, welcome to Affirming Truths. I'm your friend and host, Carla Arges. This show is a safe place to share our struggles, grow in faith, and root our identity in Christ. My hope is that you will leave each episode feeling encouraged in your journey. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode and it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review.
[00:00:30] Carla: I am so glad you're here. Let's get started. Hey friends, it's Carla here. Welcome to this week's bonus episode. And I gotta be honest with you, what I'm going to talk about today was absolutely not on my radar to talk about today. I was actually going to talk about friendship breakups and I still will do that in a future bonus episode, but [00:01:00] I had a meeting today.
[00:01:02] Carla: And I left the meeting with my heart so grieved by the blindness and deception that exists in people's life. And I just felt like I really needed to talk on that. I had a meeting and I was surprised that this organization wanted to meet with me, um, because I am very much evangelical Pentecostal. Um. And they are not, which is not a bad thing, right?
[00:01:39] Carla: There is so much more between the denominations that are common ground that we should not let small differences interfere with us working together as a global church. However, the base doctrine has to be sound. It has to [00:02:00] be based on the word of God. If you don't believe that what Christ did on the cross is the full atonement for our sin, that it is through that act of grace alone that we are saved, then you are believing a false doctrine.
[00:02:22] Carla: And that really grieves my heart. It grieves my heart to see people believe something so strongly and be so off base biblically. And it comes down to this. Individuals not really knowing the Word of God themselves, but allowing other people to feed them truth, allowing other people to tell them what is and what isn't, and believing other people rather than searching the Word itself and saying, what does God say?[00:03:00]
[00:03:00] Carla: You know, this morning I was reading in Lamentations, that's the book of the Bible I'm going through right now. And I always post about my Bible study in my Instagram stories. And so this morning, like every other morning, shared my, my Bible study and sort of my one takeaway. And my one takeaway from the section, uh, of my reading today was like, wow, Israel was led astray by false prophets, false prophets that let them believe that their sin was good.
[00:03:33] Carla: And they disregarded the true prophets, the word of God and continued in their sin thinking. That they were okay thinking that they were doing good and what we see happens and their whole reason why there's the book of lamentations is because they are lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem and the carrying away of the Israelites into exile and [00:04:00] into slavery and bondage.
[00:04:03] Carla: You have to know the truth, friends, you have to get into the word of God. And I have never been more convicted than ever to bring to you guys a how to study the Bible course. God has been laying that on my heart and that urge to do it keeps getting stronger and stronger. So I am prioritizing that because friends, you need this, you need to get in the word.
[00:04:27] Carla: Here's the thing, the enemy does not try to deceive you. With the blatant lies, right? We can pick out blatant lies very easily. That's not how he tries to deceive. He tries to deceive through half truths and kind of sort of the right thing. Like, if you look in the Garden of Eden, he said half truth to Eve when he was quoting God.
[00:04:59] Carla: Did [00:05:00] God really say? And he said part of what God said, that you cannot eat. And then he also said touch and added other things to it and kind of twisted God's word. Oh, but you will be. Be made gods if you eat it, right? Tempting that, that part of her that wants to be her own God. The enemy comes in deceptively, even in, in the wilderness.
[00:05:26] Carla: When Jesus was being tempted, the enemy knew scripture. He said scripture back, but out of context and taken wrong to try to manipulate Jesus. And that's what he does to us. He comes dressed as an angel of light. That's why it's dangerous. That's why it's so deceptive. That's why people are being led astray, thinking that they are serving God, but they are not truly serving God because they are [00:06:00] adding.
[00:06:00] Carla: To the doctrine of grace, salvation by grace, because they are adding to the Bible or they are taking away. They're only taking what they like and discarding the rest. This is dangerous. And how are you going to know if something is kind of sorta a truth? Or a half truth or a manipulation of the truth or the truth taken out of context.
[00:06:27] Carla: Your only prote protection from the deception of the enemy is to know truth. And I understand, guys, I've been hearing from you that you guys feel intimidated by the word of God. Do you feel overwhelmed by the word of God? You don't know where to start in the word of God. I hear you and I'm coming with to you with a resource as soon as I can.
[00:06:55] Carla: But in the meantime, do not be deceived. [00:07:00] Your doctrine shouldn't be based on what someone else's interpretation of the scripture is. It should be on your own reading of the scripture and how the Holy Spirit reveals it to you in your heart. That's not saying it's a relative truth. Not at all. Because the Holy Spirit reveals Holy Truth to everyone.
[00:07:25] Carla: It is absolute truth. The, the trick of falling into the trap of relative truth is when you don't know the word of God and you're not firmly rooted in it. My heart was grieved. I had a 20 minute conversation. And this person was so blind to the lies coming out of their mouth. When I walked into this place to have this meeting, I felt the oppression in [00:08:00] the building.
[00:08:01] Carla: I felt the spiritual oppression and my heart broke. My heart broke. There is a mission field that is not being fully touched. Within our own quote unquote religions here. The oppression, the idolatry, it was thick, it was thick. And my heart grieved, my heart grieved, and my heart grieves for you too. If you do not know the word, my heart so passionately wants you to be well fed of the word, to be mature in the word, to have your sword of the spirit, sharp, sharp, and ready to go to have the [00:09:00] helmet of salvation on that protects the mind
[00:09:06] Carla: from God wants you in his word,
[00:09:12] Carla: pick it up one verse at a time. One verse at a time. Lord, I don't know what I'm doing here, but I want to meet you. Holy Spirit, come. Illuminate my understanding. Give me eyes to see. One verse. Meditate on it. Treat it as a breath prayer. Breathe in the scripture. Breathe out the scripture. Meditate on it.
[00:09:45] Carla: Breathe in the verse. Breathe out the verse and meditate on it and let the Holy Spirit move. I think sometimes when we're intimidated or overwhelmed in getting into the Bible, we think that we have to do it [00:10:00] in our own strength. Listen, friend, since you are the living temple of the Holy Spirit, there is nothing that you do in your own strength.
[00:10:09] Carla: The Christian walk is not walked out in our own strength. Sanctification is not walked out in our own strength. It is not my strength, but as he who lives in me, that makes me strong. You do not have to do it on your own. It's not in your human ability to understand. It is not based on your educational background.
[00:10:35] Carla: It is not based on your level of the English language, it is based on the Holy Spirit at work. The Word is alive and living and transformative. It is meat for us. It is living water for us. And I just wanted to express so much the [00:11:00] heart I have for you guys to get into the word. And if you are struggling before I can get this course out to you guys, send me an email.
[00:11:12] Carla: Like let me help you. I have really easy Bible study guides on my website for like five bucks. They're easy. They're meant for beginners. You can do this. You need to do this because the thief is coming dressed as an angel of light to deceive you and lead you astray. If he can get you a quarter inch off the mark, that quarter inch in the long run will take you way off course.
[00:11:50] Carla: Think about a ship steering to his destination. If that ship goes a quarter inch off of its navigation, It will end up in an [00:12:00] entirely different place. You cannot afford to let the enemy get you off. And this isn't meant to scare you, but friends, we are in spiritual battle. We are in spiritual battle. That is the truth.
[00:12:16] Carla: And so you need your, your armor. You need your sword of the spirit. You need to be able to determine false prophets. You need to be able to determine a false. Theology, a false doctrine.
[00:12:37] Carla: I'm getting really choked up here. Anyways, I just really don't want you to be deceived. I don't want you to be blind. I want you to be the bold, fierce daughters of the king that he has created you to be. That he is birthing [00:13:00] you that potential and all that's needed is the Word of God at work in your life through the power of the Holy Spirit.
[00:13:14] Carla: All right, friends, I'll talk to you later.
[00:13:23] Carla: Thanks for joining me today. I hope we're already friends on social media, but if we're not, come find me on Instagram at Carla Arges or at Affirming Truth. Can't wait to see you back here next week. Bye, friends.