Deception for the Dangerous

Background: After brilliant victory at Ai, Joshua and the Israelites got together and gave glory to the Lord with sacrifices and read the entire commandments God had given Moses(Joshua 8:30-34), thereby renewing their covenant with the Lord, kind of remembering what God had done. Soon after this, in Joshua 9 we see they encountered a strange situation. Deceived by the Gibeonites.
Gibeonites were their neighbours, who had heard about the marvelous things the Lord had done for the Israelites and were afraid(Joshua 9:24-25). Hence they decided to cheat them.

I was browsing through some blogs yesterday and came across one which said "Dear Lord protect me from your followers" I wondered why was a follower of God so feared.

I think its because of the amazing team God and His children, who listen to His voice and obey Him, make. The enemy never wants God's children to win for they are sure we will win if we obey our God's voice. Here's what went wrong with Joshua and the Israelites Joshua 9:14 (Amp Bible) says "So the [Israelite] men partook of their food and did not consult the Lord."

Lesson: How important it is for a believer to listen to the Lord in the midst of battle and enemy territory. We as Christians are in constant battle against the principalities and darkness. Ephesians 6:12 says "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" In the manner the Israelites battled their enemies, we are also in battle, only that our battle is spiritual. It makes it all the more difficult, because we cannot physically see our enemies. When we become absolutely obedient to God's plan for our life, we become dangerous to our enemies. The more dangerous we become to our enemies the more we should stick closer to God, to listen to every strategy, every plan God would have us fulfil so we will never be deceived or defeated. Let's become dangerous, spiritually. Let's become daring in prayer. Let's become daring in preaching the Word of our Living God. Let's become daring to live like Jesus.