Smoke Screens, Deceptions and Perilous Times - Pt. 2

Smoke Screens, Deceptions, Perilous Times… Part 2
By Tamara “Tami” Blue
5/15/11


Where do I start? I guess to start I will say the intensity of what I am sensing and seeing is getting stronger and more blatant. I am one who always wants to encourage and edify others. I am a friendly, cheerful person for the most part. Yet, there is also a very serious exhorter side of me. I think it’s the part of me that I try to shove down not to appear or sound like a doom & gloom type of person. Through everything I know God is good and will use the bad for ultimate good. We have to remember that His warnings are stern and for our protection and good. My husband and my friends have said I am a “John and or Moses” in many ways; a voice crying out in the wilderness. Although, I’m not sure I quite have the boldness of John. But if you see me out in the desert/wilderness- come on by and give a friendly hug because it can be a very lonely place at times.


A couple of months ago I experienced a very bizarre moment that has not left my mind. I knew in part it was the enemy loud and clear. But I also know that God allowed that moment and is using it to keep me alert.


One Sunday after church a girlfriend and I were taking another close girlfriend out to lunch for her birthday. We went to a local mall and were attempting to find parking in one of the parking garages. My friend was driving and I was in the passenger’s seat. I was flagged down by a smiling woman in an SUV who apparently was getting ready to pull out of a parking spot. I thought it was very gracious of her and told my friend so we backed up and waited for what seemed to take some time for the lady & driver to pull out. The driver was a handsome young man and looked to be in his late teens or early 20’s and the lady passenger I thought was his mother, an older not terribly attractive woman. It appeared as if the driver was being taught to drive and struggled to figure out the vehicle. He finally manages to pull out of the spot but before he made the turn the woman once again flags at us to wait a minute. So we wait wondering why? Suddenly, the woman grabs the young man’s face and plants the longest most disgusting mouthful kiss on him right in front of us. A shock & awe type moment. She then waves a “goodbye” at us with a huge smile of satisfaction and off they went. To say we were stunned would not even adequately describe the myriad of thoughts going through our minds. And yes, we were utterly speechless, shaking our heads in bewilderment at what we just experienced. It had to be one of the oddest, most bizarre moments any of us had ever experienced. And all I could think was “why us??” It was bizarre, ugly and boldly blatant. And yet, I felt the Holy Spirit of God speaking to my spirit- “Remember this moment, because this is how the enemy will operate in the times to come”.


As I was just writing I felt led to look up the meaning of the restaurant we went to eat at (all agreeing in unison without first knowing that is where we all felt led to eat at). We ate at “Claim Jumper”. We know that “claim jumper” has to do with the Gold Rush. Yet, the dictionary definition is very interesting: 1) One who illegally occupies property to which another has a legal claim. 2) One who wrongfully or illegally seizes and holds the place of another. Wow… some interesting revelation there to ponder in regards the enemy of God and His children within the Church.


Three things have been very loud and repetitive in my spirit “Eyes & ears wide open, STAND, and Taste and see (that our eyes may be enlightened)”. This past week over and over again it has been “STAND!”.


I have experienced things in life that have created an alert system within me. I do believe that anything bad that we may have experienced God can and will use for our good and the good of others through us. And right now I can see some things filtering into the church at this moment and in the times to come. The free’er a church is the more prone to wrong spirits coming to seek to play and or fit in so to speak. I love the freedom within some of the churches around- it’s amazing and refreshing to see a joyful people, loving God, loving His presence and saturated in His goodness and striving in love for one another. But, there are as within life- those fine lines that we need to be aware of as not to cross, sometimes they are hard to decipher. We have to balance our freedom with sound doctrine, sound teaching and a sound lifestyle. We also need to constantly have eyes wide open to see and perceive the times we are in. We cannot constantly be in party mode with Jesus unfortunately. Man, oh man (or Jesus, oh Jesus) how I want to be and look forward to the day when we can be. But right now, we live in a very fallen world and there is negative stimuli everywhere; on our streets, in our schools, on television & radio, computer & video games… everywhere. There are ways, belief systems and negative forces all around us. The church is not exempt from these forces infiltrating. If we are not aware, discerning, watchful and careful we can fall prey without even realizing it. Our eyes, ears and discernment will grow dull if we do not stay alert and aware of what to watch for.


Father God spoke the following statements to Israel. The statements spoken are harsh rebukes but words of wisdom for us to help us along the path of this life lived in Christ Jesus:

“Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the LORD had commanded them. Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs. They worshipped their idols, which led to their downfall.” ~Psalm 106:34-36 NLT


“Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD! For the LORD has rejected his people, the descendants of Jacob, because they have filled their land with practices from the East and with sorcerers, as the Philistines do. They have made alliances with pagans.” ~Isaiah 2:5-6


“The enemy has plundered her completely, taking every precious thing she owns. She has seen foreigners violate her sacred Temple, the place the LORD had forbidden them to enter.” ~Lamentations 1:10
*Context: The Babylonians stripped the temple of all its pleasant things, or ornaments. Jerusalem felt like a woman who had been ravished and robbed when the pagans entered the sacred temple.

“Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples (foreign alliances and assimilating other cultural beliefs); Ephraim is a cake unturned. Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it; yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he does not know it. And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, but they do not turn to the LORD their God, nor seek Him for all this.” ~Hosea 7:8-10

I was raised in a family with a Grandmother and Aunt who were/are very interested and involved in the New Age, in Horoscopes (or as I like to refer to them “horror-scopes”), Meditations-chanting, Shirley McClain, etc… On the surface it seemed harmless though something inside of me (Jesus) always questioned it and felt something off/wrong about it.


My Grandma has always been one of the most beautiful women to me that I will ever know. I truly feel my Grandma was innocently naïve to her involvement in the New Age. She was raised in the Church, taught Sunday School and led women’s ministry (though I did not know this until 11 years ago). She saw the gifts the Lord had placed in me but she referred to them in New Age terms. She would often come to me asking me for insight, discernment to a situation and or people, what my “intuition” was telling me. She referred to me as “Psychic” and though she was trying to compliment me and edify the gifts within me, I always cringed when she would say that about me. Before I had an understanding of the prophetic, before I had a firm foundation in Christ somehow I knew to tell her “Grandma, psychics seek to profit from the information they give and I don’t believe in that. What I have is from God for His use, when He determines- not just something I can conjure up.” Though discernment has always come easily to me, it’s been a very needed over the years because of the traumatic childhood I experienced and the negative atmosphere that was constantly around me. It has been a gift of protection from potential worse situations, people…


My older half-Brother and Sister were raised by a mother who was a head leader within a cult. My younger brother followed an Eastern Indian Guru/cult leader for several years and though realized it was the wrong path for his life is still involved in many New Age beliefs & pursuits. My older Sister has shared with me about the bizarre lifestyle and beliefs they were raised in (she has a very strong distaste to what she was raised in and for good reason). Because of this, I have a knowledge that a lot of people within the church may not have or even be aware of. I first accepted Jesus at the age of 4 and truly, I kept Him within my heart always asking “well, what about Jesus?” when other things were presented to me. Through it all, I held on to my Jesus and came to know His truths, God’s truths via His Word and an ever growing relationship with Him. I am always seeking to make sure that what I get involved in spiritually has a proven biblical/Godly base.


In part, I am a revivalist with a shout in my spirit- “WAKE-UP!” I do not believe our gifts and things God has called us to are not limited to just one thing alone, they can be several things with one dominant aspect or several working together in unison. Regardless, these are truly perilous times, the earth groans and waits in eager expectation for the glorious appearing of our Lord, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:23-25). Wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famine, plagues, pestilence (Matthew 24-25)… and false teachers performing false signs, wonders and miracles are all over and among us, even within the Church! Jesus did not fellowship with such people but rather, rebuked them and or cast the demons out of them. We do not know the day, time, hour but we know time is only ramping to culmination. The Word of God says that in these times- even the elect will be misled, led astray by false prophets, false teachers, and wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15-22; 2 Thessalonians 2; 1 Timothy 4:1-5).


We cannot skip over these verses within the Bible; we must keep them near to us at all times. They are the fine lines that we need to be aware of that are meant to keep us alert and safe. We must STAND on and in God’s truth and not give way to false truths that seek to filter (infiltrate) into our congregations. We need to be aware of alliances, cultural belief systems, other religious views, cults, false teachings and not align ourselves with them. We need to research, test and seek the Bible regarding anything that is “New” that we’ve not heard of, even the things that are seemingly innocent and have a “Biblical” appearance. Be careful, very careful!


Going back to that woman and that young man… We were in need of a parking spot, God knew this but so did our adversary and he used that moment to utterly bewilder us in a moment of shock. We had no choice but to watch- it was a split second but a moment that seemed to have us stopped in time. It was right in front of our faces, it was blatant and it was unbelievably ugly, not to mention unwarranted. We will see (with eyes wide open) the similar (different scenarios yet similar shock, awe and ugliness) happen within the Church. Or may even have a smoke screen affect and by the time we realize what has happened it could be too late, recourse difficult. The word “smoke screen” in the dictionary means: 1) A mass of dense artificial smoke used to conceal military areas or operations from the enemy [or the saints]. 2) An action or statement used to conceal actual plans or intentions. 3) An action intended to conceal or confuse or obscure. 4) The activity of keeping something secret.


If we are not strong in the Word of God, we will likely not even be aware of the depth of deception filtering in. Even in things that appear to be of the Bible- remember there are people out there who are led by demons, they appear to be Christian, they use all the right terminology, wear the right gear, say the right things, worship in a way that appears to be to God, they may appear well learned in the Bible and even have credentials but underneath the façade/the sheep’s coat may be a person sent by our adversary to bring harm. Are you alert to some of the signs to watch for?


A friend wrote this statement: “Any psychology [thought, way, belief, new yet, old practice] that is against the Bible should not be thought of as truth by any God fearing person. The devil is full of ½ truths. Only God’s Word has true balance because to God a false balance is an abomination.” Some have said to me- “Oh, you have to take the good with the bad”, I say to that: we make choices to stand for good or for bad- we cannot have one leg on one side of the fence and one on the other. We must choose. You either stand for good or you stand for bad. To stand and put up with both is not of God. The Bible is written in black & red- powerful and to the point no shades of gray.


Be careful, be alert, eyes & ears wide open, stand strong on and in God’s Word. God tests our hearts to know if we truly believe in Him, He knows our thoughts and our motives. He is our example, our Teacher, and most of all our Heavenly Father who desires that none should perish. He lays out how some will fall away and perish, even those who were once strong in the Lord. He has shown us what to watch for and the leading up to His coming. May He find us alert, lamps trimmed and ready for His glorious appearing!


I pray that God would bless you and keep you; may His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you and may He keep you in perfect peace. May your walk be filled and empowered by Holy Spirit given wisdom, understanding, counsel, might and fear of the Lord. May your joy be full in Him! In Jesus Christ’s name (the name that is above all names) - AMEN!