This World is an Illusion

I've often felt that this world was nothing more then an elaborate illusion that Satan has painted for us. As we read and study God's Word, applying it to our lives, that becomes more and more clear to us. I believe that's one big reason the Lord tells us to take our thoughts captive and replace them with His Truth, and why He says to live by faith and not by sight. I've found that the longer I've taken my thoughts captive and replaced them, the more I'm able to see through the illusion to the Truth behind it. And the Truth is nothing like what we see, hear, and feel! In fact, it's often the opposite.

As God's Word saturates our minds and renews them, we begin to see things as they really are. It reminds me of the story of Elisha and his servant in 2 Kings 6:16–17. They were surrounded by enemies and about to be attacked and his servant was panicking. Elisha prayed that God would open his servants eyes so he'd see things as they truly were and when God did, his servant saw that their enemies were the ones that were surrounded -surrounded by an uncountable number of God's Warrior angels! We usually focus on the miracle of God opening the servants eyes, but I wanted to know how Elisha already knew. Why were his eyes already open?

It's not hard to discover that answer. He saw things as they really were, or at least a lot closer to how they really were, because he was saturated by God's Word and had a very close relationship with Him where he was constantly talking to Him (and listening to His replies). And of course, he didn't just know God's Word, he did what it said, always obeying the Lord.

We tend to think of Elisha, Elijah, Paul, David, Peter, and the others as somehow special and that we don't stand a chance of being like them, but God takes great pains to point out to us that they were just normal people just like us. He also constantly tells us that He doesn't change. What He did for them, He will do for us! I don't know how others feel, but I want to see the world the way it really is, not the illusion that Satan's painted for us!

I love how Warren Wiersbe puts it in one of his books, so I copied excepts of it here for us:

How the Word of God helps us overcome the world is an important thing to know. The Word exposes the world as it truly is. Lot was impressed with Sodom, but Abraham was not. Why? Because Abraham had his eyes on a better city. Had Lot consulted Abraham, he'd have avoided Sodom & stayed with his tent. But the world attracted Lot, so he moved into Sodom, & eventually lost everything. Had Moses been captivated by the prestige and pleasures of Egypt, he would never have left the palace and identified with the Jewish nation. But he saw Egypt as it really was, and he didn’t want it. He considered “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward” (Hebrews 11:26). Sad to say, the people of Israel did not share his vision and often wanted to go back to Egypt when things got tough. Christians still do that today.
Wiersbe, Prayer: Basic Training

The Word reveals to us what the world is really like; the Word exposes the world’s deceptions & dangerous devices. ‎One of the 1st steps toward a worldly life is the neglect of the Word of God. D.L. Moody wrote in the front of his Bible, “This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book.” ‎The Word of God not only brings us God’s joy & love, but it also imparts God’s power for holy living. (John 17:15–17). The Bible exposition commentary