How to Discern the Shepherd’s Promise from the Serpent’s Lies

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. - Matthew 6:33

“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” - Matthew 4:9

When Jesus says in Matthew, seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you, it sounds like a clear, beautiful promise. Then you look at the temptation scene just before that, where Satan tells Jesus, fall down and worship me and I will give you all the kingdoms of the earth. At first glance they both sound like two advertisements offering the same benefits. Power, glory, prosperity, all-inclusive package. Only one of them can be true though. Both cannot lead to the same destination because the people offering them demand you to walk in opposite directions.

So what is actually going on?

# Satan's Trojan Horses

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. - John 10:10

Jesus says He came to give life, and life in abundance. God always restores. When you come to Him, He is not registering you into a religious club. He is taking all the bent, tired, confused parts of you and slowly shaping them back into the shape He intended. You see it all over Scripture. Deuteronomy, Psalms, Proverbs. Obedience becomes blessing not because God is counting your good deeds, but because He is restoring what is broken.

Satan also offers something that looks like life. It looks shiny. It looks exciting. It looks like the shortcut you secretly hope exists. But Jesus reveals what is hidden under the chocolate wrapping. Poison. The thief steals, kills, destroys. His gifts are Trojan horses. His blessings leak. His promises come with terms and conditions printed in invisible ink.

Take something simple. A burger. One day you eat it and you think, this is great. No problems. Keep doing that every day and it quietly drains your health. It is a bait. Or open Instagram. One reel, then two, then ten. All fun. But if you stay there long enough, it steals your time, your attention, your potential. It fills your heart with envy by showing you curated travel stories and perfectly filtered lives. What looked like entertainment ends up becoming a slow leak of your purpose.

Jesus was not exaggerating. The enemy always begins with stealing, moves toward killing, and finishes with destroying. He never builds. He only attacks what God builds.

# Tricks of the Devil

Take the commandments. God says, I am the Lord your God who rescued you. Worship Me alone. Satan does not show up wearing a blue suit to argue. He prefers tiny shifts. Believe in God, sure, but why only one? The sun can be god. The Mother Nature can be god. A celebrity can be god. The shape of worship remains, but the center is shifted.

Take Sabbath. God gives rest so your body, mind, and family can breathe again. But the world whispers, keep going, keep producing, never slow down. Before you realize it, rest disappears, relationships thin out, minds stretch until they tremble, and nobody understands why they are exhausted all the time. The promised wealth train that looked so exciting ends up derailed by a body and soul that never got restored.

Take marriage. God institutes it for man and woman, for family, for continuity, for stability. And again the enemy pokes at it. Marriage is too hard, so skip it. Or redefine it into shapes God never designed. The goal is the same every time. Steal. Kill. Destroy. Nothing new.

So how do we stay alert?

# Intentional Awareness

in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
2 Corinthians 2:11

Paul says we should not be unaware of the devil’s schemes. Awareness begins with Scripture. When we read the Bible, we are studying the enemy’s old playbook.

To Eve, he questioned God’s generosity. With Cain, Joseph’s brothers, and Saul, envy was the gateway drug that led to hatred and destruction. Solomon fell through indulgence. That's the playbook of the devil.

Paul reminds us:

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.
1 Corinthians 10:13

Nothing is new. The devil is not creative. He just updates the interface for each generation. New packaging, same tricks. So when we read the Bible, we are getting familiar with his tactics ahead of time.

God Himself mourns this in Hosea.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4:6

No wonder the Spirit gives gifts of wisdom and knowledge.

To one there is given a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge.
1 Corinthians 12:8

Paul knew these traps. He had seen them, felt them, resisted them. So he prays for the Philippians.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best.
Philippians 1:9-10

Knowledge grows into insight. Insight grows into discernment. Discernment is basically learning where the mines are on the path and walking around them rather than stepping on them.

# Be led by the Spirit

Isaiah says,

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, This is the way, walk in it.
Isaiah 30:21

The Spirit leads. He nudges. He warns. And sometimes danger comes wrapped in something that looks very spiritual.

Look at Nehemiah. His enemies tried everything to stop him. When intimidation failed, strategy failed, and gossip failed, they sent a prophet. A prophet.

“Let us meet in the house of God. They are coming to kill you.”
Nehemiah 6:10

Even Jesus was betrayed by religious leaders before Pilate ever entered the scene. Sometimes the blow that hurts the most comes from someone who has worshiped next to you.

Jesus already warned us. Be innocent like doves but remain wise as serpents.

Not all advice is from good intention. Like Nehemiah, you have to pause long enough to ask, is this the Lord or is this a trap wearing religious clothing? When you are led by the Spirit, you can identify.

# Practice

The author of Hebrews puts it straight.

“But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
Hebrews 5:14

Knowledge gives awareness. Maturity comes only through use.

Say you want to learn to drive. You can watch hundreds of YouTube videos. You can memorize how to parallel park with centimeter precision. But the moment you sit in the driver's seat, all of that evaporates if you have never actually driven. The only way to become a driver is by driving.

It is the same with Scripture. Read it. Memorize it. Meditate on it. Please do. But if that is all you do, you will stay spiritually a baby.

When you deal with an annoying colleague, a stubborn child, or a driver who cuts you off in traffic, that is where growth happens. That is where the Scriptures you have stored inside start becoming muscle memory.

That is how discernment forms. You read the Word so you can recognize truth. You listen to the Spirit so your heart stays aligned. And you practice every day, in small ways, until your senses sharpen.

That is when the counterfeit promise becomes obvious.
That is when the enemy’s old tricks stop surprising you.
That is when the path of life becomes clearer and the voice of the Shepherd becomes familiar.

# The Only Promise That Delivers

In the end, the difference between Jesus’ promise and the devil’s promise is not small at all. One leads you into life that grows sturdier with time, like a tree that has finally found the right soil. The other looks good for a moment, then slowly hollows you out until you wonder how you drifted so far. So the real invitation is simple. Keep choosing the voice that restores rather than the one that rushes you, flatters you, or pushes you into shortcuts that look shiny and cost you dearly. Every small choice becomes a habit, and every habit quietly builds the person you are becoming.

And that is why Jesus calls us to seek first the kingdom. Not because He wants to take things away, but because He knows exactly how life is found. So read the Word, listen to the Spirit, and practice what you know in the ordinary moments. The Shepherd’s voice becomes clear only when we walk with Him long enough. And when you do, you start noticing something. All those things you were chasing so hard begin to follow you instead.

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Image: The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch