John 16:13 English Standard Version (ESV) When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Yesterday I referenced a spam filter in my e-mail software. Today we shall look at the similarities between spam filters and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Because the Holy Spirit leads us in “all the truth” we can see that He does not lead us into those areas of our life containing lies and deceptions. He can and does act as a filter. As with the spam filter in my e-mail the occasional mail comes through that is new and not on my list of spam sources. It is there that I must recognize truth for what it is and see the telltale signs of lies and deception. The easiest way is to not open the e-mail and look at the source. Who is the sender?

2 Corinthians 2:11 English Standard Version (ESV) so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

There will always be a design flaw in what Satan presents to us in the way of temptation. Those flaws are easily identified by the Holy Spirit and transmitted to us by truth. How we recognize and hear those truths is evidenced by how well we make ourselves knowledgeable of God’s Truth, His Word.

John 17:17 English Standard Version (ESV) Sanctify themin the truth; your word is truth.

Sanctification is a protective process which comes about by reading God’s Word and absorbing the truth. His truth will protect us from the lies and deceptions of Satan’s designs on us.

As with my e-mail spam filter, do not turn it off and ignore the warnings.

2 Samuel 11:2 English Standard Version (ESV) It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.

A cooperating witness for law enforcement has been caught doing something wrong. He has information which could lead to the capture of other offenders. In exchange for his testimony he receives a get out of jail free card, a pardon for his offenses. Does that sound familiar? Haven’t we all become cooperating witnesses?

Allow me as a cooperating witness to place myself into 2 Samuel 11:2 and give my witness to related offenses.

2 Samuel 11:2 Witness Statement Version (WSV) I couldn’t sleep. I was troubled over current events and I just couldn’t get back to sleep. I got up and went to my facebook page only to discover a beautiful younger woman had sent me a friend request.

I relate to David’s experience in modern terms and recognize the source of the problem and what led to temptation. It does not matter what David was thinking, what his troubled mind might have been thinking, it was only an example to me. I see how David went wrong from this point and I see how sin grabbed the opportunity and I see the results.

Now it is up to me to relate to that sequence of events and choose how to respond to the temptation before me. Accepting the invitation would be the same as David’s inquiring about Bathsheba.  I could find out about this younger beautiful woman by accepting the request. I could also deny the invitation and seek help for my troubled mind.

This is only one small example of how we can relate to the actions of others in the bible and use their mistakes to avoid temptation. I receive many spam e-mails every day with “urgent” requests and mail marked “reply” indicating that I had already been in contact with this person.

They go to my spam filter rather than my in box because I have already rejected those temptations.