Virtual Reality

There is an entertainment feature in Pigeon Forge, TN called SKYFLY. It is a virtual reality ride where you are buckled in to a seat and lifted slightly so that your feet dangle as you hang suspended before a 50 ft. spherical screen while a custom film whisks you away on an exhilarating journey across the United States.
It is a visual event courtesy of some fabulous cinematography footage filmed by helicopters and drones over some of America’s iconic locations.
Some very talented people have put together this visual event that creates the sense of ‘being there’ and you have ‘all the feels’ so you are not only seeing it, you are feeling it.
With series of visual aids and filming with loops, steep turns, slow climbs, acrobatic maneuvers, quick descents and throwing scents, temperature changes, wind bursts and mist…you are involved in this experience.
You find yourself gripping the handles as you feel the sensation of climbing altitude.
You feel the refreshing mist flying over the Niagara Falls.
There is a rush of adrenaline as you fly by the chiseled faces on Mt. Rushmore and you smell the sweet scent of the Sequoias.
You feel the thunder in the chest at the sound of a stampede of a herd of elk in the Grand Tetons and your stomach drops as you swoop over the beautiful lakes in the Everglades.
But the TRUTH is – you are sitting still.
Virtual reality tricks the human brain into thinking that a digitally created environment is real through a combination of visual, auditory, and tactile cues.
Virtual reality can make the user feel like they are being transported by manipulating their senses of smell, touch, movement and vision.
Virtual reality can also generate an illusion called plausibility illusion which occurs when the brain perceives events in a virtual environment as being real even though the user knows that they are not. It provides a three dimensional experience mimicking the way our eyes perceive depth in the real world. For example: as you rise up visually and the audio track swells and you smell the air, all of the senses come together engaging all of the senses in virtual reality immersing users so deeply it can create enduring real memories of something that was a virtual experience.
When virtual reality systems first came into play there was question as to whether this would be a fad or the beginning of a new way of entertainment that would continue to expand and evolve.
Would they ever master virtual reality? That was the question.
Virtual Reality is manipulation – visual trickery of the mind.

Satan has been using this tactic since the beginning. He is the master of virtual reality head games. His manipulation of half truths and lies have us seeing things and feeling things that are not real.

Take a look at Genesis 3:1-6

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Deception – that started with some truth imbedded. True, there would not be death as she understood death. Their eyes would be opened. And then the biggie – You will be like God. And with that appeal to the senses, disobedience destroyed the perfect peace in the garden.

Satan deceives us in so many ways….

We see a sideline conversation and Satan convinces us it is about us.

We see a single behavior and he convinces us that someone is failing in their walk.

We are fatigued and Satan convinces us we are not up to the challenge that God has set before us.

We hear an innocent comment as a demeaning message or attack.

We mistake silence for disappointment.

He helps us justify out human desires.

He plants seeds of doubt.

He tells us that Gods’ promises are not for this day.

He tells us to trust our own hearts.

He tries to convince us that we know enough or are good enough on our own.

He is convincing as he disguises himself as an angel of light. But the truth is these are his weapons – manipulation of our thoughts.

Jesus understood his patterns. As He was tempted in the wilderness, he was aware of Satan’s attempts to disorient, distort, and deceive even using Scripture in his battle plan and He would not allow Satan to outsmart Him.

Ephesians 6:12 says: ‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.’ And the next several verses give us the design of donning the full Armor of God so that we can stand firm against the all of the strategies of Satan.

Know his patterns. Understand the tricks he plays. Don’t give party to his efforts to manipulate your thoughts. Refuse to be outwitted by Satan. Know the truth of God’s Word so that you can recognize Satan’s lies and deception. Be prepared by suiting up with the whole armor of God daily.

Yes, Satan has mastered deception, but his tools are imaginary!

We serve a risen Savior who fights our battles and has already won the war that Satan wages on our minds.

I’ll take the reality of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ over Satan’s virtual reality any day!