Do you know when the devil is going to be happy? When he’s robbed you of everything you have, your possessions, your health, your relationships, your self-esteem, your salvation and your life.
John 10:10, The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
And Jesus came to give you life, and as it says, lots of life. There’s a spiritual battle going on for your life. In the Garden of Eden the serpent convinced Eve that God had been lying to Adam about the tree that they weren’t allowed to eat of. She said that God said they would die, but that charismatic reptile easily convinced her that is wasn’t true. That’s where the lying began, the very first time someone believed the devil’s lie, it caused the biggest problem that there ever was. It caused a rift between man and God. The enemy realized how easy it was to deceive people and he kept on doing it.
John 8:44, You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Here Jesus, once again, directly says that the devil is a liar and a murderer. What kind of lies does the devil tell us?
He tells us that God doesn’t care about you and He doesn’t love you because you don’t deserve love. He tells you that grace doesn’t exist and that you have to work hard for God’s favour. Then he tells you that no matter how hard you work it will never be enough because you aren’t good enough and you never will be. The first time you do something wrong after you’ve been saved, he tells you that you aren’t really saved. Honesty is never the best policy where he is concerned and he will give you a lot of alternatives to telling the truth. When you are relying on God, and waiting for God to help you through a situation this enemy is going to keep telling you that it’s ridiculous to wait so long and that you need to make a plan because God is not going to help you.
He will tell you that you will never get ahead in life and that you will never have enough money. Then he will tell you that you ought to go after money because that’s the only way you will ever be happy. He will tell you that everyone else is right and you are wrong. That the only way to solve all the battles that are going on around you, is by taking your own life.
And do you know what the really sad part is? We believe all these lies a lot of the time. And we don’t just believe them, we tell them to others as though they were the truth.
So what do we need to do to counteract the situation? How do we get our heads and our hearts to believe what is right when circumstances are hard? Firstly we need to be there for each other. We need to be open and honest and accessible when our brothers and sisters are hurting.
1 Thessalonians 5:14-22, Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
This is excellent advice that we would do very well to follow.
James 4:7, Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
We really need to identify the thoughts that the enemy plants in our minds and we need to put on that helmet of salvation in order to protect our minds against the lies.
We need to be reading the Bible because then we are filling our minds with God’s truth.
We need to spend more time praying and communing with God.
We need to spend less time with people who are negative and who pull us down emotionally and spiritually, and more time with people who are positive and who know God and live His truth.
Something to remember is that no negative and self-destructive thoughts come from God. If that’s the only thing you are going to remember when life is threatening to squeeze all the air from your lungs, it’s a very good start. Oh yes, and God loves you.
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