Saturday, January 28, 2017

2 of the Enemy's Biggest Lies

For those who are in Christ Jesus, we have an adversary, the devil. There are many descriptions of him through out the Bible. One of those is that he is a liar. John 8:44 says, "There is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." From the early days of time he has been telling lies. You will recall how he appeared as a serpent in the Garden of Eden to officially launch his activity that would impact all of humanity from that point forward. He is the liar of all liars.

Sin separates us from our holy God. Sin starts with temptation, which is when the enemy will try to lie and persuade you to do something that is blatantly contrary to the Word of God. Therefore, the enemy will tempt us with lies that twist the truth in order to cause us to fall away from God. 


In this post I want to expose two of our enemy's biggest lies. Now, I realize that any lie is big, but these certainly have enormous ramifications if believed. If the enemy can cause you to doubt and lose faith, he wins. In my years as a youth pastor, these are two lies that I saw break the legs of many teens and would lead them to a crippled walk with God.


The first is that the Bible is too hard to understand. This has been the biggest excuse I have heard over the years for why young people don't read the Bible or have a personal quiet time with Jesus.  To this I typically respond, "Where are you reading, Leviticus?" Yes, some parts of the Bible can be hard to understand with no background explanation or teaching. However, there are plenty of books within the Bible that provide a buffet of easy-to-understand truth for the novice follower of Christ. 


The reality is, even though parts of the Bible were written 3,500 years ago, they are as understandable and life-transforming as the moment they were written. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires." The Bible can be understood by the newest of Christians and enjoyed by the veterans who have been reading the Bible for 50 years. If you find yourself struggling to understand the Bible, let me encourage you to start in the Psalms or the Gospels. The Psalms have truth for every emotion we will ever face, and the Gospels are filled with the action that took place in the life of Jesus.


The second lie that the enemy wants you to believe is that God does not hear your prayer. It is so easy to pray for something and then give up. It is so easy to pray and not see God work immediately or in the way that we have prayed, and then think that God must not hear me because it didn't happen the way I prayed. When God doesn't respond the way we have prayed, it is a natural response to lose faith and come to the conclusion that God doesn't hear. When this happens, we are falling right into the plans of the enemy. He wants to do all he can to discourage us. 


I have come to the place in my walk with Jesus where prayer is the umbilical cord that allows my food source, Jesus, to feed my soul. Prayer is my lifeline because it connects me with the source of life, Jesus. It is the gateway that unleashes the power of Jesus in my life. Without the power of Jesus, the Christian walk becomes too religious and pious. If your prayer life has become stagnant, it's time to seek the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will ignite your prayer life. If there is something keeping your prayer life from taking off, the Holy Spirit will reveal that to you so that you can overcome it. God not only hears your prayers, He is constantly at work even when it is not exactly how we ask.


The enemy tries to drag us down. The enemy wants to guide us away from Jesus. Follower of Christ, drive a stake in the ground today, YOU BELONG TO JESUS. Don't allow the enemy a foothold in your life that begins with a lie. Declare the truth of God over your life. James 4:7-8 says, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." Amen! 

2 comments:

  1. I always LOVE reading your blog, Fred! God has given you a great gift of interpretation of His word! Thanks for sharing this.

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