The Enemy’s Lies
Today’s Truth
“The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10 NIV emphasis added).
Friend To Friend
“Now the serpent…” The great deceiver clothed himself as a serpent and slithered up to Eve with a game plan to destroy God’s prized possession. He didn’t come with a sword or a gun, or even a knife for his attack. He simply wielded lies. The serpent knew Adam and Eve would not buy into a radical flamboyant denial of God, so he slithered into the garden with a twist and a turn of the truth. He began by causing Eve to doubt… “Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1).
Satan knew exactly what God had said. He was simply trying to confuse Eve. Perhaps he was evaluating just how well she knew the truth. He found out.
“We may eat fruit from the tress in the garden,” Eve replied, “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” (Genesis 3:3).
Bingo. She didn’t know the truth that well after all. First, God never mentioned not touching the fruit. That seems like a pretty good idea, but it was not what God said.
Second, Satan denied God and lied about the consequences of her disobedience when he said, “You will not surely die.” (3:4). He didn’t even try to disguise the deception. He told a flat-out lie.
Finally, he told her she could be like God. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). In other words, “God doesn’t know what He’s talking about. He’s holding out on you. You don’t need Him. You can be your own god.”
Eve rejected the truth and believed the lie. She believed that she could be like God…in control of her own life. “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.”
As she sunk her teeth into the forbidden fruit of deception and the lie slid down her delicate throat, the temptation settled in her soul and fermented into shame and condemnation. Her husband, who chose the woman over God, also felt the sickening rot of sin settle in his very soul. Suddenly, shame and fear entered the world, and Adam and Eve hid from God like wayward children.
All temptation is an attempt to get us to live our lives independent of God. Satan is not very creative, but he is very effective, and he has been lying to us ever since he lied to Eve. Why? Because it works.
Every one of his lies springs from the idea that happiness is just a decision away. Satan wants you to believe God is holding out on you. You can be like God. You can be your own god. Rather than being thankful for what we do have, he points out what we don’t have. Think about it. Eve had at her disposal every tree in the garden except one. Every tree. That is a smorgasbord of goodness! Rather than being thankful, she bought the lie that the one thing she couldn’t have was the one thing that would make her happy. I would be happy if… Is any of this sounding familiar to you? It should. Satan uses the same tactics with us that he used with Eve.
Eve believed the enemy’s lie over God’s truth. His plan worked, but what the serpent did not know was that God’s amazing plan of forgiveness and grace was about to unfold. Satan did not win the battle for man’s soul in the garden. Jesus Christ won the war on Calvary’s Cross. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” and then breathed his last, He made a way for all mankind to regain all that Adam and Eve had lost.
Let’s Pray
Dear God, help me to recognize Satan’s lies as soon as they come into my mind. I have tried being in control of my own life and seen the terrible results. I know that true peace and joy comes from obeying You in all areas of my life. Help me to see through the enemy’s lies that tell me anything other than the truth of Your Word.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Now It’s Your Turn
Have you been focusing on what you don’t have rather than what you do have?
Where do you think that discontentment comes from?
Today, make a list of God’s blessings in your life.
Comments 21
Sharon, thanks for these thoughts. All of us live in the realm of lies that we can do things in our own power and be like God. I watched the movie Spirit last night with my son believing it to be of value when the truth is it was garbage. It is set up like Dick Tracy but has tons of using God’s name in vane and characters trying to be like God…what a sad state our world is in today. We all need to remember that everyone is affected by these lies and they are still the same today. All of us as parents mess up and need to work on putting positive words into the soul of our children. I believe we need 3 to 5 positives for every negative. I know that I have to surrender to almost daily all of my worries and cares about not measuring up and helping my children. It is so easy to try to do it our way instead of God’s way and I struggled with this all through the night. Being independent is good but it can interfere with our relationship with God. We all impact lives especially children in our homes, work, or role modeling…some little eyes are always watching.
It’s so hard to talk to my son about counting his blessings, he has become so discouraged. He has lost his wife, home and his wordly possessions, even his camera equipment he used for his livelihood has been lost in storage, and supposedly auctioned off. I keep telling him to trust in God and that God has a plan for his life, to anticipate God’s goodness and what He has in store for him. Pray that my son Butch will see beyond this trouble and see God working in his life. Thank you.
Thanks for the devotion Sharon. It is so true that the enemies lies are still his primary weapon. This came at a right time for me. In a time when people want more, it is wonderful to be reminded that we should be happy with what God has already given us.
Sharon,
So timely! My friend Carrie and I were just talking about the lies satan tells us and how we combat those lies with God’s Word.
Thank you for unknowingly confirming God’s Word and focus to me.
Sharon,
Thanks for sharing this great devotional today. I have been living an amazing life as a new Christian for the past 8 years. It is now that God has chosen to reveal to me (and I have chosen to listen) my own distorted image of myself due to the lies I have chosen to believe as truth. The enemy starts with the little lies that we fight in our thoughts and I am thankful you are sharing about this. I recommend Joyce Meyer’s teachings for anyone battling with some of these things. God Bless!
Thank you for the reassurance. There are so many lies out there that we really have to look at the truth. The truth that we are fearfully and wodnerfully made. Hard to believe at times, but always something to go back to.
Thanks again.
Trish
Praise the Lord Sharon. This post goes well with my post today. I love how God knits it all together.
First I would like to thank Barbara L for sending this message to my email. I am very down today, becuase I thought that I could control my life and the things that go on around me. In reality I can not and I have given up that fight today. I am going back to God because he is the only one that is all powerful and that has all the answers. I am going back to praying and allowing God to lead my life. I don’t want anymore of this turmoil that I am in now.
Sharon, thank you for this message. We carry around Satan’s lies all day long if we let and through Christ we are more than victorious. I made an unconcious thought to myself this morning when I looked into the mirror and then had to make myself realize I am God’s child. We can’t control much but what we can is our mind and what we think of and Philippians 4:8, whatever is true, etc., can stave off the lies Satan and the Fall has planted in our minds. Thanks again.
God is very powerful because He is the one I could turn to in case of any problems I have. He knows everything and very forgiving to those sinned. Thanks and God bless you, Sharon!
As we go through a horrible crisis in California, I want to give God thanks for my family, my roof and the food I am able to put at the table every day!
I really enjoyed todays devotion about the enemy’s lies. I work with a lady who went thru a divorce several years ago and she told me she got up every morning, looked at herself in the mirror and said, “you’re a beautiful woman, any man would be blessed to have you for a wife.” When she first said that to me I laughed. Then I begin to think about the significance of what she was doing. The scripture, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,” came to my mind. I realized whatever we believe about ourselves becomes truth for us. God has restored my friends marriage, she & her husband reunited and remarried a few years ago. She survived that because she chose to believe she was valuable despite the devastation and loss.
Sharon
Wonderful devotions. It really opened my eyes to see the deception of Satan. Hope these devotions are blessing to many. Especially I really loved the devotions of 9th & 10th of this month,because it is very true in many households,how e-life has taken hold of millions of people
young & old. I pray lots of life will be touched through these devotions. Thanks for your ministry & God continue to bless your ministry.
I can truly say that my thought process is totally out of sync with where God want it to be. It’s such a true saying an “Idle Mind is the Devil’s Workshop”. I asked God for a Word on how to deal with negative thoughts that hunt me or negative feelings. This morning I read the devotion and could do nothing but Thank Him! I will definitely use the Litimus test, it will bring things under suggestion. I can look back on all of my problems and point out that my thinking had something to do with my reaction to something or someone. I believe I could be a better servant of God if I did not let my thoughts take control of me, which turns into to Fear. That’s another devotion. I want to thank you for letting God use you in spreading His Word.
I am so thankful for todays devotion. I am at the lowest part of my life! I have done some things that I am very ashamed of myself. I know that God has forgiven me but I cannot forgive myself. Satan is creeping into my life during the nights and first thing in the morning and giving me thoughts of suicide. When he wakes me up I start to pray to God and Satan leaves me alone for a while. Once I am up, reading the bible and doing my daily devotions, Satan knows not to bother me! I am truly trying to turn it all over to God – but the future unknown is overwhelming! I am a good person that made some bad mistakes during a time my mom was dying of alzheimers (she was diagnosed at 62). We are praying that I don’t have to go to jail – but if I do I know God and my mom will be right there with me. I thank God for you and your devotionals.
Wow! God is so good…and so cool! He can take the same scripture passage and use it several times in the same week. That has always been one of my favorite passages…in fact, it was what my sorority in college quoted out loud at the end of every chapter meeting at Ole Miss. A few days ago, my 16 year old daughter had a melt down. She has been battling low self esteem, depression and has had many medical difficulties and surgeries to overcome throughout the last year. It has taken its toll on her and she finally collapsed, crying out to me and to God. This was one of the two scriptures I gave her to cling to. When I quoted it, she said, “Mom, how did you know?” when I asked her “how did I know ‘What’?” , she opened up the inside cover of her Bible, and this scripture was written in there. The second scripture was written in the inside Back cover of her Bible. God spoke to me, through me, to give her two scriptures to cling to , and reminded her that He is always there. Thank you for your writings and thank you for your devotion to Christ. I appreciate this email every day.
Sharon:
I’m amazed each and everytime that GOD answers every need, and every prayer! I too have been dealing witht Satan’s lies and misguided thoughts. I have just this week been in the “have nots” mentality. Thank you for such a timely message it was EXACTLY what I needed to be reminded of. GOD’s work is simply amazing and I am grateful for all that I have as I have been blessed with everything that I need.
I’m so happy that I have a heavenly father who knows AND meets my EVERY need! I’m also blessed to have these reminders when the everyday issues of life seem to overshadow God’s goodness. The more & more I think about it, I’m convinced that life is easier when you take away all the garbage… in our attempts to try to “make a better life” for ourselves, we get lost & forget that GOD is our provider & HIS plan for our lives is what we should seek. That may or may not include a better car, home, high paying job… but either way, staying focused on our relationship w/God is what brings TRUE and ETERNAL happiness and joy. Thanks again for that reminder!
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Last night I started the Bible study “The Bait of Satan” by John Bevere. I learned that so many times lies and deception from the enemy begin with an offense. That an offense leads to betrayal which actually means a person chooses to protect and defend themselves at the expense of a relationship. Betrayal leads to hatred and once hatred enters the heart we are held captive by the enemy and his lies. Which is why Proverbs says a brother offended is harder to win than a great city to conquer. He is now held captive by lies. What an eye opener this was for me.