Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Web Of Lies

I recently finished a book called “Web Of Lies” by one of my favorite authors, Brandilyn Collins. The suspense was great, the writing of high caliber, but the message struck me the most.

Without giving anything away, I can tell you the overall theme of the book has to do with the title, which may seem obvious. Though I believe it all starts with a SINGLE strand of “lie” which the enemy feeds us and then becomes a web in which we get tangled.

Each of us, in whatever stage of our faith walk we might be, are probably buying into some lie from the enemy. What that lie is in your life I could only guess. Being the person I am, I have some ideas for those I know. As a true believer that Scripture is THE ultimate measuring stick for Truth I’m going to tackle a few lies that come to mind and give some verses which dispel that lie for what it is.

Prayerfully ask God to show you what you are hearing from the enemy which is wrong and how it is affecting your life. Again, these are only a few on a long list the devil uses to trip us up. If you would like to contact me personally for some help, I can do my best to find the Scriptural texts for what’s going on.

Some lies:

- God is punishing me for sins I’ve committed in the past. Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

This TRULY means the sin is GONE for those who are in Christ. God doesn’t keep a record of wrong as it says in 1 Corinthians 13. He IS love and therefore all those verses hold to the character of God. Rom 4:7-8 "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT." The capitals are part of my Bible and not my own. The shed blood of Jesus Christ is the covering. It blots out ALL sin. Not just the little ones or the ones you think He can handle.

- There’s a person out there who will make my life complete. Colossians 2:8-10 “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;”

I’ve been talking with a few different women lately. All have said the same basic thing. We are raised, in this culture, to believe there’s a fairy tale ending in our future once we meet “the right person” and get married. That person will fulfill every need in our lives and we will live happily ever after. REALITY CHECK. This is NOT how God intended it to be. Yes, the person He has for you is going to balance you, challenge you to be better, and help you along the path (if they are walking as they should) to a deeper relationship with CHRIST Who will fulfill every need you have. NO human being can make you happy. I repeat, NO HUMAN BEING CAN MAKE YOU HAPPY. It’s just not possible. They are human. They are fallible. They are going to fall, hurt you, disappoint you and even rip your heart out sometimes. This will NEVER be the case with Christ. He is the AUTHOR AND PERFECTOR OF OUR FAITH (Hebrews 12:2).

- I have to clean myself up before I can come to Christ and ask for His forgiveness. Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Did you catch that very first word in the verse? CREATE. And Who does the creating? GOD. You have nothing to do with it except a willingness to submit your life to His Lordship. That’s it. You CAN’T make yourself clean. It’s not possible. Ephesians 5:25-27 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, HAVING CLEANSED HER BY THE WASHING OF WATER WITH THE WORD, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” The emphasis is mine, but you understand the point. It’s Christ's blood, the shedding of it, and the washing of our lives in the Word (which is ALSO Christ – see John 1:1) which cleanses us. Nothing we do will ever make us clean. It’s all about Him.

- I’m the only one who struggles with this sin. 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

Now whether you TAKE the escape route is something else entirely, but the hatch is there. And I guarantee there are others in the body dealing with the same sin. God says so. There’s NOTHING new under the sun. Nothing. Christ was tempted in every way we are and yet, God, in His mercy, gave the escape hatch and the Savior took it each time. The most well known temptation is in the wilderness by satan himself. What did Christ use to battle the enemy? The WORD. He knew it inside and out. ‘Course He did have some advantages since He IS the Word, but we are called to be imitators of Him, right? Therefore, what do we need to do? Get the Word hidden in our hearts so we can combat the enemy when he throws those temptations our way.

- I do what I don’t want to do.

Yep. That’s the way of life here on this corrupted earth. BUT, we have HOPE. Paul speaks about his “thorn”. A thought just came to me. Perhaps his thorn was some lie he couldn’t shake from satan? Some nagging unworthiness with which the enemy continued to haunt him. He did persecute Christians to the point of death. He held the cloaks of the other Pharisees so they could stone Stephen. And we see the beautiful word picture of Jesus Christ, the Savior of all, STANDING to welcome Stephen into the kingdom. Man, what a dream! But I digress. How do we change this? WE don’t! Only God can change these things in our lives. It’s our obeDIEnce. Yes, I did that on purpose. Ever notice the little word in the very middle of obedience? It’s DIE. We HAVE to die to self and live for Christ. We MUST put aside our wants and longings which aren’t of Him and give ourselves over to the abundant life He has in store for us. Easy? Not hardly! This world is FULL of things which seem to satisfy, but only ever for a time. Then we’re back to what? Feeling like a worm. Feeling like we let Him down. But we didn't! He already knew we were going to do whatever it was. And He’s still THERE!!! He may shake His head and say, “Not the best idea, was it?” Then He’s going to say, “Ready for My way? Come on. Let’s go from here.”

- My success is measured in the world’s standards of fame and fortune. Mark 4:18-19 "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

I am, by NO means, saying those who have been blessed financially should give it all away or you’re not godly. That’s something only Christ can tell you in your life and for His purposes. Those desires and that wealth CAN be something which keeps us from having the relationship He’s desperate for us to know. He DIED for us to have that relationship and yet we chase the almighty dollar which has done NOTHING for us.

As I said before, these are just a very few of the numerous lies I’ve heard satan tickle ears with to keep people from a deeper relationship with Christ. I could go on and on. I doubt I’ve even hit most of the lies, but God knows and if you are truly seeking His will for your life, He will show you where you’ve been led astray.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Scriptures. Okay, there are a LOT of favorites. This is one I’ve actually committed to memory. Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O Lord, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the path everlasting.” That’s a prayer I try to pray daily. Hard for the enemy to break through when we’re begging God to show us HIS way. Stay on the offensive. The enemy is prowling, seeking someone to kill, steal from and destroy. I pray your armor is on tight (Ephesians 6:10-19) and you are imbedding His Word deeply into your heart daily.