We live in times that lies, deceits, and manipulations have accelerated in the culture, and many believers do not have the time, energy, or the skill to discern the truth versus the lies. However, believing the lies has the potential to shipwreck people’s faith and lead them completely astray.
And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:4
Satan has not changed his tactics since the beginning, and he continues to operate as the angel of light deceiving people with all kinds of false ideas. That means the enemy’s actions are going to look innocent and noble, and the lies are going to be subtle. To combat these lies, we need to exercise discernment to uncover the lies., and hold on to God’s standard regardless of the trends. Otherwise, the cultural currents will take believers to places they never intended to go, and they will find themselves completely lost and confused.
In these next few devotionals, I will share the major lies that come to steal, kill, and destroy people’s lives.
The Character & Integrity of God
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1-5
The first and foremost attack is on the character and the integrity of God. The serpent came to deceive Adam and Eve by challenging their faith. He asked Eve, “Has God indeed said,…?” He brought doubt about the character and the integrity of God, and he lied that God was holding back something good from them.
The devil continues to question God’s integrity in various ways, such as the authenticity of the Bible, Jesus’ sinless state, and the need for a Savior. Those are foundational principles of our faith. When those foundations are questioned, the enemy is attempting to make people’s faith irrelevant. If the Bible is not trustworthy, then people will have to go somewhere else to find solutions and answers to life. This is what happened to Adam and Eve, Instead of trusting God’s integrity and His word, they took the matters in their own hands and tried to satisfy their needs through the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the rest is history.
In the New Testament accounts, we see God redeeming humanity through Jesus and people being completely transformed because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for them. God’s people were martyred for their faith in Jesus and for sharing the good news with others because they completely believed God. Salvation and transformation was so real to them that they would not stop from preaching the gospel to the lost regardless of the cost to them.
Sadly, nowadays, some believers don’t necessarily believe that God’s word is inerrant or relevant in their lives. Others have a hard time appropriating the good news in their own lives let alone sharing it with others. The various versions of the Bible sit on people’s bookshelves and, instead of the people of God feeding on it and living it out, they are concerned with what the cultural celebrities have to say about today’s issues. People continue to be deceived by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil instead of partaking of the tree of life and allowing themselves to receive wholeness and clarity.
Another lie that people believe about God is that all roads lead to God. The truth is that the Lord is loving and unchanging, and He is not going to confuse people by giving them different expectations and standards for communing with Him. People in their need for cultural correctness and false unity want to bring others together in the name of interfaith worship and unity. However, if everyone is honest about it, we are not all serving the same God. That is not being judgmental or hateful. It is just being truthful. We don’t need to be arrogant about it. As a matter of fact, it requires great humility because the Lord has been merciful to us and has opened our eyes to see the truth! We, in turn, need to share the truth with others.
It is important for us to be settled and secure in who God is and anchor ourselves relentlessly to His mercies and His goodness. Our hope is anchored to what God says in the Bible to us. We need to be students of the Word of God and treasure it because they days are evil, and someday we may not have access to it as we do now. We also we need to remind ourselves of God’s faithfulness in our lives and in the lives of those around us, and how He has come through for us over and over agin. This will help us to remain steadfast in the face of opposition and the lies that attempt to derail people’s lives.
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
Karline,
As always you speak truth in such an eloquent way! This series is so relevant to the cultural movement invading our faith today!
Thank you friend for sharing your Biblical wisdom ?
Mary Voskamp
Praise God! Thank you dear Mary for your kind and encouraging words.
Yes. This is the hour we need to speak up to help people see things clearly for what they are.