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A Simple Truth

Lies, lies, lies, Satan is full of lies. In fact, he's the FATHER of LIES!!! Nothing that comes from him is truth. Even when the lie has an element of truth, which the best lies often have, the truth is so distorted that it barely resembles anything of the truth it's imitating. I've come to realize that the majority of the things I'm afraid of are just lies and distorted truths.

See Satan knows where my weak spots are, he knows exactly which fears to push the hardest and where to poke that will affect me the most. And as I said, the best lies always have some element of truth woven into them somewhere. It's so easy to believe a lie. Why? I think it's because lies are complicated and God's truths are generally very simple. If we were to just accept His truth's for their simplicity we'd all be much happier and peaceful people. But we tend to complicate things, it can't really be THAT simple, can it? This, my friends, is one of the most successful deceptions out there because it plays to our natural tendency to worry and overthink things.

By using this tactic, Satan can take one simple, beautiful truth like Jesus loves me forever and for always and mangle it beyond recognition:

"Does he really love you? All the time? 
What about that time last week when you really messed up?
 I mean you really stepped in it then. 
What about this morning when you lost your temper?
 I'm pretty sure he's going to get tired of you embarrassing him all the time and walk away." 

Its times like this that I have to remember/fall back on the simple truths and promises like:
Jesus loves me
I am his
I am forgiven
Jesus promised to NEVER leave me or forsake me...NO MATTER WHAT
Jesus has NEVER broken ANY of his promises

The story of Peter walking on the water comes to mind. At first when he steps out of the boat and begins walking towards Jesus he's so focused on Jesus that the impossibility of what he's doing is not even in his thought process. He believed in the simple idea that if Jesus told him to come, even walking on the water is possible. Its only when he began to look around him and see the waves, feel the wind that it dawned on him "Hey wait a second...." and he began to sink. I'm pretty sure he probably floundered around a little bit trying to keep his head above water before he remembered and called out to Jesus. But once he did, Jesus instantly stepped in a pulled him out of danger and delivered him to safety. Jesus asks him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"(Matthew 14:31). The Message has it "Faint-heart, what got into you?". 

When I'm on the other side of a trial or back in the boat and I look back at what just happened and how I let fear take over and I ask myself that very question, "Faint heart, why did you doubt? What got into you? Jesus has never failed you before, why did you think he would this time?" The answer is about as simple as the question, I believed the lies. 

Final thoughts: Recognizing the lies of Satan can be difficult because they're so often disguised as our own thoughts. But I encourage you (and myself) to look at what your thinking about, does it line up with what God says in the Bible? Does it make you feel peaceful? Fearful? Is it orderly or chaotic? Look at the source, and remember that even though something may seem to be too simple to be truth, that's the beauty of it. Jesus loves me! HE LOVES ME! I am forgiven! 


" The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
John 10:10 (NIV)

"Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”
Matthew 14:31 (The Message)

 “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 (The Message)

"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV)

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