John 8:44, NIV
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
The truth about Satan’s lies is that we very easily assimilate them into our belief system as truth. They can feel very true! I’m thinking of things such as: ‘God can’t use you!’, ‘God isn’t interested in you!’, ‘God doesn’t really love you!’, and ‘You have completely blown it with God!’
Thinking about this I once asked God to show me any lies that I believed as truth, and this lie came quickly into my mind, ‘God could abandon me in the moment of my deepest need!’ How awful it was for me to believe this lie, but it felt very true. The purpose of the lies of Satan is to separate us from faith in God.
But I believe that Jesus speaks clearly to us. In John 10:2-5 Jesus uses a figure of speech about a man who is a shepherd. He calls his sheep by name and leads them out. The sheep know his voice and follow him, but they run away from a stranger because they don’t recognize a stranger’s voice. Then Jesus explains clearly that He is ‘the Good Shepherd’. ‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me’ (John 10:27). Jesus also said ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ (John 14:6). So I asked Jesus to speak truth to me that would disempower this lie. I sensed Him saying, ‘I will never ever leave you or forsake you, especially not in the moment of your deepest need!’ The lie was cancelled!
How could I have believed such a terrible lie of the enemy? Do you think it is possible that the father of lies has lied to you? Believing lies holds us into fear and rejection and many other things. Sometimes before we can be free we need to ask Jesus, who is the truth, to speak His truth into us personally, Jesus’ truth has greater power than Satan’s lies.
Prayer: We thank You, Jesus, that You taught us that the knowledge of the truth will set us free. Please come and expose to us today any of Satan’s lies that we believe are true. Please speak to us by name, that we may walk more deeply in Your truth. Thank You Jesus, Amen.