Lies, lies and lies (I) Lies we have believed

The thief, the evil One, comes for no other reason than to kill, steal and destroy. He is the father of lies, often accomplishes these things through spawning his lies. In fact there is a trinity of lies, lies we have believed, the lies we tell each other, and the lies we tell ourselves. It’s relatively easy to see these things in others, not so easy to see them in ourselves. And though knowing the truth does not automatically set us free (see the conditions of the promise) we will not be set free without the truth (John 10:10a; 8:31,32, 44). This morning I want to look at the lies we have believed, and it seems to me that there’s a stronghold here! In particular there are lies that we believed about God, lies we believe about others and lies we believe about ourselves.

Perhaps the most pernicious and common lie is about God is about God the Father. I mean Jesus is okay, Holy Spirit is okay, but you have to watch out for God the Father because He’s out to get you. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you want to know what the Father is like, all you have to do is to look at Jesus. In terms of character, Jesus and the Father are indistinguishable (John 14:9). Lies we believe about the Father, and about ourselves are interrelated. For example if we believe the Father is out to get us, then we will not likely believe we have infinite value. The value something has, is what someone is willing to pay for it. And the Father was willing to send the son at incredible cost to Himself to pay for my redemption and yours (John 3:16).

These kind of lies also spill over into the lies we believe about others. If we believe that we are junk, then it will be hard not to believe others are also junk. And we will likely judge them, even judging them harshly. But it is what God thinks about you and me that is truly true. I am not a loser, I am not a mistake, and neither are you. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). And God sees why we do the things that we do, He sees the hurt and the pain. He sees the little boy or the little girl within crying out for daddy, but looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places. That is why we need to return to the shepherd of our souls (1 Peter 2:25), that is why we need to immerse ourselves, and to abide in, His word. Only then, will we be progressively coming to know the truth, and the truth will progressively set us free (John 8: 31, 32).

Father, I thank you for the many Christ based and Biblically based recovery programs, together with the insights a secular psychology. These things help accelerate the healing process and brings into truth, but none of them is perfect Lord, and we need Your discernment to know what is true. Most of all Lord, we need to know in a much deeper way the truth that we are loved by Almighty God, that we are valuable to You, that You can be trusted, that You have our best interest at heart, and that You truly are working all things together for the good of those who love You and are called according to Your purpose (Romans 8:28). Continue to draw us to Yourself Father, increase our faith, and give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You (Ephesians 1:17) and each other in Your precious Name Amen