Day VIII: Lies, Nothing But Lies

Satan's number one goal: destroy the Human Race. Everyone thinks Hitler and the Jews was horrible(which horrible is, yes, an understatement)... just imagine Satan's Genocide.

In Genesis 1-3, God created the word and it was good. Eden was heaven on earth. Adam and Eve had everything they could possibly want. The one request God made was that this pair did not eat of a certain tree. As Rick Stanley says, "The problem wasn't the apple on the tree, but the 'pair' on the ground."

"Satan came to Eve and asked a simple question, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'" At first, Eve responded accurately, "No, God didn't say that. he said there is only one tree we can;t eat from." But then she overstated God's requirement: "And we can't touch it or we'll die."

God never said that. Satan saw his opening and exclaimed, "You will not surely die. In fact, if you eat it, you'll really live!" Then Satan compounded his deception. He told her, "If you eat from that tree, you;ll know both good and evil. You'll be just like God!"

Satan's plot was to plant a question in Eve's mind about God's intentions and character. If he could get just one of the people to doubt God, he has a chance of destroying the whole human race. Eve took the bait. She ate the fruit. Sin, misery, and destruction then entered human history.

Satan's purpose is the same today... He wants to destroy us. He uses lies of every stripe to get us to doubt God's intentions and character. We are at war."

Where is Satan working within us and our society?
Temptation, Accusation, Confusion, and Obstacles are created by Satan to keep us from God.

Are you afraid if you truly follow God you will be miserable? Lie!
Lies like this are commonly laced in our society... but fight the lies...

Temptation
"What do most people spend their time thinking, dreaming, and talking about? Possessions, popularity, sex, prestige, and power. What do riches promise but fail to deliver? Happiness, comfort, and fulfillment. Satan has a strong ally today in his attempts to tempt you and me to pursue those things instead of Christ: advertising. Think of all the magazine ads, television commercials, radio ads, and billboards you encounter every day. Everyone of them claims its product or service will do something you must have. But it is the implicit, hidden promise that is so deceptively tempting. Toothpaste promises not just clean teeth but to get you the date of your dreams... Beer promises not just to taste good, but to make you popular (and good looking, too! How does that work?). We are so submerged in the sea of advertising that we don't even notice the subtle, implicit messages. They are lies."

I took an advertising class in high school and it really makes you think about what you are taking in. A lot of time when we are tired or lazy, we want to put in a movie or flip channels on the TV. The ads and underlining messages in movies are most powerful when we are exhausted and looking for an outlet because we filter the messages less.

Accusation
"When we give in to temptation and fall, Satan kicks us while we're down... At that moment, his beautiful mask of temptation is stripped off and he snarls, "See! You're a failure! How can you call yourself a Christian? God couldn't love anybody who is such a screw up like you!" Have you every heard those voices? Have you ever beat yourself up for doing something stupid? Satan wants us to focus on how awful we are instead of on God's wonderful forgiveness and strength. The more you grovel in the mud of self-contempt, the better Satan likes it. The more you focus on self, the less you focus on God."

Confusion
"Satan wants to distort our view of God, to make us believe that God doesn't care or can't help. He uses bad teachings of the Scriptures, cults, some biology professors, and well-meaning friends to get us off track... Some of these sources of "truth" look very appealing... but Paul reminds us that "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light"(2 Corinthians 11:14)."

I have experienced this, especially on UWM Campus while taking Anatomy and Physiology! My professor said Christianity has to be false because men and women have the same number of ribs. If Adam gave his rib to Eve, men would always have one less rib than women. Don't you think a smart, loving creator would have pre-planned this? He is God after all. My professor took evolution one step too far into macro-evolution. All I can say on this account is check your references Professor!

Obstacles
"Satan will put obstacles in our way to try to prevent us from knowing and serving God... You are in a fight whether you want to be or not. You and I experience temptations and accusation all day every day. Often, we are exposed to distortions of truth.... Satan is a liar and a theif. He doesn't play fair. His goal is to keep people from God any way he can... We need to be strong in the word of God so we can fight effectively."


"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

In this passage, Matthew 13: 18-23, what kind of soil are you and how does Satan rip you away from Christ?

For me, Satan can come in my brain feed blatantly or subliminally. I sometimes review words that I spoke and can beat myself up over saying something (after interviews, first impressions, or an out of character comment). In these accusations, it is imperative to forgive myself and always come to Jesus. If I worried about every word I spoke, I would lose sight of Jesus. The Bible does say "Do not worry"/"Do not fear" 365 times. Clearly, Satan's accusations desire us to worry so much we lose sight, but we can't. We must persevere. Persevere through temptation by fighting lies with truth. I find the lies in our sexual laden media, power-prestige-popular driven culture, and the lost's search for peace in pseudo-truth. Peace is found only in the truth. People shouldn't settle for this world. When the self-image comparisons, sexual commentary, the pride and power struggles of this world become integrated into my mind, it is imperative to fight back with truth. To the word, into prayer, revived with truth!

In Ephesians 6:10-13, Paul encourages us in this fight:
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."