Don’t Listen to the Lies

How long have I listened to the lies of the deceiver?

I do it, heaven knows even though I’m a believer.

He catches me at moments of doubt,

Capitalizing on my forgetting what I’m about.

He sneaks in through the cracks in my armor

To reach me, try to convince me I’m not who I am.

Cracks that grow wider the more I’m away from the Word.

The less I’m exposed to the Truth,

The easier for lies to break through.

“You aren’t worthy, you know.

There’s this one and this one and that who say so.”

“You can’t succeed so why do you try?

Anything’s possible, humph, it’s a lie.”

“You aren’t deserving. Nothing you could do

Could ever be good enough to be listened to.”

“Besides, you’re not holy enough to last.

Just look at the troubles lined up in your past.”

Stop! Get behind me!

The Spirit testifies and is here to remind me

That I am a saved child of God, who

Holds my right hand in all that I do.

Remembering who I am and whose I am,

My past is forgiven, my future made new.

My weaknesses supplanted with strength from the One

Who set planets spinning and ignited the sun.

copyright 2008 Joy S Taylor

 

The message of this poem came from somewhere deep in a long ago wound. I made the blunder of believing the love I shared was something it was not, and it led to years of struggle and conflict. I listened to the lies fostered by our society, and I lied to myself. Please, don’t do that. Rather, learn what God says about how He sees you, and believe that. It is truth.

There is an interesting story about this encouragement verse. At one time, my vignettes played on a radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. One of the set times occurred during a specified program, which on this particular day was focused upon a ministry which rescued women from prostitution. One of the guests had just finished describing her valuable work, and requested help from the audience in order for her work to continue. The program went to a break, and “Don’t Listen to the Lies” aired. I happened to be listening to the show as I was driving to downtown St. Louis, my heart breaking for the women the show’s guest was describing, when I recognized my own voice saying, “The encouragement verse for today is “Don’t Listen to the Lies.” I was overwhelmed.

Where do these lies we allow ourselves to believe come from? They are certainly not what God says about us, or how He sees us. Isaiah 43:4 tells us, “Because you are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you…” Isaiah speaks God’s truth over us. They are from the father of lies, Satan. Jesus coined that title for Satan. It’s right there in my red letter version of the NIV in John 3:44. Satan is cunning and uses just a touch of truth to hide his deception. So, how do we ward off the offensive lies thrown our way? Ephesians 6 tells us how to put on the full armor of God to defeat Satan and his crafty ways. Until recently, I’ve looked at each item in the armor as a separate skill to develop, but I saw a something new this time I studied Ephesians. God’s Word is dynamic like that for me.

The armor consists of the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, readiness form the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. I noticed that each of these point directly to Jesus.

Jesus is the way the truth and the life. John 14:6

Jesus is righteous. From 1 John 2:1 “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

Jesus is the Prince of Peace from Isaiah 9:6.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 tells us “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” He is our salvation.

The Sword of the Spirit, I’ve always taken to be the Bible. However, I also see a connection directly to Jesus here, because Jesus is the one with the two-edged sword in Revelation, and in John 1:1 He is explained as the Word, John starts his gospel as far back as he can go with “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John ties the Word to God’s son in verse 14. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. “

When I look at all descriptions, they are a cohesive call to put on Jesus as our armor. As we continually put on the armor of God, we become more like Jesus. We are to live ‘in Christ.’ As you study the Bible, look for all the times the words “in Christ” occur. 1 John 3:8 says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the work of the devil.” We are instructed to put on the ‘full’ armor of God, who is the Son of God, anything less is inadequate for fighting off the wiles and schemes of Satan. He has to flee at the name of Jesus, there is no name above that name, so put it on. Arm yourself with the name above all names, and don’t listen to the lies.

Gracious Heavenly Father, you are a god who sees us, you are El Roi. You are a God of Truth, who cannot lie. You are a gracious God of salvation and justice. Thank you for your Word that tells us how much you love us, how much you think kindly in our direction, how that you are jealous for us. You have our best interest at heart. Father, I trust you. I trust in your word that tells me I am worthy, that I am valuable, that I am wanted, that I am accepted, that I am called by name, that I am loved and loveable, that I am beautiful, that I am precious and honored, and that I am righteous in Christ. Best of all, Father, I thank you, that I am called out of the darkness, even if I created it for myself, and into your marvelous light. There is no better place for me than basking in the warmth of your will. I praise you in the name of Jesus, according to your good and perfect will.  Amen.