Tonight I was searching through my old text messages for some information I needed. In the process, I discovered many old messages that I no longer needed - one from several months ago when a repairman was letting me know he was heading to my house, short questions from friends that had been read and answered, temporary passwords from websites helping me to reset ones I had forgotten - you know the kind of things that can clog up your text message page.
As I began deleting all the unneeded information it made me think of other messages in my past. These weren't text messages or phone messages or emails or even written notes or letters. They were the lies of the enemy that he used to try to circumvent the work of God in my life. Maybe you've heard some of these messages yourself.
"You've messed up too much. You've sinned so deeply that God could never forgive you."
"You'll never amount to much. You don't have anything to offer that church. God can't use you."
"Your mama was that way and your daddy was that way and you can't change it. It's just how it is with your family."
"You're not important. Nobody cares about what you think."
"You can never be like that other person from church. You'll never have a relationship with God like they have. God only picks certain people to be like that and that will never be you."
"God's just waiting for you to mess up so He can cut you off. There's no way you can live right all the time, so you might as well quit now."
Here's what Jesus said about Satan and these words should be our guide when we hear this kind of venom spewed out in an assault on our minds and spirits.
John 8:44 (NIV......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.
Jesus spoke the definitive word on the sayings of the enemy. Don't believe anything he says because he is a liar. Don't even entertain those messages for a moment. They come from the source of lies and there is no truth in them.
We know the enemy hates life - especially the lives of those who he knows are the saved, the called, the chosen of God. He murders reputations, hopes, callings, dreams, relationships, ministries - anything birthed of God and His promises in our lives.
So just like I scrolled through my phone tonight, deleting all the irrelevant texts, take authority over those messages that he's been trying to sneak into your mind and heart and begin to attack with the only weapon God gave you - the sword of the Spirit - the word of God. Blow up his "phone" with these messages:
"God says that He has redeemed me, called me by name and I am His." - based on Isaiah 43:1b
"God says that if I confess my sins, he'll forgive me and make me clean." - based on 1 John 1:9
"The Word says that the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one - so that means me. Those gifts are to profit everyone, so I know God has gifted me to give and serve in His church and His kingdom" - based on 1 Corinthians 12:7
"God doesn't have favorites - His blessings of eternal life, glory, honor, and peace are for everyone who works what is good." - based on Romans 2:7-11
"God says I am a new creature. My old life is gone!" - based on 2 Corinthians 5:17
That's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of the things that a God who cannot lie says about you. Dig into the book and see what messages you should keep close to you forever and never delete.
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