NO MORE LIES!

Recently I have spent much time on the phone in an attempt to clear up a matter with one of our utility companies.  We were being charged for a service every week but soon realized that we were not actually receiving the service as promised. I am a very trusting person and I have had a difficult time comprehending why anyone would purposefully lie about something so obviously deceptive. Especially in dealing with a professional business, it is extremely exasperating when discovering you have been lied to and they refuse to admit any wrong doing.  

When this whole fiasco began, I just thought I had overlooked something in the situation and that this

company was telling me the truth.  After further investigating this aggravating dilemma over several weeks, my suspicions were confirmed.  We were not receiving the service every week that we were paying for and I was not crazy or mistaken as had been implied by this company. Although at times I really wanted to cry, my goal throughout the many phone conversations with their customer service department was to lovingly “speak the truth in love” and to be a calm and Christ like example.

I must honestly admit however I was slightly frustrated at this whole ordeal and had to confess my inner anger to the Lord.  Even though I realize that this was a minor ordeal in the grand scheme of life, I definitely did not like the feeling of being deceived and having it implied that their neglect was somehow my fault.  Thankfully now after a few months, it all seems to be resolved since we have switched to another company and have been enjoying the fact that we are now receiving the services we have paid for. Of course, I recognized right away that God had indeed allowed this whole situation to take place in my life to reemphasize the horrible effects that deception has on us.  I know He would want me to share with others what He’s been teaching me through this process. 

No one ever likes to be lied to but every one of us has been deceived by someone at some point in our lives.  We may even recall instances where we believed something to be truth only to find out later that we had been tricked.  No matter how serious the situation turned out to be, it is definitely not a good feeling to know that you have been taken advantage of.  Once we come to the realization that someone has lied to us and we’ve fallen for their deceptions, how does that seem to affect us?

1)  We tend to feel violated and used.  
2)  We realize that the one who deceived us may have NEVER had good intentions for us at all.
3)  We learn to be more watchful and purpose NOT to fall for any other schemes in the future.
4)  We put up our guard and purpose to stay as far away from that deceiver as we can.
5)  We warn those we love to be very careful not to ever trust the one who has deceived us.

When we've been purposefully deceived by strangers, acquaintances, friends, family members or even utility companies, there is always something far deeper taking place beneath the surface.  There is actually a more serious spiritual battle hidden beyond the obvious.  All around us every day we have spiritual warfare between the forces of good and evil battling for our lives.  Satan, the father of all lies knows he will lose the final war against God so he is trying every tactic under the sun in an attempt to bring as many people down with him as he can.  For those who have put their trust in Christ’s shed blood on the cross, our enemy can only but hope to get us distracted from making an impact for Christ’s kingdom while here on earth.  For this reason, believers must constantly be on guard to fight the battles we encounter every single day so that we will not become casualties of our enemy.

God lovingly warns us in John 10:10 of the MASTER deceiver whose plan for our life is destruction and death.  Satan is a thief whose only goal is to “steal, kill and destroy” believers and cause as many problems as he can for us.  Nothing has changed with the Devil and his intended path for us because He is pulling the very same destructive schemes on us today that he did with Adam and Eve.  In John 8:44, we are told that “…he is a liar and the father of lies.” God tells us that Satan is our enemy, he is the accuser, the slanderer, the deceiver and murderer.  We must take seriously the warning we are given in I Peter 5:8 to “Be sober, be vigilant because our enemy the devil roams around like a roaring lion, looking for those he may devour.”   

I have definitely seen people whom Satan has devoured.  I have personally witnessed the destruction that comes from choosing to believe the Enemy’s lies. Every one of us has experienced the heartache of our sinful choices and the destruction of the iniquities of those around us.  For many years, I made chose to believe SO many of Satan’s lies and I know without a doubt that my physical life would have ended early if God had not awoken me out of my spiritual slumber.  The enemy had specific plans for my demise and the destruction of my marriage and our family and believing his lies was playing right into his schemes. 

I’m thankful that God brought some serious trials into my life to get me to see the seriousness and reality of my sin so that I could confess it before it was too late! I was blinded by my sin, but when the blinders came off by comparing my heart’s condition to the TRUTH of God’s Word, I finally saw my sin for the ugliness that it was!  I'm done feeling used and cheated by someone who ONLY desires my destruction. I'm now more aware of all of the deceptions that the Evil one puts in my path.

We often wonder why we see so many Christians that seem to be going off the ‘deep end’ and throwing away everything that is truly ‘good’ in their lives and exchanging it ONLY for heartache and destruction.  Satan makes that which is "good" look bad and everything that is "bad" seem inviting, which is part of the deception that we too often fall for.  The devastating consequences from our sin are not always quickly seen. Satan uses a SLOW progression into sin to wear away at our defenses.  He always begins the battle by tempting us subtle lies because we are more likely to fall for believing the “little” deceptions first which eventually lead us way further than we ever thought we would go.  The progression of sin is often slow and gradual.

IF we CHOOSE to:  

      1)  We LISTEN to the lie, (then sooner or later-)
2) We ENTERTAIN the lie in our mind, (sooner or later-)
3) We will eventually begin to BELIEVE the lie. (sooner or later-)
4) We will decide to ACT on the lie.

Once we act on the lie, we not only bring devastating consequences and pain to ourselves but to everyone else around us. There are always other innocent casualties from our sinful choices!  Countless children, spouses, parents, families and friends also suffer needlessly because of our selfish decisions that begin from us believing the lies Satan tells us.  We can all recall examples of this very deceptive process in our own lives and the lives of those we love.

No one likes to be lied to! As a Christian, which lies have you listened to? Which lies have you chosen to believe? Which lies have you acted on? We’ve been warned by the God of the Universe about how Satan wants to destroy us.  It’s our choice to either heed God’s warnings or choose a life full of heartache, pain and regret. If you feel used and deceived because you’ve fallen for the Enemy’s deceptions over and over, you must not lose hope.

 God always offers a new beginning and His mercies are brand new every single morning.  As long as we are still breathing, it’s NEVER too late for us to humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness from our sin. Please take it from someone who knows and has experienced God’s forgiveness so many times.  We CAN live a blessed life from here on out and replace and combat Satan’s lies with the truths of God’s Powerful Word.