True Identity Ministries Blog

Recently God has been doing a real work in my heart about recognizing some lies that I have so often fallen prey to. Those lies come straight from the enemy, the father of lies- John 8:44, “He (the devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the Father of Lies.” As a mom, I have often instructed my kids, “Always tell the truth, don’t ever lie.” But, the more I’ve been thinking about it lately, I might want to add, “and don’t believe lies.” Because what you believe directly affects how you live, the decisions you make, and your outlook on life.

Women are prone to believing lies, perhaps because we are just naturally trustworthy, or maybe lies can look more convincing than the truth or maybe we are just made up more emotional and vulnerable. Regardless, the point is that as fallen women, we are particularly prone to fall prey to Satan’s deception. Remember that he did not first approach the man; he deliberately approached and deceived the woman. It was the woman who led her husband into sin and together they led the whole human race into sin. I believe there is something significant about that progression and that, to this day, there is a unique sense in which Satan targets women for deception. We know this for a fact. All we have to do is take a look at Eve, the first woman who walked the earth. She fell for the lie.
Genesis 3:1-13, “ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" (1st deception) 2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "You will not surely die," (First lie!) the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (another lie!!)
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

So, the enemy may not try to deceive us into eating off an apple tree; but he sure knows how to trap us with some other lies. Do any of these sound familiar to you?

Everyone else’s kids are better than yours.
Everyone else is so much more organized and ‘together’ than you.
Everyone has a much better marriage than you have.
Everyone is more disciplined than you and more spiritual.
Everyone else is more capable than you.
Everyone else is much more gifted and talented than you, so why even try?!
You are the only one who is falling apart and feels the way you feel.
God is not really that good, or else He wouldn’t have allowed this to happen.

This list could go on and on. Nancy Leigh DeMoss says in her book, Lies Women Believe and the Truth that sets them Free, is that “we first listen to a lie, then we dwell on the lie, the we begin to believe the lie, and then we act on the lie.” Listening to things that the enemy whispers to us that are not true is the first step toward ultimate bondage and death. This is why I feel it is so vital for us to take the first step of being watchful and recognizing a lie before it goes to the next step.

What do you think might be some lies that you struggle with? Has the enemy robbed your joy because of it? Is it causing you to live in some sort of bondage or frustration? Satan would love nothing better than to dissuade you from experiencing God’s best by feeding you LIES.

It is my encouragement and challenge for you (and I) to pray and ask the Holy Spirit this week to help us be more aware of the lies that so easily begin to flood our minds. As we take this first step towards recognizing them more quickly, we can combat them with the truth of God’s word. John 8:31-32, “Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Next week in my blog posting, I will begin a 4 week Bible study that the Lord has impressed upon me to share with you all; called, “The traps of Doubt”. As we begin to dig and search through God’s word, He is going to begin to show us areas in our lives that we have allowed the enemy to trap us in the doubts and lies that rob us from being all that God has intended us to be. And that is…women who walk in joyful freedom. I hope you join me.


Blessings,
Stephanie