I Believed A Lie.....
"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."
Philippians 2: 9-11
Last Tuesday morning, before my kids left for school, we had our normal daily devotional. As we read the second chapter of Philippians, and I was explaining to them the background story of Paul writing this from prison, the above verses jumped off the page and hit my heart like a shot of adrenaline.
After they left for school, I sat back down to have my own time with the Lord and dig deeper on these verses I felt like God wanted to teach me fresh revelation on. As I worshipped God in song, closed my eyes, and reflected on the name of Jesus, I heard this truth whispered to the deepest part of my soul...."The devil has a big mouth, but he is a defeated foe! Yes, Satan is a defeated foe!"
I began crying out my precious Lord and Savior's name in utter victory..."Jesus, Jesus, Jesus...." It began as whispers and got louder and louder until finally his name became my victory chant! I started cheering at the top of my lungs, "JESUS, JESUS, JESUS! Satan is a DEFEATED FOE!"
As I continued to let God hide this truth deep into my heart, I realized this was so powerful, because I had been believing a lie! Somewhere along the way in my journey with Jesus, the devil had intimidated me with his trickery of fear and into believing he was powerful...and I had taken the bait. The Lord quickly had me on a scavenger hunt in the Bible to find the real truth in His Word to give these lies a total knock out!
Hebrews 2:14 tells us that Satan has already been completely destroyed and in Ephesians 6:11 we are told that our battle is not against the devil (because Jesus defeated him) but against his trickery, schemes, and lies.
The only power the devil has is the power to deceive us...this is why it is SOOO important to know the truth, so we don't take the bait of his lies and surrender our power to him. We must know the truth, which is our weapon, and ENFORCE the devil's defeat! Satan is a defeated foe and Jesus is above ALL!
I love Hebrews 4:12, which says, "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." And also Revelation 1:18, "I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."
So as I was reminded of what Jesus did and gave me, I was reminded of what warfare is...Warfare only takes place between 2 undefeated foes--once the enemy has been conquered, the war is over.
Jesus is the Victory and Satan is a defeated foe.
I believed the lie of his fear tactics. I am powerful because Jesus in me is greater than anything else on earth, above earth or under the earth. The truth shattered the lie and set this captive free. Yes and Amen.
Now it's your turn...have you been tricked by the devil's lies? Do you have any stinkin' thinkin' that needs to be shifted to God's perspective? What is the truth to replace that lie? The good news is that you can ask Jesus! Do this continually so you can live the powerful free life that is available to all who will walk in the truth of His Word!
