Name the Lie; Insert the Truth

Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" - Matthew 4:7-10

James MacDonald writes the following regarding dealing with error:

C.S. Lewis once said that there are two equal and opposite errors that we can fall into regarding Satan and his demons. One is to act like they don't exist; the other is to be unduly and overly interested in them.

God has it on His heart to communicate Satan's reality. More than 250 separate times in the New Testament God tells us about the chief enemy of our souls. He says, Watch out for him. He's trying to get access into your life. This is his strategy.

You may say, "I just don't think Satan is trying to mess with me. This doesn't apply to me." If you are a follower of Christ, it does.

Second Corinthians 11:14 tells us that Satan masquerades as an angel of light. The devil is not going to show up in some red Halloween outfit with the pitchfork, horns, and pointy tail. He wants you to think he looks like a cartoon character because that is no threat to you. But you're not always going to recognize him or his work. When you're least aware, he may be chiseling away at your emotional and spiritual health.

Let's brainstorm for a moment on this "angel of light" concept. For one, his deception makes him appear the opposite of what he really is. That includes those on his payroll. Not everyone who claims they speak for God is from God. "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ," (2 Corinthians 11:13).

The battleground for spiritual warfare is in one word: truth. As an angel of light, Satan lies to God's people. The battle is going on right now in the mind of every person reading this.

We get victory by following Jesus' example in battling Satan. In Matthew 4, Satan tempted Christ with lies. Make these stones into bread... (v.3). Cast Yourself down from the temple... (v.6). In response to each taunt, Jesus named the lie and inserted the truth. Jesus said, you say this, but God says this.

Although Satan is powerful, he's a weakling when faced with Scripture. He's unimpressed with our incantations or the clever things we say, but he'll run from God's Word that lives and abides forever. It's God's truth that sets you free.

Here's the goal: when Satan lies to you about spiritual issues that undermine your confidence and security in Christ Jesus, name the lie and insert God's truth.

Since the devotional is e-mailed--I can't link directly to it. However, I did find the quote above in this pdf document on the Walk in the Word website.

If you're interested, sign-up for the Wisdom for Your Walk weekly devotional...I've enjoyed it.