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 (John 8:44).
Alyce was one of the most pathetic-looking young women I have ever met. She was
so skinny that she literally had no more body fat to lose. She had lost her job
three days earlier, and her vacant eyes conveyed that she had lost all hope for
her life. She was a very talented girl and a committed Christian in many ways,
but she was also a Darvon junkie who had even been arrested once for illegal
possession of prescription drugs.
"I want you to tell me who you think you are," I said to Alyce.
"I'm just a no-good failure," she whimpered.
"You're not a failure," I responded. "You're a child of God." She continued to
pour out the negative self-talk and evidences of demonic deception she had been
living under, and I continued to counter her negativism with the good news of
her identity in Christ. The more we talked, the more aware I became of Christ's
presence ministering to Alyce. We tested the spirit that was harassing her, and
she knew firsthand that she had been deceived. Astonished, she said, "Do you
mean to tell me that my whole problem has been deception, that I have been
listening to a pack of lies?" Today she's free.
The prevailing theme of the New Testament is the position we enjoy in Christ
through our faith in Him. That's the good news: Christ in you and you in Christ.
If there is a prevailing negative theme in the New Testament which capsulizes
the opposition we face in Satan, I believe it is deception. There are at least
three avenues through which Satan will attempt to dissuade you from God's truth
and deceive you into believing his lies: self-deception, false
prophets/teachers, and deceiving spirits. We are vulnerable to Satan's deception
in these areas if we fail to clothe ourselves daily with the spiritual armor of
the belt of truth.
Dr. Anderson, Freedom in Christ and Harvest House Publishers
www.ficm.org
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.