You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32).
When I was a boy on the farm, my dad, my brother and I would visit our
neighbor's farm to share produce and labor. The neighbor had a yappy little dog
that scared the socks off me. When it came barking around the corner, my dad and
brother stood their ground, but I ran. Guess who the dog chased! I escaped to
the top of our pickup truck while the little dog yapped at me from the ground.
Everyone except me could see that the little dog had no power over me except
what I gave it. Furthermore, it had no inherent power to throw me up on the
pickup; it was my belief that put me up there. That dog controlled me by using
my mind, my emotions, my will, and my muscles, all of which were motivated by
fear. Finally I gathered up my courage, jumped off the pickup, and kicked a
small rock at the mutt. Lo and behold, it ran!
Satan is like that yappy little dog: deceiving people into fearing him more than
God. His power is in the lie. He is the father of lies (John 8:44) who deceives
the whole world (Revelation 12:9), and consequently the whole world is under the
influence of the evil one (1 John 5:19). He can do nothing about your position
in Christ, but if he can deceive you into believing his lies about you and God,
you will spend a lot of time on top of the pickup truck! You don't have to
outshout him or outmuscle him to be free of his influence. You just have to
outtruth him. Believe, declare, and act upon the truth of God's Word, and you
will thwart Satan's strategy.
I have learned from the Scriptures and my experience that truth is the
liberating agent. The power of Satan is in the lie, and the power of the
believer is in knowing the truth. We are to pursue truth, not power.
Dr. Anderson, Freedom in Christ and Harvest House Publishers
www.ficm.org
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