Deceptions and Lies

Our homework for small group was very enlightening for me this week. The session was about "lies." I learned that one can tell truths yet still be deceptive. In the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Satan tempts Eve with complete truths. Did you know that? Maybe I did but it never registered until now. Yes, he told Eve the fruit is pleasing to the eye, good for food and desirable for gaining wisdom. He also argued 1) You will surely not die 2) For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and 3) And you will be like God, knowing good and evil. All of this is true yet still deceptive. Why? Call me crazy but this is so profound to me. Satan will tell us what's true, but he never tells us the truth. Satan spoke a lot of true things, yet none of it was the truth!

God is true and His Word is true! When we stray from God's original words to us (like Adam and Eve), it becomes amazingly easy to get caught up in deception and counterfeit options. The author, Kelly Minter tells us that people who need to recognize counterfeit money train by studying the original. Teaching them what a million possible counterfeits look like makes no sense when all they need to know is the real thing. It's the same for us. In order to stick with the truth, we have to know it.

Then the book challenges us to look inside ourselves and acknowledge the lies we've believed about ourselves. These "small" imaginations that capture our brains ARE the major lies we believe. You know the ones...I must be crazy (my favorite), my clothes are dorky, I feel like people think I'm weird, I'm not smart, I don't fit in or how about when we make up stories in our minds about what other people are thinking when they respond in a certain way to us. At least now, we can identify what's going on in our heads and walk away from the lies---even though sometimes they're subtle.

Believe God's promises for our lives. It's hard..I go back and forth daily. It takes confidence to believe that God is going to protect and take care of us as we wait in difficult situations. But He always does!