When Jesus was talking about the enemy, He said: ‘When he lies, he speaks his native language.’ And there are three ways he lies to us: 1) Doubts. The enemy wants to discourage us and to make us feel like giving up. He knows that if he can get us to doubt God and doubt ourselves then we’ll be ineffective in the kingdom. But when we say that we’re not good enough or that nothing will ever change, we’re letting Satan think he’s winning. 2) Shock. If we’re not expecting Satan’s attack, we can become alarmed and think, ‘I must not be making progress. Why else would I still be fighting the same old battles?’ Satan doesn’t give up without a fight, and his attack is proof that we haven’t been conquered. Often he attacks us when we’re being effective for God, so we can actually see the attack as confirmation that we’re doing good things for the kingdom. 3) Feelings. Satan tries to convince us that we don’t deserve to be forgiven. He’ll tell us that because we don’t feel forgiven, we’re not. But remember, he’s a liar. We need to stand our ground. God promises to forgive us when we confess our sins, and He doesn’t then hold our sins against us. Satan will bring to our minds all the things God’s already forgiven us for and set us free from, and that can cause us to experience some of the thoughts and emotions we used to have. When the enemy is lying to us, we need to remember God’s truth written in His Word. Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:31-32 NIV).

What Now?

Write out John 8:32 and then repeat it to yourself every time you feel the enemy is trying to make you believe his lies.