Daily Devotion #3

Believing the Lie

 

"You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He 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

 

We get victory in our testimony...so here goes part of mine.  Growing up I had to be one of the most insecure, lack of self-esteem having young girls.  I sought validation from peers and friends...and when I didn't get it, I was crushed.  Many times I was picked on (I now think largely in part of me being so smart, yep it ostracized me a bit) and I would cry because I didn't understand why, and yep I was a crybaby.  Even as I write this I start to tear up.  I have to thank God for my friend Camisha (smile) .  I will never forget this but in 8th grade there was a girl who will remain nameless that always had something negative to say about me (and in her case she had NO room to talk, looking all manly herself oops sorry lol :p ).  She wrote something like "Marquita Priester-worst dresser" and Camisha made sure I didn't see that...she instead wrote "Best Dresser".  We all go through that period of finding ourselves and I thank God that she was there to intercept that...who knows what would have happened then because by that time I had developed a smart mouth and had no problem fighting since I never got in trouble at school.

 

For a long time even into my adult years, I believed the lie that I had to compare myself to other people, on essentially everything.  School was almost the one area that I did not compare myself because I had always been exceptionally smart.  But as a young woman, I lacked the belief that what I saw in the mirror was acceptable and nagged myself about everything I could find wrong.  So when I got sick in college, it served as a wake-up call to the falsehood of the lie I believed and the key to walk out of the prison of self-hatred.

 

The devil is the father of lies.  A lie in definition is the opposite of truth, an un-truth.  It is also withholding, twisting words around (as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden), or a gross perversion of the truth.  The devil perverts everything.  He plants that one thought, and feeds it with another thought, until we are so far gone (if we don't have the fortitude to catch it) that we believe whatever he said.  Its not okay to compare yourself to others because God created us all with unique purposes...we all have a different place in His grand plan.  We may have similar stories, similar roles, but when all those things add up under your name it becomes something different.  All of our stories are different, although we may be on parallel roads.  Stop believing the crap the devil tells you, like you aren't good enough--counter thought "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13, I will never get well--counter thought "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers them out of them all."  Psalm 34:19, I'm too weak--counter thought "But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world."

 

Remember that!!! YOU belong to God so stop giving yourself over to lies and be victorious.  Use your authority!!!!  Christ has already defeated the devil so act like you know!

 

"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith."  1 John 5:4

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"No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is of me," says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:17