The Truth will set you free

So then, surrender to God. Stand up to the devil and resist him and he will flee in agony.  Move your heart closer and closer to God, and he will come even closer to you.  But make sure you cleanse your life, you sinners, and keep your heart pure and stop doubting. – James 4:7-8 TPT

In the movie God’s not dead there is a scene where a woman reveals to her son that he is in a prison cell. He has believed the lies of the enemy and feels comfortable there. The door is wide open and he has the choice to leave or stay. His freedom or confinement is determined by what he believes about his circumstances. As believers, we are faced with the same situation.

What do we believe about our circumstances? What voices are we listening too? The enemy would have us believe that God isn’t listening or that He is not answering our prayers because He is not able. From the beginning of time the enemy has lied about God and his tactics remain the same, distract them from the truth.

Jesus Christ is The Truth and when you know The Truth, it will set you free. (John 8:32)

So how does the enemy distract us from The Truth? He does it by offering excuses and temptations that entice us away from spending time with God in prayer and in His Word. Often we use the excuses that we don’t have time or that it’s too hard to learn and memorize scripture. But the truth is that we have no problem finding time for social media, TV and other distractions.

Think about how much effort we put into learning new computer programs, memorizing sports statistics and binge watching Netflix series. None of them are wrong in and of themselves, but when they become simple distractions that the enemy uses to keep us from knowing God, they eventually become a prison cell where we are unprepared to push back the slowly closing door.

Jesus came to give us life to the full and yet most of us have accepted life to the least – life with boundaries set by our enemy. He whispers that we aren’t capable of learning or remembering scriptures, but it’s those very scriptures that will put him in his place and make him flee. We’ve resigned ourselves not to challenge him when he says we are weak for fear that what he’s telling us might be true. But the truth is that in Christ we are strong, capable and victorious.

Jesus gave us the example of how to resist the devil. Each time He was tempted He would say, “It is written,” and then quote scripture. If that is how Jesus dealt with temptation, how much more should we do the same. We can’t quote God’s Word if we don’t know it. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is the only weapon we need to resist the enemy and step out into the freedom that awaits us in Christ and when we resist the enemy, he will flee. Thank you Lord.

Father, please forgive us for allowing the enemy to distract us from You. Help us to make the choice to see the freedom that You offer and hold tightly to The Truth. Thank you for the victory that You have already given if we choose to take it. In Jesus’ name, amen.