Lies We Believe

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the wiles of the devil.”  Eph 6:11  

I am realizing… perhaps TRULY realizing for the first time how long I have believed the enemy’s lies about me.  I am mad enough to do something about it.  Furious, in fact…  Thankful to a sweet friend for gently pointing out truth to me today. I AM where the Lord has placed me.  I am exactly who He intended me to be, and I am serving the purposes He created me for.

As I sit and write, I find myself weeping over the years I have wasted being afraid of and hating who I am, punishing myself over and over for past sins, mistakes, and failures.  Be very aware of the enemy of your soul… he roams around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour… and when he finds a willing victim, he devours her confidence, her dreams, her ambitions, her goals, and her belief in her God-given talents and abilities.  In their place, he leaves a weak, self-centered, unhappy, discontent, mousey relic of the beauty and peace and strength God originally intended.

I have believed all my life that there is something wrong – something unlikable about me, yet I have never been able to put my finger on just what it is.  Why??  Why in the world would I believe that lie, when God’s Word says that “I am FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE”?? Psalm 139:14.

At what point did the enemy convince me that I had ruined God’s plan for my life?  How could that possibly be true when Psalm 139:16 says that, “Every day ordained for me was written in Your book before one of them came to be” ?

The enemy has had me convinced for years that I had walked away from God – walked out of His will and rendered myself useless to Him for anything of any importance ever again.  You know, damaged goods.  REALLY??  Psalm 139:7-10 – “Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there YOUR HAND SHALL LEAD ME, and Your right hand shall hold me.”

How much have I hated the way I look?  Believed all my life that I am lacking and not as beautiful as other women I see?  Psalm 45:11,13  “The King will desire your beauty.  Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him… the King’s daughter is all glorious within…”  and “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” Song of Solomon 4:7.

Who could possibly be a better judge of my beauty than my Love… the very One Who so lovingly and carefully formed me in my mother’s womb?  Why would I want to look any other way than what He finds most pleasing??

Everything I think of attempting, I expect to fail at.  Why, when God’s Word says “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me?” Phil 4:13;  and in Zechariah 4:6, He says that it is “‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.'”

I constantly believe God must be frustrated and fed up with my failed attempts at “getting it right,” when He has clearly said, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness… just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him, for He Himself knows our frame. He is mindful that we are but dust” Psalm 103:8,13-14.

Oh, sweet sister, the enemy will deceive and destroy us and render us ineffective if we aren’t careful.  If he can just get you to think way less of yourself than what Your Father thinks of you, he has won a part of the battle by stealing your joy and convincing you that you are of no use, and there is no point in even trying. He has done it to me for years, and I have bought it hook, line, and sinker, walking around with my head down, shoulders bowed, unable to look others in the eye for feelings of unworthiness and guilt and shame – simply for being who I am. But Psalm 3:3 says that the Lord is “My glory and the lifter of my head.” I can look up!  For I am a “new creation, old things have passed away, behold, all things are made new!” II Corinthians 5:17.

Be STRONG in the Lord, putting on the FULL ARMOR so that you can defeat the devil’s lies!  Battle His lies with the TRUTH – your sword – THE WORD OF GOD that says you are deeply loved, beautiful, safe, and cared for, and that NOTHING can snatch you out of His strong and capable hands!  Ephesians 3:18 and Romans 8:38,39.

For we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for GOOD works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them!  Ephesians 2:10