Week 7, Day 3
Truth or Snare
So much of our success, fulfillment, and effectiveness hinges on the health & well-being of our mind. We’ve all heard the phrase, “The battle starts in the mind.” It’s so true, and the enemy of our souls knows it all too well! One of his main tactics is to present us with a lie, coated in a thin layer of truth.
Imagine a cake, filled with poison, and frosted with beautiful, white, delicious frosting! You get the idea. You see, the Truth of the Matter is, the amount of Truth IN the Matter is very small in this case! It’s not that there’s no truth at all in what the enemy whispers in our ear. He knows it would never work to shoot us a bold-faced lie because we would quickly and easily de-bunk the lie. However, the thin layer of truth on the outside of the lie makes it sound so good and positive...literally!
He uses phrases that sound so “on-target” that they can be mistaken for straight-up TRUTH if we’re not on guard. Let’s take it a step further - he’ll even use 100% truth on us, if he must, in order to convince us to listen. He used this tactic on Jesus when he tempted him in the wilderness. (Matt. 4:6) “He will give His angels charge over you to protect you from harm.” He’s a sly one, and obviously, he doesn’t mind using the very spiritual weapons of warfare (in this case, Scripture) that God has given to you and me, to defeat us!
Let’s look at an example of a lie that the enemy uses on people today, and then we’ll debunk it with the hard-core Truth of Scripture.
Introducing: “The Karma Concept”.
“If you do good, your life will be happy and successful. If you do wrong, bad things will happen to you.”
On the surface this sounds pretty legit, kind of like the law of sowing and reaping. I mean, we would all agree on the fact that there ARE natural consequences for bad choices. However, this concept is most definitely a lie from the enemy! Let’s debunk it with Scripture.
This is the story where Jesus healed the man who was blind from his birth. John 9:2-3 says, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
Another example is in Gen. 42:21, where Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt and realize that their brother, who they sold into slavery, is now the “King-Pin of Pyramid Town!” They figured they were about to catch some serious HEAT! They said to each other, “Surely, we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.” But verse 25 says, “Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey.”
How much you wanna bet those brothers were inspired to throw down a rap right there on the spot??!
“Yo-yo, ‘stead ‘o getting’ what I ‘zerved, & bein’ sent to da rack, I dun ended up wit-a-bunch ‘o coin in my sack!” 🤣
Anyway, the brothers did NOT get what they deserved - they received Grace! The fact is, sometimes bad things happen to good people, and sometimes good things happen to bad people. This is tough for us to reconcile in our minds because we’ve been trained to believe that our actions, good or bad, determine our destiny. However, God is the Judge and He’s sovereign. One Truth that we can take to the bank is this, “To those who love Him, God is working all things out for their eternal GOOD! (Romans 8:28)
Imagine a cake, filled with poison, and frosted with beautiful, white, delicious frosting! You get the idea. You see, the Truth of the Matter is, the amount of Truth IN the Matter is very small in this case! It’s not that there’s no truth at all in what the enemy whispers in our ear. He knows it would never work to shoot us a bold-faced lie because we would quickly and easily de-bunk the lie. However, the thin layer of truth on the outside of the lie makes it sound so good and positive...literally!
He uses phrases that sound so “on-target” that they can be mistaken for straight-up TRUTH if we’re not on guard. Let’s take it a step further - he’ll even use 100% truth on us, if he must, in order to convince us to listen. He used this tactic on Jesus when he tempted him in the wilderness. (Matt. 4:6) “He will give His angels charge over you to protect you from harm.” He’s a sly one, and obviously, he doesn’t mind using the very spiritual weapons of warfare (in this case, Scripture) that God has given to you and me, to defeat us!
Let’s look at an example of a lie that the enemy uses on people today, and then we’ll debunk it with the hard-core Truth of Scripture.
Introducing: “The Karma Concept”.
“If you do good, your life will be happy and successful. If you do wrong, bad things will happen to you.”
On the surface this sounds pretty legit, kind of like the law of sowing and reaping. I mean, we would all agree on the fact that there ARE natural consequences for bad choices. However, this concept is most definitely a lie from the enemy! Let’s debunk it with Scripture.
This is the story where Jesus healed the man who was blind from his birth. John 9:2-3 says, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
Another example is in Gen. 42:21, where Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt and realize that their brother, who they sold into slavery, is now the “King-Pin of Pyramid Town!” They figured they were about to catch some serious HEAT! They said to each other, “Surely, we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.” But verse 25 says, “Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey.”
How much you wanna bet those brothers were inspired to throw down a rap right there on the spot??!
“Yo-yo, ‘stead ‘o getting’ what I ‘zerved, & bein’ sent to da rack, I dun ended up wit-a-bunch ‘o coin in my sack!” 🤣
Anyway, the brothers did NOT get what they deserved - they received Grace! The fact is, sometimes bad things happen to good people, and sometimes good things happen to bad people. This is tough for us to reconcile in our minds because we’ve been trained to believe that our actions, good or bad, determine our destiny. However, God is the Judge and He’s sovereign. One Truth that we can take to the bank is this, “To those who love Him, God is working all things out for their eternal GOOD! (Romans 8:28)
Reflection Questions
• Are the following statements “Truth? Or Snare?”
A. “I need to protect myself from people
who have hurt me & caused me pain.”
B. “I need to avoid sinful places &
people so that I don’t fall into sin.”
A. “I need to protect myself from people
who have hurt me & caused me pain.”
B. “I need to avoid sinful places &
people so that I don’t fall into sin.”
Dennis and his wife Shaunna have served in ministry at Heritage for many years. They have led worship in Kids Ministry and currently serve on the Sunday morning worship team.
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