Happy Thursday friends! Welcome to another edition of His Encouragement, a weekly meme where some blogging friends and I try to provide you a little encouragement to help make it through your week.
This week I started a new bible study called Lies Women Believe. Our pastor’s wife did a short ladies study on it a few years ago, and ever since I have wanted to go through the whole study myself. There are so many lies that we hear or tell ourselves on a daily basis. Some I was aware of, and some I am just learning about. Although I am just in the very beginning of this study, I absolutely know it is going to open my eyes to so many things.
John 8:32
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
In order to be able to recognize a lie, you must know the truth. If we study and live in God’s truth, it will help us to fight the lies that Satan throws at us constantly. The world tells us lies every day – how to look, act, do this or do that. Even how to live. But it’s a lie (side note – I’m talking about the “world” here, as in unsaved people trying to get God out of everything). The thing is, sometimes they make this lie really look good. Kind of like back in the garden when Eve took the bite of the fruit from the tree. It looked appealing to her.
The world tries to make things look appealing to us, and they do it so subtly that sometimes we don’t even realize it. In the first part of this book, I was challenged to think of the lies that are affecting my life right now. I’m sure I haven’t even touched on most of them, but as I sat there pondering in my heart what to write down, I realized something. These lies that have put me in spiritual bondage, or put in me in situations that cause me to sin, are ones that I can’t quite figure out the starting point. You know what that means? It means that little by little, over time, the world has slowly changed my view point on those things. So slowly that I didn’t recognize it until I was forced to in this study.
So then I got thinking, wow, what other things am I not thinking of that have the same affect? And what lies are my friends believing that don’t even realize it? Now, I’m not saying you should go out and buy this bible study and do it, although I highly encourage you to. Mainly what I want to do is just make you aware friends. Stay in the Truth as much as you can! When you hear or see something, make sure it doesn’t conflict with God’s truths for us. Guard your heart and mind from the wiles of the devil. Let’s help each other, pray for each other, and encourage each other at every opportunity!
What’s been on your heart this week friends? I hope you’ll share in the comments, and please don’t forget to visit my friends and see what they’re sharing this week!
Trisha @ Joy of Reading
Nicole @ Christian Fiction Girl
Jacquelyn @ A Heavenly Home
Jenny @ Author Jenny Lynn
Gina @ Stories by Gina
Rebecca @ Rev. Rebecca Writes
“In order to be able to recognize a lie, you must know the truth.”
I’m struck the most right now by how many of my friends/family members believe everything the news tells them. My friends/family often say things that proves they are following the world, not Jesus, yet they proclaim to be christian. For example, most of them get incredibly angry when I talk against socialism or abortion. Two of the MOST evil things on this planet, yet my christian friends/family members fight for both so hard. It’s absolutely shocking to me. But then I realized through further discussion that they are not reading God’s Word. They are not studying. Because of this, they are susceptible to the lies satan puts in their brains. It makes me sad. I feel like there is a really big divide happening today.
I know EXACTLY what you mean!! And it’s so frustrating because you just want to flick their forehead or shake them into seeing what is right in front of them.
I own and have read both Lies Women Believe and Lies Young Women Believe. I just received Lies Girls Believe that released this month. I’m a youth leader for middle schoolers so I’m hoping to get some good advice from it for the girls. Satan is very cunning and has spent many years practicing the art of deception. In order for us to be able to fight his lies though we need to know what the truth is and this series is a great step in the right direction!
My daughter got Lies Young Women Believe and will be doing that later this year. It’s such a great tool!!