True or Truth?

I've been thinking a lot about lies lately, not lies we tell other people but lies we tell ourselves, and it seems I listen to my mind a lot more than I realized. Until this study, No Other Gods by Kelly Minter, I didn't notice how much of my life was being consumed with bitterness, sadness, jealousy, and a need for approval. Almost all of these emotions are centered and fueled by lies I was believing without even knowing it. All lies come from Satan for he is the father of lies and by getting us to buy into them Satan is able to accomplish exactly what he wants, bondage and a  misconscrewed view of God. When I let those sink in from the study and Lies women believe by Nacy DeMoss, I couldn't believe what I was allowing Satan to do to my life.

These lies all started in the Garden of Eden. I believe that Eve was singled out by the serpent intentionally. As much as I do not like to admit it, the woman was the one that was deceived and through her the man then followed and I do not doubt that Satan knew exactly what he was doing. Satan knows our weaknesses and uses them against us to further push us from all that God desires for our lives. Studying Genesis 3, I discovered that the serpent didn't outright lie to Eve, what he said was true, yet it wasn't the TRUTH. He got Eve to question God, add her own thoughts on what God said, and create distrust in whether God had her best interests at heart. The apple was pleasing to the eye, it was good for food, and it would give her knowledge about good and evil. The problem is that she was never meant to have to carry the burden of what the fruit opened up to her and that by sinning she separated herself from God and death eventually came about. The truth is so much more than what was true in Satan's statements to Eve.

I tell myself when I am exhausted and overwhelmed that I cannot do this, that its all too much. Sometimes that is true, but the truth is that God is there to help. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength". Phil 4:13 How many more times am I missing out on the the TRUTH? I allow my mind to wander and make up scenarios in my head of what's going on or what someone is thinking or why something happened and if I a begin listening to these thoughts they create bitterness, stress, and anxiety in me when the thoughts are honestly lies I am telling myself. My mind is a dangerous thing because once I begin thinking about something it slowly gets in to my heart and from their destruction begins. I guess that is why God told us to guard it. "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it". Prov 4:23 What we believe we eventually begin acting on without even realizing it!

Slowly my life has became blah and its seems the joy I used to have has just seeped out. I have been begging and crying to God to bring it back and to take the bitterness away and I never understood why He didn't. Well the truth is not that he couldn't or wouldn't take the bitterness away, the truth is that until I replace the lies in my life with God's truth I will continue feeling this way. I am still trying to figure out how to do this and its a daily struggle but I so strongly desire to feel the joy and peace that God desires for me that I am not going to give up! The only way to do this is to delve into God's word and start believing all the truths and promises. If I can believe in all God tells me then I don't need to worry about the lies that are out there floating around waiting for me. God intends to set me free but I have to do my part as well :)