WHAT LIES ARE YOU LOOKING THROUGH?

Have you ever believed something for a really long time and all of a sudden you discover what you once thought was truth, was actually a fallacy? I know I have. When I was young I remember my grandma telling me that if you didn't dry between your fingers and toes after a bath or shower that cherry trees would grow (Yes cherry trees, you read that correctly). I know it sounds pretty craaaaaazy, but my gullible 5-year-old self took it as gospel. After all, don’t adult always tell the truth? Ha. Obviously the older I got the clearer it became this was in fact a lie (a harmless exaggeration). But it still skewed the way I lived and on more than one occasion I remember actually pulling apart my tiny feet just to make sure there was no unwanted foliage in there. Why am I telling you this? Great question. Glad you asked. 

because a lie is as powerful as the truth, if you BELIEVE it. 

I’m reminded of a story I read once about elephants. When still a baby, the elephant is tethered by a very thick rope to a stake firmly hammered into the ground. The elephant tries several times to get free, but it lacks the strength to do so. After a year, the stake and the rope are still strong enough to keep a small elephant tethered, although it continues to try, unsuccessfully, to get free. At this point, the animal realises that the rope will always be too strong and so it gives up. When it reaches adulthood, the elephant can still remember how, for a long time, it had wasted its energies trying to escape captivity. At this stage, the trainer can tether the elephant with a slender thread tied to a broom handle, and the elephant will make no attempt to escape to freedom. Wow, nuts, right?!

so, don’t believe EVERYTHING you think. because MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, the enemy impacts our reality by distorting our perception. 

Ultimately our perception becomes our reality. The bible tells us in Proverbs 27:3. "As a man thinks, so Is He." It's true. Often times you don't see things the way they are, you see things the way you are.  Every person looks through life with a certain set of lenses. Imagine you're wearing a set of clear glasses. Now imagine every experience you have writes on those lenses. Unfortunately, the enemy is so good at highlighting our hurts, disappointments and failures. He's so good at keeping the negatives in our view and reinforcing lies of insecurity, inferiority and fear. He's skilled at filtering our vision and twisting the way that we see God, others and ourselves.

he doesn't even need to challenge us externally, if he can defeat us internally.

The bible tells us in, John 8:44 “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

If he can’t convince you that there is no God, he will convince you that God doesn’t really care about you.
If he can’t convince you to not pray, he will convince you that your prayers are not powerful. 
If he can’t convince you to not go to church, he’ll whisper lies that you don’t belong here, that you don’t fit in.

Well, you know what today its time break every lie that has been distorting your vision and walk in Gods complete truth. It’s time to clean the filter. To shatter every misconception. To eradicate every fallacy and live free!

Here are 3 simple truths to help you and I do just that. 

1. recognise the lie

You have to know the truth, to recognise the lie. You have to know who God actually is and not just base your opinion of Him on what others say or what you've experienced. You have to know that God is good, even when things are bad. You have to know that He loves you. He sees you. He cares about you. 

I love this quote by Steven Furtick: “I’m learning to overpower the shouts of the enemy by bending my ear to the whisper of God’s supernatural truths about my identity in Him and His strength in me.”

2. renew the mind

Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Transformation comes by the renewing of the mind. And as Christians, we are called to transformation, not just salvation.  

salvation we receive as a free gift, transformation takes our active PARTICIPATION.

When a person becomes a Christian, they receive a new heart and a new spirit from God, but their soul (their mind, their will and their emotions) is changed over time. And it doesn't happen automatically, it requires applying the word of God to our lives. It happens by aligning our thoughts with His thoughts. 

2 Corinthians 10:5 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”.

3. know the word

The renewing of the mind takes place by the washing of the Word. 

Ephesians 5:26 “Just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.”

Reading the bible is not about pleasing God, it's about knowing and beholding Him and being transformed into His image.

So what lies are you looking through? Maybe it's time to check your lenses and clean the filter.