Replacing Lies With the Truth – Day 18

Truth:

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. Psalm 16:11 (New Living Translation)

Thought:

Many have lies they choose to believe. These lies come in to help us “heal” wounds that we’ve been afflicted with. It’s not actual healing that occurs; it’s a snare of the enemy to gain a stronghold in our lives.

Try this exercise:

1. List 10 words of affirmation that have stuck with you since you first heard them.
2. Now list 10 words of death that have stuck with you since you first heard them.
3. Which list was easier to recall?
4. Which list had more emotional triggers?

Living in a fallen world, and living with fallen people, we’ve all been wounded. Lies are what others have told us in our past. They may not have been spoken to us directly, but we’ve internalized them nonetheless. They are deceitful, downgrading and condemning.

For example: “I can’t do it.” “I’m worthless.” “I’m stupid.” “I’m ugly.” “I’m useless.”

They are so much a part of us that until we can see the lies, we won’t know we have them. We won’t know to see them, until we know who we are in Christ.

In Christ, there is now no more condemnation (Romans 8:1) so we know the thoughts that we are condemned with are not His.

The power of God can set you free from the chains of condemnation. This is your part to play:

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)

You heal the wounds the lies have sought to cover up by choosing to believe and live out of the truth. Over the next few days we’ll focus on four areas where many followers of Christ cling to lies. What we want to do is transform our thinking so we won’t be squeezed into the mold of the world.

“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands, and moves toward the goal of true maturity” (Romans 12:1-3; Phillips)

We don’t have time to cover all the areas where Christians may have strongholds in their thinking. But we don’t want you to be unprepared.

Go to LifeAbovetheNegativity.com and click on Resources. You’re able to print off a personalized “Identity in Christ” as well as your name in the book of Ephesians. These are wonderful tools to help you know the truth about how God sees you.

Choose to replace the lies with the truth.

Prayer:

Lord, I need Your help to grow self-control. I know it’s not my determination that makes me right before You. It’s Your grace and mercy that I need to grow this fruit. Empower me to control my body, my thoughts and my mouth…all for Your glory.

Challenge:

Do you need to grow self-control in an area of your life? Confess it to God, ask Him to help you, and then find someone today to help you stay accountable.

Declaration:

I choose to believe what God says about me. I choose to live out of what I choose to believe. I choose to replace the lies that have attached themselves to wounds from my past with the truth of how God sees my situation and me.