Welcome back to our study of How to Overcome Lies from the enemy. We have been studying lies we hear from the enemy and how to confront them with the truth of the Gospel. We started with Is God Really Love? Then we asked the question, Are You Really Forgiven? And last week we dug deep into Am I Really Accepted by God? Each Friday night at 8PM MT, I get on Facebook live and share some more thoughts about what I wrote.
Today, we will uncover another lie, Is God Really for Me?
At times I have felt no one has my back, not even God. I find that I look to myself to meet my needs. The problem with that is I come up short. I can’t meet all my needs. I have a God who can. But the enemy doesn’t want me to lean on the Lord, instead he wants me to lean on my self. Proverbs tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight.” (Proverbs 3:5,6)
Notice how it states if we lean on the Lord, He will make our path straight. It doesn’t say we will not hit a bump along the way or that troubles will not come our way. I like to think of this as saying when it’s all said and done, when the last chapter of your life is written, you will look back and see that the path you traveled on led you straight to a deeper walk with Him.
Here’s what the Message says, “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!”
This reminds me of James 4:7 & 8, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.” We talked about this verse on January 6, on Facebook live. If you missed it, you may find it helpful to listen to it by clicking here and scrolling down to January 6.
So how exactly do we lean on the Lord? Well, I think it starts with mediating on His Word. Read it, memorize it, study it, think on it. If we are submitting to God by meditating on His Word, then we will be able to resist the devil, and he will flee from us. Drawing near to God is the key.
Let’s learn two more verses that we can use to defeat the lie that God is not for us and we must do it on our own.
God is for me! “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31 What a great question! If the God who spoke light into existence, who spread the stars in the sky, who parted the Red Sea, who spared Daniel from the lion’s den, who called Lazarus from the dead, is for us, then who really can be against us? The answer is no one or nothing. You are not in this alone. He is for you. Say it with me, “God is for me!” One more time, “God is for me!”
I am never alone. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) This verse is one of my key verses. It speaks to fear. The command is to be strong, to be courageous, not to be terrified, and not to be discouraged. Then you have this beautiful word, for. For the Lord will be with us wherever we go. Wherever means wherever. I believe that we think God is not for us because we walk around in fear. This verse confronts our fear. It’s a mandate to stop being afraid and remember God is always with us.
Join me tonight as I will share a few more thoughts with you on this question, Is God really for me?
