5 R’s: #3 Replaced Lies

The only power Satan has over the lives of believers…
is the lies he can get them to believe.

Satan tells you lies about…

Lies. That’s what keeps people in bondage and from believing God. That’s what keeps us from changing our lives and obeying God. We don’t believe God. Instead we believe lies that are meant to destroy our lives.

Why does Satan lie to us? His time is short (Revelation 12:12) and he wants to accomplish the following:

  • He wants us to doubt God
  • He wants us to distrust God
  • He wants us to disbelieve God

John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” The only power Satan has over you is the lies he can get you to believe. Jesus said that lies are Satan’s native language and the only thing he knows how to speak. Believe lies (Satan), your life is destroyed. Believe Truth (God), your life is full of purpose, peace, freedom, and passion.

This is my life message. This is the understanding that has transformed my life completely from the inside out over the last eight years. I want to address just a few of the specific lies Satan has been feeding you (and me) for years, ones that you might not be aware of. He will use them as long as they work. Find out the truth, and begin replacing the lies so your life can truly change.

The Two Plans for YOUR life

God’s Plan Satan’s Plan

Jeremiah 29:11-13 John 10:10

1. To give you spiritual prosperity 1. To steal your spiritual prosperity

2. To give you hope 2. To kill your hope

3. To give you a future 3. To destroy your future

All unbelief is the belief of a lie.

Examples of lies we believe about God:

Lie: He is distant.

Truth: God is not distant.

Acts 17:27″God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”

Lie: He’s trying to keep something good from me.

Truth: God has only the best things for me.

Jeremiah 29:11; 32:40 “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future…I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.'”

Lie: He’s asks too much

Truth: God doesn’t ask as much from you as He was willing to give Himself.

Isaiah 53 selected. “He was despised and rejected–a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. He was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! The Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal…”

Lie: He will make me give up everything I want

Truth: When I live in His will, I will really want everything He gives me.

Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Lie: He doesn’t understand the temptations I face every day

Truth: Jesus experienced every single temptation you could ever face. He knows exactly how you feel.

Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin.”

Lie: He can’t forgive me for what I’ve done

Truth: God can and will forgive all of your sins as soon as you confess them to Him and ask His forgiveness. That was the whole reason Jesus died. It would have been for nothing if He couldn’t forgive you.
I John 1:9, “But if we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Lie: He doesn’t really care about me personally or the details and problems of my life.

Truth: God knew you even before you were born. He has a very specific purpose and plan for you and He knows and cares about every detail of your life. See Psalm 139:1-15

Lie: He is always angry and trying to get even for my sins

Truth: Jesus took God’s anger for you at the cross. God does not get even but He does care enough about you to discipline you when you rebel so that you won’t ruin your life. God is gentle, merciful and loving.

Exodus 34:6-7. “I am the LORD, the merciful and gracious God. I am slow to anger and rich in unfailing love and faithfulness. I show this unfailing love to many thousands by forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. Even so I do not leave sin unpunished…”

Lie: God doesn’t care about my physical appearance.

Truth: He does when it’s in captivity! The outside person can be an indication of what’s going on inside the heart. Not only does God want you to be free from the captivity of overindulgence of food, but He also won’t share your deepest affections with an idol (Isaiah 42:8). He wants to be the center.

Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD ; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.

Examples of lies we believe about food:

Lie: More food will make me happier/more satisfied.

Truth: More food will only make me more miserable and fatter. Food is not what I’m really craving anyhow.

Lie: I’ve already blown my diet today. I might as well eat what I want the rest of the day.

Truth: I can start over right now…this minute. Putting off obedience is just an excuse to live for my flesh and will only add to my regret later.

Lie: I need to eat a lot at this meal because I might not get to eat for a long time and I will starve.

Truth: I can eat a little bit now and bring a snack along for later. It would take many, many days for me to actually starve (more than 40 for a skinny person!).

Lie: The thought of being hungry is scary–I can’t let myself feel hungry.

Truth: Being hungry is a good thing that won’t hurt me a bit. I need to be hungry before I eat again, and I don’t have to be afraid of hunger. I’m not going to die if I’m hungry for a few minutes or even a couple hours. I can always drink water to make hunger pangs go away for awhile.

Lie: I could never give up sugar (or substitute the food addiction of your choice).

Truth: “I can do ALL things through Christ, who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

Lie: God doesn’t care about how much I eat or how much I weigh for that matter. He has more important things to be concerned about.

Truth: God cares about anything that steals my heart away from Him. If I turn to food for comfort, food is taking the place of God in my life. If I think about food more than I think about God, food is my idol. God cares deeply about anything that comes before Him in my life!

Lie: I’m overweight because my metabolism is slow (while this may be true in some cases, many people use this excuse when it’s NOT true).

Truth: I’m overweight because I overeat and I don’t exercise. If I were to control myself and get active, I could lose weight just like anybody.

Lie: God made food to enjoy, so I’m going to enjoy it and not put myself on a guilt trip about it. I can eat what I want.

Truth: God made lots of things to enjoy, but too much of anything is a sin. God tells me that I can’t do anything I want if I’m trying to please Him–I need to learn to deny my fleshly desires. Just like an undisciplined child who gets sick on a bag of candy, doing what you want isn’t always good for you. I need to do His will, not my own. He wants me to live a life of self-control. It will make me healthy and I will be a good witness to others.

Lie: Overeating isn’t as bad as things other people are doing like pornography, drinking, cussing, gossiping, and smoking.

Truth: Anything I am enslaved to is the same to God. People are the ones who “grade” our addictions, not God. He doesn’t want me captive to anything.

Lie: I’ll never be free of food.

Truth: If I (Julie) can be free, anyone can be free. The Bible says that nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37). The question is, are you willing to apply yourself wholeheartedly to the process to become free? If you are willing and obediently seeking God’s help and truth, you too will become free, even though it is a process that takes time.

Other Brief Examples…

Lies about yourself

Lie: I can’t help the way I am.

Truth: I am the only one responsible for my own choices. I can be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 30:19, Joshua 24:15, Galatians 5:16).

Lies about sin

Lie: Sin is more fun.

Truth: Sin eventually hurts and takes away the awesome plans that God has for your life. It leads to death–death of dreams, death of God’s future plans for you, and maybe even death of your body. (Proverbs 16:25; Romans 6:23, James 1:15) Satan always promises more than he delivers.

Lies about marriage

Lie: I will never be lonely when I’m married.

Truth: Some of the most lonely people in the world are married. If Jesus is not the most important person in your life, you are going to be lonely, with or without a spouse. Also, a mate who is not God’s best for you (in other words someone you chose impatiently) will only make your loneliness magnified because he/she won’t love you with Jesus’ love and will be more concerned about him or her self.

Lies about emotions

Lie: What I feel must be true e.g. “If I feel like God loves me, then He does. If I don’t feel like God loves me, then he must not.

Truth: God has already proven His deepest love for me at the cross. His love does not depend on my feelings because feelings change, but God’s love for me does not change. (Jeremiah 31:3, Romans 8:35-39).

Lies about guys

Lie: When a guy flirts with me or can’t take his eyes off me, he thinks I’m special.

Truth: When a guy is caught up with your appearance, chances are good that he’s not thinking about your great personality, morals, or your spiritual beauty. You are no more special to him than the last girl he flirted with (or had sex with) because it is not about your value; it’s about gratifying his lustful thoughts.

Lies about romance

Lie: I won’t have any consequences if I sleep with the man I intend to marry.

Truth: Everything might seem fine for now, when you are all caught up in the passion and excitement of momentary sin. But later into the relationship or after you’re married, problems will come in to poison the relationship–issues with respect, communication, shame and intimacy. You’ll likely feel disappointment your honeymoon night because you didn’t wait and there’s nothing left to look forward to. Regret will surface throughout your marriage. Did Satan tell you about all that when he enticed you to sin?

Lies about your worth/value

Lie: The better I look and the more attention I attract from the opposite sex, the more valuable I am.

Truth: My worth is based on who I am in Christ, not what I look like or how much members of the opposite sex pay attention to me. I am more beautiful when I focus on becoming a person of character-more like Jesus. Attention I receive from the opposite sex for my appearance is false approval (Galatians 1:10, I Peter 3:3-4, Proverbs 6:25).

Lies about priorities

Lie: I don’t have time to do everything I have to do.

Truth: There is time to do all the things God wants me to do. I just have to find out what that is by spending time with Him daily (Psalm 90:12, Luke 10:38-42, John 17:4, Acts 20:24).

Lies about life

Lie: I shouldn’t have to suffer.

Truth: Jesus said that I would suffer for my faith in this world. Even He, the Son of God, was made perfect through suffering! If the sinless Son of God became perfect through suffering, how much more so should I need to! Suffering is how I am identified with Christ and brings about holiness, spiritual fruit, and joy in my life (Psalm 23:4, Acts 14:22, Hebrews 2:10, 17-18, 5:8, 1 Peter 2:21, 3:9, 5:10).

Lies about your kids

Lie: Taking my kids to church is good enough for spiritual teaching.

Truth: The world bombards my kids every day with cultural lies and impurity, so I must teach them the truth and The Way at every opportunity (Deuteronomy 11:18-22).

Lies about contentment

Lie: I will be happier when I achieve the next level of financial/material security.

Truth: The more I own, the more it owns me. As I make more money and invest it in bigger homes, cars, material possessions, I have more to take care of and more to worry about. I become more busy and less happy, and less concerned about God’s Kingdom (Matthew 6:19-21, Luke 12:21).

Lies about heaven

Lie: Heaven will be some boring place where I sit around on a cloud playing a harp forever.

Truth: Heaven will be a brand new (or restored) earth where I will get to enjoy this giant playground the way God originally intended. I will need forever to explore, develop my gifts and abilities, work at things I love, get to know new people, spend time with people I already love, and most importantly, hang out with Jesus!

The hardest person to deceive is the person who loves the truth more than they are afraid of their own pain.

A great resource for more lies order the book, “Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free ,” by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.