John 8:42-47
Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God. (NLT)
Jesus models a solid spiritual battle plan. The plan is very simple: every time you encounter a lie, tell yourself the truth. When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, the tactics of the enemy were the same ones employed in the Garden of Eden – lies. Every time Jesus heard the lie, he countered with the truth – God’s truth.
I wonder if we sometimes overcomplicate spiritual warfare. There are also times we tend to oversimplify it- but I’ve experienced more passionate confusion than apathy in this regard. Whether it is the occult, heretical theology, self-hatred, hatred of others, or obsession with power, money, lust, whatever it is – it starts with a lie. When faced with the lies of the devil, Jesus eventually orders the devil to go away, but only after he has countered every lie with the truth. It’s so interesting that even with Jesus, the enemy’s tactic is lies. There’s no description of any kind of torment, an atmosphere of depression, or anything that I might think of as “spiritual warfare.” I think those things can definitely happen, but the real battle is whether or not we believe the lie in the midst of them. And lies are exhausting, they mess with our heads, make us hate ourselves and others, fill us with fear, despair and mire us in hopelessness. That is spiritual warfare – it literally wars against our spirits. I believe that Jesus wasn’t mired in the effects of the lies because he cut them off quickly and countered with the truth. He may not have been consumed, but standing strong in the face of temptation was tough. The angels came and ministered to him when the devil left him.
C.S. Lewis wrote The Screwtape Letters, imagining how a demon would strategize in warfare against humans, and it was mostly how to deceive a person and keep their focus far away from God. Biblical scholar Clinton Arnold imagines that the Apostle Paul would largely agree with Lewis. The fourth century monk Evagrius wrote a manual for combating demons, and it is literally a book filled with Scriptures to counter lies of the enemy, such as greed, lust, sadness, anger, etc.
The plan that I’ve just outlined might seem very simple – just agree with God’s truth and don’t fall for the lies! But, we all know that it is extremely difficult in practice. The most believable lies are a slight twist on the truth. That’s how they get us. And when we are tired, desperate, isolated, or afraid, we are primed to fall into the trap easily. When we are healthy, connected in community, know that we are loved by God, forgiving ourselves and others, and disciplined in learning God’s word, we have the best chance at spiritual warfare.
This 40-day fast is powerful because it helps us to focus on God, to spend time in prayer,and to give up something that is keeping us from being physically and/or spiritually unhealthy. But we must also actively fill our minds with God’s truth. Identifying and discerning lies is tricky. Many of the New Testament writers were very concerned about early Christians believing lies, especially ones that were simply perversions of the truth.
Listening Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you have believed the lies of the enemy. Ask Him also for compassion for those who have been entangled in lies. Spend time reflecting on the truth of God.
Prayer: Jesus, you are the way, the truth, and the life. I thank you for the work that you did on the cross, because that alone has defeated the enemy. When I bring my thoughts into alignment with the truth of the Cross, I can overcome the schemes and traps set before me. I pray now for your truth to take every thought captive, and for the discipline that I need to arm myself against lies that would lead me away from you. I need your help, Lord. I can’t do this alone, and I need you to lift me from the darkness that plagues and surrounds me. Please also give me a heart of compassion for others, because we are all fighting the same enemy, whether we know it or not. Help me to be a light of your truth to those who are in spiritual darkness.
Resources:
Talking Back (Antirrhetikos): A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons Evagrius of Pontus
Telling Yourself the Truth William Backus and Marie Chapman
Powers of Darkness: Principalities and Powers in Paul’s Letters Clinton E Arnold
Bible Verses:
Colossians 2:13-15:
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
Galatians 1:6-9:
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
1 John 1: 5-7:
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 3:19-24:
By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
Worship Song: