This is a devotional I have revised from last year. I am resending it because the subjects discussed are perfect for meditation. Be sure and check out the four new meditations listed below that go along with this devotional!
If you’ve ever studied the Parable of the Sower, you will see it emphasizes the need to stay open to hearing from God. At the same time, however, we must keep our minds and hearts protected from the voices of the enemy.
Remember satan is constantly trying to plant his own seeds in our heart. These seeds “appear” true on the surface, but are only meant to produce misery and death instead of life. Our enemy is cunning and loves to mingle God’s truth with little lies. He speaks to us in first person, making it seem like these messages are coming from ourselves.
He is a deceiver and the father of lies. He knows he can’t tempt us to rob a bank! He’s much more subtle in his deception. Many times it’s like being slowly pecked to death by a duck. He watches the way we respond to certain things and then targets our areas of weakness.
In Jesus’ teaching from another parable, He reveals the enemy’s schemes.
Matthew 13:24-25 says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was SLEEPING, HIS ENEMY CAME AND SOWED WEEDS among the wheat, and went away.”
If you’ve ever gardened, you know that you don’t have to do anything to get weeds to grow. This earth is under a curse. Weeds abound!
Satan is able to plant his evil lies when we are “sleeping on the job” and not standing guard over our heart. Remember the gate to our heart is our natural mind. We protect our heart by punishing every incoming thought that denies God’s voice to us.
We are reminded of this in 1 Peter 5:8. “Be sober (well balanced and self-disciplined), be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion (fiercely hungry), seeking someone to devour.”
The enemy also sees a good opportunity to take advantage of our mind when we are sleeping, since we are “off guard duty” during that time. Before we drift off, it’s wise to plead the blood of Jesus over our sleep and forbid access to the enemy.
The lies of the enemy are endless! We need to view them as invasive weeds that permeate our trust in God. For this devotional, we will focus on three (of the many) voices we should be on the lookout for and standing guard against:
FEAR, ACCUSATION & OFFENSE!
The Bible tells us that our faith or trust in God only operates effectively through love (Galatians 5:6). satan uses his voices of fear, accusation, and offense to make us question God’s love for us and to come against our love towards others.
FEAR: Faith in God trusts that He will fulfill His promises. The voice of fear tells us we have not measured up, causing us to doubt God’s willingness to help us. This leaves us feeling like the worst is on the horizon.
The Bible says in 1 John 4:19 – “There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because FEAR INVOLVES THE EXPECTATION OF DIVINE JUDGMENT, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love].”
The root of every doubt is fear and when we doubt, we are unable to receive the grace needed for abundant life. James 1:6-8 says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will RECEIVE anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
Notice this verse is not saying God withholds His grace from us. It is saying we won’t be bold enough to come before His throne and receive (“lambano,”) which means “to aggressively take” His grace! It’s never about God’s willingness to give us His grace and help. The question is how much of His grace can we possess?
ACCUSATION: We can easily fall prey to the fear of God’s disapproval when we allow the voice of accusation to take root in our heart. I’ll be honest in saying I have allowed the enemy many times to gain territory in this area.
The Bible says satan is the “accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10). He loves to condemn and tell us that God is not happy with us. He will remind us of bad things we have done and tell us we haven’t done enough good things to earn God’s favor.
This can cause us to become ashamed and timid, lacking the boldness to ask God for the things that we need, but these accusations are a lie! We have to remind satan and ourselves that the blood of Jesus was enough to satisfy God the Father. It’s never about what WE do (good or bad) that affects God’s willingness to move on our behalf.
It is ONLY the blood of Jesus that makes us acceptable in the eyes of God. Father God always sees us as righteous in our spirit because He sees us in Jesus, covered in His perfect, sinless blood! Romans 8:1 in the Passion Translation says, “So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Annointed One.”
When accusation assails, we can pray, “Father I plead the blood of Jesus over every accusation coming against me and my family in the courts of heaven. Let them be silenced by Your blood.”
OFFENSE: If Satan can’t get you to doubt God’s love for you, then he will work hard to erode your love for others.
It’s not a matter of if someone will offend you but when! Nothing will drain your faith quicker than offense. Remember again that your faith requires love to operate effectively.
We live in a broken world full of broken people. Just like God uses people to spread His love to us, satan uses people to spread his hatred towards us.
He will use people to offend and cause us great emotional pain, but we must not confuse people with our true enemy. Discern the source of the attack! The Bible says that “we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.” Ephesians 6:12
REFUSE thoughts of offense as soon as you are tempted to be hurt. If the offense has stung you hard like a dart in the back, pull up the weed of offense as quickly as possible through forgiveness. Forgiveness releases your offenders to the Father so that HE can deal with their actions.
We will not feel like it at first, but we should ask the Father to bless those who come against us. This will keep the offense from taking deep root in our heart. Here is a link to a prayer of forgiveness and blessing: Prayer of Forgiveness and Blessing – Come Away Moments
So how do these strategies of the enemy work against our trust in God? When we fall prey to the voices of the enemy, instead of trusting God to take care of us, we will begin to build walls of pride and self-protection (feeling the need to take care of ourselves). These walls keep us aloof from God instead of being open to receive God’s love and mercy toward us.
Here is how the Father explained these walls to me. Hear His heart of acceptance for wherever you are on your journey:
“I see you as a tree of righteousness. I see you as dependable, steady, and strong. I love the way you guard your heart. You are truly making it a place for My Presence to dwell. But sometimes you guard your heart from ME! Your walls are high and you can’t seem to climb over and find Me. Trust me to bring these walls down as you surrender your heart to Me daily. Give Me the key to your heart to do surgery as necessary. As I remove the branches that are dead and not growing, new growth, full of life will emerge, making you ever more stout, but more open to Me. All I need is your trust and your surrender. TRUST AND SURRENDER! Just know, I see you as what you long to be, and how you long to be with Me. I work continuously, although seemingly slow, to mold you and make you what you ought to be. Slow and steady- I take time on the things that are precious. Remember what you heard about Me: ‘When God grows a squash, He takes six months. When He grows an oak tree, He takes a hundred years!’ Trust and surrender…TRUST AND SURRENDER!”
Here are the four new meditation links to go with this devotional:
1)God Stands Ready to Help Me Meditation – Come Away Moments (New Revision!)
2)Freedom From Shame Meditation – Come Away Moments
3)Free From Condemnation Meditation – Come Away Moments
4)Refusing Offense Meditation – Come Away Moments
Enjoy this song by Brian and Katie Torwalt. It talks about voices of the enemy and what we should do about them!