Genesis 3:1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
Do you see the subtle way my words are twisted here? Do you see the way the enemy has taken what I said (do not eat of one certain tree) and changed it into a blanket statement (do not eat of any of the trees), thus confusing the woman and making her disbelieve what I had said? She now does not really know what I said to her, as my words have been taken out of context, twisted and the message fundamentally changed. This is what happens to this day. This is how so many of your fellows are deceived, how they are unable to recognize and/or accept Truth. This is what your enemy does so well to keep you all away from me, to keep you from trusting me, to keep you from obeying me, to keep you from believing in me. Same enemy. Same tactics. Same results: my children do not believe in me, do not trust me, do not know my Word, and decide to live in sin. Sin becomes what makes sense. How? By appealing to what you have been taught I would want. Example: Be your best self. God wants you to be the best version of yourself you can be. So, do whatever it takes. Reject your family. Focus solely on yourself. Spend all of your time and money making yourself “better”. Ignore the needs of others in favor of your own “needs”. What is not included in this concept is what I would consider your “best self”. That would be you becoming the man or woman I created you to be. Faithful. Trusting me. Looking to me for direction. Walking the path I walked. Being more like me. Developing and using the gifts I gave you when I created you – gifts and talents that were gifted to you so that you could use them to serve others. Being one of my ambassadors to the world. Presenting me and the Truth to your fellows in the hopes that they may also make the right decisions and be saved. Standing up for what is right and fighting evil at every turn. That, my child, is the best version of you.
Another: God is love. There is no judgment. There is no condemnation. Both are true statements taken from my Word. But taken out of context and misapplied. Yes, I am love. But love entails telling Truth, not telling someone what they want to hear at all times. Love entails discipline where needed, not allowing my children to run to and fro doing whatever makes them happy at the expense of others and the world. Yes, there is now no eternal condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But what does being in Christ mean? Does it mean saying you believe in me and calling yourself a Christian and then living like those who don’t? What about the self-sacrifice involved in following me? What about losing your life in order to align with mine? What about serving anyone or anything other than yourself?
In order to recognize the lies and twisting of my Truth by your enemy, you must become an expert on my Word. What does my Word say? How does it apply to your life? How must you live according to those Truths? If you do not know who I am, what I say, what I want for you – you will believe the lies that are twisted and manipulated to sound as if they come from me. There are no shortcuts. Want to know Truth? Study it. Ask for me to illuminate it. Stay focused on it. Remember when you began to learn Spanish? Did you become fluent by looking at your study materials from time to time and then ignoring them? Did you read a bit of Spanish every other day, without thinking about what you were reading or the structure of the language or what the words meant? Or did you dedicate yourself to learning? Did you study daily? Practice listening to and speaking Spanish all the time? Remember when you realized that if you wanted to become fluent you had to dedicate yourself and much of your time to the endeavor? That the whole key to fluency was time + effort? The same is true here. If you want to become fluent in my Word – where you understand what I am saying, where you can discern my voice, where you can communicate with me fluidly – it takes time + effort. Just as learning a second language, your ability to function depends upon you dedicating time and effort – every single day – multiple times a day – without ceasing.
The father of lies will continue to do what he does best – lie, manipulate, twist Truth, misrepresent me. What will you do to stand firm, to combat his efforts, to save others from believing him? This is the key today. You cannot stand up to the enemy unless you are in me. Unless you know me. Unless you can discern and hear my voice. Unless you trust me, honor me, follow me, obey me, walk with me. And you can do none of those things unless you know me. I have left you my Word. That is where you will find me.
Amanuensis 