What Is Truth? It's Not Sin and Sickness

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.                        John 14:6

What is truth?  I feel that God wants us to know that Truth goes beyond our own feelings and experiences.  Truth transcends what our present life is like, and it transcends what we think is possible.

What is truth?  Jesus is Truth!  And we need to remember that Jesus took captivity captive.  We need to remember that He paid it ALL.  Jesus made a way for us to escape the burdens of the world and be living in the heavenly realms.

What is truth?  Truth is God's perspective--His perfect will.  Truth is a higher vibration.  Truth is a place that we can and should access--but only because Jesus is Lord, only because He is our mediator.  Truth is not sin, and truth is not sickness.

No, f you are sick, you may feel it, you may be affected by it...and consequently, you may believe it. But ultimately, as a Christian, sickness is a lie.  Remember that Jesus came to give us life-- it's the enemy that comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  IF we are operating in truth, IF we are where God would have us, then we will be experiencing His Life.  And if we are experiencing life, then we will be experiencing truth, and the truth will set us free.

It's time to put theory into practice.  It's time to accept the truth.  It's time to await it's manifestation. The manifestation will be health and freedom and deliverance from sin.  The manifestation will be a closer walk with the Lord and a deeper experience of all of His benefits.  The manifestation will be a realization that God is love, and that this love is the force of God.

If we are not seeing the truth in our lives, in our families, and in our situations, then it's time to pray. It's time to usher in the presence of the Holy Spirit and have him bring the Kingdom changes down. All we need to do is say the word--to speak the truth in love--and then God does the rest!  When the presence of Jesus becomes greater than the presence of the world, then we will be able to walk in truth.

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."   3 John 1:4

The "Humanism" Spirit

For the past two weeks, at least, the Lord has been really highlighting to me something called humanism.  It's a spirit, I've learned, and we see it everywhere in the world today.  There are just so many good, non-Christian people!  They may be educaters, benefit public awareness, work in hospitals, or teach as nice events. And they just may be under the influence of the spirit of humanism.

Jesus came to give salvation and abundant life to us.  He came to redeem fallen humanity.  But humanism is something else entirely.  Humanism leaves no room and no credit for the work of God. Humanism is dangerous--as I'll describe later, it's spirit is closely tied to antichrist.  For now, though, let's look at a few common beliefs propagated by those under it's influence.  Some may seem innocent enough...but they are all inherently wrong because they do not acknowledge or give glory to God.  The humanism spirit:

--Champions the rights of all

--"Loves" and empowers people

--Teaches unity, peace, and acceptance

--Has no absolute truths, believe whatever makes you feel happy

--Encourages people to be overcomers

--Encourages people to be successful and achieve their dreams

--Advocates self improvement, self help, and self control

--Advocates self-love

--Produces a lying version of the fruit of our Holy Spirit

Now some of these things sound good, and that's because they are!  They can be, if God is at the center.  It's conditional.  It's subtle.  It's so important to know that this spirit only produces corrupt versions of God's gifts.  Because God first thought of giving us dreams to achieve.  God first thought of giving us passions.  God first thought of allowing us to overcome--through His son, Jesus!

And that's where this spirit of humanism goes wrong.  It doesn't acknowledge Jesus!  It's not for Him--its against Him (Matthew 12:30).  It may preach a false Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4) of universal love and good vibes.  But it does not accept the true Jesus at savior.  That's the problem--humanism glorifies people as gifted, dedicated, and elevated enough to save themselves!

As the list above shows, humanism has a false version of everything.  It's perverted the concept of going after one's dreams.  It's perverted the concept of things like human equality and human rights. It's perverted the Christ-based concept of being an overcomer.  The spirit of humanism has a form of godliness, but totally denies it's power (2 Timothy 3:5).  It improves the lives of people while on this earth so that they never have to turn to Jesus in the end.

I would never want to tell a non-believer that they're an overcomer.  I would generally not even say, "you can do this!" to them unless it was part of a larger ministry tactic.  I would definitely not encourage a non-christian to pursue their dreams.  I can't leave it at that!  At least not without telling them to seek first His Kingdom (Matthew 6:33).

I can't be for a person on their own effort.  I can't encourage them to just make themselves a better person.  I can't glory in their flesh (1 Corinthians 1:29-31).  I won't yield to the humanism spirit, no matter how good it might feel.  I need to point to Christ.

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

1 Corinthians 2:14 KJV

Reprobate spirits

"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient"     Romans 1:28

We need to retain God in our knowledge.  What does this mean?  It means we need to make Him our focus and our life, or else we are at risk for deception.  We need to do everything to the glory of God. And we have to want to do this, which means we need to die to ourselves.  Our own desires and distractions can make us forget God.

"The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity."        Luke 8:14

When things of God have been pushed aside in our lives, we are in danger of losing our spiritual inheritance.  We are in danger of never seeing God's goodness become real to us.  We have lost our passion for the only thing that really counts--the reality of God's Love for total salvation.  The enemy can then come in and make us believe a lie.  And God allows this.

"So I let them go after the stubbornness of their heart, that they might walk in their own counsels."    Psalm 81:12

 If we have shown God that we want to run after the world, then He will probably let us, at least for a time. He honors free will, and He gives us over to whatever we want most.   Often our own desires have been influenced by other things.  And more often then not, those influences come from the devil.  Sinful desires comes from the world, where darkness has set up it's rule--the world is in nature contrary to God (John 15:19).  Our own desires often lead towards idolatry, and God allows us to run after darkness.

Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. "The LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said this while another said that. "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' The LORD said to him, 'How?' And he said, 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.'       1 Kings 22:19-22

How does this work?  If people want to follow a lie, then God gives them one.  God allows deception to sneak in.  God is sovereign, and He actually allows for other spirits to come in and make us fall for our own desires.  He gives us over to a reprobate spirit--something that deceives us so we can continue on in following ourselves.  These spirits try to entice us into falsehoods and darkness.

If we accept anything that is not grounded in the Word and the Spirit, then we may allow these spirits to give us a reprobate mind.  If we fall for their deception, they will begin to affect our minds.  They will cause us to do things which are not convenient.  They will take away any fruitfulness that we have, because true fruit comes only from the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).  We will begin doing things that do not serve God or His purposes.  These things may not even serve ourselves.  They will, however, serve the enemy and cause some amount of inconvenience--some amount of confusion.

For a long time, I did not understand why God would ever allow this sort of thing to happen.  But it's His intent to make us stumble enough to know that we need to return.  When we hit rock bottom, that's when we can realize our mistake.  That's when we realize that we've become an enemy of God. That's when the Lord gives us eyes to see--eyes to comprehend that we've reaped what we've sown. Eyes to see that we deserve the deception handed to us.  That's when we can humble ourselves and repent.  That's when we can enjoy total forgiveness and be renewed to God! Once we realize our backsliding, we can experience godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10) and turn away from any deception we've fallen into.  We can have God heal us!

"I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them."    Hosea 14:4

It's so important to stay grounded in Him.  It's so important to accept only the truth.  We need to cling to that which is good (Romans 12:9) and resist any deception the devil tries to subject us to (James 4:7).  That's how we avoid a reprobate mind.  That's how we continue on in the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).

If we seek His Kingdom--living in it and bringing other into it--before anything else, we will stay safe.  We can enjoy a sound mind and a fruitful life.  We can stay in perfect peace(Isaiah 26:3).  We can live within the Kingdom, and then have grace given to us to receive more and more freedom.  We can experience the joy of a mind stayed on our Lord and a lifestyle that pleases Him.

Rest and Comfort

God has been speaking to me a lot about rest and comfort recently.  It's great to enter His rest!  It's great to be comforted by Him!  It's amazing to be perfectly set at peace by the Lord.  And this rest, this comfort, really came to pass in my life yesterday, and it was such a blessing from the Lord.  In many ways, it came as a fulfillment of prophecy.


Like I said, the theme of rest was fulfilled throughout the day yesterday.  And He gave me rest, so that I could praise Him fully.  He gave me time alone to spend with Him.  He gave me rest on every side.  Wherever I turned, I saw him at work, and I was comforted with a message from Him.  I watched a lot of TV, yes, but I received from the Lord even more quickened messages.   I received from the Lord's mercy such rest and comfort.

Below are confirmations that led up to that point.  In hindsight, God was showing me about the reality of His rest long before I experienced it yesterday!




Confirmed 1/12/15:  That night I was reading in 1st Kings.  I kept reading about peace--the Lord was giving Solomon rest on every side.  What strikes me as important is why God did this.  He did it because Solomon pleased Him!  He did it because it pleased Him that Solomon would build Him a temple.  God honored the desires of His servants, firstly with David and then with his son Solomon.  God gave Solomon rest so that Solomon could set up a life of worship for the people.

"But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster."     1 Kings 5:4



Confirmed Yesterday:  The Holy Spirit brought to remembrance Psalm 23:5.  There were several confirmations for this verse...and I had it playing and replaying in my hear for much of the day:

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows."

Spiritually speaking, believers today have enemies as real as those of King David. However, our enemies are not flesh and blood like his.  Instead, they are systems of this world and spiritual powers of darkness in high places (Ephesians 6:12).  The good news is that God still protects us!  He still gives us messages and words--the bread of life--amidst chaos and darkness brought about by the enemy.  He invites us to feast with Him on the Word, and still, enemies and accusers lurk nearby.  But God protects us from these things!  That's what Psalm 23:5 testifies to--the faithfulness of God overcoming all else.

This message of communing with God in the midst of darkness was so timely yesterday.  I was alone in the house all day, and at times I did feel the enemy encroaching.  But God took me through it.  He took me through it and ensured that I was spiritually nourished throughout my time with Him.  More than anything else, I knew He was there with me, preparing a table.  Praise Him!



Confirmed Yesterday:  I felt prompted by the Lord to obtain a "verse of the day".  Something to summarize His lessons; something to paraphrase what He wanted to say...and He gave me John 14:26:

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." 

Glory to God!  What a fit.  The Comforter Himself was teaching me how to find His rest.  The Comforter was comforting me!  He was giving me rest on every side.  It was the Holy Spirit that first brought to my memory Psalm 23:5.  And it was this same Holy Spirit that then gave me the fulfillment, through my experiences later on.  He is the one who gives a word and always fulfills it!  He is the one who comforts us with the truth.  He is the one who gives us rest, regardless of how many enemies attempt to surround us.

 God wants to draw us close.  He wants to teach us all things.  He is faithful to remind us of His rest and comfort.  He is so faithful to protect us and lead us on in the truth.  God wants to bring us rest so we can worship Him.  He wants to give us the Spirit so we can be true worshippers (John 4:24).  In Him, we can draw near and experience true peace.

Snapshot: Putting on The Armor

A few months ago, I felt the Lord leading me to pray for my spiritual armor everyday.  To my regret, I haven't been completely faithful in this.  I've since came to a heart change, and now pray into this and put on my armor everyday.  To quote a commercialized catchphrase, the origin of which currently escapes me,  "Oh, what a relief it is!"

"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."  

Ephesians 6:13-16

The truth is that God has equipped us with our spiritual armor since the time we first believed--and perhaps before then, too.  Heaven's reality says that our armor has been, is, and always will be in place.  Why, then, do we need to constantly apply and reapply it?  Why do we need to continually pray for something that has already been given to us?

The answer lies in renewing our minds.  We need to come into agreement with God and the Light.  Spiritually, we need to identify with Him.  We need to clothe ourselves with His protective covering so that the enemy knows exactly who we belong to.

“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land."  Job 1:10

God has done this.  He has put our spiritual armor on for us.  In today's terms, He has placed around us a forcefield of spiritual safety.  If we forget these things, though, then we are at risk.  There is power in our thoughts, and there is even more power in our words.  We need both of these to agree with God.  We need both of these to know what God has given us.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:31-32

Jesus said that hearing the truth is not enough.  We need to know it!  We need to know it and agree with God.  Once we come into His knowledge with renewed minds, that's when the truth is activated in this world.  That's when we are able to be made free.  Once we confess with our words and know in our hearts (Romans 10:9), that's when our spiritual armor becomes more of a reality than this present life.

So, we agree with God that we have on His Armor.  We take up the shield of faith, and use it to deflect and deny every message that satan tries to send us.  And we surround our heads--our minds-- with the helmet of salvation, which is the Word of God.   We meditate on the Word and think about God and His faithfulness.

This is how we resist the enemy.  This is how we never lose the joy of our salvation.  This is how we  position ourselves for going from Glory to Glory!  He wants to keep us in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3), and with this armor He's made a way.  God never gives any promise that we are unable to fulfill.

Confirmed:  Last Sunday a church friend was led to share with Vanessa and I the importance of putting on our spiritual armor every single day.  That was God's reminder to me!

Confirmed:  Another reminder came through Rick Warren's daily devotional.  I'm no longer subscribed via email, but these devotionals still manage slip through to my inbox occasionally.  God's timing is so perfect!  I received one called, "Fighting the Enemies of Good Intentions".  The pieces were put together for me.  The enemies here are the devil and his spiritual forces.  We fight them with God's armor!  It is our spiritual armor that allows us to retain good intentions.  It is God's protection that allows us to seek Him and stay covered.  It is His Armor that equips us to fight the enemy's evil with good.

Snapshot: The Sun, Our Shield

Ever since mid December, the Lord has given so many themes pointing towards the Sun and Shield.

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless."  Psalm 84:11

I read Psalm 84 on January 2nd, after hearing such themes for over one week.   God led me to it.  We know that the Sun (Son) is Jesus, and the shield is God's Love and His presence. The shield is dependant on faith (Ephesians 6:16), but the Sun isn't.  Jesus is our mediator, and even if we are faithless, He will remain faithful (2 Timothy 2:13)!  Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, and He will always be proven faithful.  He is the one who searches and rescues the lost, and He is the one who helps those who have wandered off.

""But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture."  Malachi 4:2

Jesus gives us the chance for healing.  In Him we are made righteous, pure, and physically whole.  All this has already been entrusted to us through Jesus's sacrifice.  He has risen from the dead, and that same resurrection power is now at work within us to protect our souls and our bodies.

But there is an enemy here.  Satan would have us forget our true identity.  He wants us to become unaware of the promises God has given us--the tremendous inheritance He's prepared for every believer.  The enemy can and sometimes does manage to steal away our view of Jesus.  If Jesus is the Sun, then satan comes with dark clouds that make our connection to God unsure.

So we need have God Himself to protect us.  He is our shield, and we come to Him by faith. We ask Him for spiritual safety, and then receive it.  With faith in God, we will be protected by the enemy and accurately see what Jesus has for us.  Have faith.  Take refuge.  Don't allow the enemy to disturb your peace.  God wants to restore to us the joy of His salvation.  Look to His Son and His shield!

Confirmed:  A couple days after reading Psalm 84, I was in Joshua 10.  My eyes were drawn to a subtitle called, "The Sun Stands Still".  My mind automatically related "The Sun" to Jesus.  And I realized that Jesus is willing to stand still for us.  He is willing to slow down, and not pass us by.  He is so willing to have mercy on His sheep, and He will stand still if they stumble.  And they may stumble, but they will not fall (Psalms 37:24).

When He rescues us from Lies

God is taking us into the fullness of the Truth.  God wants us to see the world accurately, and to know how He thinks of things.  What is the truth?  The truth is that Jesus died to save us.  The truth is that forgiveness always follows repentance.  The truth is that God is good, and that He is faithful to love us.

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  John 8:32

This is spiritual milk, but we need to crave it nonetheless (1 Peter 2:2).  If we really know the truth, God will take us unto spiritual maturity.  If we retain Him in our knowledge, He will be faithful to take us from strength to strength.

But some things aren't so clear cut.  Sometimes discerning the perfect will of God can be hard.  We need to be given more faith before we can see more of what He sees.  More faith is needed!  So if we need to be given revelation, God first gives us greater faith.

Faith allows us to see more of what He sees.  If I have great faith, I can see clearly, I can discern clearly, and I can prophecy clearly.  Not all things are spiritual milk, but we still need to know how these things appear to God.  Sometimes in struggling on spiritual meat, we will lose focus and forget the basics.  And sometimes we fall out of faith.

Discernment can be a hard thing.  Knowing His will can be very confusing, and can weaken our faith to the extent that we believe the truth to be a lie.

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."  Isaiah 5:20

This is what satan does, and this is what his followers do.  This is what anyone, even a believer, can fall into when they lose faith.  This is a result of spiritual warfare, and we need to combat it with the armor of God.  We need to retain the shield of faith, and we need to look to God.  With His protection, we WILL withstand the schemes of the enemy.  We need a revelation from God to stay in the truth.  We need Him to make the word real to us.

A few days ago I was being taken through all these things.  Testing, testing testing...refinement, refinement, refinement.

"Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them."  Isaiah 30:20

So God is faithful to take us out of that pit, that doubt and confusion that the enemy brings in.  He is faithful to rescue.  He is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.  Even if we are faithless, He is faithful (2 Timothy 2:13).  That's a beautiful thing.  God brought me to this passage of scripture, which I thought was so interesting.  He really is greater than our thoughts.  And our salvation truly is greater than our feelings.

Wherefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scoffers, that rule this people that is in Jerusalem:

Because ye have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we at agreement; 

when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our 

refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves": therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, 

"Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner -stone of sure 

foundation:   he that believeth shall not be in haste.  And I will make justice the line, and righteousness 

the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.

And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; 

when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it."

Isaiah 28:14-18

Even when we align our thoughts with the enemies', even when we mistake light for darkness, God will break through.  He is our strength, and He will be faithful to take us out of death.  Even if we claim to be fallen, He will prove to us the truth.  With the waters of His Spirit and with His truth, He will overcome the enemy.  He will sweep away our negative strongholds and give us a firm foundation.  He will annul our sin, our "covenant with death", and make our foundation stand firm in Jesus.  Glory to God!

Snapshot: Fear Brings an Atmosphere Shift

In a previous post, Repentance Brings an Atmosphere Shift, I described at the end of the post how our mental state can influence the spiritual atmosphere around us.  Those things that please God, whether repentance, or humility, or whatever else, allow God to work for us and shift our spiritual atmosphere into a good place.  This place is the Kingdom of Heaven, and if are doing His, then the atmosphere of the Kingdom will surround us wherever we go.

So, "good" mindsets bring in the "good and perfect" things from Heaven.  The reverse is also true--"bad" mindsets bring in darkness and lies from the enemy.  These bad mindsets can be brought about by our physical circumstances, our spiritual circumstances, or both.  When we encounter bad circumstances and lose faith, we risk entering into a vicious cycle where our foundation in God falls away.

I've found that the main reason we fall out of the Kingdom, out of that atmosphere where everything points to Jesus, is because of our own sin.  Unrepentant sin blocks out our living in God's presence.  One of the things that most quickly shifts our spiritual atmosphere downwards is the sin of FEAR.

"For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."  Romans 14:23

Fear is definitely not of faith.  Fear represents a lack of trust in God.  Fear cannot receive the perfect Love of God (1 John 4:18).  Fear is sin, and left unchecked it will very quickly draw us out of His rest into a place where we are an easy target for Satan.

In a previous posts I've mentioned that the enemy can give messages in a similar way that God can.  He too has a voice, an agenda, and a message to spread.  When we fall into fear, we fall into his territory.  And we may become convinced of his lies.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy..."  John 10:10

This is satan's agenda.  He is also a liar and the father of lies.  He is deceitful and never gives the truth, and when we become fearful it is so easy for us him to plant seeds of doubt and unbelief into our minds.  When you fall deeply into fear, the promises that God's given you can become quickly forgotten.  Worse yet, they can become transformed into a web of lies where every confirmation God has shown becomes a sign of condemnation from the enemy.  The Truth is that God has turned our darkness into light (Psalms 18:28)...but the enemy can get take you to a mentality where you fear God's Light is actually a place of evil and darkness.  Satan is the first one to call evil good, and to call good evil (Isaiah 5:20)!

This may be hard to imagine without a practical example.  A few days ago, I began hearing about the Freemason society.  For the purposes of this blog, let's just say they are not of the Light.   Since then I've been seeing the word "mason" more frequently.  I've been hearing things in the news about satanic cults.  I've even been getting mason's jars as gifts!

In addition, I see the number 33 all the time, especially on digital clocks.  This number is something that God uses to remind me of good things (Jeremiah 33, for example), but that same number is very important to free masons.  Oh no!  It seems like the enemy would have me believe I'm destined to work for forces of darkness in the future.  That shouldn't be a surprise; all satan does is pervert the truth.  And as ridiculous as that lie may seem to me right now, if I happen to fall into fear I will very quickly become enslaved to it.  I may even begin to forget God's promises and actually wonder if I'm supposed to be a freemason.

And that is exactly what the enemy wants.  The more fearful we are, the more the true things of God become shrouded in the appearance of darkness by satan.  And the true things of evil begin to masquerade as if they were from the Light (2 Corinthians 11:4).  Not only does satan want us to think that God's Truth is in fact a lie, he wants us to accept lies as the truth.  Lies that may seem ridiculous now can become paralyzingly real if we stay in fear for long.

Things get worse if we acknowledge these false realities as if they were true.  Just as faith can allow God and His army to move, I believe fear and unbelief allow satan and his darkness to activate in our lives.  Slowly but surely, living life in a fearful state can gradually bring us into a dark version of our previous reality, where there is no Love from God nor any hope.  It is in this state that satan can actually actively influence us.  This is when we may be tempted to lose hope, or to betray our faith in God for good.

Look at how often Jesus talked about fear.  Both He and the many angels who appeared in the OT always warned the people not to be afraid.  Why?  Perhaps the presence of fear could actually manifest an increase in the powers of darkness.  I believe that fear shifts the atmosphere into a place where we fall out of God's army and satan gains the upper hand.  Fear can even hinder God's will from playing out as soon as it otherwise would.  So let's counteract this by hanging on to the promises of God.  Let's be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:9).  And let's not be afraid, or dismayed (Deuteronomy 31:8).  Take heart because Jesus is still on the throne.  He is still in control, and He is for us.

But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."  Matthew 14:27

Do not Fear the Lies of the enemy

Do not fear, for Jesus has redeemed us!  (Isaiah 43:1)  Let's be redeemed and have our minds renewed to the life our savior gives us.  We can reign victorious over doubts and fears of our past.  God is good, and He is not willing that any should perish.  God is good, and He has made the light of His salvation shine upon us.

The devil is always lying to God's children.  He instills a mistrust in God, lies about God's personality, and tells us we've fallen too far.  He isn't fair; he's called the lawless one for good reason.  I've found that we can know what's not The Truth if we identify thoughts and emotions that are sent in by the devil.

Often the enemy tries to make us believe we are beyond repair.  If he has his way, he will make us think we are on our way to death.   He tells lies and is the father of lies.  He's also clever.  Believers need to rise up behind the Word and fear not.  We have spiritual weapons at our disposal, and these weapons are mighty for the pulling down of satan's illusions (2 Corinthians 10:4).

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me"  Psalm 23:4

We walk through the valley of the shadow of death.  This is not the valley of death, or else the verse would be worded as such.  We walk along a path of God's truth and Satan's illusion.  As believers, we belong to the One who overcame death!  As a result, for us death is yet another lie of the enemy.

So, we walk along a valley where death impresses itself around us, but does not tangibly touch us.  Glory to God for keeping us safe.  We don't need to despise evil, we just need to identify it and rest in God to conquer.  We can rest knowing the power of God goes before us.  We can be comforted by the rode and the staff, by the Great Comforter, and we can have all our fears taken away.  Praise Him, for the hedge of protection He's surrounded us with!

Confirmed:  After I typed this, Vanessa opened the Word randomly to Isaiah 45:2.  "...I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountain.  I will smash down gates of bronze..."

Praise God for additional insights!  From Psalm 23:4 and Isaiah 45, we can see that God levels our mountains and has us walk through valleys instead.  He smashes down "gates of bronze" and every high thing that points to itself(2 Corinthians 10:5).  The path is made level for us!  However, Satan will make us think we are on the wrong path, and tries to deter us with illusions that point to death.  Wow.  Thank you Lord for discernment and your faithfulness to protect.