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Satan's Lies

Here are 14 ways to stay miserable. They are biblical only in a negative sense. You can find occurrences of these in the Scripture:

SATAN’S LIES


1. Justify—really right
2. Excuse—really wrong, but
3. Hide—cover up
4. Pass the buck
5. Put it off
6. Vague terms
7. Mistakes—errors in judgment
8. Too many to confess
9. I can’t remember them all.
10. Nobody’s perfect.
11. I’m going to do it again, so why confess?
12. I’m too proud to make restitution (Leviticus 6: 1-7).
13. Bitterness (Eph. 4:31-32; Heb. 12:15; James 3:14-16).
14. Introspection

1. Justify – really right: I am not forgiven, I have no joy, the hand of the Lord stays heavy upon me and my moisture is turned into drought of summer, all because I am saying that what I have done is right.

2. Excuse – really wrong, but… This second thing I do is I excuse it. An excuse is opposite of justifying. Justifying says it was right; an excuse says it was really wrong, but If I confessed that which I had done was really wrong, period, I would be forgiven. But if I say, “It is really wrong, but,” and tell God all kinds of reasons why I did it, I do not get forgiven. He does not want the song and dance. He does not want the explanation. When I confess, I’m forgiven. When I confess and then say “but…” there is no forgiveness.

3. Hide: The third thing I do is hide. I cover up. Did Adam and Eve hide? As long as they were hiding, were they forgiven? NO! People still hide. In fact, “cover-up” is a modern day word. People are in cover-ups. When they cover up, they are hiding.

4. Pass the buck: The next thing I do is pass the buck. Did Eve pass the buck? Did Adam pass the buck? We have been doing this for a long time. It doesn’t work. Eve said, “The serpent deceived me.” That was a true statement, but she was still blaming the serpent. Adam said, “The woman YOU gave me, God, she gave it to me.” Whose fault was it really? People blame God, and then wonder why they are not forgiven.

As long as I am confessing my wife’s sin, my joy does not come back. Even if she is not in sin, I say, “She is the reason I am in sin.” My joy still does not come back, because she is not the reason I am in sin. You wonder, “Well, did she help you along?” Whatever the case, she is not the reason. I am in sin because I chose to sin.

(An excerpt from How to Maintain Joy in Your Life by Jim Wilson)

Defining the next ten lies will continue in tomorrow's post.

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