Joh 8:31-32
31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
If you are filled up with the word of God and stay close to Him, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. The devil tells you lies all the time and the only way to resist him is to know the word, because the word is the truth.
My testimony
Before, I had a very low self-image, and not much faith in myself. I felt there were very few things that God or others could use me for, because I was shy and very insecure. To be a “good” Christian I thought I had to fulfill some spiritual demands like: read the Bible and pray every day, for at least 30 minutes, give testimonies, pray out loud in the church and evangelize my fellow students at school etc. But, I had problems with doing all of these things, especially the last one. I felt a lot of self-condemnation because of it.
During the summer of ’89, God revealed a truth to me that changed this view of myself and who God is. I had heard it before, but this time it really became a revelation for me. God told me: It is not your deeds that make you valuable or useful to me, but I am after your heart. The thing God wants first of all is to have fellowship with us; he is not after how much we can do “for” him. We sometimes believe that we will be more spiritual if we keep these spiritual commands, but God wants friendship first of all. Out of a friendship, all of these other things will come naturally. Now I do all these “spiritual law things”; I spend at least one hour a day in prayer and reading the word, I pray and testify at meetings, I tell others about Jesus, actually around the whole world. But, all of this comes from my relationship with Jesus, and not because I feel like I have to. The devil often lures us into the trap of being legalistic. Also, we can know a lot about God, but not really know Him. For example, I know a lot about our Norwegian king, King Harold, but I don’t know him personally. There is a big difference. God wants us to know Him personally, not just that He exists and that we know something about Him.
Lies can come to us in different ways; I have another example from my life.
Someone told me a lie when I was studying to be a mechanic; it was actually a curse. I made a mistake and the other person said to me: “You will never be anything; you will always be a loser.” He continued to say this during the last two months of my school. Even though I knew that this was a lie, this thought followed me for a long time, especially when I had experiences that I felt confirmed this thought. Now, God has set me free from this, but it took many years.
When I experience a defeat, I have two choices: Should I believe the lie and wallow in self-pity or claim the truth? For instance, should I say: "He was right I will be a loser," or should I believe in the word of God? The choice seems easy in this example, but sometimes the battle is bigger and more complicated. Sometimes, we don’t even see the truth. One scripture I use when I experience things like this is:
Ps 1:1-3
1Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
2But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
When I choose to believe in the truth, nothing can harm me, no spoken words, no thoughts from the enemy, no wrongs done to me. God is on my side and I can go into His freedom. What He tells is the truth, and I can be free!
Ps 118:6-9
6The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
7The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
9It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
If I choose self-pity in situations where I felt that someone had hurt me, I am trusting in people more than in God; I am giving other people the right to hurt me. I trust the things people say and do rather than what God has said and done.
To be free from lies and psychological wounds is a process. You constantly fill yourself up with the truth so that it will set you free.
Many believe that you only have to seek prayer in meetings and then everything will be ok. You will be free from bad habits, problems and bad memories etc, but that is not quite true. You can have an experience with God, and he can reveal truth to you, and it can be a great experience. I don’t say you should not do it either, because it is often the starting point, but you need to take up the fight yourself too.
The Christian life is not the easiest one, but it is the best, because it will lead you to freedom. When you became a Christian, you joined the army of God. You became a solider, whether you like it or not. How far you will come with God depends on how much you fight. The devil uses sin as your biggest enemy! (Remember too that self-pity is a sin) Take up the sword today and start to fight, you can win. Use the Bible to fight against sin and evil, because the word of God is our sword!
Heb 4:12
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The spiritual reality
The spiritual reality is closer that you think! One of the tactics the devil uses in the western world is to get you to believe that the spiritual world is far from you and doesn’t exist. If you comprehend how close it is, your faith will grow in whom God is.
Don’t blame the devil?
When you fall into sin, don’t give the devil all the blame, because you have your free will. He might have tempted you, but you took the choice and committed the sin. When the devil tempted Adam and Eve, he did not force them to eat, this is what they chose. This is what it means when it is said: stand against the devil's schemes. (Eph 6:11): He is very clever, but you can resist him!
So don’t say: “The devil made me do it,” but take full responsibility and confess your sin!
The devil can never force you to sin and God won’t force you not to sin. In the end, it is up to you. You make the choice with your free will.
