Lies teaching from the Renew Conference in Coolangatta, Australia
Satan’s Resumé
Voted Most beautiful of all Angels, in the first Angel Beauty Contest circa 20,000 BC.
AKA Angel of Light. Accuser of the Brethren, Beelzabub, Devil, The Dragon, Lucifer, Mephistopheles, Prince of the power of the air, god of this world, roaring lion, serpent.
Graduated Top of his Creation.
Over confident.
Prefers to work alone, doesn’t work well with Management.
Sponsored first ever “office mutiny”.
Deceived First Woman and Man.
Member and founder of the Hoofs and Horns Club.
Created a string of unwed mothers.
Co sired the first real life versions of the X-men.
Brought financial ruin and relational chaos to God’s most devout human.
Tempted Jesus. Tortured Jesus.
Wanted for suspicion of murder in the death of Jesus.
Most likely responsible for the creation of mosquitoes and cats.
We all have a common enemy out there.
Does his best work in shades of lies and distraction.
John 8:44 “[satan]He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
2 Corinthians 11:14-15 “…Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”
In case you didn’t know it folks, Satan is fo real.
He works like a mercenary. When a mercenary can’t get to You physically, then they go after the ones you love. Satan hates everything about God, but he can't physically harm God, so you are the next best target. He tries to hurt God by attacking His loved ones and disrupting God’s plan for each one of us.
What he was allowed to do to Job.
At the beginning of the story we see Satan has returned from walking to and fro on the earth
My friend Christy would call it meddling.
He stays around long enough to cause trouble, then he jets.
We see the story conclude with God being glorified, Job being restored and satan has left most likely to develop another scheme.
He doesn’t care how many times he fails,
he always comes back to try again.
In that respect, we need to be a little more like satan;
Relentless; when it comes to not backing down.
Satan separates family, attack our identity and confidence, amplifies our fears, leads people astray, distracts them, leads their beliefs to be mingled with just the right amount of half-truths. He doesn’t’ play well with others. His ultimate goal is to kill us.
John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
The devil wouldn’t have a hoof to stand on if we would stop buying into the lies we believe and were convinced of our identity in Jesus Christ.
If we didn’t believe the lies, satan would be powerless against us.
But we do believe. Satan says a single word and we build a kingdom.
Let compliments land. If you don’t let compliments land, then all you are left to build an identity with is broken pieces.
Our brokenness acts as a catalyst between the lies we believe and satanic temptation.
The reaction is an emotional upheaval that causes us to react, not respond.
Why do we believe the lies
1) Guilt
2) Shame
3) Satan says a word and we build a kingdom
4) Bits of truth mixed in with deception (Dog poop cookies)
5) Feelings of less than, inferiority
6) Everyone else seems to be getting it right
Jesus knew who He was at an early age
Luke 2:49 “And He said to them, ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’ “
He knew that His life would be one of sacrifice dedicated to carrying out the will of the Father. He trusted God.
If you don’t trust that God is good, it’s easier for satan to convince you that
God is disinterested
or holding back,
or that His will is not is not the best option.
Jesus was talking to a father whose child had a mute spirit and it caused him to hurt himself.
Mark 9:23-24 “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’”
Sometimes our beliefs are faulty or downright wrong.
We believe that God can heal us, but there is a disconnect between “God can” and “God will” for me
I adopted a cause and effect style relationship with God. If I’m bad, God is mad and until I do something good to get back in His graces, I have to sit condemned. I knew just enough scripture to keep myself bound to legalism.
I had to serve penance to show God that I was truly sorry for my sin.
To me, God wasn’t relational, He was a cold, demanding dictator.
The Truth
Romans 5:8 but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Jesus Christ died for us.
It doesn’t surprise God when Christians fall prey to sin, but it often surprises us, considering how we let sin affect our moods.
We hold ourselves to higher expectations than God holds us to. It isn’t His heart that we continue to let sin knock us down, keep us bound and distract from being in relationship with Him.
Cut to the wilderness
Satan tried tempting Jesus in the wilderness.
Jesus used the word of God as a weapon against satan.
Satan goes away only to plot his return.
Satan tries tempting you and I
Sometimes we resist. Sometimes we bring cigars and champagne.
But when it comes to Satan, we must follow the example Jesus sat for us.
To combat satan we must use scripture as Jesus did; as a weapon of truth against the lies of the enemy.
Exposing The Lies Exercise
I came up with this exercise, because I went through a few inner healing conferences where we would touch on a few of the lies you believed. It was a great first step, but would happen if we go deeper and have full disclosure.
I wanted to help people break free from the bondage of the enemy.
God has used it for so much more.
With the singular focus of exposing the lies we believe, I watched as people not only shared the lies they believe, but they shared their testimonies and intimate details of their life
In the first session with a gentleman who was in his 60’s, I saw a God set him free from lies that had bound him up for the better part of 40 years. (Steve and his two handicapped brothers)
When it comes to exposing the lies the enemy is using against me, I use a simple, writing exercise for breaking down strongholds.
“Exchange My Lie for God’s Truth”
(Wash, Rinse, Repeat)
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the
knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to
Christ.” - 2 Corinthians 10:5
Psalm 119:2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart! They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.
5 Oh that my ways were directed to keep your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all your commandments.
6 I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn your righteous judgments.
9 How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from your commandments!
11 Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You.
Those that walk in the spirit will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
Step One
Identify the lies you have believed. Take them captive. Get them out of your head. Write them down on paper. (In a world where you feel you have no control, this is an action step.)
Get yourself a cool journal. An intricate, leather bound one reminiscent of Narnia or Lord of the Rings, or something pink. It just needs to be something that you are excited to write in. One that you are going to keep for a while. Don’t use post-its or scrap paper. Invest in the healing process.
Step Two
Lies come in three different flavors.
1) God
2) Ourselves
3) satan
Start with God. Then work your way down the list. The health of your other relationships is directly related to a healthy relationship with God.
God told me to tell one of the guys I was mentoring that He (God) is a personal and interactive. I think there is a good portion of us who see God as distant and intangible.
You may find that lies on different lists sound similar,
often times the different perspectives of the same lie will form a 3 D picture of the lies/beliefs that are shaping your life.
Write out ALL the lies you have believed about God. Don’t hold back. God can take your honesty. In fact, He prefers it. He already knows the lies you’ve believed about Him. Our goal is to bring the guilty parties to justice. Don’t be surprised or shocked by what comes to mind. I honestly believe that is the leading of the Holy Spirit. Up until this point, God has been the only one willing to do anything about the lies you have believed. Now you are taking action and joining the recovery effort.
Some people may be apprehensive about speaking the lies out, fearing that speaking them will give them power in their lives. But believing that satan is more powerful than God and that somehow in your confession He can lock you it in as your fate, is also one more lie perpetuated by the enemy. It is honest confession, not a declaration over your life. There is a difference between saying “I was born gay” and “I believed the lie that I was born gay.” The bible says if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”
God is always speaking. The problem is that we are not always listening and sometimes our receptors are blocked. This exercise also help unblock our receptors. Parents, this is for you, too. For a moment in time, we are asking you to put yourself on the operating table.
This moment, this time is about you and your relationship with the Father.
He cares for you. Before you were a parent, You are His child.
What I find is that when we have been solely focused on one lie/belief, when you write it down, take it captive and identify it, you move it aside and others rise up from the depths.
For example: God gave me dreams about anger and rage for my parents. (Riding a bike)
You are bringing the light of God into the dark parts of your heart where the lies are hiding. Getting the lies on paper, is like a doctor performing invasive surgery to remove a tumor.
Bringing the lies out, prevents our imagination fostering their exponential growth, wreaking havoc on our thought life.
Sometimes one lie, is a part of a bigger network of beliefs that affect other aspects of our lives.
Step Three
This step is going to take a little time and effort, but it doesn’t have to be tedious if you are surrendered to the idea that Rome was not built in a day. Once the lies are written out in each category, it’s time to ask the Lord to share the truth of His word over the lies.
Google is your best friend for this step in the process. If you have been in and around church for any amount of time, scripture will have been deposited over the years. There will be scripture that will flood back in. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring scripture back to your remembrance. In this way, much like Jesus, we are combatting the lies of the enemy with the truth of God’s word.
God is not willing that any man should perish.
Step Four
We must surrender our right to live according to that lie/belief. Breaking allegiance and alliance with the enemy and giving territory that was deeded to satan, back to God. We need to serve satan an eviction notice. He in our lives messing up God’s plan and stealing our joy.
(Momma and the pigs getting the house vs. rebuking satan)
1) If you don’t believe that God answers prayer, you won’t pray.
2) If you believe that God is angry, you will approach Him differently than if you saw Him as a loving Father.
3) God hasn’t brought your child out of the gay life
a) maybe gay is okay (The Asian mom at the last Exodus conference)
b) You think that you care more than God does
c) What else?
We can make an idol of leaving the gay life behind. And neglect the fact that our child needs their own life changing encounter with Jesus, before any amount of change will come. I encounter parents that have a dusty bible sitting on the shelf and they wonder why their child isn’t interested in pursuing a relationship with God.
Are you pushing a gospel on your child that you aren’t convinced of yourself?
Giant Redwood vs. A Weed
It is a monumental task to cut down and dig out the roots of a giant redwood. The root system is enormous and well developed. The trunk and branches are vast. The longer it is allowed to grow, the more locked in it becomes.
A weed that springs up overnight is easily gotten rid of if we do so in a timely manner. You can often pull it up with one good tug. The trouble with weeds is that when we see them as insignificant, we allow them to grow. A weed allowed to grow, propagates rapidly, then we before we know it, our entire field is covered in weeds.
Just like those weeds, the little lies I believed after being called Fag, Queer and Sissy in the 7thgrade, became beliefs that propagated and grew. They amplified other lies that became beliefs when my mom would emasculate me, and an entire weed garden sprang up. Giving rise later on to an old growth forest of lies that sent me straight into the arms of the gay community.
My dad and the lies I believed about him. (He never loved me. He never taught me to ride a bike.)
The word says that we shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.
But what if we don’t want to know the truth, because it disrupts and disturbs the status quo.
My introduction to the idea that I was believing lies, began in the village of Low Self Esteemville.
I was walking along, minding my own business and God posed the question to me, “Are your friends’ liars? No. Am I liar? No, of course not God. Well, if your friends aren’t liars and I am not a liar then why don’t you believe the good things we believe about you? Why do you think you are the worst person on the planet, unworthy of love and deserving of a mediocre life?
Why bother?
1) Develop a better understanding of the word
2) Learn the tactics of the enemy
3) See that some lies are intertwined with others in a satanic deadlock
3) Begin to build your trust in God
4) You will learn to hear God’s voice wherever He is speaking
5) Cut ties with the enemy and renounce any agreements you have made with him
6) A new belief system based in truth is like working out a muscle.
7) When satan comes in with a lie, you combat it with truth
8) The better you get at exposing the lies, the less you will let them set up shop in your mind
9) When you begin to walk in freedom, you can help others do the same
Disadvantages
1) Exposing the lies can be tough
2) There are little lies and big lies we have believed
a) Little lies, no sweat. We feel silly that we believed them, but we aren’t about to let them stand in the way of our relationship with God
b) Big ones, you may resist turning your back on a lie that has felt like an old friend: familiar, comfortable, right, rationalized, “everyone does that”.
This rationalization of sin is one of the reasons for the birth of gay Christianity. People trusted their feelings and allowed that to breed pride and entitlement and a sense of unfairness and instead of following God’s design for their sexuality, they decided to augment and change His word to support their sinful life.
The bigger the lie and the longer we have lived with it, the harder it will become to surrender to God in that area and submit the lie to truth. Tougher still when we don’t know the truth.
c) If you or your sinful life has been your source of stability, you are going to feel lonely, broken and exposed. That is, until you exchange your “truth” for the Truth of God’s word.
We are the worst at hearing and receiving good stuff about ourselves, but we are the first that take it for granted that what we do to lift others up should be taken at face value and allowed to land.
Stop letting your big ole But get in the way. Instead, practicing doing unto others as you would have them do to you. They let your compliments land, you need to as well. We need to say Thank you and not Thank you, but…. When you allow the truth to land, you allow God to build something grand.
One of the lies that God exposed in me was based in the truth of my need.
I was convinced that I wanted to be in a relationship with a big strong man who would hold me, hug me and love me. I let that thought rumble around in my head for years. Using it as masturbation fantasy material. But when I became a Christian and it was still there, I didn’t understand. Was I still gay? Why had this feeling not gone away. So I began to pray and surrender my desire to God. Because maybe just maybe there was something in that desire that was healthy.
