Hold On to What’s True
Reading Scripture is vital to our intimacy with God. God’s Word is our weapon. It’s alive, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword. And when we hide Scripture in our heart, it helps us battle with the forces of evil. We have an enemy, and the last thing he wants us to do is trust God and His Word.
Our spiritual enemy wants to keep us in a place of doubt and insecurity. But when we know who we are, we can confidently demolish every lie that distracts us. Below are some common lies we’ve all believed, and the truth we need to remember to overcome them:
Lie We Believe — I’m a failure, and I can’t do anything right.
God’s Truth — I may struggle, but I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13).
Lie We Believe — If God cared, why would He let these hardships happen to me?
God’s Truth — I know that God causes everything to work together for His glory and my good (Romans 8:28). God’s grace is sufficient for me, and His power is perfected through my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Lie We Believe — I’ll always be this way.
God’s Truth — I can change because I belong to Christ. The old me has gone and the new me is here (2 Corinthians 5:17)!
Think through the lies you’ve believed. It’s easier to entertain lies when we allow them to become a part of us. But once you recognize the lies you’ve internalized, you’re halfway to victory. God gave us His Word so that we could know the truth … and it’s His truth that sets us free.
Let’s start living more like the conquerors we are, and apply the life-giving, hope-delivering, and devil-kicking power provided to us through God’s Word.
His Pain, Our Gain
Isaiah 53 is a stunning chapter in the Bible—in what is now commonly referred to as the “Old Testament.”
Approximately 700 years before Jesus walked the earth, Isaiah prophesied about a suffering servant who would also, somehow and in some way, be exalted. A coming Savior, a future Redeemer, the long-awaited Messiah—whose death would ultimately bring life.
A portion of Isaiah 53 says this:
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 NIV
So, who was this man who would be pierced, crushed, and wounded because of someone else’s sins? Whose undeserved punishment would be the catalyst for healing? Whose life would be given as an offering—so that others might live?
Jesus Christ not only fits the description of the suffering servant who paid the ultimate price to buy His people back, redeem them, and set them free—He ...
“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge...