*What you will choose to believe*
Satan, the father of deception, uses lies to draw us out of worshipping God, seeking to wreck our lives to ultimately attack God. Sometimes he does this subtly, sometimes overtly. God, on the other hand, speaks only Truth. All that is good and right come from our heavenly Father with Whom there is no shadow(James 1:17). He created us so that everyday we can experience eternal life, joy, purpose and peace (see Psalm 23, John 17:3). Experiencing the true love which we all seek can only be found in Him.
At every turn, WE have choices and we make them throughout our day.
WHAT will you believe?
WHOM will you believe?
The trajectory of our lives is set by WHOM we choose. Satan’s lies lead us to destruction, while God’s Truth brings us into living more and more fully in God’s beautiful inheritance for us, His children. Looking atthe condition of our daily lives and the state of our hearts can show whom we have chosen to believe. Evaluate different areas of your life and see whose fingerprints are evident. Do you see evidence of satan’s destruction or do you see signs of beauty that come from living in God’s inheritance for you?
Everyday, we are on this spiritual battlefield. While our doctrinal beliefs are very important, what we believe is not comprised solely of this. We can have impeccable doctrinal statements as banners over our Biblical worldview, yet live outside of that belief system very easily. Most honestly, what we believe is the sum total of what we believe daily, evidenced by where we live each day. And this can change from moment to moment, sometimes being based on Truth and sometimes betraying our knowledge of Scripture. When faced with sudden trials (or maybe it’s a slow-building trial that has come upon you unnoticed), will we push through with Spirit-led desperation to know and experience God in the fullest sense at that very crucial moment? Or have we settled for a shallow knowledge of God, leaving behind God’s invitation to be transformed by His Presence and Power? Watching individuals’ transformation in the gospels is what our interaction with Jesus is supposed to look like. If it doesn’t, there is far more that He wants for us to receive.His Truth is meant to penetrate our hearts, change our daily experience and bring an overflowing in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that believing Him would look like a flowing river of living water coming out of our hearts for all who thirst (John 7:37-39). How do our lives compare? This verse always makes me want to press in deeper to know God more than I have ever tasted. Receive His beautiful invitation:
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! (Psalm 34:8 ESV)
So, how do we evaluate what we believe? How do we know what we are believing in a given moment? How do we change where we live?
What we currently experience in life reveals a lot about what we are believing in our hearts. Peace? Panic? Joy? Anxiety? Trust? Contentment? Worship? Fear? Anger? Patience?
Our feelings are symptoms of our heart beliefs. Just as a dashboard indicates what is going on under the hood, our feelings have the role of indicating what we really believe in our hearts.
Just yesterday, I learned of unexpected, potential changes in my future that would impact what I would have to focus on. Turmoil rose up in my heart and a flood of tears began to flow; but I couldn’t articulate why I was so upset. I realized later that since I feel behind in many of my responsibilities, adding this change to an already full plate pushed me over the brink. I felt thrusted back to a period in my life when I was in a desperate place of great need. I felt abandoned, forgotten and left to fend for myself. Then, from a novel reading for Advent which my husband began reading to us, God encouraged me to hope in Him again, to trust Him to be my Provider, especially when I needed Him the most. The Spirit reminded me that I can press into the Truth that He has promised to always provide for my needs. I will always be helped by Him and I will never be left alone, I concluded. God used this potential trial to reveal my need to trust Him more deeply than I was knowing Him. He pushed the borders of my faith that afternoon by reminding me that He will forever meet me and carry the unexpected burdens of my life. My fear turned into confident hope when I recalled to mind that He is, always has been and will be faithful to me.
Let’s go back. In this situation, suddenly I felt abandoned, quite alone and without resources. This is what I was believing at that moment. What brought me out of these lies was being exposed to God’s Truth again (and it can come in various forms and from different sources since the Spirit is at work at all times). I was again on solid ground though my foot had slipped. While I know in my mind the doctrinal truth found in Hebrews 13:5b, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” I was tempted with the opposite (Genesis 2:16-17, 3:4). I quickly believed lies and fear captured me. My understanding of that solid Truth was only head deep.The belief that I let settle in my heart was of the enemy and not of God.
Notice the role that the mind plays? While my feelings were stuck in the fears that came from the lies I was believing, my mind had a critical role to play. I had a vital choice to make right then. I needed to seek God and take my feelings to Him. “God, are any of my feelings opposed to truth, imbedded in lies (2 Cor 10:3-6)?” Be willing to readily abandon lies that the Spirit shows you and the barren place that they have createdfor you. As you encounter Truth, choose to return immediately to that beautiful place that is yours to live in everyday (Matthew 18:3). Your Heavenly Father is right here with you and you are His much loved child. His Truth is your safe haven. Ask Him to bring the Truth that you need at that very moment. He wants tominister to you.
Notice how influenced we can be, depending on what we are exposed to? We can surround ourselves with Truth and be drawn back to the safe place that His Presence provides. Or we can choose to hold onto our lies and fears and be plunged into the enemy’s destructive plans for us: to live outside of our inheritance as God’s children. Immerse yourself in the Word because it is far more than a spiritual discipline and book. Itcontains the very words of God. Seek God, asking the Spirit to speak to your heart (Matthew 4:4, John 10:3, Romans 8:14-17). Go to Jesus for life (John 5:39). Trust faithful believers in your life and ask them to speak into your situation (Heb 13:7).
Encouragement comes from holding onto Truth. Here are wonderful Truths to believe in wholeheartedlyand to live by:
Jesus the Great High Priest Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV)
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:14-17 ESV)
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV)
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5 ESV)
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4 ESV)
May we each make choices, daily, to believe GOD (the WHOM) and His Truth (the WHAT) on thismoment by moment battlefield. The beautiful inheritance that Christ made possible for us to live in daily, by the sacrifice of His life, is truly where He wants for us to live in each day... until we see Him face to face inglory.
I hope you can listen to the song below that attempts to capture some of what I just wrote. It’s an edited version of what I wrote in 2009. Below are the lyrics of the longer version. The audio version follows.
Right Here
by kyong a hayes
from Psalm 23
Your peaceful, quiet streams I don’t have to leave
No place compares to this—Your meadow so green
You renew my strength
I have all I need
Why would I ever leave?
I walk through the darkest valley and I’m not afraid
I am protected here for You make me safe
On these paths with You
You prove Your name true
Why would I ever leave?
Though lies are all about me I have peace
Enemies are silenced as they watch me feast
You are pouring out
My cup overflows
Why would I ever leave?
Chorus (x2)
And I know goodness and love will keep chasing me down, as long as I live
Bridge (x2)
By Your stream
In Your meadow
On Your path
At Your table
Right here—in Your Presence Divine
Right here is where I’ll stay
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Edited song version performed by Women’s Worship Fellowship:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRj-XXCL8RE
Buy on CD Baby:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/wwfellowship2