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| JAMES LESSON #21 Who is Satan? He is the adversary. (the one who fights against you) He is the accuser: (the one who points out everything you�ve ever thought, said or done wrong) He is a slanderer (one who says things to ruin your reputation and God�s) � And the list goes on. Are you being deceived by his �disinformation?� We all find ourselves deceived and in trouble from time to time � Question is: What lures us into that position? It begins with God and Satan. Satan is God�s enemy. If you belong to God, you have an enemy too. Satan wants to make sure that no one believes anything that God has to say, so he consistently puts information out in front of everyone that attacks God�s character and His Word. An example might be: God would never accept you � look at where you�ve been! Look at the awful things you�ve done! (accuser) God doesn�t love you. God doesn�t hear your prayers. (slanderer) Yes � you may have blown it- you may be in the middle of blowing it- but it is �disinformation� � that you�ve blown it too badly to ever turn around: that God doesn�t hear your prayers: that God doesn�t care: and it�s �disinformation� that will keep you in that position and continue to destroy you if you choose to believe it. Disinformation is: putting out information that is false. It is putting out information that is not true. So many times we get caught in the lies because we don�t recognize the lies when we hear them. The Word of God gives you truth. The Word of God gives you information that is unchanging � and right. Ever wonder why it�s seemingly so difficult to get your quiet time in each day? The more consistent you are in that quiet time, the stronger you become in opposing your adversary. Why? Because the more truth you receive the more lies you recognize and defeat. The battle ground is not found in what surrounds you. The battle ground is your mind. Look at John 8:42-47 Why don�t they understand God? Because they can�t hear the Word. Why? Because their hearts are slaves. To whom? The devil. They �will� ��choose� to do what? The �desires� of the enemy. He�s a murderer and a liar: He speaks from �his own nature.� The nature of God is �absolute truth.� In verse 47 �those who are of God, HEAR (that means follows after) the words of God- Look at verse 51: If anyone KEEPS My Word he shall what? Never see death: Why? Because the Word is truth: it will expose the lies and protect you from falling into sin. The barrier that separated these people from God was unbelief. Sin enslaves a person and alienates him from God. It brings a trend to continue on in sin. Outside of grace it is impossible to escape it. Satan�s world is lies, distortion, falsehood and deception. Look at II Corinthians 4:1-4 Since we have received mercy- �grace�- we won�t lose heart because: we have renounced the things we�ve hidden �no longer walking in such a way as to make the Word of God say what we want it to: -we stand in truth- exposing the truth in our lives to all who can see: (you can mix salt with sugar and you can�t see the difference between the two until you taste it- until you encounter it- until you experience it: life next to life � reaction next to reaction- will display the distinction between truth and a lie) � verse 3: Even if they can�t see it, it�s those who are truly lost who can�t see it � they�re lost because Satan has what? BLINDED the MINDS of the unbelieving so that they can�t see : How? With disinformation. Flip over to II Corinthians 11:3 What�s led astray? YOUR MIND- how? Disinformation. Outside of all the lies, we have truth. Jesus said, �I am the way, the TRUTH and the life.� The enemy wants to contradict the truth. THIS is where the impact hits in terms of your own personal walk. Problem is this: How do you tell the difference? Sometimes the disinformation is so convincing that the best of the best bite into the apple. One of Satan�s favorite questions is found in John 18:38. This question is one of Satan�s number one tools of disinformation today. What, is truth? Today you hear that truth is �relative to your experience.� Truth to you may not be truth to me. There are no absolutes. WRONG. Satan says, �Truth is what you say is right and wrong � who are they to determine what�s right and wrong for your life?� THAT is disinformation. It�s not about �they� �it�s about God. Get this down: The key to effective disinformation is in the target audiences� strong predisposition to believe something. THAT is what counts. If you want to change someone�s thinking, you go after their minds by going after what they would LIKE to believe � what they WANT to believe � what they have been CONDITIONED to believe. GET THAT. People believe what they WANT to believe. People believe what they�ve been CONDITIONED to believe. Look at your journey- you will see a pattern. You will have a tendency to continuously fall in one or two specific areas. What are you conditioned to believe in those areas? What �truth� are you failing to see? The enemy will not just walk up to you, feed you a bold faced lie and expect you to swallow it. It doesn�t work that way. Here is an illustration that I�ve shared in class � I refer to it as the �floaties story� � We live on the river. My kids swim in the river, ski on the river, tube on the river, play on the river. If I were to approach my kids this morning and say, �Don�t ever go into the river again because the water is full of acid � it will burn your skin off and kill you �� they�d probably question a little bit � and look at me like I was a nutcase. That would be �approaching them with a bold faced lie and expecting them to believe it.� Wrong- wont� work. Ok � so let�s use the �disinformation system.� Remember, the key to effective disinformation- planting a lie at just the right time � is found in the audience�s strong already conditioned response to believe something. Here we go: We live on the river. My kids swim in the river, ski on the river, tube on the river, play on the river. I don�t want my kids in the river. Over a five day period of time I do the following: Day One: I ask a neighbor to float a partially skinned, dead raccoon down the river just as the kids prepare to go tubing. They see it. Day Two: I ask a neighbor to float a partially skinned dead raccoon and three fish skeletons down the river. The kids see them. Day Three: I ask a neighbor to float a partially skinned dead raccoon, three fish skeletons and a dog carcass down the river. The kids see them. Day four: I ask a neighbor to float a partially skinned dead raccoon, three fish skeletons, a dog carcass and two dead deer down the river. The kids see them. Day five: I approach my kids with grave concern and say, �I don�t want you swimming or playing in the river ever again. It�s full of high acids and will kill you if you get in it.� Do you think they�d question me? Nope- It would be a slam dunk. However: If they worked daily in the city water department, and had access to daily water sampling information, and were current on true water conditions � would they believe me? No- they�d question. So it is with the enemy of your life. You are NOT in a �power� encounter when it comes to warfare. You are in a �truth� encounter. How do we stand? How do we learn to recognize the �floaties� as �floaties� and look the liar in the eyes and tell him to get lost? Satan slows down, threatens, persecutes, and attacks, but we can stand if we don�t buy into his disinformation. The only way to stand in this is to know God. Turn to Daniel 11:32b. The people who know their God are fearful and hide? The people who know their God are angry and disillusioned? The people who know their God are resentful and bitter? The people who know their God are full of self-pity and wallow in depression? No..No.. No.. The people who know their God are STRONG how? �Dunamis� � Strong in HIS strength- power and ability: and are able to do exploits. What�s that? Do exploits? Exploit: to make profit from the labor of others (joint effort) without giving a just return. HELLO? Why are they able to do �exploits?� Because they are NOT OPERATING ALONE. The last place I have any strength is in the heat of the fire: God knows that. The last place I have ability, is in the heat of the fire: God knows that. The last place I have power is in the heat of the fire: God knows that. It�s in the heat of the fire that disinformation screams loudly: Our �conditioned response� is to look at our OWN strength, ability and power � and see weakness, inability and powerlessness and fall into hopeless despair. There IS no hope in our ability, strength and power � God knew that: That�s why He�s offered the �joint effort opportunity.� Those who know their God will �make a profit from the labor of God without giving a just return � where? In the heart of disinformation and in the heat of the fire. Next question: How do you �know your God?� Look at Romans 12:1-2 Paul says that we should present our �bodies� as a living sacrifice. What�s that mean? Take your �body� � all the actions that you will do today- all the words you will say today- all the thoughts you�ll work through today- all the mundane ordinary tasks that this day requires and offer those things to God as an act of worship. Don�t offer the dressed up Sunday morning church version: offer the real �you.� The word �worship� in the Greek is �latreuein� and it means �to work for hire or pay.� It was the word used of the working man who gave his strength to an employer in return for the pay the employer would give him. It was VOLUNTARY. It came to mean, �that to which a man would give his whole life.� GET THIS: True worship is in the offering to God of one�s body, and all that one does every day with it. Real worship is not the offering to God �ritual, Sunday attendance, monies � however noble, however magnificent. Real worship is the offering of everyday life to him. The cry of the believer�s heart is not: I�m going to go to church to �worship� God (to give my strength to God in return for what He will pour back into me) � but, I�m going to the factory, the shop, the office, the school, the garage, the mine, into the hardness of illness, into the face of death, into the grievance of loss, to the living room floor with my kids �to those very places where disinformation is �seen� and �heard� - to worship God (to give Him my strength, in order to find the release of His.) How do we do this? Hang on to that thought. We�re going there tomorrow. Love you guys, Robin �Copyright 2001 Jim and Robin Hibschman |
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