Meditation
A LIAR FROM THE BEGINNING Dr. Joseph Stowell
There is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44
Satan established his rule on earth when he turned the minds of Adam and Eve against God. In order to pull this off, he had to lie to them about God and, more importantly, they had to believe his lies.
In that strategic moment in the Garden of Eden, he lied to them about God’s goodness, God’s word, and God’s intentions for their lives. In essence he said that God was not good but stingy and repressive in restricting them from eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Moreover, Satan said, God’s word was not true. They really wouldn’t die if they ate. And, he claimed, God’s intentions were not for their good but rather to oppress them and hold them back from experiencing life at its fullest. If they would go ahead and eat the fruit, they would be truly fulfilled.
Sound familiar? Satan still seeks to capture our minds through the same basic lies. And though the players and the settings have changed dramatically since that first “mind assault,” the strategy is the same.
When trouble interrupts our lives he whispers, “God is not good.” When we are asked to sacrifice things that are precious to us he whispers, “God is stingy and repressive.”
When God asks for obedience and requires that we walk in His way, Satan whispers that God’s Word is oppressive, robbing us of life the way we really want it to be. But the lies are not the problem. It’s that we tend to—no, that we want to-believe them, and when we do, love and loyalty to God are compromised, leaving us at the mercy of our Enemy.
And he will soon slither off to his next assignment, leave us alone in our misery and sorrow to face the sad realization that his lies have seduced us away from our truest and dearest friend… who indeed is “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6 KJV)!