Did God really say...

The enemy is good! In fact, I believe that he doesn’t need to come up with new schemes because the old ones seem to work great. Let’s just focus in on his first one...

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” Genesis 3:1

The enemy, the serpent, opens up with one key phrase “Did God really say.” It is the first time that we see the enemy in the Scripture and the first time he interacts with mankind. If we were to continue reading Genesis 3; we would see that this phrase not only leads to Eve making a costly mistake, but mankind would never be the same!

Let’s continue to work this phrase out in current times.

Maybe you’re a man or woman. You are in your thirties and still find yourself single. You’re beginning to wonder if there is something wrong with you. Everyone else is married and having like their fifth kid! Why can’t I seem to find a spouse that will love me? Then the phrase comes into play “Did God really say” “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14) Then why does no one else see that? Am I really wonderfully made?

Or maybe you are going along with your walk with God and everything starts falling apart around you! You look around and it seems that every other Christian seems to be blessed and what might even be worse, is that all the unchurched people seemed to be blessed as well. You might start feeling like you’re cursed rather than being blessed. Why is this happening to me? Then the phrase comes into play “Did God really say” “I know the plans I have for you...plans for good and not for disaster” (Jeremiah 29:11) Did God really have plans for you? Plans that would be good for you? Where are these plans?

Or possibly you are walking around life and realize that you seem to be the only one walking. You look around and the friends that once took interest, no longer do. You seem to spend all of your weekends alone at your apartment watching movies of other people living life. Who even cares about you? Then the phrase comes into play “Did God really say” “I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:20) Then why do you feel so alone? Is God even present in your life?

Wow, that is so powerful! Why do I say that? Because that has been me personally; in one form or another. It starts out with that phrase “Did God really say.” Then the enemy uses some sort of truth, most likely straight out of the Bible! Lastly, he bombards you with questions! Questions you might not have an answer for, questions that will haunt you, questions that can lead you down a very dark path!

How powerful do you think this enemy’s specific scheme is? A scheme that he used at the beginning and a scheme that he continues to use on people thousands of years later! I believe that if we can recognize this scheme; then we can defend against it. Ask God today, to show you areas of your life that might be in danger of falling into this specific scheme! Ask God to reveal Himself to you and to also reveal truth in a relevant way to you! Ask God to help you deal with hard questions; to send people in your life that can assist you, to bring Scripture to mind, to feel His presence working in your life. Ask God for the wisdom and strength to overcome the times when the enemy comes to us and says “Did God really say...”

(credit to some of my thoughts goes to Pastor Rick’s Sunday night sermon on Spiritual Warfare and Stephen Furtick’s book Crash the Chatterbox)