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Quote:

“There are none who are as deaf as those who do not want to hear.” – Barry Leventhal

God has a mighty good record of turning nothingness into something by way of His spoken word. In the beginning, light appeared when darkness heard His Word and chaos was transformed into God’s order upon His every declaration of creation, separation and production. When God speaks, He speaks with authority and His every word is alive and true. Every word spoken in the past continues to be spoken in the present. His Word is alive; if it were not so, the heavens and earth would be obliterated.

If God is always speaking, the Devil is always contradicting what is being said. Since Satan’s unsuccessful rebellion and defeat, he has had one ultimate goal – to cast doubt on God’s authority through the distortion of His truth. Satan’s deception of Eve was coined around this one question – “Did God really say…?”

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

When you examine the Devil’s question, you will see that he has a crafty knack for assaulting your spiritual intelligence with half-truths. He shifts your focus from the certainty of what God has said and appeals to your prideful, wavering and self-proclaimed instincts.

Eve ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and humanity has been grappling with the reproduction of that fruit ever since. It seems as if the more we partake of that fruit is the more we grapple with distinguishing what is true and what brings about life or death. The world was built on the existence of opposites e.g. Light vs. Darkness or Good vs. Evil and it is a fact that while they are opposed to each other, one cannot exist without the other.

Who then, is the source of our determinations? Who determines what is true or false for the governing of our lives? When God speaks to us, is it a mere point of view or is it the foundational truth upon which our lives are constructed? In the beginning, Adam and Eve had only God’s spoken word of instruction. The same voice that constructed the heavens and the earth is the same voice that instructed them. Now, God has graced us with not only His spoken word, but His written word alongside the Holy Spirit who will direct and guide us into God’s spirit and truth. God is tasked with retooling our minds and spirits daily in the direction of truth.

If you are desirous of living an abundant life, you can only do so when you are able to hear God speak. The nearer you draw to him, is the more you will be able to identify his voice. God has always been a proponent of instantaneous communication. We see evidence of this in the creation of devices such as the telephone and internet. Can you hear the voice of a friend speaking to you over the distant sea without a communication device? No! Then how do you expect to hear God speaking in the absence of His devices?

Anything or anyone that contradicts God’s Word contradicts God. Don’t allow the Devil to subtly confuse you into modifying any promise God has given to you. Look out for his favourite trick – he will insert just enough truth into his deception to make it believable and he will always appeal to your ability to believe in your thoughts over God’s thoughts. ‘Wear your own crown’, he says and long before you know it, you frown at imaging God and revel at being your own God. Instead of resisting the deceit, you collaborate with it convincing yourself that your vain imaginations are a prized possession.

How do you know if you have fallen in the trap of deception?

2 Corinthians 13:5 – “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

Satan is cunning in his attempts to keep you bound to death. His aim is to have the legal jurisdiction to kill, steal and destroy your life, your promise and your purpose. He is not the mastermind of anything good. He is a trickster who is unable to create anything or speak anything into existence. All he does is distort your God-given desires so that you can satisfy them in illegitimate ways. He calls lust love. He calls disobedience freedom. Sin gives him legal jurisdiction in your life so like a pig being led to the slaughter, there is no hope for those who compromise.

When the Devil attacks you with the question “Did God really say?” don’t make the same mistake that Eve made by examining and focusing on what the Devil said. Don’t take your gaze off of Jesus and put it on the fruit of Satan’s question instead. Don’t believe that God is withholding something good from you and consider the words of a proven liar. Declare with boldness all that God has said and hold on to His every Word. Every word spoken, promised and prophesied over your life by God can be trusted. When the enemy and his minions speak, your position should be one of defence not surrender. Have a defensive position in faith and put on the whole armour that is provided for us by God and stand still in obedience believing His every word.