You’ve Been Lied To
August 25, 2018
I watched the documentary on WWII with grief as they described how Allied troops walked nearby civilians through concentration camps, sometimes at gunpoint, forcing them to view the horrible atrocities that were attibuted to them by the Nazi's just days after liberation. I watched the real footage as these people, walked through the camp with their eyes gaze upon the truth...
...the dead bodies and the emaciated people. Well... you know the story and I don't need to add to the images. But I watched as these civilians broke down and cried, got sick and faint, who, moments before, were oblivious to the truth. They couldn’t believe their eyes. Next, I heard the narrator say the words of the soldiers to the people and with a deep voice he recanted- “You were lied to” ... “You were lied to”. Returning disillusioned, the civilians were described as angry and astonished that the whole world held them responsible for the atrocities - regardless of their naivete concerning the lies.
And so it is with us my friend. Satan has lied to us through our life circumstances AND we believed him. We grew up with the lies, they were with us. Sometimes coming from our family, and sometimes from next door, or form those we thought would protect us but didn't...and we believed. As we grew older, we came to know the the truth in our heads, but the lies were already implanted deep within us long ago. And much like the people of Germany, the Law of God holds us responsible for what we believed with our hearts as a child, and we continue to reap accordingly. Galatians 6:7-8 states "Be not decieved, God is not mocked - whatever a man sows that shall he also reap." We, in essence have made an alliance with the father of lies and held responsible. And the enemy knows it. And God cannot contradict His laws.
Way too often the Body of Christ emphasizes that the battlefield is in the mind (especially in the Western World) but forgets that the wellspring of life is from the heart. And that it is in our hearts that we believe. ( Romans 9:10-11) It cannot be denied that we have to take all things captive to the obedience of Christ because 2 Corinthians 10:5 commands us to do just that. But from a very early age, our wounds and trauma came with messages that were lies that we have not taken captive, and in turn have been engraved on our hearts and believed as "truth".... even from our mothers womb. Yes, the Psalms tell us even in our mothers womb do we sin. (Psalm 51:5) . As stated above, the Scripture is also clear that we believe, not with our minds , but our hearts. (Romans 9:10-11) and Psalm 23:7 - states, as a man thinks in his HEART, so is he." The messages from our wounds were actually lies that we believed as truth which have been written, engraved on our hearts, and cemented with the glue of judgments, unforgiveness, agreements, and caused us to make so many decisions to protect ourselves and learn to live life in ways without trusting God.
As John Sandford, author of the Elijah Task, states in his book, there IS a stopping place for all those lies, and our reaping of the seed we have sown. But before I tell you, just pause for a moment and evaluate where you have believed lies.
Can you hear yourself say anything that resembles the following?
“I know the Lord loves me…but why don’t I feel it?”
“I am capable … I know that I can do this job.” But I feel I cannot do it at all.
“I know the Lord SAYS he is the provider, but I feel that he is so harsh and demanding! I won't meet my needs”
"Everyone tells me I am beautiful, but I feel so ugly."
"I will never be good enough"
"I am a mess."
If you answered yes to this or anything similar, you can see what we know to be true according to God's Word, and what we really believe with our hearts are two totally different things. And "taking those thoughts captive" on a heart level- will take more than just telling ourselves the truth. It will more than likely include walking into the grief of our own wounds, how we were sinned against and then dismantling both the messages we received and agreed with (lies) as well as the glue of unforgiveness that cements them all to our hearts.
These are the places that need to be sanctified. And not until these lies are placed on the cross and we come out of agreement with them, will we be able to live fully by the truth that God wants us to. We must find why these messages were written on the tablets of our heart. We must renounce believing in them. Through forgiveness and repentance alone will the the resulting habits built from them be torn down. Matthew 7:18 states that no good tree can come from a bad fruit, and no bad fruit can come from a good tree. We cannot tell our tree to stop bearing fruit, we must lay the ax at the root of the tree, that is, -where it first started. Matt 3:9-10
Perhaps your lies are like what I described above - or maybe they resemble - that you do not have what it takes, or that other people are more important, or that God will never come for you - just other people. The list is endless. They all produce fruit which shows us where we have made agreements with the father of lies.
Take time to ask the Lord to show you bad fruit in your life that you could be a harvest as a result of sowing a wrong belief long ago? You may know it immediately, you may not, but look at the places of refuge in which you have repeatedly run since childhood, your habitual reactions to people, and situations. They are all a harvest that point to the seed we planted long ago and how we have accepted things as "true" , though not, and chosen to live life apart form complete trust in God alone. Do you overwork? Ask the Lord " Did I make a decision that I am valuable if I work hard and am successful?" That is a lie. Do you hide from confrontation? Ask the Lord why! Do you habitually get angry at something specific? What wound is in your heart?
Lies don't always look bad. Sometimes the fruit looks very noble. Do you always take on the burdens of others so that you cannot let them go? Where did someone not bear your burdens? What did you come to believe? Do you consistently live up to others expectations? What wound gave you the message your desires were less valuable than theirs or needed to fulfill their expecations to get love?
The ways in which we thought kept us safe when we were young- seemed to work for awhile, but have come to keep us held by a structure that is too strong and too dark to let light in so that we don't bearing the spiritual fruit we so desire. And that is called a stronghold. We have sown seeds that have reaped a harvest.
And so we look at what is written on our hearts, we begin to realize that it is not what was done TO us that is the issue , but how we responded that binds us- (and please don't get me wrong- those wounds were NOT your fault -which can easily become a lie in itself and a lense through which you see life- NO! you were hurt and it was painful, and hard and I am the first to cry with you) but... if we are honest before the Lord, and as we allow Gods loving glance to search our hearts, we will find that there have been incredible atrocities wrought in our lives of our very own doing as a bitter response from our earliest wounds (Hebrews 12:15) . And many times, these are hidden. We have responded sinfully to to these wounds and made an agreement with the father of lies. And so just as the citizens of Nazi held German had to come to the realization that they had been lied to, so do we. The enemy has known it since the beginning and made sure we kept believing...one confirmation upon another of the same deception and we believed it as truth. Ask the Lord to expose these lies. Ask the Lord to reveal your ways of responding, your belief systems and fruit of your life which were based on lies, and not truth and built and used to feel safe and secure — At the cross, they now will be revealed, exposed and we will see it as it really is. And if it's painful to gaze... Jesus will be there holding your every moment.
It is our present day spiritual "fruit" which will reveal where these lies are hidden. John Sandford, author of The Elijah Task, called it a Stopping place to end it all and believe the truth in our hearts!
.....The Cross!
The most beautiful thing about the Cross is that God holds us responsibile and then pays the penalty. The Cross gives life. You can't stuff it, you can't hide it. The lie, or actually your belief in that lie can be put to death and resurrected with truth. (Galatians 2:20)
So, when you find those lies on your heart, ask him where it first started! Jesus said to lay the ax at the root of the tree. Who wrote that lie on your heart, what wound came with it? Forgive that person who wrote the lie on your heart.... repent of believing the lie, Tell God you renounce it, break agreement with the Father of lies by the power of the cross. And choose to believe the truth. Many times this needs people to help us see. There could be a whole root system developed from this. But...
When brought to the cross.....
And renounced....
and people who wounded you forgiven....
and judgments repented of.....
You can be....
Fully Free of that lie…..
For all time …
Our lives will once again be made whole and beautiful and we will reap and live according to the truth in our hearts …not just our heads. And lasting fruit of righteousness in that area and truth will pour out of our lives. This is what John Sandford calls, evangelizing the unbelieving places of a believers heart. That is one thing we do prayer ministry - we help you discover the lies you believe and become free of them.
Fully Free! ...