Relationship Topic - The Devil's Lie To Young Adults
Absolute reading requirement before college...
"You know you have reached adulthood when you start questioning what your parents believe; when you start “thinking for yourself.”
"When you start believing differently than what your parents believed, you have finally reached adulthood."
This lie is perpetuated systematically when you enter college, whether secular or Christian college... (It’s just more blatantly stated at a secular university - It’s only intimated in a Christian College environment.)
So let me get this straight, you want me stop believing what my parents believed, and believe the crap that you’re smoking… and that’s how I know I’m reaching adulthood?
What if my parents are right? What if they have been seeking God with all their heart? What if they walk in the truth? What if they walk in the fear of the LORD?
What if I have been seeking God for years because I don’t want to think on my own… I want the mind of Christ? I want Him to reveal His thoughts to me, because His thoughts are so much higher than my thoughts and His ways than my ways. What if I have been already been hearing from God on my own for years? What if He has been leading me, and guiding me day by day, and using me and blessing me? I’m not interested in any other way of thinking than the way God thinks. I’m not interested in thinking on my own, the way the world thinks. I want to transform my mind, and renew it with God’s Word, not follow the foolishness of my own natural way of thinking! God said the human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked… I want His heart, not mine. I want His thoughts, not mine, I want His ways, not mine. His ways are higher, His plan for me is greater! He said he has good stored up for those who fear Him. That’s what I want! I just trust him.
This "think for yourself, do your own thing" philosophy, the devil has punked college students with this lie (this same false logic) for generations. This is because everything the devil says is false. And he has many people, adults and professors included, believing it.
Like the kid who is hell-bent on being a rebel. Going his own way, cutting his own path, making his own way in life, going against the flow, original, unique… Let me guess – you got tatted up. How original! You crazy guy. Oh, you bought a pair of baggy trousers – or skinny jeans - wow! You sure live on that original edge don’t you… what’s next a Mohawk?
The world, especially in college will tell you the mark of adulthood is questioning the beliefs you grew up with and “thinking on your own.” Part of the “right of passage” into adulthood... Coming up with your own conclusions and choosing your own lifestyle. Hmm... sound familiar?
Genesis 3:1-3 - Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
Did you catch that? How insidious – this is big time deception, the master at work. That sucker-punch was almost undetectable! Notice he didn’t say – Did God really say you can’t eat from this tree… He said from any tree... knowing full well that she would come back with the clarification. He already began to intimate that "God doesn’t want to give you anything," "you can’t have any fun with God." So when she rejected the preposterous ("God didn’t take every tree from us, he didn’t say "no" to everything," "God is not the God of 'No!'”), she would be now open to a far more subtle lie: all that was required to be her complete undoing. He was setting her up to consider another philosophy, a different set of values, an alternate way of looking at things. A perverse heart.
Before the devil can plant a lie, so the lie can take root in you, he first must convince you that it’s OK to question God, or his instruction. He'll say, "That's what adults do." He opens your mind to the possibility that other ways are equal to God's ways, or maybe even better; other life choices are equal, a viable alternative, maybe even more enlightened.
If he can get you to question what God said… to ‘think for yourself.' he can deceive you into directly disobeying an unmistakable command from God.
The irony is - was she really ‘thinking for herself?’ Who was doing her thinking for her? When someone is planting thoughts in you, whether the homosexual agenda, the abortion agenda, the socialist agenda, the 'remove God from America' agenda, this is not thinking for yourself, it’s the devil doing your thinking for you. You are like a bull with a ring through it’s nose. You're just getting punked.
Satan convinced Eve to "think for herself," rather than walking in the Fear of the LORD. The serpent was a frienemy.
The first thing Adam should have done was say, “Hey buddy, don’t talk to my wife, you talk to me.
The second thing he should have done was say, “Serpent, you stay right there, Let’s get God on the phone and clear this thing up right now…
The devil’s deception is too powerful for you alone. He’s been deceiving men and women stronger than you for generations.
How do you guard against deception when you can’t even see it coming and can’t even recognize it at first?
Five Steps To Deception Prevention
STEP # 1 of Deception Prevention: Soak In God's Word
Deuteronomy 17:19 - And it shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these decrees.
Get in God’s Word – throughout the day – not just morning devotions. Live it and breathe it throughout the day. (PRISM & PRISM Topics, Relationship Topics). Meditate on it, immerse yourself in it.
Make God’s Word your #1 Input and Influence over Twitter, SnapChat, Instagram, Facebook, Music, TV, Movies, Netflix.
Bank Tellers' training to detect counterfeit bills was to handle hundreds of real ones! The more familiar they got with the real thing, the more obvious the counterfeit became. It just felt funny, something didn’t smell right, feel right – the difference was detectable.
Overdose on the TRUTH and falsehood will start to smell funny. Red Flags will pop up, even if you can’t quite put your finger on it at first. Step 1: Soak in God's Word.
STEP # 2 of Deception Prevention: Limit Worldly Inputs
Psalms 101:3 - I will set before my eyes no unclean thing, the deeds of faithless men, I hate, they will not cling to me.
Limit the time you spend on twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, Facebook, music, Netflicks, TV & movies. Not that you can never watch one, but if these are your daily habit, you will become dulled to the things of God. The counterfeit will begin appearing real to you. Compromise will become a way of life, it will become your habit. You will not be able to point people, to turn them from the things of the world, because you yourself are immersed in the attractiveness of it! Who’s hot, who’s dating who? Who's going where together? This will not help you be godly or help others be godly. You won’t be able to turn anyone from worldliness to Godliness.
Genesis 3:6 - When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom? She took some and ate it.
What? That’s embarrassing. Are you serious? How can a piece of fruit look desirable for gaining wisdom? Who you been talking to? You just got punked! You’ve been listening to someone again haven’t you, let me guess, you’re "thinking for yourself." Sounds a lot like the devil to me. But you wouldn't detect that, unless you’ve been overdosing on the WORD lately.
She wasn’t thinking on her own. She was buying - hook line and sinker - the word of the devil, over the WORD of the LORD.
Be brutal with what you set before your eyes – no unclean thing. Why? Because it looks good. Sin and temptation are always pleasing to the eye! They’re always “Hot”, they always look good. But if it doesn’t honor God, if it isn’t the Fear of the LORD – TURN FROM IT– RIGHT NOW! Walk away and keep walking. Nothing good is there, it seems fun, but it’s a trap, a curse, it will keep you from God’s blessing, it will cause you to stumble and fall and be lost in darkness.
Step 2: Limit Worldly Inputs.
STEP # 3 of Deception Prevention: Cut Off All Frienemies
They will always deceive you. It will be unintentional, because they themselves are deceived, but it will be inevitable.
The devil has a whole set of friends (serpents), that he uses to plant seeds of darkness in you. If they do not seek to walk in the Fear of the LORD – they walk in darkness, and you will too, if you walk with them. Cut off all frienemies. If Adam had known what was at stake, he would have cut the head off of that snake.
When it comes to Frienemies, cut them off. Love God enough to discontinue those friendships, no matter how good a 'friend' they seem to be. They may even go to church or Christian School, but they are not your friends. Continue those relationships and you will be compromised, undone.
Step 3: Cut off all frienemies.
STEP #4 of Deception Prevention: Take It To God
When faced with something... take it to God. Ask Him, Immediately. He will reveal truth to you. The more you soak in the WORD and Cut off worldly inputs, and frienemies– the quicker deception will smell funny. But when you don't know for sure... Take it to God. Ask Him. Seek Him on it. Wait on Him!
James 1:5 - If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives liberally to all without finding fault and it will be given to him.
This will help you grow in discernment. When God says, “That ain't Me” "that's not from me" "that is not what I want for you" or "that's not the person or persons I want you to hang around with. Then Turn From it - immediately. Don’t delay or compromise. Don't be perverse: (slow to obey - always turning it over in your mind, until you go back to it).
Get in the habit of quick and complete obedience from the first time you hear God’s voice! It will put you on an entirely different path in your life, and your destination and your destiny will be completely different.
The devil just wants to steal, kill and destroy. He makes it look attractive, but Resist him. You can’t if you are constantly allowing his voice in your ear, or his input into your mind.
Step 4: Take it to God
STEP #5 of Deception Prevention: Get Godly Counsel
Run it past a friend who Fears the LORD, not an occasional Christian, or a compromising Christian, not one who loves money, (because the root of all evil is in him, he can’t discern anything with his money colored glasses on). Seek counsel from those who have made obedience a priority and a practice in their life; who are seeking and searching after the Fear of the LORD.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 - One can be overcome by an adversary, but two can withstand him, and a chord of three strands is not easily broken.
The chord of three strands could be more than one friend who Fears the LORD – a multitude of Godly counsel, or it could be you and a friend who Fears God, with the Holy Spirit in your midst – the third strand of that chord. He comes there, where two or three gather together in his Name. (Matthew 18:20)
Step 5: Get Godly Counsel
The Devil’s lie is – "Think on your own." But God says my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. The mark of adulthood is not questioning what your parents believe, or caving to the peer pressure that you have to think differently or live differently than they do.
The mark of adulthood is when you can hear the voice of God on your own, and obey it immediately and completely, without your parents making you.
When obedience to God, becomes your heart’s desire, and the fear of the LORD your pursuit; when you ask, and hear and obey, when you desire His ways more than man’s ways – this is how you will know that you have reached adulthood. You are ready to be used of God through the leading of His Holy Spirit – not at the leading of your parents or anyone else.
Don’t believe the lie, what the world says about reaching adulthood. They are just the blind leading the blind, leave them.
Be humble, ask God to teach you the fear of the LORD - Turn from every appearance of evil - instantly - and God will establish you in wisdom; and pour out more true blessing in your life than you could ever imagine.
So what is the Devil's lie to Young Adults? To pass into adulthood, you need to start thinking on your own- different than your parents, or what God says. That's a lie from the devil, it's as old as the hills, and many have fallen for it. God has better for you.
Be on your Guard against deception. 1) Soak In The Word 2) Limit Worldly Inputs 3) Cut Off Frienemies 4) Take It To God, and 5) Get Godly Counsel.
Finally, My prayer is that you would learn the Fear of the LORD, that you will walk in wisdom, understanding, complete obedience, and crazy joy! The true mark of an adult is not "thinking" for yourself, it's learning to hear and obey the voice of God for yourself.
God has only good in store for you. He has plans for you today. They are Good! Trust him! Obey Quickly – Walk in His Word, and His plans - and you will fulfill the purpose that He has for you - the only thing that will fulfill you.
A PRISM Topic: is God’s Word on a single subject. A Relationship Topic is a perspective from God's Word on relationships. A PRISM Topic Packet is a grouping of PRISM or Relationship Topics of similar subjects... part of the M: Meditate on theWord of PRISM – (5 Things You Can Do Daily in God’s Word) to transform the way you think. Ask God what PRISM Topic or Relationship Topic He wants you to meditate on today.Take your PRISM Topic, Relationship Topic or Packet with you! Come back to them multiple times a day! “It is to be with him, and he is to meditate on it day and night, so that he may learn to fear the LORD…” - Deuteronomy 17:19