What lies are you believing?

Currently in my community group we are reading a book about the lies and deception we believe from Satan. The author of the book starts by taking us back to the first lie, the story of Adam and Eve. She speaks about Genesis and how the serpent tempts Eve. We've all heard the story, probably many times. But something stuck out in my mind this time, something I hadn't really paid much attention to in the times I've read this passage in the past. Take a look and see if you can find it.

Genesis 2: 15-17 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Genesis 3:1-3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? ”The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

Did you see it?? Look closely. Satan uses the tactic of planting a seed of doubt in Eve's mind, "Did God really say?" Eve begins to think back on what God said, and as her mind is processing she beings to question whether or not God said what she initially thought He said. She replies to the serpent "You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it." Guess what, God never said that! As I read this passage again I could feel the holy spirit speaking to me about how often I, like Eve, "misinterpret" what God is telling me. How many times, I, like Eve, have justified my own decisions by saying God said something He didn't really say.

Fortunately, God continues to grow me in my walk and the lies I believed in the past or the things I justified in the past are no longer a part of my story but I know this is not an area Satan is going to just bow down to and leave alone. He knows I have an over analytical brain, and he knows I process through things way too much and second guess myself and he uses that area of weakness to cause me to second guess my convictions.

That is not okay. God promises to give us a helper who will convict regarding sin, righteousness and judgement (John 16) and when that helper lays something on our hearts we need to STOP and LISTEN. Don't think about it, don't over analyze it, don't try to figure it out. Just be still. If God is stirring something in your heart He is going to reveal to you in complete clarity, black and white, what He wants you to hear. When we allow room for our own interpretation of the word, we are also allowing room for the father of lies to squirm his way in and begin to deceive us.

Pray that the Lord will help you see in black in white and not gray. Pray that he will take self out of the picture because our human nature will always deceive us. And remember when you get an instinct that you should say/do/believe something. Don't ask yourself "Did God really say" just remember that He did!

Psalm 139:24 - See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Who will be your + 1?

I am no stranger to inviting people to come events I know about. In fact, many of you probably get annoyed with all the invites I send you, I love getting people connected! While the eagerness I have to connect people "within" the church is great, I've been feeling convicted lately about why I no longer have that same eagerness to connect people "TO" the church. There was a time, not too long ago when I was constantly inviting people to come to church with me. One week, I invited almost everyone I knew from one particular group of friends I had and 7, (yes 7!!!) people came to church with me that night. We took up an entire row at the Porch and I was so excited to have them there to hear the message. It was the night JP played the song from Salt and Pepper, you know what I'm talking about :)

This past Thursday I showed up to play tennis with a friend of mine. There was a big group of us and they organized people according to their skill level. I was super excited to play, and as I eagerly awaited the organizer to call my name, he went through the entire list and accidentally left me off! At first I was a little upset, I had driven all the way out to the court and I wasn't going to be able to play. Well, there was another lady who also got left off that night. I offered to play singles with her and the gentleman who was organizing said "I don't think that's a good idea, you are a 4.0 player." That was his nice way of letting me know this other lady was not quiet at the same skill level I was. We got on the tennis court and I quickly realized we weren't going to be playing much tennis. So, I started talking to her and getting to know Ms. Thelma, and boy was she a treat :) Such a sweet lady. We started talking about Jesus and I ended up inviting her to church with me. We didn't exchange contact information, honestly I didn't even think twice about it until I showed up for the 530 service at church this past Sunday and there she was!! How exciting it was to see her. God used that opportunity to help me realize that I have been lacking, big time in the department of growing his Kingdom!!

Jesus urges us to "Go into the world and preach the gospel" (Mark 16), to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28). I know when we think about witnessing sometimes we feel insecure or inadequate. I've been there before, many times. I definitely hope we can all get to the point that it just comes so naturally to us that we don't even think about it. But until that time comes, there is one thing I'm sure we can all agree is not to difficult to do... Invite them!! Invite them, and they will come! I was overwhelmingly surprised when I just extended the invite one week and 7 people ended up accepting that invitation. Just last night I was having a conversation with someone I have been friends with for a while and I realized I had never invited them to come to church with me. Well guess what? Not only is the person I invited coming, they are bringing a guest!

So, I encourage you friends, set a goal for yourselves to invite 1 person to church with you this week. Seek God and ask him who He wants you to reach out to this week, and be faithful when He gives you an answer. Because trust me, He will give you an answer.

Happy fishing!!