One of Satan's greatest tactics against true believers is trying to get us to believe we are not worthy, not good enough... that we make too many mistakes, that our past is too horrible, that there's something wrong with us. This is the only weapon in his arsenal when he can't get a true believer to purposely sin or turn away from God. So, he tries to make us wallow in our own guilty and insecurity so that we will be ineffective for the Lord. If we don't know who we really are in Jesus, than we will run around this life, ducking into shadows, hiding, worrying, stressing, and not stepping out to be the bold warriors we should be. I'm particularly subject to this type of attack because I have a very sordid past. I did many things before I knew Jesus that make me cringe now, many things that have caused people I love great struggles and pain. Hence, my sins have followed me and haunt me even now. Then of course, we all have our faults and weaknesses even after we are saved and walking with the Lord. The devil knows all of this and he knows how to use truth mixed in with lies.
When he says to me. "Look at how your son struggles and he's an atheist. That's your fault. You were a horrible mother when he was young. You didn't teach him anything about God or anything good."
And he would be absolutely right. So I have a choice now. I can wallow in my guilt and regret, feel worthless and defeated. OR I can say right back to him. "That's right. But I am a new creature in Christ. That old MaryLu is dead. I died with Jesus and was raised to life with Him. I am filled with His Holy Spirit and have been adopted into God's Family. I'm not perfect, but the Holy Spirit is working in me and sanctifying me to become more like Jesus every day. And all those bad things I did are not only all forgiven but forgotten. Yes, I still suffer consequences, but my God is the God of the impossible, and He promises that ALL things will work together for good for me because I love Him and I'm called for His purposes. Besides that, He is my Father who loves me and He answers all my prayers and saves my children."
Do I remember to do that every time? Not always. Sometimes I get depressed. But I'm learning to battle this more and more. I've always struggled with God as Father. I didn't have an Earthly Dad. Mine abandoned us when I was a baby, so I've always had trouble trusting God. One thing that has helped is Scripture. Particularly Romans 8, which I have memorized, but below is from Ephesians. Everywhere it said "us", I put "you" to make it personal. Read it over out loud and feel the love of God pour over you!.
Blessed be God, your Father and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose you in Him before the foundation of the world, that you should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined you to adoption as children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made you accepted in the Beloved.
In Him you have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward you in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to you the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also you have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that you who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:1-13
Do you believe this? Think about it. God is your Father. He adopted you into His family. In other words, to Him, you are just like Jesus. He loves you as much as He loves Jesus! That's why He made you a son or daughter and also made you a co-inheritor with Jesus. He didn't give Jesus a greater inheritance! (not that He didn't deserve it) but the Father gave You the same inheritance as Jesus! The Father chose you Before He even made the Earth. He formed you in your mother's womb. He gave you special talents and He also knew your faults and weaknesses. He knew everything about you, knew everything you would do, good or bad, He knew you would choose Him. He loved you before you were even born. He lavished His grace and mercy on You, forgave all your sins, planted your feet on a Rock, gave you purpose and life, cleansed you and made you holy.
So, don't you for one minute believe the lies the enemy is telling you! That you are not enough, that your sins are too much, that your faults are overwhelming, that you are ______ fill in the blank. Too weird, boring, unlikeable, quiet, stupid, wicked, selfish, temperamental, sensitive, ugly. God does not make garbage. He makes masterpieces. He makes unique and beautiful works of art. And that's you!
Tell the devil to take a hike. Better yet, ignore him and start praising Jesus. Works every time.
Thank you MaryLu that is just a beautiful post end so uplifting and encouraging- Vicky
ReplyDeleteMost Welcome, Vicky!
DeleteThank you. I needed this! I have struggled the last few years with feeling like I am boring and my life is not important anymore. I don’t always get along with my grown kids and I know it is the enemy trying to divide my family.( we are all believers). I am helping with worship at our church but still feel I am “too old”, “ too fat” and ugly to be in front of people. I know these lies are from the devil. I will continue to help out when asked.
ReplyDeleteBlessings! BevH
Bev, believe it or not, I can SO relate! But you're right. These are flat out lies! Just keep moving forward and asking the Lord to use you and to show you His love for you!
DeleteThank you for this encouraging post, MaryLu! The enemy has been hitting me hard with many of these things lately. I feel unworthy to pray for others bc I'm struggling in my health & seemingly can't get a prayer through for my own self! Or maybe I'm having physical issues bc I'm not a good enough Christian, etc, etc.These thoughts have drastically affected my prayer life the past week, I'm ashamed to say. Someone really close to me desperately needs prayer & I don't feel worthy enough to pray for her at times. But I am believing for her miracle, so there, devil!
ReplyDeleteHmm. Seems like the enemy doesn't want you to pray! Right? Wonder why? Hmm. Could it be that the prayers of a righteous woman are powerful and effective? You go, girl. Give the devil a run for his money!
DeleteHello Sister in Christ,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this beautifully written post of reassurance and encouragement. I can relate to this very well in that I used to be the near-complete opposite of what I am now.
I first came to know Christ back in high school and had a kind demeanor in which I now feel I was way too open, friendly, and trusting. People were kind to me and there were those that were blatantly disrespectful, but now looking back, the “kind” ones actually masqueraded as false friends due to my realization that online interactions were not the same as in real life and they hardly socialized with me on their own free will. Since I was too immature and foolish to accept this hard truth, I did not let that bother me if I happened to think about it.
This was also the same in college when people I interacted with, mostly for class-related activities such as studying and group assignments, showed me kindness but now I realize I was being used all along to carry out their wants/needs - an example is that I studied with some people and openly gave them encouragement and luck for exams and while they seemed to appreciate it, all of that meant nothing when they did not even want to become friends and just “vanished” after exams and of course after graduation. I know friendships are optional, but there are those who make it seem so easy just by doing the same things I did - I felt that it could have that I acted strange or was immature, but hey, I was inexperienced in the social life, so of course I may lack confidence and act foolish at times, but if they use that to justify judging me as worthless, well now I do not care much anymore when I used to nearly fall into depression over it. Wouldn’t it be sad for them to realize that God does not like to be disrespected and mocked, and especially not his children?
The point of the above accounts is that I know the Devil is using those bad experiences to make me feel like I am the worst of the worst and I have fallen into the trap for some time, until a few things finally transformed me. Learning that COVID was a harbinger of wiping out humanity, understanding that evil has been behind every major worldly situation, and most appropriately, coming across your blog are what finally made me put everything behind and constantly look to the Lord in prayer, Scriptures, and peaceful music. Even before all that, I grew in Christ though not always steadily, but now I felt it was my biggest growth and transformation yet.
I bet a good amount of those false people are now working successful jobs, some may have their own families, and some may still have real friends from 10-20 years ago, but how would God view their hearts despite the first two successes? I read somewhere that for highly successful people, others may view them as very respectable in view of their accomplishments, but God may view them as “possible failures” because their hearts secretly harbor malice and hatred towards people they judge as inferior or worthless while maintaining a “flawless” facade on the outside to make others believe nothing is wrong with them. Isn’t it sad that this is so prevalent now?
I could go on, but I would say that I went through worse than you did, for people who show false kindness can be more wicked than those who are just plain rude and downright cruel. But with reassurance that the Lord will bring about justice and the Rapture is coming, I can move on knowing that justice will be served provided that I make peace with past trauma and forgive. Do you agree Sister? As you said before, God chooses the people that the world hates and rejects.
Take care Sister and I am looking forward for us to meet in the clouds with other Brothers and Sisters when the Rapture occurs, hopefully soon before all hell breaks loose. Blessings from a Brother in Christ.
Greetings, Brother. Like you I have been naive in the past regarding relationships, always being transparent in my dealings and words, but like you I have been stabbed in the back many times. I remember Jesus said in the Gospels that He couldn't trust any one because the heart of man was inherently wicked. Jesus couldn't even trust His closest friends! There is also another Scripture that says what God considers worthy and very valuable, the world considers garbage and what the world considers to be worthy and valuable, God considers to be garbage. So if the world hates us, then that is a good sign we are one of God's children!
DeleteEven today, I don't have many close friends who I trust, or family for that matter. The only One I truly trust is my Lord Jesus!! He has never let me down. Yes, justice will be served, my brother. But remember to forgive all those who have hurt you and pray for them. They need Jesus or they will end up in a very bad place.
See you in the clouds, Soon!
Thank you, MaryLu. Wonderful, encouraging message. Satan works overtime to discourage God's children. I needed these words today.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you and Gene, Lorraine! Interesting, but Sunday I had no idea what to write for my Monday blog.. my mind was blank. So I prayed about it and shortly after the Lord told me to write this post. I give all glory to Him because often what I think will be something that won't help anyone, ends up helping a lot of people.
DeleteGreetings Holy Messenger of God,
ReplyDeleteI really admire this post for it is to true that the Devil would do anything to make us question our worth. That makes me wonder, for those who are successful in terms of having a high-paying job, a seemingly flawless family due to proud social media posts, and many “real” friends who would never betray them, would God view their hearts as sincere while others unlike them suffer from misery? Yet I learned that if the world loves someone, then they are enemies of God, and if people admire them for their outer accomplishments and not the inner darkness, then Jesus could not call them His disciples. Is this true Sister?
Regardless, would the Rapture and Tribulation be God’s ways of making those left behind learn that “serving yourselves is a guaranteed road to destruction?” Serving themselves as in doing good things in the name of all that is supposedly good and respectable, but inside, they reserve judgment and hatred towards anyone who appears like someone they could treat like dirt to showcase their “superiority.” They also think that all the admiration means their lives are glorified, in contrary to a “wasted” life, which is characterized by not having any real friends, no social media, no appreciation from anyone or anything in the world, etc. From a Believer’s perspective, if they truly repent and turn from such lavishing ways, then we will be more than willing to welcome them with open arms in Heaven and warmly address them as Brother or Sister. However if they do not change, then wouldn’t that be the real example of a “wasted” life?
Changing topic for a bit, but have you heard that Israel is said to have allegedly launched strikes near an aid site in Gaza, wiping out many people? It seems like the Devil is really working hard to manipulate media into making people think Israel started all the evil since day one, but I learned that there are wicked leaders in Israel - isn’t it ironic that the Holy Land has evil within and what would be even more shocking is if one of the leaders might be the AC? Regardless, everything is according to God’s plan so there is no need to be bewildered by all of this.
Also, Russia is said to have launched another airstrike in Ukraine, reportedly its biggest yet since the start of the war three years ago on 2/24/22. Speaking of which, August this year will be 3.5 years since it began - any coincidence since it will be 3.5 years, which is significant in the two “parts” of the Tribulation?
Today is the last day of June and July starts tomorrow. I could only hope the National Blueprint for Biodefense event, said to supposedly begin this coming Friday the 4th, will not be like Event 201, which may have played a huge role in starting the COVID pandemic. God forbid if this one happens, then any minor news source of a strange illness going around and many people falling sick could be the ultimate sign it is here? I pray the Lord will take us away in the Rapture before it escalates to that level. Also, we should not forget about the New Wine Theory of the Rapture in end of July if that theory is true, and also pay attention to any progress made towards the bringing forth of the Daniel Covenant to start the Tribulation, which I feel could happen this Fall in view of how evil is speeding along. Blessings and Maranatha!
Yes... the Bible is clear. If you are a friend of the world, you are not a friend of God. There's nothing wrong with being successful but if someone is close friends with people who don't know the Lord and they aren't using that relationship to witness, then they are not pleasing God. For example, I have family members who claim to know the Lord but spend their time partying with nonChristians and spending money on themselves. Breaks my heart. Yes, that would be a wasted life. Will they end up in Heaven? Only the Lord knows. Remember the Lord said you have to lose your life here to gain it in eternity.
DeleteI do not believe we are already in the Tribulation but yes that's interesting that it is 3.5 years since the Ukraine war started. Remember the AC will probably be part Jewish.. in order for the Jews to accept him as Messiah.
Yes to all the things you mentioned. We keep watching for all these events and for an attack on America, as it has been prophesied by many. The Lord will rescue us in His time and it will be perfect before all hell breaks loose. The main thing to look for is this Daniel 9 covenant. Keep your eyes on Israel! Blessings!
Thank you Sister for this post! As the other posters above have said, we really need this as a dose of uplifting morale, especially when the Devil is working overtime to continue ruining or destroying lives.
ReplyDeleteAs one of the Anonymous posters above have said, I can also relate to being hated, rejected, resented, and scorned for making mistakes or for being “immature and foolish” in the past. I used to blame myself for being lonely and hated for quite some time and there were also times when I listened to a Christmas song with very holy and angelic voices that brought me on the verge of tears not just because the voices are so enchanting, but it reminds me of how I have endured nothing but false kindness and subtle cruelty for most of life. However, reading your warning posts about End Times prophecy has suddenly made me a new person, for I am now paying attention to End Times signs with great deal of fascination. Shouldn’t I feel humbled to be a Watchman of God when vast majority of people are clueless about the End Times signs?
Additionally, I do not even care about having friends anymore because in these times, it is literally a life-or-death risk, meaning that if someone befriends the wrong person, that could spell a dark fate (domestic violence), and if they are lucky to survive, become traumatized for the rest of their lives and also distrustful towards others forever. While it is still nice to have friends, and I mean I would willingly reciprocate the appreciation if it is sincere, I need to be very mindful, for every so-called “friend” I ever had were insincere, enough said.
I guess would those people above reconsider their sins and offenses if they see what the Tribulation is like? To Believers who were victims of their torment, would they see that as a divine form of “revenge?” Of course, we should love others, and God will ensure that they have completely transformed personalities if they do end up getting saved. Isn’t the moral here to not let their offenses trouble and bother us, for if we do meet them again, they would be true loving Brothers and Sisters with pure hearts in Heaven? Either way, it is a win-win for us if we simply forgive and let the Lord restore everything to its true glory.
I cannot wait for the time when the Devil realizes his attacks were temporary and futile against us, for the Lord lives within us and kept us Devil-proof and we get to see the Devil ultimately destroyed. Until then, we should keep enduring and having faith. We should also keep paying attention to more signs and of course, any events leading to the Daniel 9:27 covenant. Much blessings!
Yes, you should be very honored and humbled that the Lord has opened your eyes to the times in which we live and made you a watchman! There are so very few of us and the majority of the church is asleep and don't wish to be woken up.
DeleteI'm sorry to hear that you, too, have suffered betrayal and heartache from others. Leave the revenge and justice to the Lord and just forgive them. One way that helps me to truly forgive is to pray for those who have used me and hurt me.. it's hard to harbor resentment toward people you are praying for! But yes, it's a win-win for us..! Maybe our prayers will help get them saved and they will be thanking you in heaven some day.
I do believe the Devil already knows that he cannot divert or harm a true follower of Jesus. Yet, he still tries. Perhaps he can pick off some of the lukewarm ones but not those of us who would willingly die for Jesus.
Yes, keep watch! Time is short!