“The Devil Made Me Do It.”

1-48pm

Oh wow, oh wow. I went to the third message of the Beth Moore Series, Breaking Free, this morning and now my head is full! I’m trying to mentally re-arrange all that I have learned in order to put it into words in an understandable way. Beth Moore does it so well. I’m only fractionally accomplished so best thing for you, is to get into a group and try and do the course. This particular teaching is aimed at those who follow Christ. When we have a relationship with Jesus, we continue to become targets of the devil.

When Hansie Cronje said, ‘the devil made me do it,’ people may have scoffed and jeered, accusing him of making excuses. And yes, he had to take responsibility for his actions, but he probably was closer to the truth than any of us understood at the time. I think a lot of Christians cringed a bit, but to be honest, he was speaking the truth. The devil is alive and active and fills our minds with lies that he twists into plausible ideas. These then germinate and grow and mature and eventually give birth to sin that so easily entangles us. The lies we believe keep us Christians in bondage, shackled in a patch of darkness where no one who knows Jesus should be.

As I reflect on this morning’s message, I think one of the most important points that I am left to dwell on is the need for honesty. The lies come at us constantly. We need to recognise them and we need to be honest about them. Lies are the chains that keep us shackled in captivity. We can’t progress until we are out of chains. When we get honest and speak the truth, we are released and find ourselves in freedom. Jesus spelled it out: John 8:31-36

³¹ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ³³ They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slaveto sin. ³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

The Jews wouldn’t acknowledge their enslavement. They should have known. They were enslaved in Egypt. As God freed them from slavery, He comes to each of us today and offers us freedom.

Beth Moore describes some of the lies we believe that keep us in chains. If you were abandoned or rejected during the course of your life, satan my try and make you believe that you can never have a fulfilling life and that you will stay that way forever – that’s captivity.

You may have received a bad diagnosis of cancer. The devil would have you believe that you will not live a long life because of it – that’s captivity.

You may have had an abortion. Satan may try and make you believe you won’t have children – that’s captivity.

You may have had an affair. The devil would have you believe that God will not accept you – that’s captivity.

Don’t let the devil increase the size of the sin in your past – Christ has come to set you free!  If you are thinking you are worthless in the eyes of God because of something you have done, you are believing a lie. God loves you – There is nothing you can do to make Him love you more and there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less. The truth is that God loves you 100% right now. God can not love you more when you become better.  His 100% love is poured out on you as you are right now.  Your job is to receive it.

Back to Hansie – one of South Africa’s best. He learned the lesson of bringing sin into the light. He had to lay it down. He was free. I hope the same will be said of Oscar Pistorius. I’ve said it before, if he is honest, he may need to go to jail – yet he will be free. But if he lies, he will be in prison, even if he is free.

Get honest with yourself. Bring any sin you’ve been concealing into the light. Lay it down. Once you have done that, you will feel lighter. The truth will set you free.

What an amazing lesson. It certainly impacted me.

God bless you today!

In His Grip,

Helga xx 🙂

Gratitude Pic…I am Free