How satan speaks 4: Weaponized Truths & Truthful Lies -Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) May 16 '23

The devil is a master at using weaponized truths to compel people to take steps outside of God's instructions and His will. A weaponized truth is something, typically an expressed communication, that is true on its face, it also looks and feels real at first glance. However, if you slow down and linger on the statement or idea, you quickly realize that its foundation is deception. It's mission is to propel action that disobeys the Lord and causes an individual or a group of people to sin and thereby deprive God of His glory in their lives. In this sense, it is very different from a Gibeonite Deception, which is a lie that is excellently packaged to appear true and cause sin.

Have you ever met someone who shares the issues they are facing, never once asking for help. Yet, somehow, by the end of the conversation, you've taken on their problems and added them to your to-do-list? In many cases, this individual is a friend or loved one, and you want to help them. The desire to help others is a good thing because Believers must apply the Royal Law. Unfortunately, those who lack the Holy Spirit can fall prey to those who share truths in order to manipulate them into an act that may not be God's will. Yes, what was shared was true but at the very heart of this exchange was coercion and manipulation. The need to take advantage of a person's emotions and sometimes their logic. This is not godly behavior because God does not abuse free will and does not seek to domineer any human being.

Satan, on the other hand, has used this technique coerce, domineer, and manipulate for centuries. It did so with Eve, suggesting that God didn't want her and Adam to eat from the tree so they would not be like Him (Genesis 3:5). This was true, but, there was a very good reason. God wants His creations to rely on Him and not their own intelligence (Proverbs 3:5-6). Sadly, Eve experienced what we now call the 'fear of missing out' and sought to have the knowledge of God without receiving it from the Lord. She thereby disobeyed God's instruction, ate the tree's fruit and suffered the consequences. Consequences the serpent knew would come but it never shared because its goal was to deceive. Had she taken the time to process what the devil said and even ask the Lord for guidance, the story would have ended very differently.

Consider when Jesus was tempted by satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). At no point did the devil lie during that exchange. It tried to trigger pride in Jesus by telling Him that if He was the Son of God, He would jump off a cliff. The devil went on to accurately quote scripture in order to goad the Savior into stepping outside of God's timing for His life and ministry. Instead, Jesus applied what He knew of the Lord and maneuvered Himself out of the devil's trap. If Jesus had been an ordinary man separated from the voice of God, He likely would have felt the need to prove Himself and His God. After all, the devil spoke scripture and essentially challenged Him with it.

However, Jesus did not fall for the serpent's tricks and neither should we. Jesus insisted that those who believe in Him would be able to do even greater than He did while on earth (John 14:12). Besides, Believers also have the mind of Christ according to 1 Corinthians 2:16. And, don't forget, Jesus said in John 17:22 that He gave Believers the glory He received from God, so the glory of God is upon each of us. Thus, each believer has the capacity to silence the serpent when it speaks. Every Believer is empowered by God's word in the Bible. One such scripture asserts that we are not unaware of the devil's tricks (2 Corinthians 2:11). This is something we cannot forget. Through the Bible we have the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-17) to protect us from the weaponized truths and the truthful lies sent by the devil to steal, kill, and destroy our lives (John 10:10).

In order to actually not be ensnared by the serpent, we must spend time in God's word and let God teach us how to distinguish His voice from that of the serpent. Especially because of the words of Jesus in John 10:27 - My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. He also said in John 10:5 - But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” We must want to be His sheep who hear Him and do not heed when satan speaks.

The Lord will help us all, IJMN, Amen.

For more on the How satan speaks series, please consider the following:

1. How satan speaks 1: Snake in the Garden

2. How satan speaks 2: Book of Job

3. How satan speaks 3: King Sennacherib

4. How satan speaks 4: Weaponized Truths and Truthful Lies