Wow. It seems as if weeks have passed since I have updated. But that's only because it has been.
We spent a great week at our Missouri District Youth Camp, the speakers all did an excellent job, especially the night speaker.
Omar Jolly moved our young people deeply with incredibly anointed preaching. He had a favorite phrase that he used several times during the week... "The Devil is a Liar!" Usually said in a strongly punctuated voice.
The scripture text is John 8:44
"You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies." TEV
"...he (the devil) is a liar..."
What does he lie about? Just about everything that he ever says to mankind. Go back to the Garden of Eden. He told Eve that they could become like God, it was a lie. He told them they would not die if they ate the fruit, they did die spiritually, they lost their communion with God.
When he inspired Rabshakeh in Isaiah 36 he was lying.
Isaiah 36:11-18
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the king's representative, "Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don't speak in Hebrew, for the people on the wall will hear."
12 But Sennacherib's representative replied, "My master wants everyone in Jerusalem to hear this, not just you. He wants them to know that if you do not surrender, this city will be put under siege. The people will become so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine."
13 Then he stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, "Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria!
14 This is what the king says: Don't let King Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you.
15 Don't let him fool you into trusting in the LORD by saying, 'The LORD will rescue us! This city will never be handed over to the Assyrian king.'
16 "Don't listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me — open the gates and come out. Then I will allow each of you to continue eating from your own garden and drinking from your own well.
17 Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one — a country with bountiful harvests of grain and wine, bread and vineyards — a land of plenty.
18 "Don't let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, 'The LORD will rescue us!' Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria? NLT
Rabshakeh was wrong several points. It was not foolish to trust in the Lord. And I doubt seriously that he would have let them continue eating from their own gardens and trees. But besides that, he said that he would give them land, in a distant country, that was as good as what God had given them through their forefathers.
The wonderful things of God, the godly heritage we have, His presence, His blessings, are not for sale or trade! Which brings me to my last thing. He said that Hezekiah was wrong to say the Lord would rescue them. The Lord did rescue them. Rabshakeh had to take his army back to the north.
The Devil is a Liar!!
Listen my friend, God does care about you, even when it feels as if you are surrounded in life. HE does know exactly how far the enemy has come into your life, the advantages he has taken on you. He knows the fear and worry that you feel and deal with every day of your life. Can I repeat the words? The Devil is a Liar!
God will rescue you. Yes, it will be in God's time and not ours, but He is never late. He may not be early, but He is never late.
God has not deemed you fit only for destruction, He will not let you fall, He will lift you up. It doesn't matter what the devils says. The Devil is a Liar!
When the devil whispers in your ear that God must not love you, remember, the Devil is a Liar. When he says that you will always be a failure, the Devil is a Liar. When he tells you that your healing will never come, the Devil is a Liar.
May God bless you all greatly this week...
