Have you ever found yourself striving to be perfect, hoping that God and others would love and accept you? This was my story for much of my adult life until I learned to say no to the lies from the enemy and refute them with truth from God’s word.

How the enemy lies to us

That’s exactly what the enemy tries to convince us of. He cunningly whispers in our weakest moments:

• God can’t and won’t love you as long as you are imperfect.
• You should be ashamed of yourself. Others would reject you if they knew the truth about how you mess up.
• You’ll never get into heaven with as many mistakes as you’ve made!

Years of unconsciously listening to such lies left me believing they were true. I began to believe the enemy was right. I somehow forgot that it wasn’t perfect works, or anything I had done, that saved me in the first place, but my faith in a righteous Redeemer.

“But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.” (Romans 4:5, NLT)

The thing we have to remember about our enemy is that he will often distort just a fraction of truth, and present it in the context of an otherwise true statement, to slither into our beliefs undetected.

Refute the lies from the enemy with God’s truth

For example, I would agree that only perfection is good enough to enter the kingdom of heaven. But here’s the point the enemy leaves off: God knew that in our sinful nature, none of us would ever be good enough. So He sacrificed His son, letting Him die on a cross so that our sins could be forgiven. In doing so, He put on us the righteousness of Jesus, so that when He looks on us, He sees what is Holy, what is good, what is clean and pure.

Jesus came and died for our sins so that we could be seen as righteous in God’s eyes.

“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners” (Romans 5:6, NLT).

 

 

Now it’s my job to use the truth of God’s word to refute the lying whispers of the enemy.

Commit yourself to stop listening to the father of lies and accept the robe of righteousness that Christ died to give you. How will you put this into action today?

 

Because of Him, #HopePrevails!

Dr. Bengtson

Even in times of crisis, every day can be a good day when you trust the promises of God.

Today is Going to be a Good Day

Now Available!

My newest book, Today is Going to be a Good Day: 90 Promises from God to Start Your Day Off Right is now available!

This uplifting devotional helps you make each day a good day no matter what is going on in your life.

When life conspires to drag us down with all of its troubles, it can be hard to keep our spirits up. In times of severe illness and depression, I learned that when I stand on God’s promises, despite my circumstances, every day can be a good day.

Each reading includes Scripture, reflection, prayer, and a recommended playlist song designed to help you live out Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

 

 

For more information on the book visit: Today is Going to be a Good Day Book.