Liar, Liar

1 Peter 5:8 Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

I realized, when working on this passage, that I give little thought to the devil as I find that I am very capable of my own destruction. My flesh nature is enough of a distraction from God that I do not give much thought to some outside influence trying to deceive and devour me. That he is not real and not working on me, of course, may be exactly what the Father of Lies wants me to believe.

In Genesis, we find the first recorded lie of the great deceiver. In the garden, he convinced Eve that she could indulge in her flesh nature without consequence. Eve had been warned that she would surely die if she ate of that fruit. Satan insisted however, you will not surely die. Enjoy. Eat. Your eyes will be opened… No consequences…

This sounds so similar to the lies I have whispered to myself in the dark. Just one time… Never again… It’s not that bad… No one will know… I deserve it… I’m not hurting anyone… I know what I’m doing… I could go on.

I do not want to attribute too much of my failure to Satan. My flesh is assuredly capable of its own destruction. It is uncanny however, that both Satan and my flesh nature whisper the same lies. I really do not know how important it is to differentiate the lies as coming from Satan or my own flesh nature. I do know that the devil uses my past failures and struggles against me. I know that he appears beautiful, attractive and appealing to my flesh nature and I know that both he and my flesh nature are opposed God in me. Satan apparently wants to destroy me and my flesh nature appears to be his weapon of choice.

I need rigorous honesty if I am to recognize the lies thrown at me. No one will know… It’s just my nature… You’re worthless anyway… I’ll change tomorrow… When that voice comes calling, I need to understand that it is the voice of destruction and I need to resist it with everything in me. I need to deny self and turn to God. When I recognize and resist the lies of my flesh nature, I disarm the enemy of my soul.