Devo: Did He Really Say?

 Picture this—a lush garden filled with an array of vegetation. Every imaginable and unimaginable types of flowers blooming; birds making sweet melodies. A simply serene environment. The Creator says to you, “Everything in this place is yours to have. Enjoy the vegetation. Enjoy the beauty. Enjoy everything that has been given to you. Just don’t touch that tree in the middle. It has nothing to do with your purpose or destiny, so don’t even mind it. But enjoy everything else!”

So there you are– enjoying everything that has been given to you—paying no mind to what doesn’t pertain to your life’s purpose and fulfillment. Then the crafty enemy comes to you and asks, “Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” And you look at him and say, “God said we could eat from the trees in the garden, just not the one in the middle—we can’t touch it or we will die.” Then the enemy begins to tell of you things that aren’t in God’s plan for you: “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat fruit from that tree in the middle, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)

And there began the fall of mankind.

Sadly, Satan has been using the same tactics since the beginning. He’s been asking the same question—causing the same confusion—creating the same pitfalls. “Did God really say that? Did He really say that you are no longer condemned? Did He really say He has a purpose and a plan for your life? Did He really say that His grace is sufficient for you? Did He really say don’t hold unforgiveness? Did He really say love your enemies? Did He really say trust Him in all of your ways and don’t lean on your own understanding? Did He really say you have worth? He questions us so that we can become distracted and consider something that is not a part of God’s plan for us. The serpent deceived Eve by distracting her from what God had said to her. Though he told the truth of what eating that fruit would do to her, his strategy was to masquerade it as if it were God’s plan for her because it seemed “harmless.”

Too many of us are falling into this trap. God’s infallible and pure WORD is what we can use to refute that question. When the enemy asks us “Did God really say that?” –we respond:

Yes God did say that there is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Romans 8) Yes, God did say that He knows the purpose and plan for my life (Jeremiah 29:11). Yes, God did say that His grace is sufficient for me (2 Corinthians 12:9). Yes, God said you shall be forgiven (Luke 6:37). Yes, God did say love my enemies and pray for those who hurt me (Matthew 5:44). Yes, God did say trust Him with all of my heart and lean not on my own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). And YES, God did say that my worth is FAR above rubies (Proverbs 31:10).

We don’t have time to be distracted by his cunning and crafty questions. Let’s stand steadfast in the WORD of God so that the enemy’s questions have no place in knocking us down.

Peace, love, and blessings,

Yodit