Last night at our Financial Peace class, Dave Ramsey debunked common myths about money we've bought into as consumers. To emphasize his points, he popped a balloon each time he presented a truth that dethroned the lie.
Myth: "Car payments are a way of life, and you'll always have one." Not true because I can choose to save and buy a less expensive, reliable car. POP!
Myth: "Playing the lottery and other forms of gambling will make me rich." Not true because while people with low incomes stand in line to spend an average of $153 a month on lottery tickets, rich people wisely invest their money. POP!
Satan, the father of lies, masterfully twists Truth into lies we swallow hook, line and sinker. He has no power to steal a child of God from God's Hand, but he does his best to keep us senseless to the Power we have in Christ. One of the most debilitating weapons in his arsenal is the "It's too late now" myth which he fertilizes with the following thoughts:
"There was a time I felt God's call to . . . but it's too late now."
"I missed my chance."
"If I had my life to do over again . . . "
"I should've . . ."
"I blew it . . . "
"I wasn't ready."
"If I could rewind to that open door . . ."
"I'll never get another opportunity like that."
Can you imagine where the Christian faith would be if the remaining eleven disciples had swallowed Satan's lies as Judas did? They, too, blew important opportunities and failed Jesus when He asked for their help and needed them most.
"Then He returned to the disciples and said to them,
'Are you still sleeping and resting?
Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Rise, let us go! Here comes My betrayer!"
Matthew 26:46
Somewhere between Jesus' death and Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended to light their fires, the Eleven fought off the weight of guilt and self-reproach that could have tied them to the tree next to Judas. Can you imagine the spiritual warfare that took place in the upper room where they prayed for 40 days as they waited for the Holy Spirit? Imagine Satan relentlessly tapping at their minds and then (as he lost ground) at the windows with signs reading: "You fell ASLEEP when GOD HIMSELF asked for your help;" "You ran like scared rabbits while He died on the cross!" "You hid behind locked doors after He died!" "You never really believed what He said - you're not even sure right now." "You, James and John, you said you had what it took to rule from His left and His right - but what did you do when they crucified him? NOTHING!" "Hey, Big Mouth - yeah, you, Peter, what are you doing here? I thought you didn't even know Him!" "Look at you bunch of losers! Not one of you morons grabbed the towel and bowl to wash His feet. 'Not ME! I'm too GOOD to wash the Son of God's feet, much less the rest of them.'" Each disciple battled these temptations to quit by nailing them under God's gracious promises and Jesus' forgiving actions and words. Satan failed in his desperate effort to abort the emerging church and he's still mad and trying to make us miserable with more of his myths.
Myth: "You failed on a major scale or in a million little ways and now you're useless to God."
Truth:"When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You. Yet I am always with You; You hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will take me into glory." (Ps.73:23-24)
POP!
Since moving to Benton, I've met three women who've shared with some regret that they didn't respond to God's call to certain ministries when they were young. However, none of them have let Satan win in his efforts to squelch their zeal or steal another opportunity or shut an open door. All three of them have risen to move forward as God calls them now and they're impacting our world for Christ. Myth: "I missed God's call when I was young or I missed a golden opportunity He put in front of me but now there's nothing I can do about it."
Truth: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward." (Phil. 3:13)
POP!
Truth: "But if anyone does not have them (these qualities), he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins." 2 Peter 1:9
POP!
Truth: "As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.'" Romans 10:11
POP!
Truth: "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." Romans 6:14
POP!
Truth: "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, 'Abba, Father."
POP!
Truth: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9
POP! POP! POP!
Abba, Father, fill us with Truth and push Satan's ladder away from our minds. Keep us wide awake to serve You when You call on us to serve. When we fail You, help us acknowledge the failure, confess our sin, and start again under Your Grace. Fill Your people with determination to be smack in the middle of Your will. Use Your church as Your Hands, Feet and Heart. May nothing keep us from getting up from wherever we've been sleeping to follow You.
Inspired by Jesus Calling, My Utmost for His Highest and Dave Ramsey
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