by Angela Moreno

“You’re never going to be good enough.”

“No one is ever going to love you. You will always be alone.”

“Just do whatever you wants. It’s the only way you will ever be happy.”

Satan whispers lies in our ear all the time. He wants us defeated destroyed, and unable to receive the promises of God. When life is going great and you feel the blessings of God on your life, Satan comes around to try and take away God’s goodness and make you doubt God.

Satan has been around from the beginning and he still uses the same lies to convince us not to follow God’s ways. We first see his appearance in the Bible in Genesis 3. He appears to Eve and convinces her to eat fruit from the forbidden tree. Eve knows that God said not to eat the fruit or they would die. Genesis 3:4-5:  But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” And with this lie, Eve became Satan’s first victim.  Sin is brought into the world.

We see Satan again in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  This time it was Jesus’s turn to face Satan and his lies.  While Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, Satan made another appearance to try and deceive and persuade Jesus not to follow God:

• The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Luke 4:3
• “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Luke 4:6-7

• “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”  Luke 4:9-11

How does Jesus respond?  With truth and the word of God (Luke 4:4, 8, 12).

We have 2 stories of Satan’s temptation with two different reactions.  Eve chose to listen to the lies of Satan and Jesus chose to stay with the promises of the Father.  Satan wants us to fail. He wants to destroy our relationship with God and take away the blessings that God wants to give us.  Satan wants us hopeless and defeated living in doubt and fear.

Eve followed Satan’s advice.  She had no idea of what she was getting ready to give away to follow Satan and Eve didn’t realize who she was to God. Remember how Jesus responded. Jesus knew EXACTLY who He was:  the Son of God.

You are also who you are.  You are a son or daughter of God.  You are an heir of the most high God and as such receive God’s very best (Romans 8:16-17).

Next time Satan is whispering in your ear, what decision will you make? Will you be an Eve or will you be a Jesus?  I think the best response came from Jesus Himself:  “Be gone, Satan!” (Matthew 4:10).

Remember, TRUTH defeats LIES.  GOD defeats SATAN.