Hello and welcome to Coffee and the Word! I’m Sherry Poundstone, your host. We’re going to continue talking about the lies – uncovering the lies or, as I also call it, liar, liar, pants on fire. These are lies that the enemy would love for us to believe and that are sometimes easy for us to believe. So, last session we talked a little bit about why that was important. What deception is and one of the lies that we talked about was that the enemy isn’t real. If we believe that, then there’s no threat and he can just go about his business, right? And then the other thing that we talked about was the lie that if people knew who you were, really, that you would not be accepted. And that’s one that the enemy would like us to believe and is a really common one.
So I want to go ahead and talk about the next one. This is very important, I think, and it kind of goes with the last one we’re talking about. But the lie is this. You are your past, and it cannot be erased or overturned or you can’t be redeemed, and it’s like a tattoo on your skin. Here’s the thing, that’s a lie from the pit.
The fact is, we can’t go back or undo our mistakes or change what has happened, right? We can’t change choices we’ve made or mistakes that we’ve made. There’s no point in saying, “I wish I had done this instead”, or “if only I had never done that”. Those are things that we like to say, but there’s really no point to that. Some of us live with that painful guilt of a mistake that we’ve made or a choice we’ve made for years and years. You know, perhaps there are very real tangible reminders of our past mistakes. It could be something that we see everyday. Often we’re reminded of it in a tangible way.
But, if allowed, the enemy will keep us in bondage to our former ways, or our former choices or never being able to progress because we’re still living in our past. But God has made a way for us to be delivered, made free from our past, any bad choices we’ve made, any mistakes we’ve made, anything that’s happened to us, whether it was our fault or not, or instigated by us. And His desire is that we live a full and healthy and joyful life and that we’d be free in him.
So when we ask Jesus into our heart and as the Lord of our life, it’s very important that we allow him to be Lord of our life. It’s great to say it, but we have to let him in and be cleansed from the past.
I want to read from 1John 1:9. It says. “But if we confess our sins to Him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness so we could be free in him”. And then I want to read from Isaiah 43:18-19. “But forget all that – It is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in dry wasteland.” Sometimes we look at our past and it looks like a dry wasteland, doesn’t it? It looks like there’s just no hope or nothing that can come. Nothing good could come out of it.
And then one more – Psalm 103:12. And I love this. “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” So if he’s removed, our sins, if he’s forgiven us, they are passed. We can’t change what happened. We can’t change what we’ve done or said or how we acted. But we’re free and we’re forgiven.
One more scripture that goes right with that I absolutely love is Matthew 11:28 that Jesus said – “Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” The heavy burdens are his to carry for us, because he is wanting to have us in freedom, and he wants us to be free and live a joyful life. So the word says that you are not your past. Believe the word and don’t believe the lie of the enemy.
Now I always like to say what I’m talking about. I do a teaching called “Trash the Past” that’s a little more in depth. And I will probably do that here on Coffee and the Word sometimes soon. But what I want to say about it, is that sometimes it’s not just you that wants to keep you in your past or keep you reminded of your past. The lie from the enemy can also come from other people. They want to remind you of what you have done or not done, or things that you have allowed to happen in your life, mistakes you’ve made, whatever this is. Then we have to go to the Lord and we say, you know what?, “God help me!” “I need to not be influenced by these people”. Forgive them and help me to live in freedom”.
All right, so that is a lie from the enemy that is very popular. He’s not creative. He doesn’t make up anything new. He uses the same old stuff, but it is one that people fall for.
I want to talk real quick today about deception, about your finances and your money and your provisions, because this is an area that the enemy will definitely try to deceive us. So, I’m going to ask you a question. You don’t have to think of it and write it down right now. But, throughout the next week or a few days, think about what he is telling you . What are you hearing him right now about your finances and your money. With COVID and the Pandemic I know so many people have been affected in very negative ways. We can’t even imagine some situations. Some people are actually homeless and they never were before needing help with food – that kind of thing. What is the enemy telling you about your finances and your situation right now? We have to know the truth, to recognize the lie and the truth of God’s Word is the Bible.
Here’s some common lies about finances. 1) You will never have enough, no matter what you do. That’s called a poverty mentality. And it is something that we’re often raised with. I have talked to a lot of people. It’s a stronghold. Maybe they were raised to think they would never have any more. So the lie is that you will never have enough. And it could come from family history, a stronghold of thinking or self talk. You know, the power of words is amazing. So that’s a common lie.
Another lie is, “You can’t afford it”. Don’t dream or plan. There’s no point. It’s not gonna happen. That’s a lie from the pit, because that is not how God wants us to live. He doesn’t want us to walk around thinking and knowing in our minds that will never have enough. That’s not just not true. He’s our provider and we’re thinking we can’t afford it and we don’t dream or plan.
And another lie that is common about finances is that you don’t deserve more. That goes along with that poverty mentality. And a lot of times this is from how we were raised or financial struggles that we’ve put ourselves in. Even if it was, you know, something we did. These are lies. If we hear these thoughts, we know these are not from God. Those are from the enemy.
You know, we talked about hearing God’s voice a few sessions ago. We need to learn how to hear his voice and recognize when it’s not Him talking. It could be ourselves. It could be the enemy.
Another lie that we hear is that money will buy you happiness. It will buy you peace. It will buy you position and power. You know this sounds like a cliche, but the truth is that is a very common lie. A lot of times when I’m teaching on finances and the lies are uncovered. Most of the time we’re going to think, “Well, the lie is that we don’t have enough.” It can also be that because you have, a lot in the way of material things, that you have some kind of power or special knowledge or a special position. And that is just not true. So, money will not buy you happiness or peace. Well, I think we all know that and yet we often fall into the pattern of trying to acquire more when we’re really looking for peace and happiness?
So, in John 10:10, it says “The thief’s purpose (and that’s the enemy) is to steal and kill and to destroy. My purpose is to give you a rich and satisfying life.” You know, God wants us to have a rich and satisfying life, and that isn’t always money, but it often is. That’s fine. He wants us to be fruitful and live comfortable lives. So, my sense here is that it’s a real common lie. Then there is something I hear from other people sometimes – “Christians should not have money, and they should not be blessed”. That just isn’t true either.
So let me just ask you this. If you do have any of these lies that you’re believing right now and you’re hearing this talk coming at you, why would we believe the lie? Well, I think it’s reinforced by things around us. I believe that family background and the way we grew up is a huge part of that.
Current Events – let’s look at the current situation. It’s how much of the world lives right now and is believing the lie. So we need to honor the Lord with what we have. That is one way that we can come out of this lie. First of all, pray and ask the Lord to point out any areas where you might be believing an untruth about your finances. We need to honor the Lord with everything that we have.
How we behave with our finances absolutely reveals our heart toward the Lord. We want to learn how to handle our money. And the thing is, we wouldn’t have any of it if it wasn’t for him. There are abilities that he’s given us, jobs he’s given us to make the money, whatever it might be. We need to honor him. We honor him with our time, our treasure and our talent. But, today I just wanted to hit on the lies about finances.
So, “Give freely and become more wealthy”, is what it says in Proverbs 11:24-29. “Be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper. Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. People curse those who hoard their grain, but they bless the one who sells in time of need. If you search for good, you will find favor. But if you search for evil, it will find you.” I love this verse! Verse 28 says, ”Trust in your money and down you go. But the Godly flourish like leaves in spring”. So we need to know the truth of God’s word. We need to recognize any lies about our finances, that God would be telling us, and know the truth of God’s word – what He says about our finances, and what he says about freedom. So, ask God. Again, ask Him to reveal any lies the devil’s telling you about your money. Read scriptures on provision, on money, on giving, on honoring, and giving honor to God and what the Word tells us about that. Put it together for your specific situation because everyone’s situation is different. But let’s get free today. Let’s get free of the lies. Let’s get free from believing anything that the Lord doesn’t want us to believe, anything the enemy would be trying to tell us.
God bless you and I’ll talk with you next time.
