False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

Sometimes, if God has called us to do something according to His will, we are afraid. We imagine all of these obstacles and hindrances that stand in our way. But a lot of times, it’s simply that we are letting our fears get the best of us, and things that we think are blocking us aren’t even really a concern at all!

©iStockphoto.com/nano
Satan is a master at presenting false evidence.

The devil knows that if he plants the doubts in our mind, they will spring up into fear in our feeble minds. But before we let our minds and our fears carry us away, we ought to first stop and think of our objections, and see if they are truly founded on fact, or if we’re simply allowing Satan’s lies to fester within us.

The apostle Paul admonishes us:

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. -1 Thessalonians 5:21

An example of false evidence appearing real

In a previous entry entitled Fear Not!, I gave an example from the Bible on how doubts and fears can spiral out of control and cause an incredible amount of damage.

The story explained was of the children of Israel, and how they let the evil reports of the ten spies frighten the people and turn them back from God’s promised land. One of the things that the spies told the people was:

And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. -Numbers 13:33

If you read the above verse carefully, you’ll notice that it’s only a half-truth. It’s a classic example of Satan’s lies, and how false evidence can appear real, and create fear. It was true that there were giants in the land, and it was also true that perhaps the spies felt like grasshoppers compared to the giants. But the part that’s false was how the giants felt about the children of Israel.

The people figured that since they were so small compared to the giants (like grasshoppers), then they must view them in the same way. Yet in reality, the news of God’s amazing deliverance in Egypt had reached the people in the surrounding lands, and their view of the children of Israel was quite different than what they had surmised it to be.

When the people finally did invade the land some 40 years later, a woman of Jericho named Rahab gave true insight into how all foreigners of the land felt about Israel—the supposed grasshoppers:

I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. -Joshua 2:9

Now, just imagine if the Israelites had refused to listen to the lies and the false evidence of the ten spies. How might their lives have been drastically different if only they had known that the giants that they were so afraid of were actually filled with dread at the sight of the Israelites? And how might our lives be different—for the better—if only we would refuse to listen to the paralyzing lies of the enemy, and press onward to do God’s will with courage and boldness?

Jesus
Others
You

Above is an acrostic that shows the priorities of a Christian—listed in order—to find true joy. The beauty of an acrostic is that they’re so easily remembered; I first heard this JesusOthersYou acrostic nearly ten years ago, and I still think of it often. For our Lord Jesus has said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. -Matthew 22:37-40

Always
Living
In
View of
Eternity

There a two kinds of life: there is physical life, which we share with plants and animals, and then there is the truest and most enduring kind of life: spiritual life.

To be truly alive, that is to say, spiritually alive, we must have a true view of eternity. And what do we see when we peer into this heaven (or hell) of eternity? First and foremost, for us on this earth—for us sinners—we see the Lord Jesus Christ, sitting upon the right hand of the Father.

Jesus is our point of focus for eternity. He is our great captain, and He is the one who will lead us into everlasting life. By His shed blood, and by His atoning sacrifice, the path has been paved. By His resurrection, our hope has been raised. He is our Everything in this earthly life. To know Him, and to see Him in the view of eternity, and to follow Him, is to be truly alive.

To miss Him, and to live life without Christ, is to be dead and numb to life’s truest glory. It is to be blind to life’s brightest sun. It is to stumble and wander, never truly seeing the purpose of the path, and never truly living the life that God had planned.

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. -Ephesians 4:17-24

Here’s a poem in celebration of Easter written by Phillips Brooks. It was originally written as a carol, but it doubles well simply as a poem without the music.

Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and hope triumphant say,
“Christ arose on Easter Day!”

While the patient earth lies waking,
Till the morning shall be breaking,
Shuddering ‘neath the burden dread
Of her Master, cold and dead,
Hark! she hears the angels say,
“Christ will rise on Easter-Day.”

And when sunrise smites the mountains,
Pouring light from heavenly fountains,
Then the earth blooms out to greet
Once again the blessed feet;
And her countless voices say,
“Christ has risen on Easter-Day.”

Up and down our lives obedient
Walk, dear Christ, with footsteps radiant,
Till those garden lives shall be
Fair with duties done for Thee;
And our thankful spirits say,
“Christ arose on Easter-Day.”

Edging
God
Out

This acrostic spells out exactly what man does in his pride: a man’s ego is just another name for his pride. Pride has a tendency to lift a man up higher than he ought to be lifted: it is to put oneself in the position of God. Pride is one of the most hated of character defects in God’s eyes.

Satan, formerly called “Lucifer,” had this defect within him, and it caused his downfall:

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. -Isaiah 14:13-15

Ego brings disharmony with others

Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom. -Proverbs 13:10

Not only does an inflated ego serve to put us at odds with God, but it also can put us at odds with others around us. Repeatedly in Scripture, we are warned and shown that pride brings disunity between relationships.

He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat [prosperous]. -Proverbs 28:25

Pride is decidedly negative. The antidote? Worship. Worshipping God exalts Him, and puts us down in our place. It makes us meek, and restores the rifts caused by pride.

Forsaking
All
I
Trust
Him

This saying is a very good and memorable acrostic. Moses did the very same thing in His own lifetime:

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. -Hebrews 11:27

Basic
Instructions
Before
Leaving
Earth

I once saw a little plaque with a picture of a Bible on it, and under it were the words: “When all else fails, read the instructions.”

And I thought, “when all else fails!?” We can’t afford to make that many mistakes. We would do well to read the Bible first thing, so that we know how to proceed along life’s path.

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. -Proverbs 22:3

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. -2 Timothy 3:16-17