That’s it! I see it now! It is so simple, yet so diabolically effective.
I had been asking the Lord for insight into the strategy of the enemy in our lives. He has already given me insight into the lies of the enemy, but I was looking for the next level of revelation.
Months ago I had the great privilege of skyping with a well-known author about my book, The Lies That Bind. He had offered to give me some feedback to help me improve my writing. He gave me some very helpful input into how I organized my thoughts in the book. Good book, but not a great book. He suggested that I need to organize the book differently.
One of the nuggets of wisdom he gave me was to try to categorize the lies of the enemy. In the book I share my “Book of Lies”, which is simply a long list of the lies that the enemy has whispered into my heart over the years. These are lies that we can all empathize with because we have all heard them. The enemy’s whisper campaign of lies is his primary strategy to steal, kill and destroy the Truth the Lord has for us.
Truth is the basis upon which our lives in God must be built. Jesus said it is the Truth that sets us free. He also said that He is the Truth. And, He told us that He will send the Spirit of Truth to guide us in all Truth. Appropriating the Truth is imperative for us to live the life Jesus has purchased for us.
Our life in God is found in the Truth, so our enemy – the Father of Lies – has implemented a whisper campaign of lies to keep us from getting hold of the Truth. His overall strategy is the whisper campaign of lies, but I was wondering if there are categories of lies that could give me insight into his tactics.
Yes there are.
I have been asking the Lord about this, and musing over it, for months. And then, the light bulb went on…
Divide and Conquer.
The enemy’s lying tactics are to divide us and conquer us.
The dividing tactic in the whisper campaign of lies is to alienate and isolate you:
“You don’t belong. No one cares. No one wants you around. You are all alone. You don’t need anyone. You can’t trust anyone. You can’t trust God.”, etc. These lies are meant to alienate and isolate you from Christian community. They are designed to get you living life alone – away from the input of others; away from the input of people who can help bring Truth into your situation.
Dividing lies separate you from Christian community which makes you even more vulnerable to Conquering lies. Like Clint Eastwood said, “A man alone is easy prey.”
The first tactic in destroying you and your faith is to get you alienated and isolated.
The conquering tactic in the whisper campaign of lies is to demean and diminish you:
“You are not good enough. You are not smart enough. You are not talented enough. You don’t have what it takes. You will ultimately fail. You have nothing to offer. You are a loser. You are a failure. You are trapped. You are a bad leader. You are weak and small. You are insignificant.”, etc.
These lies destroy your faith, hope, courage, strength, and freedom – your very life. Your spiritual enemy’s ultimate objective is to destroy you. That is very tough to do if you are walking in community with other people who believe the Truth and are walking with Jesus filled with the Spirit of Truth. The input of others counteracts the lies of the enemy.
However, when you start walking alone feeling alienated and isolated, you will begin to swallow hook, line and sinker the lies sent to demean and diminish you. Soon you have no faith, hope or strength left, and you will have been conquered.
We must recognize the tactics of the demonic whisper campaign to divide and conquer. We must walk together as allies in Christian community encouraging each other daily in the Truth that sets us free.
Hebrews 3:12, 13
“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
3 John 3, 4
“It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”