Does reading or watching the news make you angry lately? Find out why!
Read / Listen
Read John 8:42-47
Listen to passage & devotional:
Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 112
Q. What is God’s will for you
in the ninth commandment?
A. God’s will is that I
never give false testimony
against anyone,
twist no one’s words,
not gossip or slander,
nor join in condemning anyone
without a hearing
or without a just cause.
Rather, in court and everywhere else,
I should avoid lying
and deceit of every kind;
these are devices the
devil himself uses,
and they would call down on me
God’s intense anger.
I should love the truth,
speak it candidly,
and openly acknowledge it.
And I should do what I can
to guard and advance my
neighbor’s good name.
Summary
This passage is the most detailed description in the Bible of who and what the devil is. Although culture often depicts him of being a cartoonish figure with a red cape & a pitchfork, Jesus paints a much darker portrait:
Jesus says the devil is:
A murderer from the beginning: Satan had led a rebellion in heaven and so was cast down to the earth. Certainly the devil can be thought of as murderer for introducing death to humanity, but his principle target has always been murdering Jesus Christ, the God-Man and His Church (See Revelation 12).
A liar with no truth in him: Remember the first words of the devil recorded in scripture: "Did God really say... (Genesis 3:1)" Simply causing man to question the validity of what God has said was effective then, and the devil is nothing if not consistent. He knows this subtle method of planting doubt works, and he continues to use this method even today.
Jesus is everything that the devil is not: Jesus gives life, the devil takes it. Jesus is the truth, the devil has no truth in him. Jesus came to restore your relationship to the Father, and the devil works tirelessly (for he knows his time is short - Rev. 12:12) to cause you to doubt the Father.
Dig Deeper
You don't need to scroll through the news for long for long before you come across a story that makes your blood boil because people have come to a firm conclusion that is so obviously based in lies and deceptions. You think to yourself, can't these people see just how wrong and contrary to God's truth their ideas are?
The sad answer is, no, they can't.
Jesus said, "Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” In other words, mankind is so corrupted by the web of deceptions the devil has spun that people will always prefer the lie rather than the truth. No matter how incredulous the idea may seem, people's primary inclination will be to reject basic truth and cling to the lie. The current ridiculousness of gender theory is a testimony to this.
It's easy to let this sort of thinking make you angry, but push against that instinct. Understand that these people cannot "hear what God says," so trying to re-educate them with basic truth will never work. Rather than being angry, our hearts should be broken for all these people who separated themselves so far from God.
Pray that the Holy Spirit calls them back, and be ready when He calls you to lovingly reintroduce them to their Father by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who has called you to live in all truth;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that the Holy Spirit will use you to call those whose lives are trapped in deception, and that you'll be ready when the opportunities come;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - John 8
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