“Don’t eat that.”

“You should have this down by now.”

“Didn’t you tell them not to do that? They don’t listen to you, and everyone sees it.”

“Look at all of you. What a disgrace, a far cry from the Duggards by far.”

“What were you thinking? A wise mother wouldn’t do that.”

“Why did God choose you to be a mom anyway? You clearly aren’t good at it. He picked the wrong person for this job.”

“Have another one? Ha! You can’t even control the ones you have! You need to quit now, pack it up before it gets even worse, because you know it is going to get even worse. You are barely afloat. Have anymore and you are going to sink the whole ship.”

“They behaved like that in church! Shameful. All that work getting them there for what? Just stay home. Save yourself the work and embarrassment.”

“You act so happy and blessed. Look at you. This is the real you. You are miserable. You are a fake and have no business ministering to anyone.”

Words whispered from an all too familiar voice. He loves to spew his poison in the midst of the seeming chaos. He speaks as clearly as The Lord, yet his words never bring peace. He brings doubt. He brings defeat. He comes with accusations and with lies disguised as truth. He often comes camouflaged as your very own thoughts. At times his voice is so similar to The Lord, but don’t be fooled. His words if ingested lead straight to death. Ask Adam. Ask Eve.

Where good mixes with evil, that is where you find him. Where truth becomes blurred by lies. And God has said, “Don’t eat that.” Yet the enemy slides in whispering, “Eat… Listen… Believe.”

Oh yes, the enemy wants you to be believe. He wants you to believe his words that you aren’t good enough. He wants you to believe that you should have everything in control. He wants you to believe you are a fake. He wants you to believe you are a failure. He wants you to believe you can’t… You just can’t, and furthermore, you shouldn’t. He wants you to believe that others are against you. He wants to isolate you. He wants you to believe that you will never measure up. And most of all, he wants you to believe that God was wrong. God was wrong when he made you and wrong when he chose you. Believe that and you will doubt everything God has said.

Satan whispered to Eve, “Did God really say?” And his whisper hasn’t changed.

Satan lied when he said, “You won’t die.” And he still is the speaker of lies.

Eve was deceived, but you need not be.

Adam ate freely and then blamed God.

Don’t you.

Don’t ingest the enemies lies.

A prayer for today:

“Heavenly Father, we ask that you give us a discerning ear. Help us to recognize your voice and the voice of the enemy. You said your sheep know your voice. Help us to know it. Help us to daily filter the words that approach our mind and heart, for every word is like a seed, capable of producing fruit. May the words we ingest be your words. May they plant and produce much fruit. May the words of the enemy find no place to take root. May we spew them out of our heart. May they wither and die and produce no fruit. Help us to remember that you desire to do mighty things through us, far more than we could ever imagine or comprehend. Help us to be at peace with who we are in you. Truth rise up. Joy rise up. Light arise. Darkness flee. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”