Fearless GirlShembull

DISCOVER THE TRUTH

Have you ever played the game two truths and a lie? One person has to share two truths about themselves and one lie for others to guess which one was the lie. The point of the game is to share two truths that no one knows about you and could seem like a lie because it’s so outrageous. It’s a great game to play with people you’ve just met, but extremely hard to play with friends who know you very well. 

I believe the same is true when we take our thoughts to God and He sees straight through our lies. He knows us better than anyone, even better than we know ourselves. We may fall for the lies and trickery in our minds, but Jesus IS truth and lies can’t stand a chance in His presence. In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” I love this passage because not only does it set us up for a win when it comes to finding our faith and receiving salvation, but it also gives us a visual as Jesus standing guard over your heart and life. When we invite Jesus into our life the Bible says He takes up residence in our heart and guards us with His peace. When lies try to come in like fake news to deceive us, Jesus stands as our body guard of peace at the door of our heart and says, “Nope, not today. Lie, lie, lie, and lie.” He calls them out and says, “You can’t get to her unless you go through me.”

You may like the sound of that, but wonder why you are still feeling stuck in your head and deceived by the lies of the enemy. I can remember questioning why I still felt bound to anxiety, stress or worrisome thoughts when I was reading my bible, praying and seeking God. It’s important to know God is the creator of our minds and designed us with the ability to find freedom from lies, though we must take the steps to break free. 

Think of your mind as a motherboard sending out signals to the rest of your body. If the motherboard has been compromised, or infected with a virus, the rest of your body and life will be affected. When a lie is planted in our minds like a virus, it infects our entire identity and becomes an embedded part of who we are without us realizing it. That lie took time for us to partner with, ruminate on daily and created a well worn path in our minds that became a natural part of who we are. Though our anxious thoughts may feel uncontrollable, every time we allow them to consume our mind, we are intentionally wiring our brain to fixate on those negative emotions and before you know it, your natural response becomes negative and a part of who you are. That thought took time to burrow into your mind, and it’s going to take just as much time and intentionality to uproot those thoughts, and replace them with truth. We need to be intentional about thinking about what we think about. Yeah, say that ten times fast. Think about your thoughts! Are they good, are they happy, are they inspiring hope or are they instantly anxious and expecting the worst possible outcome? It takes time to rewire the motherboard, allow well-worn paths to grow over and blaze a new trail of truth for your mind to react as a trained response.

But I have good news for you! There is a voice of truth that is always speaking to you, helping you find your way. It is our responsibility to tune our ear to recognize this voice and follow it. Eventually, the lies that we have believed will fade away and the truth will outlive any deceptions. The voice of truth always speaks encouragement. It inspires positive imaginations and doesn't entertain fantasies that build a false reality. The truth is, YOU were created for a purpose and there is a uniqueness about you unlike anyone. But you must discover this for yourself and be intentional about stopping the negative thoughts and replacing them with truth.

LIVE THE ADVENTURE:

1. Do you find yourself responding to people with a natural negative reaction like, “I always look bad in pictures. I’m going to be single forever, it’s fine. My life sucks, but whatever. It is what it is.” Beware of these sarcastic statements that seem harmless, but are really an indicator of the lies you are believing. 
2. Write down five lies that you’ve been believing and next to those lies write down the truth about what God says about you. Read these out loud to yourself before bed every day and take a dry erase marker and write down power statements on your mirror like, “I am so valuable. I know who I am. I am so thankful for the life God has given me.” Declare these every morning when you get ready and replace every lie that tries to take over your mind with these powerful truths.