Why were Adam and Eve so easily deceived? Why did Eve believe a lie so easily and Adam went along with it? My dad used to say, \u201c\u2026tricked hook, line, and sinker.\u201d Adam and Eve were in perfection, face to face with God himself. The snake was able to twist things around and Eve believed his lie. And the enemy of our soul, the devil, has been lying to us ever since. Lies, deception, twisting words, and false beliefs are all tools of the enemy. 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 says, \u201cFor though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We tear down arguments, and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tThe same battle still exists. Even today, the enemy of our souls can trick you and me into believing lies. So, what is the pathway to victory in overcoming the lies that we believe? The first step is realizing that we fall prey to lies. Whether they are from outside of ourselves, or our own inner dialogue, we have to realize that we can be deceived. The biggest deception is to believe, \u201cI can\u2019t be deceived!\u201d Jeremiah 17:9 says, \u201cThe heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\tIf we are so easily deceived, and if we are \u201cbeyond cure\u201d then what is the solution? Jesus said in John 14:16, \u201cI am the way, the truth, and the life.\u201d Jesus testifies to the truth and teaches the truth because He Himself is Truth. Jesus did not deceive, He didn\u2019t mislead, and He was never fake or uncertain. Jesus is the only one who can legitimately claim to be<\/em> Truth. Truth is a person. As we walk hand in hand with Jesus, we can know the truth and the truth will<\/em> set us free. John 8:31-32 says, \u201cSo He said to the Jews who had believed Him, \u2018If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \tOne of the battlegrounds against deception is our own thoughts. We deceive ourselves.<\/em> This is called \u201cself-deception.\u201d I don\u2019t know anyone who is free from the struggle of negative thoughts and self-deception. Don\u2019t fool around with this. Do a quick analysis of the negative thoughts floating around in your mind. Pick one negative thought and ask yourself, \u201cDoes Jesus agree with this statement?\u201d That is a powerful tool to help you realize lies cause the negativity in our thinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \tDr. Daniel Amen has introduced some language in his books that explains what happens. The term he coined is \u201cAutomatic Negative Thoughts\u201d (or ANTs) as we like to call them. They are the kind of thoughts that sound like: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Those types of thoughts are Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) and statements that Jesus does not agree with. So, squish those ANTs! Deny the lie and walk in freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \t<\/strong>My husband and I have devoted several years of our lives to detect these thoughts in our minds and prayerfully replace them with new, truthful, scripts. Brain research shows that it takes 140 repetitions of the new script to burn a new neural-pathway. A good friend calls this “motto therapy.” Jesus Christ said, “The truth will set you free.” Why does the truth set us free? Because He sets us free from the thoughts that hold us back when we ask Him for the truth. We are free to pursue all that the Lord has for us without the boat anchors of deception weighing us down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \tWhat does \u201ctruth that sets people free\u201d look like? It is following Paul\u2019s writing in 2 Corinthians 10: \u201cWe tear down arguments, and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.\u201d Does Jesus agree with my negative self-talk? Does he agree with my false belief? No. He wants me to deny the lie. When I think \u201cI am not worthy,\u201d I replace it with the truth statement \u201cJesus says I am worthy, He died for me.\u201d When I think \u201cThey won\u2019t understand me,\u201d I replace it with the truth statement, \u201cJesus always understands me, He knows my heart.\u201d Those are just two examples of how to take your deceptive thoughts captive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \tSometimes you need the help of the Body of Christ to get breakthrough. James 5:6 encourages us to \u201cconfess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.\u201d There are ministries that use Biblical models for inner healing such as: SOZO, Theophostic Prayer Ministry, Elijah House, Global Awakening and others. The \u201cinner healing\u201d movement is growing, because it\u2019s needed and Biblical. For more information, refer to the inner healing resources at the Megamorphosis Magazine website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \tDenying the lie and replacing it with truth takes consistent effort. But it is worth it. I pray you pursue and apprehend the freedom that is available in Christ, and base your life on Truth, the Solid Rock. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Deny the lie, receive the Truth. It\u2019s a powerful exchange. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Why were Adam and Eve so easily deceived? Why did Eve believe a lie so easily and Adam went along with it? My dad used to say, \u201c\u2026tricked hook, line,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102,44,99],"tags":[],"powerkit_post_featured":[95,93,96],"yoast_head":"\n