Satan’s Tactics to Change Meanings and Derail our Relationship with the Lord ,Ep 3-1
Welcome Back! I am your host Dawn Simmons, and this is the first episode of our third season of Conquering Our Unseen Enemies. We have covered a lot of topics and traveled to many places during our time together. We are now in 42 countries, and we are looking forward to even more growth in 2024. I want to thank those who are supporting us each month. Your gift is appreciated more than we can express. If you are growing through our podcast, consider supporting us as we continue to build the Kingdom of God. You can support us for as little as $3/month. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995558/support. There is a link in the notes.
When I asked the Lord for the direction for this year, He gave me a number of things He wanted me to address, but the very first thing He wanted to address was Meanings. I asked for clarification and here is what I heard. “I want My people to hear My voice and understand what I mean versus what the world tells them I mean. What is behind a word? What is true versus what is said for gain. The enemy is a wordsmith and a twister of truth. Look behind the words through the “veil of truth” for my truth. I reveal all to those who seek Me. I am clear in My truth.”
I had to sit and think for a bit after He gave me these words. There is a lot to what He said. So let’s break it down and go over each element.
First: I want My people to hear My Voice.
Second: He wants His people to understand what He means versus what the world tells them He means.
Third: What is behind a word?
Fourth: What is true versus what is said for gain.
Fifth: The enemy is a wordsmith and a twister of truth.
Sixth: Look behind the words through the “veil of truth” for My truth.
Seventh: I reveal all to those who seek Me.
Eighth: I am clear in My truth.
That is eight things He wants us to discuss. We are going to hit each point independently and walk through what the Lord wants to reveal to us.
His first point is that He wants His people to hear His voice. When we go back to the very beginning of the Bible we see in Geneses 1:26, “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
We are going to look at a few more scriptures here because it lays the groundwork for additional points.
Genesis 2:15, The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 3:8,” Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
From the beginning, God’s intention was a personal relationship with man. God would spend time with Adam in the Garden of Eden. It was through God’s assistance that Adam was introduced to each animal so that he could name them. They worked together as a team. We can do that today. The Holy Spirit gives us everything we need to be able to work together as a team. If you can’t hear the voice of God and you really want to, email me. I’ve been teaching it for years. I’ve been telling you about my book, Loving Conversations: How to Pray and Hear God’s Voice for months now. We all have the ability, the enemy wants to rob us of our relationship by planting doubt and confusion. When God says He wants His people to hear His voice, He means it. He wants us to know His best way for everything in our lives. Going further, if we can’t hear His voice, how can we function in His gifts? Hearing His voice is foundational for a believer. We can’t have a relationship with someone if communication is only one way. We also need to be able to hear Him for his second point.
Second: He wants His people to understand what He means versus what the world tells them He means.
The very first time we meet Satan in the Bible, what is he doing? Let’s look at Genesis 3, Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The Lord was clear in his direction to Adam about all that he could do, he only had one thing he could not do. Instead of relying on the truth God gave, which had been pretty consistent to that point, Eve and Adam allowed themselves to be manipulated by Satan who presented himself as a creature, so that was his first deception. His second deception was telling Eve that God didn’t really mean what He said. Satan, the ruler of this world essentially repurposed God’s words and manipulated Eve into believing what God “really meant” convincing her that God was essentially hiding something and not truthful in His words. Satan has not changed. He is using the same tactics he used the first day he spoke to Eve. We still fall for it. We cast aspersions at Eve and then turn around and do the exact same thing and many times much worse. We need to be able to hear God’s voice, understand what He means or we will fall victim to the enemy.
Third: What is behind a word? The Lord showed me something today as I was preparing to explain all of these points. There are a lot of people who are involved in spiritual warfare and not all for the same reasons. From my experience, spiritual warfare people can be split into categories like many other groups. There are those who are extremists, hard core and once they have their beliefs, right or wrong will crucify anyone who opposes them. There are those who have little experience and little knowledge and are swayed by the wind, and then there are those in the middle that are aware and learning and maybe even sometimes a bit quiet about it because of the misconceptions of spiritual warfare. What the Lord showed me today was someone who was an extremist, who proclaimed His name and then condemned other believers who believed in the Trinity. This guy used scripture to support that there was no such thing as the Trinity mentioned in the Bible, which the scripture was used incorrectly and with pure hatred he condemned a woman who tried to show Him where Jesus discusses the concept of the Trinity. The word “trinity” is not in the Bible. The word “trinity” is just that, a word, used to identify a Biblical concept. The word “trinity” seemed to trigger him and the result was his condemnation of this woman, calling her Satan among other things and anyone agreeing with her were demons. The Lord showed me that someone who behaves in this way, their heart is not pure but dark. The Lord referred to his behavior of calling the Holy Spirit in this woman Satan as blasphemous and He said that his words will be remembered. In other words, he will have to answer for those words one day. The Lord will not allow that behavior to be dismissed, this man is accountable for the words he used. So what is behind a word? Sometimes Satan is working behind a word and working to tear down people who believe and spit hate at them to get them to stop talking God’s truth. We need to be able to hear God’s voice, understand what He means and identify correct and incorrect use of His word or we will fall victim to the enemy.
Fourth: What is true versus what is said for gain. This one at first glance might seem self-explanatory, but we need to take a closer look. If the Lord wants to discuss this, it must be more involved than just first glance. We don’t want to live our lives where we can’t trust anybody, but we do want to exercise discernment and to have discernment requires relationship. A church in my area underwent a transformation this past year. An elder went rogue to put it simply. Although one elder has no real power, in this man’s head being an elder meant power. In any given conversation, if you weren’t aware he was an elder, he made sure you knew. If you were aware, he made it a point to remind you anyway. He began to push his own doctrine, which began to emerge the more power he thought he had. He used intimidation all the while praying over people and being involved in the youth ministry. This elder took what was initially true and began to reshape various church projects to fit what he wanted. In this way, he thought he was elevating himself. His demonic spirit of pride and arrogance controlled him. It was ultimately addressed, and he is no longer an elder, but it took something way out of the norm to fully bring to light how he was manipulating the church. God will allow some things to continue to give people time to repent but ultimately, when He decides a lack of repentance is doing too much harm, He will bring his judgment and the consequences with that judgment. The Lord will not allow His truth to be exchanged and turned for our gain. We need to be able to hear God’s voice, understand what He means, identify correct and incorrect use of His word and discern truth from gainful motives or we will fall victim to the enemy.
Fifth: The enemy is a wordsmith and a twister of truth.
We know from the experience Jesus had in the wilderness that Satan is a wordsmith and a twister of the truth. We also know from that experience that Satan used the words from the Bible to try to manipulate Jesus. The specifics of those tactics are in Matthew 4:1. Jesus was masterful in responding to Satan with the correct use of scripture, which is what we should be able to do as well. The problem is we don’t know the scripture or worse yet, when we do know it and we think we know so much or that we are above that manipulation, so we don’t recognize when it is being twisted on us. I saw a young pastor this past year who thought he knew it all and didn’t recognize the enemy right in his face. He played right into the hands of the enemy and I saw him turn into a prideful, judgmental, immature, power seeking man in the span of 6 months. He didn’t believe in hearing the voice of the Lord, he knew of the Holy Spirit, but he did not have a relationship with the Holy Spirit. When his pride filled tactics began to unravel, he made a rash decision and as a result, he no longer has the pastoral position he worked hard to build. He then went even further and spread words of untruth to try to garner support of church members and twist what actually happened into what he wanted people to think happened. God cannot be mocked and when we think we are above the Holy Spirit, he will humble us if we don’t repent. We need to be able to hear God’s voice, understand what He means, identify correct and incorrect use of His word, discern truth from gainful motives and recognize when the truth is being twisted or we will fall victim to the enemy.
Sixth: Look behind the words through the “veil of truth” for My truth.
To understand what the Lord means when He says “veil of truth” we can look in Colossians. Paul write his letter to the Colossians while he was imprisoned in Rome. He received a visit from Epaphras, who was the backbone of the church in that area. Epaphras was exasperated at the heresy he was dealing with from the Gnostics. Among other things, the Gnostics were teaching that knowledge was the only way to salvation. The aim of salvation is for the spirit to be awakened by knowledge so that the inner person can be released from a dungeon and return to a light realm where it becomes reunited with God. They taught the soul needs to ascend and penetrate cosmic spheres which separate the soul from its heavenly destiny. This ascension can only be accomplished through knowledge. It gets worse, but you can see why Epaphras paid Paul a visit for some support to combat this evil nonsense. Our world today is full of different variations of the gospel, of who God is, and downplays the truth of salvation and the consequences for not being saved. The veil is meant to disguise and hide what is real by creating a false cover of the truth. Men like Joel Osteen are leading thousands to their death with his empty messages of feel-good hope. We need to be able to hear God’s voice, understand what He means, identify correct and incorrect use of His word, discern truth from gainful motives, recognize when the truth is being twisted and see through the evil veil of untruth or we will fall victim to the enemy.
Seventh: I reveal all to those who seek Me.
The enemy has twisted the concept of relationship with Him through doubt and confusion. The less we know the word, the more his demons can twist. We need to know that God is available, God is waiting, He wants to share with us, He wants to answer your questions and tell you why on all areas of your life. He always has wanted that. In Jeremiah 33:3 he tells us: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ He answered Job during his afflictions. He spoke and had a deep relationship with Moses, and it at times seems like it was more of a relationship than Moses wanted. When we look at John, the Disciple, after all the other disciples were long passed, He continued to reveal himself to John and out of it we have the Book of Revelation. The Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever, that’s Hebrews 13:8. If you seek Him, He will reveal himself to you. Don’t let the enemy steal that from you. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. James 4:8 says it this way, “Come near to God and He will come near to you. We need to be able to hear God’s voice, understand what He means, identify correct and incorrect use of His word, discern truth from gainful motives, recognize when the truth is being twisted, see through the evil veil of untruth and know He will reveal Himself to us if we seek Him or we will fall victim to the enemy.
Eighth: I am clear in My truth.
The enemy has corrupted the world view on truth. The world does not see God as the creator of truth, as the beginning and ending of truth, as the source for all that is true. Instead, the enemy has convinced the world that each of us has our own truth. We get to determine truth for ourselves based on our own self derived set of beliefs. There can only be one truth. Truth is an absolute, not a sliding scale. Jesus tells us in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
I want to instill in you who He is with this imagery. As I read it, really think about it, really imagine it because this is His truth.
John 15: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
We need to be able to hear God’s voice, understand what He means, identify correct and incorrect use of His word, discern truth from gainful motives, recognize when the truth is being twisted, see through the evil veil of untruth, know He will reveal Himself to us if we seek Him and receive His truth in our lives or we will fall victim to the enemy.
I hope this has been time that inspires you to want to learn to grow in your relationship with the Lord and build your desire to partner with Him. We want to grow in Him and learn how to work with Him to build the Kingdom and Conquer Our Unseen Enemies. The more we grow the more our life will change, and you can help change the lives of anyone around you who is willing.
If you are growing through our podcast, consider supporting us as we continue to build the Kingdom of God. You can support us for as little as $3/month. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995558/support
If you know anyone who might benefit from this, please share.
As always, let’s discuss our Top Show points:
We reviewed a word from the Lord on starting out this new Year, our third season. He made 8 points.
First: I want My people to hear My Voice.
Second: He wants His people to understand what He means versus what the world tells them He means.
Third: What is behind a word?
Fourth: What is true versus what is said for gain.
Fifth: The enemy is a wordsmith and a twister of truth.
Sixth: Look behind the words through the “veil of truth” for My truth.
Seventh: I reveal all to those who seek Me.
Eighth: I am clear in My truth.
We encourage you:
· To have an active Bible reading plan, if you want a personal relationship with the Lord, you need to be active about reading His word.
· If you want to learn more about how to Hear God's Voice, visit our website, lovingconversationssalo.com. My book, Loving Conversations: How to Pray and Hear God's Voice has helped so many people in their relationship with the Lord, check out the testimonials. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Walmart. Those are also available on our website www.lovingconversationssalo.com.
· Follow us in Instagram, @conqueringourunseenenemies
I have enjoyed our time this week and look forward to spending time with you again next week!