Has Satan Whispered Condemnation in Your Ear?

Mike Hosey, Elder

The word “condemn” is a very strong word. It carries with it two distinct meanings.  On one hand, it means to sentence someone to death.  On the other hand, it means to express total public disapproval and rejection.  There is nothing rosy about the term.

And while we too often associate the word with God (we inaccurately think of how He sentences people to hell, or how He condemns them for their sins) it is really a tool used more by Satan.  You see, God offers a clean way out of condemnation through submission to the Lordship of His son Jesus. Unlike God, however, Satan likes to remind you of your sins.  He likes to dredge up the lie you told, the lust you acted on, the one drink too many you consumed, the unrighteous anger you loosed on your spouse, the idea you stole, or the psychological or physical mistreatment of another human being you perpetrated. He then tells you that you are damned beyond rescue.  He brings it up constantly, so often, in fact, that he can withdraw from your head, and your own brain will continue to echo his voice of condemnation, parroting it until it sounds like gospel truth and you feel like a death row inmate, or a dead man walking.   

And when his voice of condemnation doesn’t make you feel like a doomed prisoner, it will make you feel like a pariah – an outcast, rejected and permanently separated from God’s people, their comfort, and their familial intimacy. But his power over you is completely rooted in his deception. As one Christian thinker put it, take away his power to deceive, and his voice no longer has power over you. Without his lies, he is an impotent shadow. 

And his lies are no match for God’s truth.  God tells us in Philippians 1:6 that He will finish the good work that He started in us.  And he tells us in Romans 8:1 that there is no longer any condemnation for those of us who know Jesus. Romans 5:1 tells us that we have been declared righteous, and that we have peace with God.  For every lie that Satan whispers in your ear, a powerful truth of God counters it. This is why it is important to remember that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4)!

Answering Satan's Voice of Insecurity

Mike Hosey, Elder

The voice of insecurity is one of Satan’s most powerful weapons. He likes to whisper (and sometimes shout) in our ear that we are not good enough, or that we are not loved, or that we are not strong enough to complete the task before us.  He likes to remind us that we are sinners, and then portray to us our condition as hopeless. He has a special love of stirring up secret internal strife. For instance, anytime that he can get us to compare ourselves to our neighbors, and then play on the insecurity that we don’t measure up to them, he will do so. After all, everyone is gifted differently, and invariably our neighbors are going to be quite good in some areas where we aren’t. He capitalizes on this fact by either inflating us with conceit, or more often, by degrading us with insecurity. Frequently, he does both at the same time.

The craftiest part of this tactic is that he uses the truth to create a nearly imperceptible lie.  He wants us to place our confidence in our own fleshly abilities – a task bound to create anxiety. In order to produce this anxiety, he tells us the truth.  You don’t measure up. You are, in fact, a sinner.  And your condition is, indeed, completely hopeless . . . unless you have God.  Satan knows that any man worth his salt at some point will recognize his own weaknesses, because with demonic bent, he takes great pains to point them out to him.  And when he doesn’t take those pains, a host of worldly men do. This is why it is so easy for him to lead a man to the stressful, anxious, and paralyzing state of insecurity. Tell him just part of the truth, and then vigorously keep from him the greater and more important part of that truth. A world that doesn’t know God will do the rest.

But when God is present, or the man places his confidence in God and His purposes, rather than in his own abilities, then insecurities are vanquished, crushed, or melted away by the very glory of God. God tells us that all the things He has purposed for us to do are possible through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13, Matthew 19:26).

So the next time Satan whispers to you that you are not strong enough, or that you are not loved, you tell him that God is your strength and refuge, and that His love endures forever (Psalm 46:1 ESV; Psalm 136:1 ESV).

Are You Ever Stricken With Spiritual Schizophrenia?

Mike Hosey, Elder

Schizophrenia is a medical and mental disorder that is marked primarily by an inability to discern reality.  In fact, the word simply means, “split mind.”  A schizophrenic mind, therefore, is a mind that is split between what is real and what isn’t.

Two of the most prominent symptoms of schizophrenia are hallucinations and delusions.  Hallucinations are sensory experiences that do not correspond to reality.  For instance, because of a problem in brain chemistry, people diagnosed with schizophrenia, see, hear, feel, or smell things that aren’t real. Delusions, on the other hand, are fixed beliefs that don’t correspond to reality.  For instance, schizophrenics often believe things that simply are not true. Sometimes these beliefs are bizarre.  An example might be, “alien overlords have placed microchips in my dental fillings to keep track of everything I eat and say.” Sometimes these delusions have the feel of reasonableness. For instance, “everyone thinks I’m a loser, and they’re trying to ostracize me to keep me out of their club.”

How the World Feels like with Schizophrenia,
by Craig Finn (Plos Medicine)

Most of the people that I’ve dealt with who have a diagnosis of schizophrenia hear voices. Those voices laugh at them, or call them names.  They are almost always derogatory in nature. And to the person experiencing them they are very, very real, even though in actuality they are completely non-existent, and are caused by nothing more than the dysregulation of a handful of brain chemicals.  As you might expect, delusions and hallucinations reinforce each other in a vicious cycle.

Sometimes we Christians are like spiritual schizophrenics. Satan, with demonic intent and spiritual influence, gets in our heads and dysregulates our spiritual chemistry. He tells us that we are losers, or that God can’t forgive our sins, or that we are not good enough for the task God has called us to complete. He tries to split our mind from reality (James 1:8). He tries to blind the minds of unbelievers (and I would argue believers as well) from the gospel of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4).

But Jesus tells us that if we abide in him we will know the truth and it will set us free (John 8:32). Jesus saves. Even from spiritual schizophrenia!

Some Tips on Biblical Parenting

 It doesn't matter how old or how experienced a parent you are.  It doesn't matter of you are in the difficult position of being a teenage parent, or the more comfortable position of being an economically established parent in your mid 30s.  If you are a parent you have something going for you.  Because you've been around longer and have made a few mistakes and experienced a few victories, you have wisdom about the way the world works that your child does not have, and cannot have on his or her own. Like the men of Issachar who knew what Israel was to do (1 Chronicles 12:32),  you know what it is your children ought to do.  Therefore, you have a responsiblity to transfer that knowledge to them.

There are a number of ways you can transfer that wisdom to them.  Here are a few of those ways:

YOU CAN AFFIRM THEM -  1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us to encourage one another and lift each other up.  The bible isn't limiting this command to just those people we see in church.  If anything, it extends more importantly to those in our immediate family, and especially to those with whom we are charged with raising. Modern science has shown that affirmation (properly used) is a very powerful shaper of behavior.  In fact, it is far more powerful than punishment.

COMMUNICATE TO THEM WISDOM - Deuteronomy 6:6-7 teaches us to inform our children about God and his relationship with us.  If we don't communicate to them what we want them to know (whether it is about God or how to do the dishes) how can we expect them to act on what we teach them.

REPROVE THEM WHEN NECESSARY - A true father (parent) reproves his children if he loves them. Otherwise how will they know when they've made the wrong decision. However, this reproof must ALWAYS be preceded by the COMMUNICATION mentioned above.

DON'T PROVOKE THEM - Don't set unreasonable standards, and don't discipline them without good reason or fair consequences. Don't nag. Mete out the reproof wisely and with love, otherwise you will discourage them and produce negative results (Ephesians 6:4, and Colossians 3:21).

MAKE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS RIGHT - Be right with God, so you can be right with your children.  And when your children have strayed from the way you've set, find ways to reconcile with them, just as your Heavenly Father has done  with you (Colossians 1:19-20).