May 15, 2024
READ: John 8 (Focus vs. 31-32, 36, 42-47)
MEMORY VERSE
“[Satan] is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44
BACKGROUND
Adolf Hitler believed big lies were more powerful than small ones, and, tragically, he tested his theory successfully. Early in his political career, he claimed he was content to support others’ aspirations. When he came to power, he said his party didn’t intend to persecute anyone.
Later, he used the media to portray himself as a father figure and moral leader.
Satan uses lies to gain power in our lives. Whenever possible, he provokes fear, anger, and despair because he’s “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan can’t tell the truth because, as Jesus said, he doesn’t have any truth inside of him.
Here are a few of the enemy’s lies:
First, our prayers don’t matter. Not true. The Bible says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
Second, when we’re in trouble, there’s no way out. Wrong again. “All things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27), and “he will also provide a way out” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Third, God doesn’t love us. That’s false. Nothing can “separate us” from God’s love through Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).
God’s truth is more powerful than lies. If we obey Jesus’ teaching in His strength, then we “will know the truth,” reject what’s false, and “the truth will set [us] free” (John 8:31-32).
By: Jennifer Benson Schuldt
INSIGHT
In today’s passage, Jesus unequivocally declares that Satan is “the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan (also known as the devil, the enemy, the thief, the evil one, the tempter) is in direct opposition to Jesus, “the truth” who sets us free (v. 32).
Satan has “no truth in him” (v. 44), but Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life” (14:6). In the last hours before His crucifixion, as Jesus stood before Pilate, He stated: “The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth” (18:37).
Jesus came to earth to declare the truth about Himself, to explain the Father to us, and to expose the truth about ourselves, as He did with the Samaritan woman at the well (ch. 4).
While Satan “[came] only to steal and kill and destroy” (10:10) and was “a murderer from the beginning” (8:44), Jesus brings life eternal (3:16).
By: Alyson Kieda
APPLICATION
What are some lies you’re likely to believe? How might God want you to refresh your mind with His truth?
PR’s RE-EMPHASIS (From Post)
“Satan uses lies to gain power in our lives… (but) God’s truth is more powerful than lies.”
PR’s (PASTOR RICHARD) TAKE
One is entitled to their opinions and facts but not to their “truths” – Bishop Lloyd Cartwright
“A liar begins with making falsehood appear like truth, and ends with making truth itself appear like falsehood” William Shenstone
PRAYER
“Dear Jesus, You’re the way, the truth, and the life. Please show me lies I’ve believed and help me to cling to the truth I read in the Bible.”
TODAY’S HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“THE TRUTH I’M STANDING ON” Leanna Crawford
Scared, oh, I thought I knew scared
But I’m so filled with fear
I can barely move
Doubt, I’ve had my share of doubt
But never more than right now
I’m wondering, where are You?
Here on the edge of fall apart
Somehow Your promises
Find my troubled heart
This is the truth I’m standing on
Even when all my strength is gone
You are faithful forever
And I know You’ll never
Let me fall
Right now, I’m choosing to believe
Someday soon, I’ll look back and see
All the pain had a purpose
Your plan was perfect all along
This is the truth I’m standing on
Good, I believe You’re still good
Even when life’s not good
I will not lose this hope
That the God who parts the sea
Promises He’s gonna
Make a way for me
Oh, this is the truth I’m standing on
Even when all my strength is gone
You are faithful forever
And I know You’ll never
Let me fall
Right now, I’m choosing to believe
Someday soon, I’ll look back and see
All the pain had a purpose
Your plan was perfect all along
This is the truth I’m standing on
My rock, my shield, my firm foundation
I know I will not be shaken
You remind me
Where my help comes from
This is the truth I’m standing on
Even when all my strength is gone
You are faithful forever
And I know You’ll never
Let me fall
Right now, I’m choosing to believe
Someday soon, I’ll look back and see
All the pain had a purpose
Your plan was perfect all along
This is the truth I’m standing on
READING THROUGH THE BIBLE THIS YEAR (DAILY)
PSALMS 120
