Bonnie Smith
Lies?

I know it can be hard to accept the truth that the enemy of our soul whispers in our ear to take us further from God and His best for us. It can seem more like a fantasy-like story that gets passed down from generation to generation. However, it's not, it is real whether we believe it or not. For instance, have you ever been to a church service and thought to your self "I love this church...I feel so at peace and happy here...I've got to keep coming back here..." and then by next Sunday you're convinced that it wasn't the place for you and that the people didn't really accept you or even acknowledge you...or whatever other negative thing that materialized in your mind. Well, that was the father of lies...whispering in your ear and using his oh so crafty skills to keep you from God. I was reminded of this recently because I started believing the lie that "I didn't really enjoy my coffee date with God any more" and I found myself over the past couple of weeks begrudgingly making time for reading my Bible and saying a few prayers. It began to really disturb me so I asked myself why I all of a sudden didn't enjoy it and what exactly did I not like about it anymore. That's when I realized it was just a lie!! I do enjoy it and instead of believing the lies and going with my emotions I pushed through and visualized sitting on the couch with a warm cover, warm cup of coffee, my Bible and the presence of God and I smiled at the joy that returned in that very moment!! About 10 years ago when I started going to church regularly I started writing on the inside of my Bible, during the church service, that I loved my church and to not believe the lies. So then, through the week I would ask myself if I was going to believe what I felt when I was there or the lies the devil was whispering throughout the week. I then made a promise to myself that no matter what, I would never again miss more than one Sunday in a row that way I would be sure that the devil couldn't knock me off of Gods path again!! And it has really helped me during some hard times. Church and my time with God are the most important things in my life and without them I would not have the peace and joy that I carry with me through both the good and bad times!