“He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44b (NIV)
Have you ever thought about how much damage a lie can do? According to the above scripture, the father of lies is a murderer. Murder
brings a lot of damage and pain! Wes and I got married at age 19 in the mid-1960s. Back then, a lie was a great offense, even in secular society. I don’t have room to explain the circumstances here, but we joined a wonderful group of people who passionately wanted to walk with the Lord. Many of them are still our closest friends, even though we have not lived near each other for over 30 years.
The trouble was that we had a lying, manipulative leader who must have lain awake at night conniving ways to hurt people. After 23 years of spiritual abuse, we knew that we needed to know the truth. We needed to walk away from his toxic leadership so we could grow spiritually. We studied the Bible for ourselves and followed what it said, and we received spiritual and emotional healing.
In the secular media, we hear things and see people’s responses, and it reminds us of the power of deception. It seems that people easily believe lies—they are like sheep without a shepherd. I wish I could gather them together and tell them the truth about our Savior. He came to set us free and give us an abundant life, now and for eternity.
Father, we come in Jesus’ name to ask for Your Holy Spirit to reveal Your truth to people who do not know You. Cause them to long for truth to such an extent that they will seek You with all of their hearts.
– Sue Carlisle
Council Fire is a collaboration with Intertribal Life Ministries and Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
The Council Fire Daily Devotional Book Set is available on the Intertribal Life Ministries website.
Learn more about Council Fire at councilfire365.org