The Father of Lies

Our Daily Bread
Last Sunday was Fathers Day.  Not only were biological fathers honored, there were a lot of postings about so-and-so was the father of this and whats-his-name was the father of that.  The devotional today is about the father of lies.

I remember reading about this when I was younger, but I hadn't thought about it for a long time.  Satan invented lying!  He will use deceit any way he can to trick us out of our right relationship with God.  He will steal our joy.  He will fill our minds and hearts with fear, unnecessarily.  He will lead us down paths of destruction that seem so right at the time.

How has he deceived you?  Break away from his lies today.  Right now.

Lord, please help us see Satan's lies for what they are -- lies.

Simply Saturday
I prayed about what to write this morning.  I had nothing!  hehehe  That's the way it works sometimes when you write a blog entry every day!  As I prayed about it, God gave me this inspiration using an exercise theme -- walk, run, and rest.  Let's see where this goes...


Walk 
When we first accept Christ or are first trying to grow our relationship to God, it is almost like we are toddlers learning to walk for the first time.  As we know from health professionals, walking is good for us!  We need to walk to grow our muscles.  We also need to walk in the paths of righteousness to grow our relationship with God.  What does that mean?  In my heart, I keep it simple.  Love God with all your heart and love others as yourself.  That covers the bases!  We can also walk in the paths of destruction so be careful!


Run
I started running a little bit again recently.  It is not easy.  I am a big guy!  I think of running in my relationship with God in a few ways.  First, I need to run to God instead of running towards the deceit of Satan.  Have you ever seen folks run towards a disaster?  That is what running towards the deceit of Satan is like!  Second, running is discipline.  It is a state of mind as you pick up one foot, put it down, pick up the other foot, put it down, repeat thousands of times!  Focusing your mind while you run helps attain your goals.  It is the same with your relationship with God.  We need discipline and focus to attain the goal of a right relationship with God.  Lastly, I love the image in scripture of "run and not be weary".  Running a long race can be exhausting.  Running a short distance is exhausting for me!  I am a big guy!  ha!  God is there for us to help us along the way.  Strengthening us and sustaining us with more than a cup of water and a banana!

Rest
Lastly, we aren't always walking or running.  God also built the Sabbath for us to rest.  A time for us to recharge our batteries.  We are also supposed to rest in him each and every day.  Do you know what I mean by this?  When you have someone watching your back or having your best interests in mind, it is much easier to relax and not stress about things.  Rest in his Word.  Rest in his promises.  Rest in the fact that he is always with us.

So that is my story today and I am sticking to it!  Walk, run and rest.  You can do this!

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Let go, my friends!  God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!

My favorite saying from a Facebook post this week:
"You are beautiful.  I know.  I made you." -- God