by Zach Roll

When the devil tries to distract you.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10 English Standard Version

Have you noticed a pattern to Satan’s interaction with humanity? There always seems to be a sliver of truth to what he says.

John 8:44 tells us that lying is Satan’s native language, and that he is the father of lies, so he is pretty well skilled in this arena. He always seems to tell a half-truth, and even though we can be aware of how he operates, he’s so subtle and skillful at lying that we still get caught off guard.

I believe that one of the biggest lies the devil tells is a clever misdirection.

The devil loves to accuse us and tell us that we are not good enough. You won’t hear this through an audible voice, but the thought creeps into all of our minds. Do any of these sound familiar to you? “I’m not good enough,” “I’ve sinned too much.”  “God won’t forgive me,” “God doesn’t love me after all that I’ve done and failed to do.”

These are the thoughts that the devil uses to try to tempt us to abandon hope.

This is clever indeed. Satan is not wrong in convincing us we are not good enough to deserve our own salvation. Another half-truth. We know that what Romans 3:23 says is true:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” English Standard Version

This thought and this lie distracts us from focusing on the other half of this truth. There is more to the story but we are stuck thinking about ourselves and our unworthiness when we should step back and see the whole picture. I have indeed sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Paul writes in Romans 5:8,

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” English Standard Version

Let our focus be on the One who is good enough in our place, covering us in His own righteousness, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, CO.