He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand
in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a
lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of
lies (John 8:44).

Alyce was one of the most pathetic-looking young women I have ever
met. She was so skinny that she literally had no more body fat to lose.
She had lost her job three days earlier, and her vacant eyes conveyed
that she had lost all hope for her life. She was a very talented girl
and a committed Christian in many ways, but she was also a Darvon junkie
who had even been arrested once for illegal possession of prescription
drugs.

"I want you to tell me who you think you are," I said to
Alyce.

"I’m just a no-good failure," she whimpered.

"You’re not a failure," I responded. "You’re a child
of God." She continued to pour out the negative self-talk and
evidences of demonic deception she had been living under, and I
continued to counter her negativism with the good news of her identity
in Christ. The more we talked, the more aware I became of Christ’s
presence ministering to Alyce. We tested the spirit that was harassing
her, and she knew firsthand that she had been deceived. Astonished, she
said, "Do you mean to tell me that my whole problem has been
deception, that I have been listening to a pack of lies?" Today
she’s free.

The prevailing theme of the New Testament is the position we enjoy
in Christ through our faith in Him. That’s the good news: Christ in you
and you in Christ. If there is a prevailing negative theme in the New
Testament which capsulizes the opposition we face in Satan, I believe it
is deception. There are at least three avenues through which Satan will
attempt to dissuade you from God’s truth and deceive you into believing
his lies: self-deception, false prophets/teachers, and deceiving
spirits. We are vulnerable to Satan’s deception in these areas if we
fail to clothe ourselves daily with the spiritual armor of the belt of
truth.

This daily devotional is published and distributed by
http://www.GOSHEN.net/ . It is written by Neil Anderson at
http://www.freedominchrist.com/ .