Are you reading the Bible through with me? Grab your pen and journal, and get ready to write your thoughts as you journey through the Bible.
Today’s reading is Genesis 37-39. Just because God forgives, it doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for sin. Jacob, who had tricked his father and Esau out of the birthright, was in turn tricked by his sons. The Bible never mentions if Jacob punished his sons for their bad behavior before this event, and now, Jacob himself is tricked into believing his favorite son, Joseph, is dead. For over 20 years, Jacob grieved over the bloody coat. He believed the lie that his sons concocted about Joseph.
Have you ever lived in misery or distress because you believed a lie someone told you? “You can’t... You aren’t… You are… You will never…” They lay these bloody coats in your lap, and you believe the lie. It is the devil who wants to bind you with grief, depression, anxiety, and hopelessness. Perhaps he tells you that you aren’t good enough for God. Maybe he tells you that God would never accept someone like you. Maybe he even tells you that life is hopeless and there is no way out of your misery or situation. Perhaps he even tells you that you are worthless.
When Satan uses someone to drop a bloody coat into your life, remember Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 – “We do not use those things to fight with that the world uses. We use the things God gives to fight with and they have power. Those things God gives to fight with destroy the strong-places of the devil. We break down every thought and proud thing that puts itself up against the wisdom of God. We take hold of every thought and make it obey Christ,” (New Living Translation). The required action is on us.
Be proactive. Take control of your thought patterns. Don’t believe the lies!
Write in your journal the lies you have believed about yourself. What will you do to rid yourself of those lies and its results?
Pray: Oh God, I know that Satan always seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. Quite often, he uses people to plan destructive seeds in my mind and heart. Those people aren’t my enemies. Satan is! Strengthen me so that I might recognize his lies and take every thought captive so that I might be like the Lord Jesus, obedient to Your will in all things.
