Hey, LYWB Reader! I’m here at the True Woman ’16 national women’s conference in Indianapolis. Are you here too?! The Teen Track just wrapped up, and I thought I’d fill you in a little bit, in case you weren’t able to make it. Dannah Gresh began the morning by reminiscing about her high school days. There was one particular event where the seniors would “share” with the juniors something they needed. One of the senior girls stood up and said, “I bequeath to Dannah . . . humility.” (Ouch!) A different time, a friend explained to her, “Dannah, there are three kinds of girls in the world: cute girls, pretty girls, and beautiful girls. You’re pretty.” (All Dannah heard was, “You’re not beautiful.”) These two sentences festered in her mind from morning to evening for a long, long time. Can you relate? What negative thoughts do you wrestle with? Dannah went on to ask, “What if I told you those sentences are from Satan?” She pointed the girls to Ephesians 6:12 that says,
We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
She explained that the Devil’s favorite strategy against you and me is lies. John 8:44 calls it like it is:
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
“The native language I speak is English,” Dannah explained. “The native language Betsy speaks is Spanish. When Betsy thinks, she thinks in Spanish. The devil thinks in lies. He is the father of them. He has brought them to be. They exist because he exists.” His lies—those sentences stuck on repeat in your head—may sound something like this: “I can control my boyfriend. It won’t go too far.” “God’s gonna forgive me anyway,” “I’m not looking because it’s sexual; I’m looking because I’m curious.” “I did that; God can’t use me all.” “I did that thing, so God probably doesn’t love me anymore.” “My past is so messed up; He can’t fix me.” “This trial must be punishment from God.” “If I was a real Christian, I wouldn’t have these desires.” So . . . what is to be done with these lies Satan pummels us with? Dannah encouraged us to fight by changing our self-talk into Savior talk. By asking Him, “Jesus, what is Your truth? I want to exchange this lie for Your truth.” We do this by reading our Bible every day, until we build up a stockpile of truth within us. Then we speak Scripture out loud. When we do that, it doesn’t sound like our wimpy voice; it sounds like the powerful voice of God. Here’s a great illustration. Check out this baby grizzly bear running from a cougar. With nowhere else to run, he finally opens his mouth and squeaks out the best little roar he can manage. Just as he does this, Momma Bear comes behind him, with a roar so mighty it sends that Cougar running in the opposite direction. This is how you and I fight like a girl: with the powerful Truth of God. As Dannah pointed out, “Jesus Himself did not have a power encounter with Satan; He had a truth encounter” (Matt. 4:1–11). So how about you? What negative thoughts—what lies—run laps around your head most often? And what truth straight from God’s Word can you grasp onto and use as you wrestle the spiritual powers that be? PS: You can catch the rest of the conference on your computer via this livestream.