The Two Cosmic Lies that Devastate the Human Heart – Prologue
I can’t believe it has been a month since my last post. Time is flying by. But I have been busy. I am finishing a series called “The Two Cosmic Lies that Devastate the Human Heart”. Right now there are 5 parts to the series. It has taken a lot of work and a lot of prayer. My prayer for this series is that it heals and edifies you and glorifies God. This post is the prologue to the series.
In the last several years, as my wife and I have prayed for emotional healing for over 50 people, we have found one commonality between what otherwise are very different situations and circumstances. Everyone we have prayed for struggles with the same basic lie – they all believe or have believed that “they are not good enough”.
Two other men who also have healing ministries, and have collectively ministered to 1000s of men and women, both tell me that almost everyone they have prayed for felt “not good enough” and especially unworthy of God’s love.
To be fully human, to grow into the man or woman God intended each of us to be, we need to live in and release a culture of value. “You are not good enough” is the same thing as saying, “you have no value”. This devaluing lie sets them on a path of finding value in the world in their own power. This is ‘pride’, the source of evil and darkness in the world, drawing people away from the worship of God. When the Bible advocates love, even “love your enemies”, Jesus is commanding us to live with a culture of value in our lives and in the world around us.
“You are not good enough” and the related idea, “but I can make myself good enough, like God”, are lies, even though in Romans 3 Paul tells us “no one is good”. When these lies are brought to God with the question, “Lord, ______ says he is not good enough. What do you him them to know?” God usually shows up and gives images or words that affirm his value to Him, allowing him to see himself as God sees her – loved and valuable. Often these insights given by God radically alter his life, allowing him to become more like the unique person God created him to be.
Based on our collective experiences, these two lies seem so universal and so emotionally crippling that I have come to believe they are an inevitable part of living in a fallen world, where satan is “the prince of this world”, the “father of lies”, who comes to “steal, kill, and destroy.” He uses these lies to draw people away from the worship of God and into the worship of self, with devastating spiritual, emotional, and physical consequences. When those who have lived with these lies for years meet the Lord Jesus and are shown the truth, they are often set free from bondage to accusations, shame; and negative emotions like anger, bitterness, resentment, greed, envy, and more.
I also believe that these two lies can be traced back to satan’s interaction with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Because I believe these lies transcend the time and space of human existence, I call them ‘cosmic lies’.
In this series of posts, I examine the origin of these lies and contrast them with Paul’s accurate assessment of humanity; describe how I believe these lies have become part of the spiritual DNA of humanity, how these lies are activated in our lives, their devastating consequences, and how we can be set free from these lies that devastate our hearts and impact our relationships, to become healed and made whole.
In Part 1 of this series I examine the origin of the two lies. Part 2 examines Lie 1: “You are not good enough”. Part 3 examines Lie 2: “But you can make yourself good enough through your own work and power – you can be like God”. Part 4 examines the price humanity pays to come into agreement with these lies. Part 5 of this series answers the question, “How do we come out of agreement with the lies and become a “new creation in Christ”, capable of living in and releasing a culture of value.
If you read these posts you will see I believe the answer to evil and darkness is embracing in our lives, our families, our communities, and our nations a culture where we value those around us – even our enemies – like Jesus valued the world. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We need to forge a culture of value in partnership with Christ. And only the Church can do this because this is the heart of the Kingdom of God; it is Jesus’ heart. We must be the light; we must show the way in Christ.
Be blessed and know that you are loved. You are incredibly valuable to Jesus,
John