You got this side of you, which in the scriptures is called the “flesh” and it’s always lying to you. And are you starting to believe it? That’s the worst part! Now what to do? Confess this. What happens when you confess it? What happens to you? And what is the result inside you? You get freer. Now why?
The Scripture says, “the truth sets you free.” (John 8:32). But you don’t realize all these lies inside all the time, they are like a prison! When you listen to them, they keep you in prison. And Satan says, “Don’t tell anyone, just hide it!” And then you stay in prison and the devil keeps torturing you! Yes, the devil lies to you and tells you, “don’t tell anyone, you can handle it.” And he makes more trouble for you and more lies. He does this through your flesh. He lies to you and says, “You can handle it, you shall not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4 – this is what Satan told Even in the garden!) So, if you confess this, you don’t listen to Satan, and you feel freer of his prison. And that is how the truth sets me free.
There is a Scripture that says, “We are not ignorant of the Devil’s ways.” (2Co. 2:11) In other words, that verse is saying “we know how Satan works.” Now here is how he works on new Christians and especially younger ones.
The big word is PRISON! That’s the problem. You are locked up. But if you confess it then you are free. That is what happens. The devil tells you lies and you are starting to believe it. You are accepting prison then. Now, do you want to be free or do you want to be in prison? Satan wants to keep you in prison with lies. You start to believe it and you are starting to accept prison. You’re locked up then and you can’t get away from it. Its inside you. You can run down the street but its not going to help you.
Help each other by asking each other “are you accepting these lies?” You could unite in the truth. Help each other to get free. Didn’t Jesus say, “when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth”? (John 16:13). God wants you into the truth and not lies. THEY ARE OPPOSITES.
Now how much do you tell each other “I have a great big liar inside me”? Isn’t it true? Why don’t you tell the truth, tell on your beast (your flesh is like a beast according to the Scripture – Ecc. 3:18). If you practice “telling on your beast”, you can stay free. Yes, then you start to learn the truth is what is making you free. You’ll know this inside of you because this war goes on between truth and lies. If you believe Jesus then the Spirit of Truth is inside you but so is your flesh as well. Confess the truth then, “My flesh is always lying to me. My flesh doesn’t lie to anyone else, it just lies to me.” (If you lie to somebody else, that’s something else. That is not your flesh inside you lying to you.) The big thing about young people, they always believe in this life as though it is wonderful. That is a big lie that the flesh tells you. But Satan says, don’t tell anybody, you can handle it. Now that’s why in James 5:16 “Confess your (G3900) “faults” to one another, so you can be healed. Inside you, you will be free. This Greek word that is translated faults here (Strong’s number 3900) is not the word for “sin.” It’s a more difficult word in Greek. It means something like “things that are holding you down.” Something like chains on you. All the time lies all the time, then you start to believe it and you get bigger chains. You can’t run away from this, it doesn’t work.
Young people need to learn that, you can’t run away. God is testing you. God Himself tempts noone but he is letting the devil tempt you but only as much as you can bear. (1Co. 10:13).
This is how you can get free and stay free. Are you going to serve the truth or are you going to accept lies? That is the question. There’s the test. How much do you ask each other “do you really have this problem that your flesh is always lying to you?” Do you ask your brother if that is really true? Do you ask or do you just assume it? Ask each other “are you sure your flesh is really lying to you all the time?” If you unite in the problem, then you can unite in the answer. That helps! “The Bible is really right, my flesh is always lying to me! But Jesus tells me the truth through the Spirit of Truth.”
So, which one are you going to serve? Obey the truth or accept the lies? God is going to see. You can’t run away from it. You may say inside, “oh, I can handle it.” When you hear that you may think “no I’m not going to do that,” but the problem is you want to handle it. For young people, if you’re trying to be a Christian, this is your first trial in life. You are no longer a little child, now you’ve grown up some and this is your first trial. If you pass this test you get stronger, then the devil tries another test, but you get stronger. The Bible says “your builders will outstrip your destroyers” – in Christ. (Isa.49:17) This is true with every trial. Before when you were younger you didn’t get it. Now you start to get it and you can’t run away. You have to fight the war or get killed. If you overcome you get glad, stronger, but “there is no discharge from the war.” (Ecc. 8:8)
This is a big problem for young Christian adults, believing in this life. If you overcome it you get stronger, but if you try to handle it your way you get weaker. It is a war spiritually. Not a physical war. So how much do you help other’s like you, “love one another?” (This is what Jesus commanded us!) This is very important. You are either united in the truth or divided in the lies. There will be no unity between you and others like you. You will be alone with all these lies and the devil gets you all the better.
This is very good young adult Christian training. “This is the way, walk in it.” (Isa. 30:21) Read it! Are you like this inside, “oh no, I got my way – I listen to me”? See! Jesus is right. Inside you is the proof. The more you confess the lies the freer you feel. At 20 years old, 25 years old, 30 years old you’ll have more trials. You need to get ready. You can overcome. Start by practicing this simple training, confess and be freed.