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(Psalm 34:12) “Do you want to live a long, good life, enjoying the beauty that fills each day? Then never speak a lie or allow wicked words to come from your mouth.”
Part 4: RECURRING TACTICS THE TEMPTER USES — 1. Distraction and Busyness (brokenness, discouragement)
After an awful lot of "you should really read this," I (finally) gave in and got to read my wife’s favourite book: Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers. What an emotional rollercoaster!
Bottom line, the story is about how GOD Redeemed a ‘hardened by life’ prostitute through the awesome and persistent love of a man.
Truthfully, although I wanted to throw the book at a wall (every time I read a passage I didn't much like), I quickly came to realise that I wasn’t angry at the storyline per se – I was actually angry at myself! I was angry at the games that I recognise we humans play with each other, and how lies and wicked words act like cruel barbs that cling and fester like terrible cancers - reaching even to the very soul.
I was angry at how the tempter often uses these tactics to keep us from facing our own wounds and from receiving God’s redeeming love. When we hurry past pain, or numb it out with tasks, or busy ourselves to avoid honest confession, lies take root and discouragement grows.
The remedy is the same grace that rescued the heroine: intentional stillness before God, honest self‑examination, and the patient, persistent love of others who point us back to Christ. Let us choose presence over performance, rest over restless striving, and allow God’s redemption to do its quiet, healing work.
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Let us pray, "Heavenly Father, the older I get, the more I realise that without your help, I will never even have a clue on how to actually be your child! All my ‘being’, ‘doing’, and all my ‘busyness’ remains just so much scaffolding, masking the hurting child that you want to redeem and heal. Please, Lord, forgive my 'best efforts,' come into my life and sort me out ..." Amen!
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URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS (Please keep checking as more are being added almost daily)