The Devil's Top 10 Lies to Hurting People (and how to fight back!)

10. You are all alone.

9. Nothing will ever change.

8. If God really loved you, you wouldn't be in so much pain.

7. You are too weak for this.

6. There is no purpose in your suffering.

5. What's the use? You might as well give up.

4. You are worthless, forgotten, and unlovable.

3. No one understands what you are going through.

2. You are a victim and have no power.

1. You have no hope.


How did Jesus fight the devil's accusations? He said, "It is written..."

10. He is with you.
"Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid."
Hebrew 13:5-6

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:20

9. He will bring newness and change to dead circumstances.
...the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
Romans 4:17

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
Revelation 21:5

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."
Isaiah 43:18-19

8. He allows pain to happen to his most cherished and loved children, most especially his Son.
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
1 Peter 4:12-13

"In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 16:33

Consider him (Jesus) who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:4

7. When you are weak, He is strong.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why for Christ's sake I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30

6. He has a perfect and important purpose for your pain.
"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Genesis 50:19

And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

5. Do not give up! He has a great reward for those who persevere!
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
Hebrews 10:35

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14

4. You have great worth, are never forgotten, and He dearly loves you.
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Luke 12:6-7

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:16-17

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands"
Isaiah 49:15-16

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14

3. He understands your pain perfectly because he himself suffered.
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 2:18

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:15-16

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
Psalm 139:1-4

2. You have the triumphant power of the resurrection living in you.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
1 John 4:4

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies, through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Romans 8:11

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13

Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:54-57

1. You have hope in Christ.
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade - kept in heaven for you
1 Peter 1:3-5

God has chosen to make known...the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:27

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:30-31



Job resisted the devil's lies by saying in faith...

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes - I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Job 19:25-27

Nick Vujicic

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they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them

There once was a man who had been rowing a boat, late at night, for a number of miles. The wind was against him, and no matter how much he strained with his friends, they just could not get that boat to the other side. Their problem lasted them through the wee hours of the morning-- well after 3am, when suddenly, Jesus appeared, walking on the water.

It was Peter who asked if he could come to the Lord-- to literally overcome this problem of the wind that had been plaguing him all night. And Jesus said to him, "Come."

When Peter got out of that boat, he was focused only on Christ. It was his Savior standing there that allowed him to walk above the struggle and confusion of the moment, in perfect peace. I noticed that Jesus didn't calm the wind and waves at this time, but instead, he called Peter to walk on despite the rough waves-- in the midst of the bad circumstances.

Peter started out okay. However, Peter's mind did what my mind does so often. Instead of continuing to focus on Jesus, he started thinking about the overwhelming wind. He was afraid. He became focused on the adversity instead of the anchor of faith. It was at that moment that Peter began to sink.

I think the most important verse in that whole story for me was "the wind was against them." Recognizing this story was about more than water and miracles has helped me tremendously to see the application to my own struggles. I've literally had circumstances "against me" for so long and have complained to God that what seems to come so easily for others is so often an obstructed, long, and burdened path for me. And I admit that I can frequently give my mind over to worry and fear—avoiding God and trying to outlast the pain on my own.

In this story, I see the only way to walk in peace through a storm is to keep my focus on my Creator. I see how one day off track-- neglecting my conversation with him-- can leave me sinking so quickly that I don't even know what hit me. I've been there recently, and I don't want to go back. The wind and waves may be against me, and I may row all night, but there is One to whom the fierce wind is nothing more than a breath. And he is calling me to come.

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."
Isaiah 26:3 (English Standard Version)