Thank you, Hungry for God friends, who visited my new author website last week ( www.LoriHatcher.com) and left so many kind comments. Thank you, also, for being so patient as I work out the kinks in transitioning over from the old site to the new.

I realized from some of your comments (and a few unsubscribes, ouch) that I didn’t thoroughly explain that with the new website came a new blog title: Refresh — Rediscovering the Excitement of God’s Word. Fear not, the content will be the same — 5 minute devotions for people who are hungry for God but starving for time. I changed the title to better reflect the focus of my ministry and the Refresh series of books I’m working on with Our Daily Bread Publishing.

Forgive me for the confusion as you wondered where Hungry for God went and how you got signed up for something called REFRESH. As my mentor often says, “Communication, communication!”

You’ll also notice (I hope) that I changed the delivery day and time. For the foreseeable future, unless you tell me you hate it, I plan to email out the weekly devotion on Sunday evenings to set the tone for your upcoming week and be part of your weekend refreshment. Let me know what you think. I care. Remember, I write for YOU.

Have a marvelous week, and may God’s face shine upon you!

Lori

NOW, on to this week’s blog post:

When I was younger, I believed a lot of lies. And I’m not talking about the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus (oops, sorry, spoiler alert). 

I believed I’d be fulfilled if I chose the right career, happy if the cute guy in Algebra class asked me out, and secure if I earned plenty of money. 

I believed my parents were out-of-touch, my friends were all-knowing, and everyone else’s family was way cooler than mine. 

I believed education was the key to success, women’s liberation would set me free, and faith was quaint and outdated. 

Most of all, I believed I was the master of my destiny. 

Then I discovered the Truth.

I discovered I’d been looking at life upside down and believing lies that originated in the dawn of time. Genesis 3:1 contains history’s first lie, one humanity has been happily swallowing since. 

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’” 

There you have it – the essence of mankind’s deception, in one tiny little sentence. God is lying to you.

Such a simple plan, yet so fatally effective – get Adam and Eve to doubt God’s Word, and they’re sunk. Finished. Destroyed. And not only them, but their descendants to thousands of generations. Satan for the win! No wonder Jesus called him, “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). 

It’s easy to see Adam and Eve’s error from our 21st-century perspective. We look down our theologically-superior noses and wonder how they could be so gullible. Trust a talking snake instead of the God who made them? You’ve got to be kidding. 

Yet if we’re not careful, we eagerly sink our teeth into the same deceptive fruit as our forefathers. Every time we think or act contrary to God’s Word, we stand shoulder to shoulder with Adam and Eve, nodding our bobble-heads to Satan’s lies. 

You can’t afford to give to God’s work. Let the rich people donate. 

Stay in that difficult marriage? You deserve someone who treats you better. 

Believe God can soften that wayward child’s heart? Give up, and quit praying. 

Work hard, be honest, and put others before yourself? You’ll never get ahead that way. 

Trust God to redeem the bad/sad/broken parts of your life? Forget it. Your life is too messed up to fix. 

Pray instead of taking matters into your own hands? What a waste of time. 

A new year has begun, one filled with choices. At the root of every circumstance and situation is the question Satan asked: “Did God really say . . .? Who are you going to believe – me or God?” 

When I was 18 years old, I rejected the lies in favor of the Truth. I placed my faith in Jesus Christ and committed my life to following him. I acknowledged the truth — that he was the master of my destiny. But that was only the beginning of walking by faith. 

Every day since, I face the same choice. You do, too. Who are we going to believe? Every decision we make and every action we take boils down to this question.

Whatever you’re facing right now, God’s Word has the answer, and you can trust it.

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). 

And so I ask, Who will you believe today?

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