Headlines! Headlines!! Headlines!!!
For the past week, we have seen nothing but headlines, more headlines, and even more headlines. In fact, it’s impossible NOT to see them! On the TV, your phone, on your computer, no matter where, media outlets have found a way to be inside our everyday lives. We are constantly bombarded with headlines. Whether it’s news outlets, commercial ads, or social media posts, headlines are continuously thrown at us to grab our attention!! I took note of some of this week’s headlines: This Week’s Headlines:
- COVID numbers are on the rise
- Electoral votes under investigation
- COVID-19 vaccine on its way
- 15 countries sign world’s largest trade deal
- South Florida badly flooded by hurricane Eta
- Darkest days of pandemic are yet ahead
- Woman leaves many baffled for cooking steak in toaster!
- Climate change making parts of the US uninhabitable
- Hurricanes are lasting longer, staying stronger on land
- Mass killings in Ethiopia
- Lake Tahoe grizzly bear released after being arrested for “stealing groceries”
These are the headlines dominating the news cycle!! The headlines we see and hear everywhere have one thing in common: they are all one-sided!!
Facts about headlines:
• Headlines are used to grab our attention. The purpose is to get us to click the link, read the article, or purchase their product.
• Headlines always have an agenda behind them. If they can get you to click through and read the article then they know they can sell you.
• Headlines never tell the whole story. They are only trying to sell you on their side of the story, not the whole story. This is very similar to how the Devil works in our lives. He uses headlines to highlight certain parts of our life so that we only focus on it. Even though there is so much more to the story, he only wants us to see that one part. He did the very same thing with Adam and Eve.
Genesis 3:1-6 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” 6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. When you put it that way, it sounds a whole lot better then the way God made it sound! It makes it easier to take a few more steps toward that tree. It makes it easier to take pull the fruit off that tree. It makes it easier to take a bite out of that fruit called sin. But he won’t tell you that it will leave you broken, in pain, with guilt & shame, etc. • The devil uses headlines to divert our focus away from the truth and on to the story he wants us to believe. 2 Corinthians 11:3 “I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.”
• The devil uses facts without ever telling the truth John 8:44 “…there is no truth in him…because he is a liar and the father of lies.”
• The devil never tells the whole story. He only wants us to see part of the story.
• He only sells us enough for us to buy in to believing a lie that leaves us broken, damaged, afraid, etc.
Joseph Joseph had a lot of “headlines” in his life that could have easily been one-sided.
Headlines:
- Hated by his brothers
- Sold into slavery
- Accused of rape
- Thrown into prison
- Forgotten in a lonely pit Truth
- Loved by his father
- Favored by God and made overseer in Potiphar’s house
- Man of integrity that was innocent of wrong-doing
- Learned to thrive in unfavorable situations
- Elevated to the highest position under Pharaoh to minister good news to people in need.
That does not sound like a man who was believing the one-sided lies. Joseph didn’t listen to what the devil was telling him, instead he believed what God had promised him. Refuse to listen to the lies Satan is telling you. Choose to believe what God is promising you. Regardless of all the pits in his life, Joseph had the clarity of mind to say this: Genesis 50:20 As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people. What the devil meant for harm, God used for his good. It ultimately prepared him for his purpose; to reach the world with good news so that many could be saved. What the devil meant for harm/evil in your life, God will use to turn it into good. Romans 8:28 “And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.”
What is the truth?
• You get to choose what headlines to believe
• Don’t settle for the lies of the devil
• Activate your faith in God’s word
- “I am more than a conqueror in Christ”
- “God knows the plans he has for you”
- “God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes”
- “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ…”
- “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
- “I am a new creation in Christ, the old has gone and behold the new has come…”
• You may not get to write the story, but you do get to choose the headlines of your life
• Let go of the past - Don’t curse it - Don’t nurse it - Don’t rehearse it - And God will reverse it
• Embrace God’s present and future promises He has for you
• Use the word of God to re-define “One-Sided Headlines” in your life
• Romans 12:2 - “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”
• Let the word of God have the final say on what you will believe about God, yourself, others
Takeaways:
1. Identify the Lies
• Be watchful. Be on alert. Be careful what you allow yourself to meditate on.
• When you realize it’s a lie, take that thought captive right then and there! 2 Corinthians 10:5 “…and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
2. Declare the Truth
• Declarations are powerful!
• Declare the word of God over your life in faith!
3. Repeat it Continually
• Meditate on God’s word Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.”
• The word meditate in Hebrew means to “murmur” or “speak to oneself”
• What you think about the most, consumes you the most.
• Allow the word of God to consume you by meditating His promises.
