Like many of you, I struggle with difficult, concerning, or painful thoughts.

Several years ago I was going through an especially hard and painful season; my mother had died suddenly in a horse accident on our family ranch, our daughter was leaving for college & I felt unprepared to see her go,. In addition, my marriage was in a rough and hurting place. I was at a vulnerable point where grief, anger, fear, and disappointment had left me wide open to Satan’s attacks on my thought life. 

As I took each of those hard things and allowed them to twist and turn around in my head, I became a victim of the lies the enemy was throwing at me. As a result, I found myself stuck in a cycle of discouragement and defeat; what I felt was taking precedence over what I knew was true, and because I had allowed Satan’s lies to be planted, it was causing roots of bitterness, depression, anxiety, anger, and discontentment. 

And all of those feelings were affecting the way I was acting. 

I felt bitter, so I acted harshly. 

I felt depressed, so I wallowed in sadness.

I felt anxious, so I reacted in fear. 

I felt anger, so I lashed out in irritability.

I felt discontent, so I complained & whined about my situation.

The cycle went round and round until I understood that I would never get out of that place of captivity and defeat if I didn’t start looking to God and His Word. I saw the importance of knowing the difference between what He says is true versus what my feelings were telling me was true.

What I felt just fed into what Satan wanted me to believe was true, and at the very foundation of all those troubling thought patterns, distressing attitudes, and sinful actions were lies…lies that were keeping me in bondage and turmoil. 

I realized I desperately wanted freedom from those lies and desired to live out a faith that glorified Christ, not my emotions. The words of John 8:32 came to mind: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Taking out a spiral notebook, I wrote across the front of it, “The Truth Journal,” and began to write down all the thoughts that were giving me trouble, what lies I was holding on to, what the facts about each situation were, and what God’s Word said was true. Finally, I wrote out a prayer that God would defeat the enemy’s lies and replace them with His truth. 

This practice helped me to settle God’s truth in my head and protect my heart so Satan’s lies couldn’t assault and penetrate. 

I needed to remind myself that I wasn’t a victim in this battle, but because of Christ, I was already victorious!

Why I Created the Truth Journal

This was why I created The Truth Journal, A 30-Day Guided Journal to Combat the Lies of the Enemy With the Truth of God’s Word.

Because we all need the assurance that following Jesus means that we will know a steadfast and never changing kind of truth. The type of truth that sets us free – free from the thoughts that entangle and trap and free to walk in joy, peace, and contentment. Freedom to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and anything excellent or praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). 

For our thoughts to be appropriate and healthy, we must look first at what is true.

The truth found in God:

“God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:25-26). Through the repentance that God offers, we will no longer be deceived by Satan’s snares but will come to our senses and find freedom from the bondage of the devil’s work. Sometimes we don’t like hearing the truth because it hurts, and repentance is not comfortable, but I have experienced in my life that obedience to the truth of God’s word is the only path to blessing, even if it requires correction.

The truth found in Jesus:

“But that is not the way you learned Christ! – Assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus.” (Ephesians 4:20-21). Jesus is the embodiment of truth; through Jesus, we learn the truth about who we are, the truth about sin and suffering, the truth about our righteousness in Him, and the truth about God’s purpose for us here on earth. Through Jesus, we understand how to love God and one another. We come to a true understanding of heaven and hell. All the truth that we need to lead a life of godliness centers around the reality of Who Jesus is.

The truth found in the Holy Spirit:

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” (John 16:13a). God sent the Holy Spirit to us to continue to personally guide us in what is true, which is never in opposition to what we find in Scripture. He gives us the knowledge of “all the truth” found in the Person of Jesus, the significance of all that Jesus said and did. However, there are some truths that we just cannot comprehend until we have the help of the Holy Spirit to discern and know them. The guidance of the Holy Spirit reveals truth to us.

And the truth found in God’s Word:

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17). God’s truth is what “sanctifies” us (sets us apart) as His people. When His truth is our reality, we will have lives that look very different from the World. We are set apart and devoted to God by it. Jesus didn’t leave us alone to try and sanctify ourselves. He prayed that God would work in and through us. His truth is the key to the force behind our sanctification. The truth found in the Word of God is read, heard, understood, and then applied.

When we begin to sift all those troubling and sinful thoughts through the sieve of truth, we can swap those lies for what is right and good, proper and moral, uncontaminated and beautiful, commendable and brave, anything that is exceptional and worth praising!

Because what we allow into our minds will ultimately determine what comes out of our mouths and will drive our actions, eventually affecting our relationships, jobs or ministries, physical health, and mental well-being. 

Satan has never changed his game plan, maybe just his tactics from time to time. From the very beginning, the enemy has attempted to usurp God’s plan and best for us by deceiving us into asking if God really means what He says. Satan’s very first attack was aimed at the Word of God. If he can make us confused about what God says or plant seeds of doubt in our minds, then he has almost won the battle! 

From the beginning, Satan has attempted to undermine God. And the enemy doesn’t have to try very hard to cause us to doubt Him. All he has to do to undermine God’s Word is to get us to neglect it.

Without the knowledge that God’s Word is always true, we will quickly be deceived into believing lies such as:

• I’m no good to anyone.
• I can’t get anything right.
• There’s no hope for my marriage. 
• I’m a failure with my children.
• I have no gifts or talents.
• My grief is too much; I’ll never get over it
• My anger is uncontrollable
• No one thinks I’m worth spending time with
• I’m a mess
• God can’t use me because I’m too weak
• There’s no hope for this situation
• There is so much to fear
• I need to control this situation
• I’m too awkward to do what God is asking
• No one wants to hear what I have to say
• I’m invisible
• Life has no meaning
• I will never conquer this sin
• This food or drink or drug or person will help me feel better about myself

These lies will keep us paralyzed and ineffective. This is EXACTLY where the enemy wants us! He wants to keep us from being a vessel that God can use by making us a vessel of lies and damaging thoughts. 

Yet, when we go to God’s Word for truth, for knowledge of His character, His will and how He works that will out, who we are in Him, and what His good and perfect plans are, we can stop Satan’s lies in its tracks, causing his arrows of deceit to fall flat to the ground without hitting their mark. When we have the belt of truth buckled around our waist (Ephesians 6:14), we have the protection we need to prevent those attacks.

But we MUST be in God’s Word consistently to discern the truth from a lie. We MUST read the entire scope of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation to recognize what is correct and what is false. 

One of the main ways Federal Agents are trained to spot counterfeit money is by spending countless hours looking at the real deal. You’d think it would make more sense for them to spend time analyzing and studying the counterfeit bills so they would know what to look for; but instead, they focus on what is real, what is true, so if a counterfeit is brought before them they can discern it for what it is – fake. 

The same is true with what we put into our thoughts. If we focus on what we know to be true – God’s Word – then we are better able to discern what is false immediately when Satan tries to hit us with those lies. 

A constant and consistent practice of spending time in the Bible is the BEST DEFENSE we have against the ploys of the devil. 

Then we can discern what is true and what is false, and if those thoughts are true but still troubling – possibly because of conviction of sin or wrongdoing – we can go to God, and He will always draw us back to the path of obedience. Because we recognize that the greatest truth we can know is that God is a forgiver of those who confess their sins and repent. 

Truth matters to me because I have experienced how dark and depressing it can be to believe those lies. How hopeless and discouraging it is when I allow my thoughts and feelings to be affected by Satan’s deception, and when I let those thoughts and feelings drive me, my actions and attitudes are harmful to myself and others and no earthly good to God’s Kingdom. 

If you or someone you love struggle with similar tendencies, if your thoughts have stolen your peace and negatively affected your life, then can I suggest you grab a copy of The Truth Journal for yourself or as a gift for someone you know that could use a good reminder of how powerful God’s truth is in the lives of His people. I genuinely believe that, like me, you will find the immense value of how much Truth matters!

Do you struggle with the thoughts and feelings milling around in your mind? Do you feel like Satan has filled your head with what isn’t true, and it affects the way you respond to hard situations? The Truth Journal, A 30-Day Guided Journal to Combat the Lies of the Enemy With the Truth of God’s Word, can help you keep God’s truth at the forefront of your thoughts and keep Satan from stealing your peace.

You can order The Truth Journal from Amazon or wherever books are sold.