In Matthew 13:24-30 Jesus gave the parable of the wheat and the tares. Verse 25 says, “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.” That is a perfect description of how a fiery dart lie is sown into our hearts.

When God’s word is planted in our hearts, it becomes a sentinel to warn us to deflect fiery darts. If we are inattentive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, they will penetrate and drop into our heart. They then begin to feed the lies into our thought processes. 

In my experience, the lies come in a first person form of “I am not…” They also may come as an accusation against another. “They are so…” The darts are always demeaning, negative, and defeating.

2 Corinthians 10:4 reminds us that we are in a spiritual battle. It says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” Verse 5 says to bring every thought captive. Does it mean that we have to carefully examine every thought?

Our heart is the reservoir of what we believe. Romans 10:10 says, “For with the heart one believes…” Matthew 12:34 says, “…For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Matthew 15 is a discourse about inner defilement. Verse 19-20 says, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts…These are the things which defile…” Our thoughts either purify our heart, or they defile them.

Self-condemnation is rooted in enemy planted lies. Watch how the enemy seeks to subvert our relationship with the Lord. 1 John 3:21 says, “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.” Self-condemnation is a demonic weapon to undermine our confidence.

Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Verse 34 says, “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Self-condemnation was seeded through a fiery dart lie!

I read “Evidence Not Seen: A Woman’s Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II.” Darlene Deibler Rose was a missionary in New Guinea. Soon after Pearl Harbor, she and her husband were placed in separate Japanese prison camps.

I read biographies and autobiographies because they challenge my faith. Psalm 18:30 says, “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”

Verse 32 says, “It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.” He uses the trials of our lives to conform us to His image. As Job said, “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”

Psalm 15 teaches us how to maintain unshakable faith. Each verse highlights a portion of His way. Verse 5 ends with, “…He who does these things shall never be moved.” Psalm 16:8 says, “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”

I was thinking about the two sons. Their father had ordered each one to go work in the vineyard. The first son refused to go, but then later had a change of heart. The second son said that he would, but didn’t go. He lacked heart integrity. Neither obeyed from the heart. Matthew 21:28-30.

Remember King Saul? He disobeyed through compromise. 1 Samuel 15:22-23 says, “…Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…” Saul’s disobedience cost him his kingship.

The apostles were commanded to not speak the name of Jesus anymore. Acts 5:29 says, “But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: We ought to obey God rather than man.” In Acts 1:8, Jesus had told them, “…you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” They were obeying from the heart. We are commanded to carry out the great commission ~ it requires heart obedience.

I camped on ‘obeyed from the heart’ as I meditated on Romans 6:17. It says, “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” I like the Amplified in verse 18. It says, “…(of conformity to the divine will in thought, purpose, and action).”

Jesus was speaking to the scribes and Pharisees about inner defilement. Matthew 15:8 says, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” Paul called it eyeservice.

Ephesians 6:6 says, “Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” David wrote Psalm 86. We can echo his prayer in verse 11. It says, “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” 

Jesus had singleness of heart.  Hebrews 7:25 says of Jesus, “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

“Self” in front of a word, is a lie we have believed that feeds our flesh. Here are a few examples: self-protection, self-centered, self-made man, self-hatred, and self-rejection. Self is our flesh exerting itself that blocks the fruit of the Spirit.

Lies bear fruit. Hosea 10:13 says, “You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way…” Jeremiah 10:23 says, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”

Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Self is pride. James 4:6 says, “…God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Verse 10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” He saved us by His grace, and He desires us to live in His grace-strength through humility.

I read an account in Abraham Lincoln’s biography. He was in Lexington. He heard the story of a tall elegant slave woman being auctioned. There were two high bidders. One was a young American man, and the other was an older Frenchman. 

The bid kept getting higher and higher. Finally the Frenchman stopped at $1585.00. The auctioneer’s words were, “You got a mighty fine prize here. What are you going to do with her?” The young man shouted back, “Free her!”

Us. We were bound to satan’s slave block of sin. We could not free ourselves. Yet, Jesus paid for us with His shed blood. He set us free! John 8:36 says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” We have a New Master.

Romans 6:18 says, “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.”

1 Corinthians 3:12-13 says, “Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will be clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.”

We are created for good works. Ephesians 2:10. The Lord charted our course before time began. He chose us before He laid the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4. We came into this world with nothing, and we will take nothing away ~ except souls.

We are called to be evangelists. 2 Timothy 4:5. Jesus commanded His disciples in Mark 16:15. It applies to us today. It says, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” As we submit our hearts to follow the Holy Spirit, He will lead us to those whose hearts are prepared to hear the gospel.

If our thoughts are not righteous, we will be insensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. We will miss His still small voice through our preoccupation.

When I was young, my dad would say, “Turn off the lights when you leave the room. We are on an austerity program.” I thought of that in light of our time. Ephesians 5:16 says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

In a sense we are on an austerity program with our thoughts. Dialoguing with negativity is a waste of time. So is rehearsing things from the past that cannot be changed. These are the enemy’s counterfeit to meditating on God’s word.

Paul quoted Isaiah 49:9 in 2 Corinthians 6:2. It says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Joel 3:14 says, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”

We are living in unprecedented times. Are we redeeming it by being about our Father’s business? 1 Peter 1:17 says, “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves through the time of your stay here in fear.”

We have an enemy that uses deception to entrap us. He is a liar and cannot speak the truth. Therefore our inner weapon is God’s word hidden in our hearts. His words then become like an attentive sentinel on the wall. The well planned fiery dart is aiming for our mind. It is designed to penetrate and set up a hidden stronghold. 

As the suggestion comes to our mind, God’s hidden word discerns the lie. His truth within us deflects the fiery dart. However, according to James 1:14, if we have been entertaining sinful thoughts, the lie of the fiery dart entices us and the trap door closes.

2 Timothy 2:26 is very picturesque. It says, “And that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” The devil’s will always opposes God’s will.

As we consistently read God’s word, the Holy Spirit will reveal what hidden lies stealthy taunt us. He exposes those self-demoralizing thoughts which are keeping us bound. We then must renounce (disown) them. 2 Corinthians 4:2.