I live in a flood zone.

Recently my hometown of Monroe, Louisiana experienced devastating floods. It was heartbreaking to watch it unfold on the news and hear week after week that more rain inundated the area preventing standing water from draining. As flood waters began to rise, thousands were displaced as their homes took in anywhere from 20 to 60 inches of water. Hundreds of homes were underwater for nearly six weeks.

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As water levels began to recede, the clean-up started. Teams and crews tirelessly worked to empty salvageable homes, dumping carpet, cabinets, furniture and sheet rock at the curb. And as they cleaned out their homes, many found shocking surprises. Some found an alligator in their yard. Others discovered snakes hiding in showers, behind furniture, in the nooks and crannies of their garage and in cabinets – both high and low – tucked in pots and bowls.

So much wildlife had been displaced by flooding. Flood waters carried snakes and alligators into populated areas where they are not normally seen – like in houses – causing residents to rely on experts to help them remove the unwanted guest.

Insert “shudder” here. The only thing I hate more than broccoli is snakes.

As I thought about how horrible it is to stumble upon a snake – (I’ve been caught unaware by a snake on several occasions) – I realized what Truth this situation contains.

I realized I’m living in a flood zone. I have invited Abba to fill my life. As a result, He has begun to rain on me filling me with Himself. As His Presence fills my life to capacity, flooding every area with His glory, it begins to displace things in my life. And as a result, I begin to see things that I would not normally see. Things start to show up in attitudes, emotions and mind-sets where they had not previously been. Things I was once unaware of are now in plain site. His presence flooding my life is shifting things.

And what surfaces the most? Lies. Lies I believe about God. Lies about His character. Lies about His love. Lies about how God operates and interacts with humanity. Lies I believe about myself. Lies I believe about Christianity. Lies about church. His presence filling my life causes those lies to surface and become obvious.

The enemy also takes advantage of this flooding and tries to slip lies in about my experiences and encounters with Abba. Suggesting all types of lies about Abba’s voice, presence and movement in my life.

Now, lies are just like snakes and I hate them just as much. They slither in unnoticed and hide in unexpected places. And sometimes they look harmless. Like the insidious little coral snake that is indigenous to Louisiana. It’s small and very colorful. It doesn’t look  like your typical snake. Its bite at first seems anticlimactic. There is little pain or swelling – you may not even know you’ve been bitten. And symptoms of the bite can be delayed up to 12 hours. However, even though the bite seems uneventful, the neurotoxin is deadly. The venom causes disruption between the brain and muscles causing slurred speech, double vision, paralysis and eventually ending in respiratory or cardiac failure.

That’s exactly how lies operate. Very seldom do you realize you’ve been bitten by a lie. And you never realize you believe a lie. The effects of believing the lie are delayed. But given time, the deadly poison of the lie begins to spread and affects our speech, causing us to speak negatively and contrary to Truth. We can’t see clearly any longer because now we perceive reality through the lens of a lie. It paralyzes us, preventing us from taking action and rooting out the enemy. And eventually, a lie will lead to the death of Truth in that area of our life.

Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries recommends residents who encounter snakes in their homes call an expert to remove them. This is suggested because removal can be dangerous. If you don’t know what you’re doing, things could go from bad to worse real fast. But an expert knows exactly how to approach the snake and safely remove it from the home.

The same is true for us. When we discover a lie, we really have no idea how to remove it. And seldom can we detect Truth by our self. If we try to remove a lie and establish truth our self, we fall into greater deception. We need the help of the Expert to root the lie out. John 16:13 (NLT) says When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. Holy Spirit is the expert in removing lies. He removes the lie by revealing Truth. Truth is the anti-venom to the lie. Truth is the cure. Jesus said that when we know the Truth, it will set us free. (John 8:32) The word “know” in this passage means to have intimate knowledge of. Information that you’ve accepted, internalized and absorbed. When He reveals it – you must embrace it.

And as we allow Truth to course through our being, it removes the fogginess of the lies, bringing clarity to our thinking. Knowing Truth fills our mouth with Truth so that we speak positively. We begin to see correctly because now we view life through the lens of Truth. Truth empowers us to use our authority in Christ to aggressively trounce our enemy. Truth brings life, renewal and healing to every part of our existence.

And then He teaches us how to live according to Truth so that the lie no longer carries any influence in our life. He teaches us how to incorporate Truth into our life so that it becomes the basis of everything we are. He teaches us how to get comfortable with Truth, so that we recognize any other lie that tries to slither in.

If you’ve given Abba permission to fill you with Himself, you’re living in a flood zone too. And as He floods your life with Him, lies are going to surface. It’s inevitable. Expect it. Don’t be shocked by it. Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed that you believed a lie. It happens to ALL of us. When you encounter it, call on Holy Spirit, reject the lie and ask Him to implant Truth. And He will.

BTW: Coral snakes are reclusive and generally bite humans only when handled or stepped on. They must literally chew on their victim to inject their venom fully and often they give “dry” bites. This means not every bite delivers venom, so most bites to humans don’t result in death. To know if you’ve encountered a coral snake, remember this rhyme: “Red on yellow will kill a fellow. Red on black is a friend of Jack”. My rule of thumb: avoid them ALL. 000087279dcb44fb2fcd1be2848bf662

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Comments 11

  1. This is my life….just substitute spiders for snakes…hahaha! I more you hear people share what God is bringing them through, the more you realize we areall the same. We have all traveled a road to get to this point in time, but praise God that he has always been with us- helping us even when we didn’t realize it. He is so faithful……I will choose to embrace change as it reveals itself because I desire to be exactly who He meant for me to be all along. I love you and appreciate everything you do for Him because I am reaping all the benefits! xxoo

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      Penny – I tried to include pictures of snakes in homes, garages, etc. Even a pic of the coral snake…..and I just couldn’t bring myself to do it!!

      You are so right – we are ALL the same, just different details. And I’m so thankful He is faithful to us all in our messy, complicated details – bringing healing and making us new 🙂

  2. That is by far the best blog I have ever read (including my own!). I live in a flood zone. The positive and negative elements you described is a great lesson for us all. Thanks

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      Thanks David. It was definitely a revelation from Holy Spirit and He inspired the writing. It came to me as I chatted with a friend several weeks ago about the lies they were struggling with. They are experiencing such a powerful, new chapter in their lives yet were bombarded with fear and lies about their self, ability, qualifications, etc. And as we talked, it all just unfolded in my head and flowed out of my mouth. It was revelation to me as I spoke the words. Isn’t He amazing?!

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