Hi Phil, I want to tell you that when you left I knew I would miss your
articles and I did so I'm glad your back and also I agree with what your
saying and thank you for that because yesterday when I was sitting here
thinking with not much to do I sudenly thought of my past marriage as I said
I think before.  Well, I knew it for what it was and immediately stood up
and did something to get my mind off and prayed.  I knew it for the lie it
was but I need to tell you that if I had not read some of your articles on
spiritual battles and stuff I would not have known and would probably have
sunk deeper into despair.

Lelia


----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2004 10:06 PM
Subject: Living On Lies


> Well, I haven't posted any articles for some time because I haven't been
> working on any until the last couple of days.  I have also been spending
> most of my free time writing a Christian novel and in the last two weeks,
> have written about 75,000 words all together.  Deciding it was time I make
> people mad at me once again, here is another article I trust will set you
> free in areas you never personally considered.  Some of the information
you
> have already read in my other testimonial articles but read it any way.  I
> try to explain a little more about how we live on lies even as Christians.
> This isn't exactly the final copy that will go on my website but I only
see
> a few minor changes I will make before posting it there.
>
>
> Believing The Lies Of Satan
>
>                          By Phil Scovell
>
>
>
>      A teenage friend of mine and I were walking down the street
> together after school.  We were just passing in front of the
> church where we were both members.  a car pulled up.  A man wound
> down his window and said, "Say, boys.  I am looking for the
> location of an automobile dealership in this area."  He then
> called the dealership by name and said, "Do you know how to tell
> me how to get there from here?"  I had heard of that car
> dealership but I had no idea where it was.  My friend, who had
> lived in the neighborhood all his life, said, "Sure, I know where
> it is," and he proceeded to tell the man where to turn, right and
> left, and what streets to look for.  The man thanked my friend and
> pulled away.
>
>      I said, "I didn't know you knew where that dealership was
> because I sure didn't."
>
>      He said, laughing, "I didn't."
>
>      "You didn't know where it was?" I asked; surprised.
>
>      "Nope," he answered."
>
>      "So why," I asked, "did you give him such detailed
> instructions when you didn't know where it was?"
>
>      "Just to send him on a wild goose chase," he grinned.
>
>      Now, I know you would never have a friend like this nor
> would you ever do something like this.  I certainly never would,
> especially being the fine outstanding and upright Christian that I
> am.  All of that aside, I told this, somewhat, embarrassing,
> childhood story for a perfectly good reason.  It has to do with
> how we live even as Christians.
>
>      In my true story, the driver of the car honestly thought he
> was being given correct instructions. So he believed in them.  He
> likely followed them to the letter, too.  Why wouldn't he?  He
> believe them to be true.  Regardless how much he believed,
> however, he ended up in the wrong place down the road because he
> believed a lie.  What do you suppose might have been his reaction
> upon making his discovery?  Frustration?  disappointment?
> discouragement?  Despondency?  Anger?  Hatred?  Perhaps even
> revenge?
>
>      Let's compare this story to a typical scenario by way of
> illustration.
>
>      A child grows up in a home where love is never experienced
> from his parents in any tangible or emotional way.  Furthermore,
> he never sees love expressed between his parents.  Let's suggest,
> furthermore, he is basically ignored by his parents overall
> unless, of course, he gets into trouble; then he definitely gets
> attention.
>
>      You can now expand this story illustration into any scenario
> you wish because the possibilities are endless.  Would you say
> this child just might grow up thinking his, or she, wasn't loved
> and this was probably due to the fact they weren't smart, good
> looking, creative, intelligent, popular, valuable, or even
> wanted?  What if the person happens to be handicapped in some
> way, educably slow, physically abnormal in some way, was clumsy,
> had a speech impediment, wore thick glasses, or perhaps hearing
> aids?  What might you think the possibilities would be this child
> would grow up with, to say the least, some form of inferiority?
> Well, you don't have to be a rocket scientist, a psychologist, a
> psychiatrist, a pastor of a large church, the president of a
> prodigious Bible Seminary or even an herbalist  to calculate the
> chances are super high he will face something of the nature of
> inferiority in his life.  Why would he, or should he, suffer such
> emotional pain?  I mean, those reasons were all false.  Right?  So
> why would there be an emotional or psychological response to
> something false and untrue?  Are his parents to blame?  Is it his
> fault?  Couldn't he have done better or changed and improved in
> some way?  Maybe it was God's fault.  After all, God is in charge
> of who is born to whom.  Right?  Couldn't a loving caring god have
> given him better parents?  Couldn't God have made him in such a
> way that his parents would be proud of him instead of burdened by
> him?  If so, why didn't God do any of these things?  Regardless of
> your answer, what about the boy who grows up with feelings of
> inferiority?  Is he doomed to thinking about himself the way he
> does or can he read a couple of hundred self help books, a few
> dozen books on psychology, and watch a hundred positive thinking
> videos to overcome his inferiority?  What about drugs?  Can't they
> help?:  Can he not visit a psychologist or psychiatrist a few
> dozen times to be taught skills which will enable him, at the very
> least, to cope, or even quite possibly, to overcome his
> inferiority complex?  I mean, millions are made on such self
> esteem books so if self esteem is all that is needed, then what's
> the problem?  All he needs is to believe.  Right?  It is sort of
> like all the miracle hair growth products.  Any one of them
> guarantees to work or your money back.  So if even one of them is
> true, why do we still have bald men running around loose and
> scaring the begeebers out of unsuspecting innocent bystanders?
>
>      Concerning Christianity and Biblical evidence, if the Bible
> says, "Fear thou not, for I am with thee," (Isaiah 41:10), then
> why would we be afraid of anything.  If we are afraid, is that due
> to unbelief of God's Word on our behalf?  "And be not dismayed,
> for I am thy God," (Isaiah 41:10).  The word "dismayed" is the
> word for discouragement or literally to gaze about anxiously.
> Actually, if you simply study the word "dismayed," it is clear the
> Bible is talking about depression.  So, if we are commanded not to
> be depressed and we are depressed, are we committing the sin of
> unbelief?  Maybe I should quote the rest of the verse, too.  "I
> will strengthen thee; yeh, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold
> thee with the right hand of my righteousness."  Of course, you
> likely know this is only a single verse of promise in the Bible.
> The Book is full of such promises.
>
>      The bottom line is this.  If the promises of God are true,
> and they are, and if God promises to give us strength and help to
> the extent of even holding us up by the power and authority of His
> right hand of His own righteousness, what is, therefore, wrong
> with us that we cannot seemingly rise above our inferiority's,
> depressions, anxieties, posttraumatic Stress Disorders, Obsessive
> Compulsive Disorders, bulimia and anorexia, or anything else you
> want to add to this list?  Yes, there is an answer and one which
> is Biblically absolute.
>
>      In my earlier example, my friend played a childhood prank on
> a man who believed he was hearing the truth.  The man did not
> realize he was being literally lied to at the time.  Thus, he was,
> in fact, innocent.  He did, of course, find out later he had
> believed a lie.  If you are depressed and experiencing fear, you
> are believing a lie.  If you suffer from doubts and insecurities,
> you are believing a lie.  If you feel inferior and you don't feel
> anybody likes or loves you because of who and what you are, or are
> not, you are believing a lie.  If you are angry because you have
> been rejected time and time again, and your pain is just simply
> more than you can bear, you are believing a lie.
>
>      Now, about this time, some Christian gets good and mad
> because they have been a Christian since they were little and
> going to Sunday school.  They have, therefore, almost their entire
> life, believed the Bible and specifically, the promises of God's
> Word.  The anger cranks up another notch or two when you say, then
> why are you afraid, fearful, doubtful, and a dozen other things
> which the Bible says you should not be.  The reason for the anger
> is because they think, when you talk this way, you are blaming
> them for not believing God's Word.  That's the way I lived my
> Christian life for 45 years as a born again Christian until I
> discovered I had been lied to by the Enemy.  Once those lies were
> exposed and removed, the real truth, God's eternal Word, began to
> work in places of my life where it never had worked before.  Let
> me show you what I mean.
>
>      When anxiety and panic attacks began controlling my life, it
> was after I had been born again more than 35 years.  When I began
> hearing voices, things grew worse.  Eventually the voices got
> around to suggesting that I commit suicide.  I drew the line at
> taking my own life simply because I was too big of a chicken to
> figure something out that I could do that wouldn't hurt.
> Learning they could not tempt me with killing myself, they
> suggested I kill my wife instead.  That one got my attention and
> the anxiety and panic attacks and nightmares blew off the scale.
> By the way, try telling either one of those things I just
> mentioned to your pastor, a Christian counselor, psychologist,
> psychiatrist, or any mental health provider and see what happens
> next.
>
>      If you are wondering how all this began, we discovered we had
> a witch in the church I was pastoring.  I knew nothing about
> demons, witches, warlocks, Satanists, or the occult other than it
> was evil and that a smart Christian should stay away from anything
> of this nature.  So I did, I thought.  I did not know at this
> time, unfortunately, that such people can come after you; by using
> their craft to destroy you and your church and your family.
>
>      By this time, of course, I had already been to Bible college
> and been preaching for more than 25 years.  I had read the Bible
> more than 100 times.  I had committed hundreds of Bible verses to
> memory.  I had led many people to Christ.  I had seen several
> hundred people walk down the aisles after my sermons to receive
> prayer and to make things right in their lives with God.  I had
> preached in several states and in many churches and in Bible
> conferences.   I had even been a youth pastor in one church and
> the pastor in another church when I began hearing voices.  Yes, I
> knew those voices were demons.  It took me awhile to learn this
> but after I recognized it for what it was worth, I fought against
> it with God's Word and the name of Jesus Christ.  They did not
> leave.  Yet, I still believe God and His Word but God's Word was
> not working.
>
>      Some suggest at this point that you are not confessing God's
> Word enough.  Some suggest you just aren't believing it because,
> they say, if you really really really believed it, this wouldn't
> be happening.  Some suggest you aren't even born again and that's
> why it isn't working for you.  Some suggest you aren't in the
> right church with the right pastor or reading the right
> translation of the Bible.  Some suggest your depression is
> inherited.  Your father had it and his father before him and now
> it's your turn.  Some offer the idea you are chemically imbalanced
> and your serotonin levels are all out of whack and certain drugs
> will save the day for you.  My problems went a whole lot further
> than that.
>
>      If, for example, you are being demonically attacked, as a
> born again Christian with all the authority of Christ behind you
> and confirmed again and again through the Word of God, you should
> be able to tell demons to leave you alone.  Right?  I stayed up
> all night doing this more than once and sometimes they would go
> away and then the next day they would return.  What about the
> truth of God's Word?  I meaN, if it says, we can cast out devils,
> why don't they leave and why don't they stay away?  I am one of
> the Lord's disciples, so what was wrong?  Why would they return?
>
>      In my case, I discovered through agreement in intercessory
> prayer with a friend, that I had misinformation in my mind which
> was implanted at times I was unable to process the truth.  Like
> the man in his car looking for the truth, he had no other choice
> but to believe the directions he heard.  To whom you listen makes
> all the difference in the world of what you believe.  If you are
> unawares of who is doing the talking, you can be deceived and
> deceived quite easily and quite innocently.
>
>      My situation began as a child when I was 11 years young.  My
> father had just died and six months later, I began having problems
> with my retinas.  Multiple surgeries were performed and my vision
> deteriorated after each one.  I was finally pronounced totally
> blind and sent home on the exact same day my father died a year
> earlier.
>
>      While in the hospital, everything was strange to me as a
> child.  My mother was with me most of the time but we were over
> 100 miles from our home.  We had friends in the hospital town with
> whom my mom was able to stay at night but many times, I felt and
> sensed loneliness all around me.  I never once remember of
> thinking of my dad during this time but I know I must have thought
> of him because this was the very hospital to which he was taken
> when his eyes were operated on a few years earlier and for the
> same reason.
>
>      In one prayer session with my prayer partner, we began with
> anger.  A super intense anger had been generated within me, which
> I had seen in action before over the years, but I never knew why
> it hurt so much.  It always took a lot to get me mad but when I
> finally reached that point, my anger was hot and sharp.
>
>      One day, someone accused me of something that was untrue.  I
> had always noticed that any such accusations which were false that
> were related to my character, easily brought my anger to the
> boiling point instantly.  Until this particular prayer time, I
> never knew why.  As we began to pray, I saw myself back in the
> hospital.  The anger had taken me there and there were some
> elements of anger that were rooted there as the Holy Spirit
> revealed truth to me.  For one, I was angry with God that He let
> me go blind.  He could have changed it.  He could have kept me
> from losing my sight.  It was His fault, then.  As we prayed, I
> could feel the anger in a little boy's heart who was confused
> about why such a terrible thing was happening to him.
>
>      As we continued to pray together, the Holy Spirit revealed
> another point of anger; the death of my father.  Why did God let
> my dad die?  I needed my dad now and God took him away from me.  I
> saw God in my dad and I wanted to be just like my dad and love God
> and love His Word but now my dad was dead and God took him.
> That's what all the grownups said; God took him home.  Why God?
> Why did you take my dad from me?  How can I see you now without my
> dad?
>
>      We pressed on with more intercessory prayer and I saw my mom
> suffering and afraid and lonely herself.  I couldn't help her.
> Why did God take dad away?  Why did God hurt my mom?  Anger burned
> and seared deep.
>
>      Then, suddenly, a truth came to me that I had never wanted to
> face in my life.  I had never felt God's love for me.  I knew He
> loved me theologically and intellectually and spiritually.  I had
> experienced some magnificent spiritual things that only a loving
> caring God would have allowed me to experience in the spiritual
> realm.  Yet, I could not feel His love.  Now, in prayer, I was
> standing at my own bedside forty years earlier and the Holy
> Spirit touched that painful woundedness of my life and I wept.
> Fear tried to tell me that this was the focal point but I would
> never get to know the truth.  It was another feeble attempt by the
> Enemy to misdirect me once again but it failed.
>
>      The Holy Spirit revealed God's truth to me.  He had been
> there with me all the time.  It wasn't His fault and He wasn't mad
> at me even though I had been mad at Him.  He spoke to me in a
> split second of time, faster than the speed of light, and revealed
> the truth about what was wrong.  I was looking for His love on the
> outside; He said, "You should be looking on the inside for my love
> for you because that is where I am.  I am love and I dwell within
> you."  The chains were broken that had bound my emotions for
> nearly forty years.  Then God showed me why I thought the way I
> did and why I believed the lies instead of the truth in His
> eternal Word.
>
>      As I stood and watched in my memory of that hospital bed
> where I helplessly lay, a demon appeared; amorphous, dark, and
> evil.  He was bent over at the waist as if he were talking to me
> on the bed and though I heard nothing, I felt his lying words of
> deceit as he took advantage of a little boy who had already been
> traumatized by events over which he had no control.
>
>      We continued to pray together and suddenly all was gone.
> The room felt empty and I was so very much alone.  Then I knew
> where my loneliness had come from all my life.  Yes, I had a
> family and I had many friends, yet, I was totally alone.  The
> loneliness pressed in upon me and I was helpless to feel anything
> other than the loneliness.
>
>      We prayed and suddenly, I was no longer in the hospital but
> standing at the final graveside service for my dad.  The Holy
> Spirit, through the loneliness, let me feel the anger.  This was
> the origin of my anger toward God.  I prayed and gave it to the
> Lord and it vanished.  That memory had no more woundedness
> because I had been healed completely through the Lord speaking His
> truth to me.
>
>      Returning to the hospital memory in order to see if we had
> missed anything, I felt a small amount of anger still lingering.
> My prayer partner and I asked the Lord about it and the Holy
> Spirit explained that we were friends and sometimes friends have
> misunderstandings which occur for various reasons in their
> relationship with each other.  He explained to the little boy back
> in the hospital room that He understood why I had been angry and
> that I had been lied to and deceived into believing lies about
> Him.  He told the little boy, He wasn't angry at him for being
> angry and it was all over now because we were friends.  I left
> that place with the Lord and He told me that we were never coming
> back again.
>
>      I was often told through my life that I was a shy person.
> What I felt was less than wholeness in my life and I felt
> inferior.  I secretly wondered if God truly loved me because I
> never felt His love for me.  I felt shame for the things I felt in
> my heart about the Lord but I couldn't explain what I felt nor
> would I have understood it even if I could explain it.  So Jesus,
> explained it to me through agreement of prayer and the renewing of
> the mind, who searches the hearts, because He, Jesus, knows the
> mind of the Holy Spirit, since He, the True Lord Jesus Christ,
> makes intercession for us according to the will of God.  Thus says
> Romans 8:26-27 which reads, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our
> infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:
> but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings
> which cannot be uttered.  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth
> what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for
> the saints according to the will of God."
>
>      How did the Lord Jesus reveal the lies to me so I could see
> what He saw?  the answer is simple; agreement through intercessory
> prayer.  Jesus said, "Again I say unto you, That if two of you
> shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it
> shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven," Matthew
> 18:19).  Either God's Word is true or we have been misled, given
> wrong directions, and now, the True Lord Jesus Christ, wants us to
> find Him in His Word.
>
>      Have you found the true God who never lies but always tells
> you the truth?  Have you been given the wrong directions?  Are you
> lost even as a Christian?  Do every day experiences bring up
> terrible and horrible woundedness that you just cannot explain?
> Do you still suffer from things the doctors still are unable to
> help you resolve? Are the drugs just helping you cope?  Do you
> want to be free?  If so, call me.  I'll introduce you to the same
> God who healed my woundedness, silenced the voices, and flew kites
> with me.
>
> Safe Place Fellowship
> Phil Scovell
> Denver, Colorado - Mountain Time Zone
> Phone:  303-507-5175
>
>