Beware of the Voice of the Devil

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do…When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it (John 8:44, KJV)

I have written a handful of devotionals about the voice of God. As a Christian, hearing God’s voice is critical. However, let me point out another voice that is essential to recognize because it is responsible for the majority of our problems. It is the voice of the devil.

Jesus said above that the devil speaks lies, and he is the father of lies. An important question to ask here is this: who are those the devil speaks to? There is no doubt he speaks to us, humans. How does the devil speak to us? What does He tell us?

Satan is spirit, just as God is spirit. This is critical because that implies they will speak to us from within in the same manner. First, I want you to immediately realize that when the scriptures talk about Satan or God speaking in THIS context, it is NOT referring to an audible voice. If you are not sure about how God speaks to us from within us, please read this devotional “hearing God’s voice”.

In the verse above, Jesus said something that truly would have also offended us. He said the devil was the father of the Jews that were listening to Him. He was not saying those jews were possessed or under some demonic oppression. He meant they were being influenced by the evil one. Satan influenced them by speaking lies to them, and Jesus gives us one of those lies right in the same verse: lusts. Lust, evil controlling desire, is a voice of the devil spoken in the heart of a person. We are all familiar with the voice of the devil in this context. What about that “voice” that told you God does not accept you? Or the thought that is telling an adolescent to commit suicide because they are worthless? Maybe it is a man with a strong lust for a woman he is not married to that makes him feel as though he will die if he does not go to bed with her though God’s word clearly forbids it. Satan can influence us through our thoughts, emotions, desires, and motivations. These influences are “his voice” that Jesus was referring to above. The same voice that deceived Eve is still speaking to us in different ways today, except that it is from within. Beware the voice of the devil.