Lies can be very persuasive. Rupert approached me and said he had something to tell me about Phil, a mutual friend, in confidence. Of course. I didn't stop him in time. He then told me some vicious gossip, politely broke away from Rupert and immediately dismissed the gossip. I know Phil.

I've known him for a long, long time. He's a good man. It couldn't be true. The next time I saw Phil, immediately the gossip popped into my mind. In fact, I wasn't as comfortable around Phil as I used to be. Over time, with many interactions with Phil, the toxic effect of that gossip wore off.

Toxic thoughts pop into our heads about ourselves, about God, and about other people. If we let them linger in our minds and hearts, we poison our own well of thoughts. Repeated thoughts become beliefs and then we are truly deceived. Look for the lie. Satan is a liar. It's his best weapon.

And people are ridiculously gullible. Yeah, me too. God knows that about us. He's been watching people for thousands of years. That's why not only did God send his Son to pay for human sin and folly, but he also sent Holy Spirit to move into us Christians to guide us into all truth.

As it says in John 16:13, we have a built in lie detector Holy Spirit. He reveals lies to us. Replace lies with truth. The first line of defense against lies in our thoughts is God's word. The Bible. In Matthew 4, Satan came into the desert to tempt Jesus who was weak from 40 days of fasting.

And an angel answer to every twisted thing that Satan said. Jesus had the same answer in Matthew 4, verses 3 and 4. Now when the tempter came to him, he said, if you're the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But he answered and said, it is written, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Jesus showed us how to answer. Satan's lies is written in a Bible verse. The truth defeated Satan every time it is written. And a scripture needs to be our answer to every lie that opens the door of our minds and hearts and tries to move in. Look for the lie.

Replace it with truth activation. Renew your minds by declaring Bible truth. Satan, the father of lies, appeared to Adam and Eve as a snake. His eyes are like snakebites.

It's not enough to chase away the snake. The poison is in us. We need an antidote. God's word is the antidote.