 You may not know it, but you may be believing lies about God. Those will have a detrimental effect on your relationship with Him. So today we dig into five lies about God and try to identify the lies that we're believing about Him in our own lives so that we can better pursue Him in a relationship with Him. Hey guys, what's up? It's Isaac David, and this is The Daily Disciple, where I hope you follow Jesus daily. If you're new to this channel, I put out videos every single week, so subscribe because I'm putting out new videos all the time. Huge shout out to everyone on Patreon that makes what I do possible. Thank you so much guys. Now, on to the video. You'd think that lies are easy to identify. You'd think that I would know if I'm believing something wrong about God and you can just fix it right away. No big issue. The problem is that we often believe things about God that are not true, and we don't know that they're not true, or that we're acting in ways that aren't aligning with the truth of who God is. So let's give an example here with digging into our first lie. God doesn't care about me. Most of you I think that are watching this video probably are like, no, I know kind of God cares about me. But the problem is that we act and behave in ways that prove that we actually don't believe that He cares about us. You know, I think about even how I operate in my daily life, how I engage with my finances, or how God is going to provide for me. And if I actually do truly believe that God cares about me, then I'm going to be thinking and operating in different ways than if I think that I'm on this path on my own. Because often it seems like maybe I approach every day where it's like, I'm, I just got to rely on me, you know, this hyper individualism, like it's up to me to make my life work. There's nobody else is going to watch out for me. Oh yeah, there's God, but it's about, you know, it's about doing what's necessary to make sure my life works. We almost see God as only transcendent, meaning that He's above creation, that He is all powerful, all holy, all good, and we're okay with understanding that. Yes, of course He is. But we don't understand His eminence, that He is with us, that He is interacting with us, that He is engaging with us, and He is present with us, and that He cares about you. Now, sometimes we'll put unrealistic expectations on God. Like God, if God truly cared about me, He would give me the job that I wanted, He would make it, so I wouldn't even have to worry about these issues in my life. So we put these expectations on God, and when He doesn't deliver, then we see that as evidence that He doesn't care. But God has demonstrated that He does care for us in the miraculous work of the Gospel, the fact that Jesus came to the earth fully God and fully man, leaving His throne on high to subject Himself to the pain and suffering of this world, and dying on the cross. Like that's crazy. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. If you think that God doesn't care about you, you're wrong. He does. In 1 Peter 5, 6-7, it says this, humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God, so then at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. You see, our anxieties will tell us that God is far away, that He doesn't care for us. Our anxieties lie to us and tell us we have to figure this life out on our own. But God is welcoming us today to lay our anxieties on our burdens and our worries on Him. That even though He doesn't fulfill every one of our expectations or what we might like Him to do in our lives, we know that He is a greater purpose at play. Line number two is, I already know enough about God and the Bible. This is really common if you grew up in church, you were exposed to the Bible stories and maybe you were in some sort of Bible memorization club like Iwana or a kids club where you learned about the Bible pretty thoroughly as a kid. And now maybe you're getting a little bit older, maybe a young adult and you're like, you know what? I kind of know what the Bible is about. I know the gospel. I know the Bible stories. I don't really need to spend that much more time on it. I'm more interested in reading other books or learning about other things. I thought this too for a little bit, but then I began to think a little bit more. You know, the gospel is so simple that a child can understand it. And yet the Bible is so complex in a way that scholars have been exploring it for millennia. Like they have no lack of things to explore within the confines of the Bible. And so, you know, me personally, one of my insecurities is that I actually don't think I know the Bible that well. Like I actually think there's so much more that I've yet to even tap into. And so even though sometimes I'm like, well, I kind of know what's up, even just like going to a book of the Bible that I've been to recently or maybe only read once. But let's talk about knowing God, like I know God enough. I know about God enough. Well, you wouldn't say that to a friend. Like if you had a friend and you were like, oh, hey, you know, I kind of know what you're about. Maybe they told me their life story. They told me what they do for a living. And you never hang out with them. You never, you know, spend time with them because you already know who they are. But you're forgetting like, well, that's not what a relationship is. It's not just about, okay, I'm going to like, you know, know the basic facts about you. And that's basically it. No, it's this kind of journey of exploring walking together. And then what you realize is as you continue to walk together through different circumstances, different experiences, you learn more about that person. Same with God. As you begin to walk through different experiences and circumstances of life, you will learn more about God, but you will only do that if you're walking with him, if you're spending time with him. Line number three is that God could never forgive me. This is so tough. Because I think some of us may believe this like really truly we think, okay, God could never forgive me. But just something I want to remind you is that like, do you believe in your heart that you are your sin? You've been done such an, like a tear, like an amazing job of sinning that God, the God of the universe could not save you from that. Like his grace couldn't overpower that sin. Like he couldn't cover that sin because I got news for you. He can. He is all powerful. You are not a greater sinner than he is a savior. He is so amazing and powerful and gracious that those things can be covered. So you may be at the point where you're like, yeah, okay, God forgave me. God could forgive me. Okay, I understand that. But yet there's this lingering shame around your life. You still feel shame for who you were, for who you are. You still feel this lingering sense that God's still angry at you or he's disappointed in you. Man, I've struggled with this for a long time too, and I don't necessarily have a quick fix for you because I think this has a lot to do with just the damage and the destruction of sin and the healing that is progressively needing to take place in our lives. And just reminding ourselves with truth when we're experiencing these things, when we feel like, oh man, God, God still hates me or God still is disappointed in me or I'll never do enough or I'll never measure up to where God wants me to be. I think that's when we need to start reminding ourselves of who God is and who Jesus is and his acceptance and his love regardless of whether we're meeting our own expectations. Like that is an amazing Father who sees us not based on what we do each day, but based on who He says we are and who He created us to be. And that's the reality that He's calling you to step into today. Not this person that's filled with shame and just feeling like they're never going to measure up because God's still disappointed with them, but rather somebody that's free in Christ because they've been forgiven. They're set free from the bondage and the weight of shame and guilt. Line number four is that my prayers don't work. I think the biggest problem with this lie is that the question is wrong. My prayers don't work. What do we mean by work? Does it mean that we get what we want? Because that's often what we're telling ourselves. I've been here because it's not like we're always asking for things that are bad. People try to portray it like, oh, you're always asking God for selfish things, but we can legitimately be asking God for good things, great things, but they don't come true or they don't work. Two things. In context to these kind of prayers, I do believe that God has greater purposes for why He's not answering our prayers the way we want Him to. Just think about if God were to answer every single one of your prayers when you wanted Him to. We would really have no need to foster any kind of relationship with God, and we'd also have no need to have any faith in Him because He just turns into a vending machine, one where we can put in our requests and get out what we want. And second thing is that I think prayer primarily is a relationship. It's not about what we can get from God, trying to get His gifts, but rather understanding Him as the ultimate gift, the fact that we can have a right relationship with Him and interact and commune with Him on a daily basis. That is the gift. I don't think we should be hedging our prayers like, oh, I shouldn't ask for this. It's too big because, of course, I know nothing is too big for God, and I don't think we should try to make excuses for God. Like, oh, God didn't answer this because this and this and this and whatever. God doesn't need your defense. God will act and behave according to His will and decree. He will answer those prayers that are according to His will, but we're still encouraged. Enter the throne room with confidence. Prayers do matter. Don't stop praying. I know we can get discouraged and, like earlier I was saying, like, when God doesn't meet our expectations or do the things that we want Him to, like, I've been there all the time. There are so many unanswered prayers, at least how I want them to. But then what you begin to realize is that those prayers, those unanswered prayers are means to drawing you closer to Him because you're forced to rely on Him and not just the stuff that He brings you. Line number five, Christianity is just about going to heaven. This one hinders your relationship with God because it pulls you into retreat mode, right? So many Christians are in retreat mode. They're like, oh, man, the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Christianity is just really about going to heaven. So, as long as I'm just doing what I want here and then I'm off to where it's actually good, you're losing focus of the mission down here. When you believe this lie, you're missing out on how God can work through you even now, right? We're so concerned with how God can work in us, right? Spiritual development, personal development, discipleship. How can God work in me? But now, we have all that theological knowledge and spiritual truths. Now it's time to put it into action and see how God wants to work through us. And through that, God is going to grow as close to Him because we're going to need to rely on Him in uncomfortable situations because if all of a sudden we're willing to be like, okay, wait, God has given me a mission down here, I'm going to step into these uncomfortable situations, these callings that are scary that I feel ill-equipped for because that's what God's called me to do. Now, all of a sudden, I'm forced to enter this new space of faith where God just doesn't become like an abstract thing where it's like, okay, yeah, trust in Jesus. Now it's like practically in this moment, put your faith in Him, otherwise you will just shatter out of fear and anxiety because in those moments, God is welcoming us into His power and His presence to live a spirit-filled life empowered by Him. That is what He's inviting us into. And so don't believe this lie that Christianity is just about going to heaven. There's so much more. There is so much more available and that is what He's welcoming us into. Thank you so much for watching this video. I hope you've enjoyed it. If you have, give this video a like and subscribe because I'm putting out new videos all the time. Let me know what you think about this video in the comments down below and maybe other lies that hinder your relationship with God. If you have any video suggestions, let me know and you can follow me on Instagram at It's Isaac David and on TikTok at It's Isaac David as well. I'm putting out content there all the time. 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