Deceived - Lie: It's All Up To You | June 21, 2026

The warning against deception begins with the simple reality that an opponent gains ground when his strategy stays hidden. Jesus names the devil as a liar with no truth in him, and his mission is still to kill, steal, and destroy. The lie that “it’s all up to me” comes with real pressure because life really does bring heavy things: parenting, work, debt, caregiving, family strain, and decisions that feel like the weight of the world.

The contrast between the world’s bootstraps story and the promise of Emmanuel shows the divide between truth and lived experience. God’s promises keep saying, “I am with you.” Jesus’ name announces “God is with us,” and his own words say, “I will never leave you” and “surely I am with you always.” The gap between believing that theology and actually feeling it opens when pride or discouragement gets in the way.

The fishing image shows how the enemy works. The bait looks good because it feels like purpose, importance, and identity. The dangling hook whispers, “Nobody can do this better than you,” “Nobody can do this without you,” and “Nobody sees how much this is costing you.” Pride tastes good for a while, but it destroys what is good when it takes root. Paul’s command to hold every thought captive matters because little thoughts are not always innocent.

Discouragement forms another kind of cloud. John 20 places Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, wailing so deeply that even angels do not register as divine intervention. Mary sees Jesus and still does not recognize him, because grief has altered her perception of reality. Jesus breaks through by calling her name, and that direct word wakes her up to the One standing right in front of her.

Exodus 18 gives strategy for the lie that everything rests on one person. Moses stands all day judging the people, even though God has called and used him powerfully. Jethro sees the strain and says, “What you’re doing is not good.” The wilderness scene shows that God has not abandoned his people in hard places, but he often gives strategy inside the wilderness rather than removing the strain.

Inviting others into life becomes the first strategy. Wise counsel becomes the second, not an echo chamber, but voices that care about character and fruit. Trust becomes the third, because distrust makes a person carry burdens never assigned by God. Communion finally declares that Jesus carried what no one else could carry, and salvation itself proves that it was never all up to one person.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Pride hides inside useful thoughts. The bait of pride rarely arrives looking ugly. It often sounds like responsibility, importance, and being needed, which makes it easy to entertain. The hook appears when identity starts feeding on indispensability rather than on God’s presence and calling. [47:49]
• 2. Discouragement can distort spiritual sight. Mary Magdalene stood near angels and then near Jesus himself, yet grief kept her from recognizing either. Discouragement does not merely make life feel hard; it can bend perception until divine nearness looks like absence. Jesus’ personal call by name shows that his voice can pierce the fog that sorrow creates. [50:26]
• 3. Wilderness does not mean abandonment. Moses had seen God’s power and still found himself in the wilderness. The wilderness is not proof that God has stepped away, because Scripture repeatedly shows God forming, empowering, and preparing people there. Hard seasons can become places where God gives strategy, endurance, and deeper dependence. [54:00]
• 4. Wise counsel is not an echo. Jethro loved Moses enough to say, “What you’re doing is not good.” Wise counsel is not the sound of people agreeing with every preference; it is the gift of truth aimed at fruit, health, and obedience. Moses’ humility made room for correction, and that humility protected both his calling and the people’s good. [61:44]
• 5. Trust protects God-given calling. Jethro’s strategy did not remove every problem, but it put structure around Moses’ actual assignment. Distrust keeps a person stuck in the weeds, trying to be everything to everybody. Trust releases what belongs to others so that God-given purpose can be carried with authority instead of exhaustion.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [36:05] - Knowing the Enemy’s Strategy
• [38:25] - The Lie: It’s All Up to Me
• [40:37] - God Is With His People
• [42:54] - The Fishing Bait of Pride
• [48:47] - Discouragement Clouds Reality
• [49:02] - Mary Magdalene at the Tomb
• [52:13] - Exodus 18 and Moses’ Burden
• [53:35] - God Works in the Wilderness
• [57:33] - Invite Others Into Life
• [60:06] - Listen to Wise Counsel
• [64:44] - Learn to Trust and Release
• [69:43] - Communion Declares Jesus Carried It
• [72:57] - Prayer for Trust and Freedom

Bible Reading

Exodus 18:13-27
“The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, 'What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?' Moses answered him, 'Because the people come to me to seek God's will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and instructions.' Moses' father-in-law replied, 'What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.' Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.” [53:35]

John 20:11-16
“Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, 'Woman, why are you crying?' 'They have taken my Lord away,' she said, 'and I don't know where they have put him.' At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, 'Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?' Thinking he was the gardener, she said, 'Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.' Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, 'Rabboni!' (which means 'Teacher').” [49:12]

John 8:44
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” [37:48]

2 Corinthians 10:5
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” [48:15]

Observation questions

1. In Exodus 18, what signs show that Moses is carrying more than he should by himself, and what does Jethro specifically tell him to change? [55:54]
2. In John 20, what does Mary see before she recognizes Jesus, and how does Jesus finally break through her grief? [50:26]
3. According to John 8:44 and the fishing picture, what kinds of thoughts make the lie “it’s all up to me” feel appealing at first? [47:49]
4. What repeated promises about God’s presence stand against the feeling that a person has to carry everything alone? [41:57]

Interpretation questions

1. If the devil’s native language is lying, why might the lie “nobody can do this better than you” be especially dangerous when it sounds responsible or even noble? [46:25]
2. Mary stands near angels and even speaks with Jesus without recognizing him. What does that suggest about the power of discouragement to distort a person’s view of reality and of God’s nearness? [51:14]
3. Jethro tells Moses, “What you are doing is not good,” even though Moses is doing important spiritual work. What does that reveal about the difference between being called by God and trying to carry every burden personally? [57:33]
4. Exodus 18 does not remove the strain, but gives Moses a way to stand under it. How does that shape the way a person should think about asking God for help in hard seasons? [57:08]

Application questions

1. Where does the thought “it’s all up to me” show up most strongly right now—in family life, work, finances, caregiving, ministry, or something else? What makes that area feel especially heavy? [38:51]
2. Pride often hides inside useful thoughts. What thought has been hardest to resist lately: “nobody can do this better than me,” “nobody can do this without me,” or “nobody sees what this is costing me”? What fruit is that thought producing? [47:06]
3. Discouragement can make Jesus seem absent even when he is near. When has stress, grief, or exhaustion made it harder to recognize God’s presence? What helped begin to clear that fog? [49:02]
4. Moses needed people, not just crowds around him. Who are the few people truly invited into real life right now—people who know both the victories and the hardships? If that circle is thin, what makes it hard to open up? [59:26]
5. Wise counsel is not an echo chamber. Is there someone whose truth-telling has been uncomfortable but good? What would it look like to listen instead of getting defensive? [01:01:44]
6. Distrust makes people carry burdens they were never meant to bear. Where is distrust making life heavier right now? Is it distrust of God, distrust of others, or both? [01:05:47]
7. Jesus carried what no one else could carry. How could remembering that change the way burdens are handled this week? What would it look like to release one specific burden instead of gripping it tighter? [01:10:00]