Tag: truth

You’re a Liar, I’m a Liar – Here’s Why…

Whether we care to admit it or not, we are liars.
Go ahead, soak it up, take it in…
Some of you are probably offended by this accusation.
Some of you might be nervous – don’t be.

The Lies 
The biggest lie that we tell ourselves is this:  “I don’t need God.”
The second biggest lie that we tell ourselves is: “every thing is okay.”
And then there are those lies that we tell God – “Lord I promise if you get me out of this situation I will never do that (insert whatever “that” is here) again!”  Or, we go to the altar at some fancy big church event and confess our sins in a big emotional altar call and make promises that only last that weekend…in essence we lie because deep down we know we don’t plan on changing.
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We also lie to God by telling Him that He’s the only God in our lives, but let me ask you, how many hours a day do you spend on the internet or on social media?  How many hours a day watching tv, netflix etc…?  Are there other things that consume all of your time?  Are there things that you would shamefully admit that you’re obsessed with?  Now, there’s nothing wrong with any of this stuff, but when we spend hours and hours and hour a day gaming or web surfing or whatever – we have become consumed, and when we become consumed by something other than God – we have essentially set up idols to false gods in our lives.  Basically, whatever takes the place of God – becomes our god…and we are then liars who claim we know God, but rather, we only know of God.

1 John 1:8-10 says; “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

God Doesn’t LieGod
What God says – He means.
What He says He will do – He will do.
God doesn’t break His promises to us – We are usually the ones who break our promises to Him.  Do we need Him?  Absolutely, and yet our ego at times convinces us that we can go it alone and we don’t need Him to “interfere”.   Don’t lie to God, He’s not fooled.  Also, don’t lie to yourself!

stopStop The Lies
So what’s the point?
Do some soul searching in your life today.
Be humble,.in other words, put yourself low, look hard and deep at your own life right now – without any sugar coating or facades (which are lies that you have told yourself).

– Another lie we might hear in our minds from time to time is this:  “I am not good enough to be called a Child of God, (or to be called a “Christian”)” We might buy into that lie because of guilt and shame, but God’s grace through Jesus Christ can remove that guilt and shame completely – making us totally covered by grace and completely forgiven!  Don’t buy this lie anymore!!  God loves you, and He wants you to know how valuable you are to Him!

We tell ourselves a lot of lies…and sometimes we start to believe them.
We also try and tell God lies too…but we aren’t fooling Him, He knows.

honestBe Honest.
Allow the Lord access to every part of your mind today…even the spaces in the recesses of your mind that you are ashamed of.  He already knows, but we have to let Him in and allow His light to shine onto those dark, shameful places in order for healing, true healing to take place.  Admittedly, this is a work in progress for all of us.  There will be times when we lie, or believe a lie in our minds again.  But the next time that happens, recognize it and within that recognition, plot and strive to change that behavior.  Ask God to help you in those moments!  True sincerity and admission/penitence moment by moment allow us access to God, and it also provides us with tangible spiritual growth.

prayPray.
Lord, I confess my lies to you today.
Lies that I have told, and the lies that I have believed about myself.
I am weakened by these lies, but I know that with your strength I can be whole again!
Walk beside me today Lord, reveal to me the moments of my dishonesty to you and to those I come in contact with.  Convict me when I live double-mindedly.  Lord, I do not want this barrier to remain between us.  I know this has stunted my spiritual growth, and I desire to be closer to you.  Lead me Lord, I desire to give all there is of me to you – even those spaces in my life and mind that I am ashamed of.  Wash me clean again.  -Amen.

Something more to Ponder today.
To God be the glory!

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4 “Christian” Phrases That We Should Stop Saying!

Let me set the record straight before delving into this list of four things Christians should stop saying.
I am not bashing Christians, or Christianity here.
I honestly think the phrases below (and many more) have already done enough damage.
Millennials  (and most other generations) want authenticity when it comes to the topic of spirituality and faith.  Pumping out cliche’ after cliche’ will not help bring your genuine faith into focus, it will only make it harder for others to accept.  I’m pretty sure none of us want to be labeled a phony…but we probably could name some along the way through various experiences.  That being said, let’s stop “playing” church and start living for Christ.  Let’s stop harping on other people and start focusing on our own issues.

4 “Christian” Phrases That We Should Stop Saying: 

1.  God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.  handle
I’m sorry, but does God really give us problems in life?
Sure, He can send us to some very difficult places like He did with the Apostle Paul and the other disciples, but does He really afflict us with “stuff”?  Is that what this phrases is all about?  The fact of the matter is that life, especially to a Christ-follower’s life, WILL be difficult from time to time.  The Apostle Paul doesn’t say “Hey guys, things are going great and God hasn’t given me more than I can handle…”  No!  He talks a lot about finishing the race, perseverance, persistence, and difficulties.  Next time you think about uttering this phrase please think it through.  Perhaps life has thrown curve balls at us now and again, but God will provide us the strength to make it through.  Sometimes life IS more than we can handle, so don’t “sell” something that isn’t always true!

help2.  God helps those who help themselves.
This phrase honestly is my #1 pet peeve.
People sometimes fire this verbal artillery shell towards people who seem lazy or poor and unwilling to work.  I have found this phrase to be detestable when used in this fashion.  It’s judgmental.   It’s ignorant…and it’s wrong.  Please find that passage in the bible…It’s not there.  The phrase was actually made famous by Benjamin Franklin’s book Poor Richard’s Almanac in 1757, but in actuality is attributed to Algernon Sydney in 1698.  God in fact does help those who can’t help themselves.  Isn’t that, after all, what Christ demonstrated in His death on the cross?  “While we were still sinner (helpless), Christ died” (Romans 5:8).

In Jesus’ ministry, He often took pity on those who could not help themselves.
If we are to emulate Christ in every way shouldn’t we do likewise and in so doing ditch this erroneous “Christian” phrase?

3.  Name it and claim it! name
“If you believe hard enough, it can be yours”
“If you pray hard enough for money and that new car, it can be yours…you just need to name it and claim it”…um NO.
Such “name it and claim it” philosophies are just flat out wrong.  I should clarify that Jesus does say “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20), but the “Name it and claim it” philosophy takes this scripture completely out of context.  What is the purpose behind our faith and our convictions?  Is it to please God?  Is it to do His will?  OR Is it so we can afford nice stuff, and have lots of money?  There’s nothing inherently wrong with money, but if it becomes the thing we worship and in so doing we start “naming and claiming” things just get what WE want, then we have lost sight of God.   Stop naming and claiming stuff.  It’s not about stuff.  It never was.  If that’s all we do with this phrase, please, please stop!  

happens4.  Everything happens for a reason.
Another misquote of scripture is to use this: “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven–A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.…” Ecclesiastes 3:1,2.  This phrase sometimes goes right along with “God won’t give you more than you can handle” as sort of an excuse for when it does become more than you can handle.  Just chalk it all up to “well everything happens for a reason”, or (and here’s a twofer) “well maybe it just wasn’t God’s will“.

Truth: Sometimes life has no rhyme or reason.  Sometimes thing just happen and it wasn’t in God’s plan.  I don’t want to get too theological on this pondering today, but I don’t believe everything is controlled 100% by God.  This is where free-will comes in.  This is where life comes in.  People make choices, both good and bad.  People unfortunately die for no fault of their own and I find it extremely hard to say that innocent people died because it was all according to God’s plan or that “Everything (including their death) happened for a reason.”  Not that’s not the same thing as God can make something beautiful out of horrible situations, because I do believe He can…but we just can’t go around chalking everything up to it happening for a reason.  Sometimes there just isn’t a good reason.

These are just 4 Phrases that we should stop saying.
I know that there are more, and I know that not everyone will agree with me.
But, for what it’s worth, here is something more to ponder today.

God Bless You!

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“What do I Stand For?” -Absolute Truth

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Yesterday I received some criticism for my view on heaven and hell; essentially that I believe that there is such a place.  Coupled with the fact that we are people who must accept the consequences of the decisions we make.  Every action has an equal reaction.  Choice = Consequences.  I was accused of circular thinking…was Newton in his laws thinking circularly too?

I’m not here to criticize or judge others…that has never and will never be my place.  Here’s my thought on heaven and hell for the atheist.  If there is no God, then what is there to lose to believe?  By that I mean, if there’s nothing at stake at the end of human life then why not believe?  Flipping the coin isn’t there so much more to lose if there actually is a God and we chose not to explore, not to believe then we are at fault…I am at fault?

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I don’t perceive to know what the afterlife will be like, but I believe there is one!  As far as other religions go, was I condemning them yesterday?  No.  But throughout all of humanity and our history, who other than Jesus Christ came to show Love?   Who other than Christ came to redeem and actually called Himself the Son of God?  Jesus even said, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6) He didn’t say I am ONE of the ways, but THE way.  Jesus came for the entire world, not (and especially not) for the religiously legalistic, He came for those seeking.  In fact His own people rejected Him, and the Gentiles became recipients of His grace.  You can shoot holes in that all day, but the fact of the matter is that God never has given up on humanity.  He never will!

This brings me to my topic of conversation for today.

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What do I stand for?  I stand for Absolute Truth.

There are those within our culture that will say that truth is relative, that when you boil down situational issues in life, one person’s truth may be another person’s non-truth.  But does that negate evidence that there is truth in our world?  The common question we must ask in this pursuit of truth is this; “What is truth?”  What do you believe truth to be?

If we look to science one can find this principle in action when we consider what the freezing point and the boiling point of things are can’t we?  This would be evidence of definitive proof that there is a law of absolutes already in place in our universe.   When Jesus made the claim that He was the way and the truth, He meant it.  Despite the fact that there are those who would re-write history to make it more palatable, one thing exists that cannot be shaken despite revisionists attempts.  Absolute truth will stand.  I don’t need to defend it, people have studied sociology, theology and many ‘ologies’ and if you hold to any kind of chaos theory if one were to boil it down it just doesn’t make sense.

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Where did everything come from?  Unlike Stephen Hawking who insists that the universal ‘big bang’ took place without the presence of a God or an outside force…my question would be how did all of these elements come to be in the first place?  How did a molecule or the first form of life become something else?  If we look at this notion we begin to realize it is all theory and none of it can be proven.  I’m not saying that I’m anywhere near as smart as Hawking by any means, and you can call me ignorant or a fool or anything else you would like but I believe with my whole heart that there is an absolute truth in this Universe and His name is I AM…God.

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What do I stand for?  I believe in absolute truth, I believe in order of the universe.  I believe we were all created for a purpose and not by accident, and I believe this world is full of hope and potential that reaches far beyond our physical lives…all because of this one absolute Truth that governs our world.

What do you stand for?

I enjoy discussions about differences and varying views, I’m not here to judge or shout down anyone…I’m just calling it how I believe God has shown me, and I believe in His truth.

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“What Do I Stand For?” F2 = −F1 Action = Reaction…Choice=Consequence

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“…and that in consequence of their fall (Adam and Eve) all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.” (The Doctrines of The Salvation Army, Doctrine #5)

“We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.”  (The Doctrines of The Salvation Army, Doctrine #11)

What do I stand for?  This is the question I’ve been asking and trying to answer all week…

Thus far we’ve explored: Selflessness over selfishness; God’s Justice & Social Justice.  These are fundamental areas of a Christian life.  So let me throw some fuel on the fire, so to speak…when we recognize what it is we are standing for, where our ideologies lay and are guided by specific principles in our lives we must begin to recognize that Isaac Newton’s third law of action-reaction applies to our spiritual lives as well.

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Isaac Newton’s 3rd Law – Action/Reaction:

When a first body exerts a force F1 on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force F2 = −F1 on the first body. This means that F1 and F2 are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

Did you catch that?  Just kidding, unless you’re really into physical laws and laws of mechanics you might not understand this definition…here’s the definition that I understand:  “To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.” 

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In our world, morally speaking, this reaction is called consequences.  Everyone who makes choices both consciously and sub-consciously will find that there are consequences to each and every choice we make.   All too often, however, in our world today many people have chosen to ignore these consequences by blaming other people for their mistakes, or simply running away from the consequences.  Adam and Eve, as I’ve mentioned before faced God’s justice in the garden because of the choice they both consciously made:  Action (Choice)  = Reaction (Consequence).

Similarly, if we continue by this line of reasoning we come to a junction in the road that brings us to ultimate consequence.  Everyone whole heartedly embraces and understands that all humanity will one day face death…as it’s been said, it’s inevitable like taxes.  We will one day die.  It is quite sad to consider those who are Atheists who believe that there is no further existence after death…that this is all there is to this existence.  In the Christian perspective, we believe that our souls do have an afterlife and that within this afterlife there is heaven and there is hell.

As I’ve stated before some people have a difficult time facing this reality and that God would eternally punish those who reject Him.  But as I’ve mentioned before if our action is to purposefully and willfully turn our backs on God, then the eternal consequence of such an action is the reaction which leads the soul to eternal separation from God.  Hell is a real place!  Hell will be inevitable for some people…and I am not the judge, never will be and I’ve never claimed to be.  But if we are to embrace such a reasoning as an afterlife and the notion of heaven, then ought to understand that there is such a place as hell.

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Here’s are some closing thoughts on this for today:

1) Own up to your actions!

You and you alone are responsible for the choices that YOU make…I am responsible for the choices that I make!

2) Consequences are real!

If you make a poor choice the consequences are yours.  If I make a poor choice the consequence is mine.  Not someone else’s.  Stop blaming others when consequences come that we don’t like that are based on our poor choices.

3) There is always a right and better choice!

God doesn’t simply want a relationship with us, He want to transform us to become like His Son Christ on our spiritual journey!  He doesn’t want us to remain the way He has found us.  He wants us to choose Him every time in our daily lives.  This means consider the consequences of our actions, consider the path that we wish to take and also consider God knows what He is doing!  Choose Him, and His path…it won’t be easy but His path is right!

4) Believe in Eternity and live for God’s kingdom in the here and now! 

If we choose His path, His direction in our lives, we not only fall in step with His will but we recognize that life is so much more than just this human experience.  Eternity is so much longer and lives are at stake.  We must be Christ’s ambassadors in our world!  We are called to this higher calling to not only look forward to heaven, but to introduce Christ to those who have yet to believe and add to this heavenly family on this journey.

What do I stand for?  What do you stand for?  I will own up to my choices…I will face the consequence of my poor choices and strive, with His Holy Spirit’s help, to live a Holy life in word and in deed!

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