Lies

Lies 

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” John 8:42-47 NKJV

Do you ever get tired of being lied to or hearing lies? Have you ever been lied to and, upon finding out, think to yourself, "Hey, I love that someone thought so little of me - or themselves - that they felt like they had to lie rather than just tell me the truth. That sure does make me feel good, I just love being treated like a fool!"? No? You've never had that reaction to someone's lies? No, me neither.

The lies of this world should wear us out as Christians. If we're not bothered by lies then we better check our pulse and check our allegiance spiritually. No, that's not me saying that, it's Jesus Christ saying it. Refer to the scripture above. If we're not following the truth of our Lord then we're following the lies of our father, satan, for he is the father of lies (Rev.21:8). Does that sting? I hope it stings all of us. Yes, if sin (for the focus of this post, the sin of lying) does not bother us then we need to wake up and see that our allegiance is to satan and not our Lord, and we are dead in our sins. Sin is what put our Savior on the cross. If we're not bothered by sin, then what does that say of our thoughts toward our Savior who died to free us from sin? He did it for nothing? His death in our lives is nothing?! Let's wake up, friends. Lies separate us from our Lord.

From advertising, to the news media, to music, to TV shows, to movies, to magazines, to people in your life, to religious bodies, or to any number of this world's attempts to get you to believe something false; we're lied to every single day. Being in an imperfect world surrounded by sin, it's a given that those who desire to live according to the flesh see no problem with the sin of lying. However, here's the tragic part of the whole thing: sometimes we're the ones doing the lying.

When we choose to reject the truth in favor of a lie, well now that makes us a liar as well. Whether we lie to God, others, or ourselves the point is the same: lying is lying. Sure, we may not audibly tell a lie, but do we live one? You and I both know what I mean here. We walk around wearing the name of Christ, but we perhaps live a life that is contrary to our Lord. Perhaps hitting closer to home, we sit behind this computer screen - where no one sees us, we think - and we're someone completely different. We're not a reflection of our Lord when it comes to the content we see, read, support, and spread; oh no, we're someone else entirely. Oh yes, we're going there.

What news stories do you click on? What advertisements do you pay attention to, what provocative headline or picture do your eyes quickly get focused on and refuse to look away? What juicy gossip do you propagate by "re-posting" "re-pinning" "re-tweeting" or any of the other popular social media ways of spreading the refuse that is on the internet? Furthermore, do you or I bother to fact-check something before spreading it, or is it just "hey, this looks crazy enough, Share! Share! Share!"? Do you use restraint in what you rant and rave about to the world? What is so important on this computer/smart-phone/tablet that it requires you to become enslaved to it rather than God?

Are we trying to be like the world yet still wearing the name of Christ? Do we have divided allegiances? Are we trying to serve two masters (Matt.6:24)? Our internet history may disagree.

Here's a soul-searching question:
If someone were to try and recreate a representation of you using only the stories, pictures, videos, and various other content that you take part in on the internet, what would be the result? Would that recreation result in what a Christian would do, read, see, spread? Or would that recreation be embarrassingly far off the mark?

It's easy to lose time and waste time on the internet, marketing departments do an exceptional job to keep us clicking, I'm not saying this as one who is above reproach here. I am doing a lot of soul-searching by writing this article; in fact, you could say that this is primarily to myself and I hope it helps others in the process. Here's something else, to the world who see us publicly, we're (hopefully) a Christian in the truest sense of the word; yet to the computer/tablet/smart-phone we peruse, are we anything but?

What's the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Check Facebook? Check to see what latest drama or gossip or celebrity news you missed while you happened to be sleeping? We're all familiar with the expression, "you are what you eat", right? It's true, you put garbage into your body and you will certainly feel sluggish, unproductive, even sick. The same rings true for our minds and our hearts. Garbage in, garbage out. What are we ingesting, producing, and promoting? Maybe, just maybe, if we opened our Bible app, or our actual Bible, first thing in the morning and read that first then perhaps we would be better equipped to take on the battles we face that day. If we spent more time in God's word than on our electronic devices, perhaps we'd make a larger imprint for good on this world and convert others to Christ.

Do you cry out for truth? Have you ever awakened with the thought, "Lord, I need your word! I need Your truth in my mind and heart today!" Against the endless chatter of this world, God's word calls out to us (metaphorically) to pull us out of the noise and unto that which is true, pure, and lovely (Phil.4:8). In our minds we shout back at the world, "Enough!" and we run to our Lord's voice in His word so we may seek out His Divine wisdom extended to us. What a blessing it is to have truth in our lives, readily accessible, upon which we can read, meditate, and live! Have you thanked God for the blessing of His word today? Just think of how many blessings He extends to us by giving this word to us. His word is the truth, absolute truth, for all time. Do we know it, study it, live it?

I, for one, am sick of the lies of the world. I'm worn out with the attempts to draw me away from my Savior. I'm angry at satan and sin. How about you?

Are we trying to please the world by living to its constantly changing "standards"? Or are we trying to please God by living by His eternal truths, His never-changing standards? Here is what the Lord desires:

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8 NKJV

God has shown us what is good, why would we ever reject it? We, as Christians, should detest dishonesty; in our lives, in the lives of others, in the world. Lies run counter to everything that we are about as followers of Christ. No matter how hard we try, we will still be confronted with the barrage of daily lies from many different directions. However, we can rise above it and we can choose to actively avoid it, stop the mouths of those who spread it, and fight against it with the truth we live and by the truth we speak. TRUTH - learn it, love it, live it, speak it.

Live a life in humble submission to God with a passion for all things truthful; don't let this world propagate their lies and defy the name of God. Let every aspect of your life - online and offline - be a living testimony to the great God you serve. Be a truth-seeker and a truth-speaker, don't live a lie.

In closing, friends, let's "Go With God":

God Bless You, Go With God (hymn)

This is my daily prayer, God bless you, go with God,
Hold fast His mighty hand, throughout the day;
His grace your heart sustain, His pow'r relieve your pain,
Your prayer be not in vain, as you travel His way. 

In spite of all the lies that some may hurl
Christ is the only hope of all the world;
God bless you go with God, thru all eternity,
My prayer will always be, may you go with God.