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The LORD hates every liar, but he is the friend of all who can be trusted. Proverbs 12:22 (CEV)
I was a seminary student and out of work. A friend of mine needed some help for a couple days preparing for a trade show and asked if I’d like to fly with him to the show for a couple days to get things prepared. I jumped at the chance to get away for a couple days ‘vacation’ even if it meant work.
Once inChicagohe decided he needed a paint sprayer and went to a local store to purchase one. We used the sprayer to prepare for the show and then, while he stayed at the show I boarded a plane for home.
When he returned the next week I asked how the show went. He chuckled and told me it went fine. Then he said his brand new paint sprayer was stolen and he thinks it was taken by his contact in Chicago, a guy named Joe.
“Joe swore he didn’t take it, but I’m pretty sure it was him since it was under lock and key. Only he and I had access to that room. Then, to top things off he accused you of taking it!” My friend went on, “I told him I knew you wouldn’t take it. I’d trust you with my life!”
I’ve thought about his words on occasion. True friends trust each other with their lives. I hadn’t really done anything to build that kind of trust, I was just honest.
When you build a lifestyle of honesty in every situation you protect yourself from attack. Your lifestyle speaks much louder in your defense than any words you can utter. Jesus says ‘If you can be trusted with little things, God will allow the greater things into your life.’ (Luke 16:10)
Being honest with yourself builds trust with others when you are attacked. It isn’t about doing the big things. It’s about doing what you say you will do. It’s about being honest about your feelings and when those feelings may hurt others, to be graceful and loving in sharing them.
Take the small steps needed on a daily basis to build trust in others. Allow God’s spirit to guide you in your words, actions and thoughts. Building a lifestyle of honesty will protect you from the false accusations that come your way. That way not only will your friends be able to trust you, God himself will be able to trust you with the big things in life.
PRAYER: Father God, when I was growing up I’d always dream of doing something big. Usually those dreams revolved around my own personal desires. Now that I’m older I still desire to do big things, but to do them for you. Empower me with your Spirit to start small by being honest with myself about who I am so that I can build trust in others. In Jesus name, Amen.
No one who is dishonest will live in my house; no liars will stay around me. Psalm 101:7 (NCV)
You have a beautiful Ash tree in your back yard. The tree has been there since you first moved in. It’s been a climbing tree for your kids and now your grandkids. Their favorite tire swing hangs from that tree. It’s been the home of countless birds over the years, been shade for innumerable tea parties and withstood several storms and harsh winters.
Now, in a matter of a couple years it stands leafless. You noticed over the past couple years that its branches were becoming bare, but even so its nakedness catches you by surprise. You do some research and find out the culprit of your Ash tree’s demise is a little beetle about 1/3 of an inch long. The Emerald Ash Borer doesn’t look that impressive but it destroys thousands of trees every year.
In the same way that the Emerald Ash Borer destroys thousands trees every year, little white lies destroy or damage relationships. They start out small. Little ‘half-truths’ we call them. Little statements that we call harmless, but often grow more damaging as we try to cover our tracks.
A friend of mine was an investigator for law enforcement. One day he told me that he never believes the person he is investigating until he tells this story the third time. The first two times always add or take away facts that may incriminate him. The third version of the story usually brings all the facts together.
The Psalmist states clearly that dishonesty will never have a place under his roof. Why? Is he legalistic? Is he judgmental and demanding? Is he unfeeling and merciless? Not really. The Psalmist simply realizes that the most destructive thing to a relationship is a lie. Lies, regardless of their color, size or shape, are equally destructive to trust in a relationship.
Most of the time we lie to ourselves, others or even God (like he doesn’t know the truth!) to protect ourselves from conflict and/or to avoid consequences of our own behavior. Honesty with ourselves, others or God may be difficult and painful at first, but the pain we suffer for telling the truth the first time will be less than the pain we suffer for those ‘little white lies’ that grow into destructive monsters.
Take a lesson from the Emerald Ash Borer. Those little lies you tell will never help a relationship and will most likely cause damage in the long run. Being honest with yourself and with God is the first step to honesty with others.
PRAYER: Father God. I confess to you what you already know. I have a hard time being honest with you. I have a hard time being honest with others. I now realize that the difficulty I have with being honest is that I don’t feel good about me. Help me to have the confidence and strength to be honest with myself so I can be honest with others (including you). In Jesus name, Amen.
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Hebrews 10:23 (NLT)
Ever been in a situation where people have been sharing about how God is working in their lives and wondered if he forgot about you?
You are struggling with finances and praying and working hard and doing all the ‘right things’ to make things work. You feel like you are trusting God for answers but none come.
Or you are in the midst of a very tense issue with some relationship and some guy stands up to share how they’ve had this conflict that has been eating them up, but that God has restored this relationship and they are praising him for intervening.
Or you are struggling with an addiction. This addiction has plagued you for years. You’ve prayed. You’ve sought counsel. You’ve asked for help from friends. You’ve done everything you can think of to free yourself of this problem and it still controls you to the point where you have considered just giving up on the whole ‘Christianity thing’ because it’s not working for you.
Or maybe you are thinking that if you hear just one more person say: “You just have to have faith. I just decided one day to give all my problems to God and he has blessed me tremendously” that you just may throw up.
These are just a few examples. What’s your story? If God were to appear to you as some genie in a bottle and ask you for your biggest desire, what would you ask him for?
In our most honest moments we’ve all had experiences when these struggles rear their ugly heads. You may be going through one right now. You believe in the God of Genesis. You trust Jesus fully and believe he has all things in his control. Yet there are areas in your life that just long for a touch, a message from God that says “I’m here. I’ll do what I’ve told you I’ll do.”
I have some bad news for you and some good news for you. First the bad news. There is no easy button in life. There’s no 12-step plan for seeing God work. There are things you can do to open yourself to his power, such as prayer, reading his word and being involved with other believers. But we serve a God that is a rebel at heart. God promises to be with us always, but he doesn’t promise to do things the same way for every person.
The good news is that he will fulfill his promises in his time and his time is always perfect. Imagine how the two on the road to Emmaus felt as they mourned the loss of Jesus. Full of confusion, fear and grief they thought everything was over…until Jesus showed up! The Bible is full of examples of Godly people doing the right things but not seeing God’s working for a long time.
When God seems to have forgotten us we need to hold on tightly for the ride knowing that in his time he will make himself known in real and marvelous ways. As the writer to the Hebrews says, God can be trusted to fulfill each of his promise.
PRAYER: Father God. I hear how you are working in other people and wonder why I can’t see you working in my life. If there is something within me I need to change, search my heart and reveal it to me. If, on the other hand I just need patience, give me strength to trust your promises. In Jesus name, Amen.
He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated. Psalm 62:6 (GNT)
When something fantastic happens we say God was in it. When prayers are answered we say God is a great God who answers prayer. When healings happen we marvel at his power. When things seem to be going our way we thank him for his love and watch care over us.
But what about the other times? What do we say when the prayers seem unanswered, the bills aren’t miraculously paid, the doctors report isn’t good, the judge goes against us? What do we say when the house is foreclosed on or the boss gives us a pink slip?
It’s a natural human tendency to measure the greatness of God by our own personal comfort level. When things are going our way, we say we are blessed. But it’s hard to stare bankruptcy or foreclosure or terminal illness in the face and say we are blessed. It’s hard when a judge makes a decision that will negatively affect the lives of our children and say ‘God is good’ and really mean it.
Society has an answer to our dilemma. It tells us we are on our own. We need to band together, support each other, and pour money into this program or that program to make sure everyone is educated, research is done and protection is granted. Problem is money hasn’t solved any issues lately. We’ve made great strides in the medical community to cure a variety of illnesses, but people still get sick and die. We have more and more government intervention to make life ‘safer’ and it’s still a dangerous world we live in.
Religion tells us that when things are going good, God is pleased and full of love for us. Religion also tells us that when things are going bad it is because God is angry. When God is angry he sends illness and natural disasters and evil dictatorships. Religion says that if we follow more rules and have more faith and speak louder against evil God will change his ways and make our lives comfortable again.
So what is the right answer? How do we respond when things seem against us? Part of the problem is that we often mistake consequences for God’s lack of protection. Grace teaches us that the penalty of our sinful lifestyle was paid for on the cross. In God’s eyes we are made righteous (perfect) from a spiritual perspective. He promises us that he will be with us in everything we go through.
What we aren’t promised is that the consequences of our own mistakes won’t have to be served out on earth. Sometimes God allows us to suffer the earthly consequences of our actions in order to help us grow stronger. He promises to protect us but consequences of our refusal to listen will remain.
For example, let’s say a young man and woman (both Christ followers) make a mistake and she ends up getting pregnant. Will God forgive them of their mistake (sin)? The answer is yes, of course. Will they have a baby? Yep, probably. We don’t like to think of that beautiful young life as a consequence of course, but it is, and both of them will have that reminder to carry with them.
Here is a nugget of truth to carry with you as you endure the consequences of your actions. The same God who is with you to bless you is the same God who will walk with you through the consequences of your bad choices. He still forgives. He still walks with you hand in hand. He still reaches out his arms and says, ‘I love you more than anything.’
Even in the consequences we endure God tells us “I am your protection. I will defend you. I will walk with you along the way and together we will NEVER be defeated.
PRAYER: Father God, I find myself in a situation I can’t get out of. I confess to you that the consequences I face are of my own doing. I have no one to blame but myself. Forgive me for the decisions I made to get me in this situation. If by your mercy you choose to remove the consequences I thank you for your deliverance. If, by your grace you choose to have me go through this, I praise you for your presence. In Jesus name, Amen.
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Matthew 6:21 (NLT)
A group of us were enjoying coffee and dessert. Most of us were college students from a small group at the church I attended, but one couple was middle aged. Both husband and wife were well established in medical careers. They were very wealthy compared to any of us college students!
The very fact that the two doctors were even there seemed out of place. We were sitting in a small apartment in an area of the city that was old, rundown and not very safe. This couple currently lived on a beautiful hobby farm where they had several horses and a beautiful view of the valley.
In the midst of the laughter and meaningless chatter one of our group asked what she thought was a simple question. She asked the couple, “What do you think was the happiest time of your lives?”
I was expecting to hear about the birth of their first child or perhaps finishing school, or getting that first job. When the question was asked the couple smiled and looked at each other. The wife spoke first and after all these years I think I could quote her. Their story went something like this.
“Without a doubt the happiest time of our lives together was when we lived over onthird avenuein a small duplex. When we got married and decided to go to medical school we borrowed enough money from my parents for down payment. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We bought the place and rented out the other side for enough to make the mortgage payment. Even though we had the house ‘paid for’ we really had very little else to our names. We couldn’t afford a TV until we happened to find one in a trash dumpster. It worked okay, but needed a good slap on the top once in awhile.”
It’s been years since that conversation took place but it still reminds me of the important things in life. We measure happiness in life by the number of toys we have, the size of our yard or the amount of money in our retirement account. The words of King Solomon still ring true when he said (my paraphrase) “I didn’t spare myself anything but soon found I had nothing when it came to peace and happiness, I found it only comes from within.”
If your heart is centered on the things of this world like wealth, pleasure and power you will never be satisfied. Your ‘happiness’ will waver depending on circumstances.
But if your heart is centered on building a pure and healthy relationship with God you will find that the things the world finds important for success, happiness and comfort lose their luster. A close walk with God and living in the forgiveness and grace Jesus offers is the only real treasure that will last.
Seek a relationship with the God of Genesis above all others. Cherish the time spent in prayer and Bible study. Seek out those who will help you in your walk. It’s the best way to a healthy heart.
PRAYER: Father God, my own words convict me. There are so many times I’m drawn aside by the desires of this world thinking they will bring comfort and happiness. But their comfort is weak and temporary and often leads to painful consequences. I ask that through the power of your Spirit I would draw closer to you and nurture this treasure I have in Jesus. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 