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Nothing is hidden from God! He sees through everything, and we will have to tell him the truth. Hebrews 4:13
A friend of mine is an investigator for a local law enforcement agency. We were talking one day about how dishonest people can be and I asked him how he could tell if a person was telling him the truth or not.
“There’s no way to tell for sure of course, but usually I have a pretty good idea by the third story.” He stated with a slight smirk on his face. “You see,” he continued, “the first time I ask a person of interest anything about a case he generally denies any involvement or even any knowledge of the situations. I’ll generally leave the topic at that point but then I’ll ask him again and he’ll admit to having some information. The third time I ask him questions I’m pretty sure I know if he’s the person I’m looking for or not. Sometimes they make it easy for me by confessing on the third interview!”
All one needs to do is perform an internet search on the topic of lying and you’ll find a wealth of information on how to determine if someone is being truthful or not. Truth can be determined if the story remains consistent, the person can look you in the eyes, behavior doesn’t change when you ask them questions, and a variety of other tips. Sadly, some are very accomplished at what they do and one can never be sure about the truth.
US News published an article in 2012 on how lying affected a person’s health. The article was based on a study done on honesty by Notre Dame University. The study found that people were healthier when they told the truth!
That should really come as no surprise. Adam and Eve had no shame until they tried to hide the truth of their sin. While some people are very good at lying, there will come a time when all your lies are revealed. God has promised that nothing will be hidden forever. That’s the bad news. The good news is that God has also offered a way of escape from the tyranny of guilt associated with lying.
Forgiveness comes through faith in Christ. You may not be able to escape the ‘earthly, temporal consequences of lying’, but you can experience the freedom of knowing that God knows your heart. Only he can clean it for eternity.
Oh, and one more thing. Those lies that are being told about you? He knows about them too. What a refreshing truth that is!
PRAYER: Father God, please help us to realize that the truth about us will be revealed through your grace. Forgive us for those times when we knowingly shroud the truth. Empower us to be honest with others, honest with ourselves, and most importantly, honest with you. Amen.
“Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?” Philippians 2:1
I was at a meat market one time and watched as one of the butchers in the back was pounding away on a piece of meat. He wasn’t just touching it. He had a huge mallet and was obviously putting every ounce of energy into every swing. Once he finished, the piece of beef looked battered and beaten. “That,” he said looking up and catching my watchful eye, “Will be one tender steak.”
Later, as I sat down to dinner, I realized he was right. It was, perhaps, the most tender and tasty piece of steak I’d ever eaten.
Later, I sat down to read from the book of Philippians. This book has always amazed me because the Apostle Paul wrote it in perhaps the most difficult circumstances one could imagine. Philippians 2:1 jumped off the page as I read it. “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?”
What caught my eye was the question, “Are your hearts tender and compassionate.” In order to enjoy the steak I’d just eaten it needed to be beaten and bruised. I wondered, “Is the heart the same? Is the best way to get a tender heart is for it to be battered and bruised beyond recognition? Is that the best way for us to become truly palatable to those around us?
Further reflection tells me yes. When we are faced with trials and struggles, whether they are the result of our own stupid actions of the vengeful actions of others we have two options. When we come under attack we can either become bitter or tender.
When we come into a relationship with Christ, we must first come to grips with our own failure and the realization that our own strength offers no hope. That’s brokenness. When we come to this realization we can have a better grasp of the pain others are going through. Our own brokenness leads to tenderness.
We can not effectively comfort others until we ourselves have been comforted by the healing salve of Jesus love. Until we lose hope we can not be encouraged by the hope he offers. Until we realize our utter dependence on one another we can not sense the power of the Holy Spirit and its bond in our lives.
A broken heart is a tender heart. A tender heart is one that is attractive to others just as a tough cut of meat becomes a delicious meal. Jesus allows us to be broken because He knows we will never be tasteful until that happens.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, help us to become tender and not bitter as a result of the trials we go through on a daily basis by strengthening us through your Holy Spirit. Amen.
When the Lord saw their change of heart, he gave this message to Shemaiah: “Since the people have humbled themselves, I will not completely destroy them and will soon give them some relief. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger on Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 12:7
“I know it’s wrong but God will forgive me and I’ll be okay.”
I freely admit, I’m guilty of it myself at times. Somehow though, when I hear other people say it, it’s more ominous than when I say it myself. Yeah, I know, that’s a pretty shabby defense. Somehow, those of us who call ourselves believers buy into the lie however. We give our allegiance to Jesus. We proclaim his love, grace and mercy. We ‘take a stand against evil’ in our world, yet think nothing of doing little, unimportant sins on a daily basis. You know the ones I mean. Our cursing, swearing, judgmental attitudes, the harboring of anger, bitterness or guilt and our greed are all displeasing to our heavenly Father.
Sometimes we assume that God’s forgiveness will remove us from the consequences of that sin, but nowhere in scripture is that the case. Israel, God’s chosen people, constantly strayed from his law and suffered the consequences for it. The story in 2 Chronicles is an example of that. King Rehoboam lived a sinful life and the people followed his example shamelessly right up until the Egyptian army was knocking on their door.
When the leadership saw that God’s punishment was imminent the repented of their sin. The Bible says they did more than ‘pray about it’. It was a change of heart. As a result God saved the nation from extinction. However, he didn’t completely remove the consequences of their behavior.
2 Chronicles 12:8 tells us that although God held back total destruction “… they will become his subjects, so they will know the difference between serving me and serving earthly rulers.”
God promises to forgive our guilt but sometimes He lets us endure consequences to teach us to rely on him. While we are blessed with the promise of forgiveness and eternity with Jesus, we should never take sin of any kind be taken lightly. Remember, the ground may be level under the cross, but there are no ‘little‘ sins. All sin should be taken very seriously in our lives.
PRAYER: Father God. My own words convict me as I’m aware of my tendency to diminish my sin in view of the sin of others. Forgive me for taking sin lightly and help me live in holiness before you by the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, Amen.
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. Romans 5:1-2
One day a King summoned two artists into his palace. He commissioned them to paint a picture depicting peace. The picture that best depicted peace would be hung in the castle and the artist would become famous.
Both men returned to their studios to paint their depiction of peace. Soon they were summoned to show their creations to the King. The first artist painted a beautiful picture of a pristine lake at dusk. The reflection of the trees was perfectly silhouetted in the glassy water. A deer and fawn drank quietly in the foreground and a campfire betrayed a young couple camping on the far side of the lake. “This, said the king, is peace.
The second painting was quite different. It was a picture of a stark mountain with a waterfall pouring into the valley below. Lightning exploded from thunderclouds above and windswept rain pelted the barren cliff wall. Hidden, almost unseen, behind the waterfall was a single green shrub. Within the shrub was a nest with a bird peacefully and safely riding out the storm.
At first the king was puzzled, even disgusted at the picture. Then, a smile came to his face when he caught the true meaning of the picture. “Ah, yes,” He smiled, “This is the winner. This is peace. For peace is found in where we find security in the midst of the storm.”
When life hands us turmoil and hardship it’s easy to focus on the problem and how to avoid the pain. We may seek comfort in new jobs, new relationships or drugs. We may even seek peace in religion. The problem is, peace doesn’t come from our surroundings. Peace comes from within. When we are at peace internally, outward circumstances have little or no effect
Often we look for peace in unfulfilling places. The only peace that lasts is peace with God. Paul tells us that because of Jesus we can have peace with God. Some may say, “I’ve tried the God stuff and got no peace.” Often we confuse peace WITH God and peace OF God. Peace WITH God is positional and completely reliant on the forgiveness we receive through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
The peace OF God is conditional. The peace of God is what we experience with we are walking close to him and following the guidelines for life as written in his Word, the Holy Bible. One cannot live for self and experience the peace of God. But if we live all out for Jesus we can experience peace in the midst of storms.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I know all about your love but sometimes life throws me a curve-ball. Help me draw close to you in the midst of life’s battles. Show me your peace. In your name I pray. Amen
This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NLT)
A friend of mine is a pastor in a small rural church. While the church has been in existence for over 100 years, it had fallen on some hard times and had even considered closing its doors. My friend was a ‘last hope effort’ to survive.
Chris, as I’ll call him, prayed for months that God would raise up some of the men to become the leaders the church needed to be an effective witness in the community. One day, his prayers seemed to be answered. A man we’ll call Thomas visited the church a couple times and then came up to Chris one Sunday after church and asked if they could have lunch. Later that week as they sat a table in the local café, Thomas shared his testimony of how he’d found Christ. Then he asked Chris the $64,000.00 question: “I have never been disciple and don’t know that much about the Bible. Would you be willing to meet with me to help me learn how to do that?
You can imagine the excitement Chris felt over the next months. Thomas continued to grow in his faith and became more and more involved in ministry both within the church and in the community. Then came the heart attack.
I looked at my friend Pastor Chris as his countenance fell. “It took the wind out of my sails big time”, Chris continued, “the hopes I had for ministry seemed to come to a complete stop. I found myself trying to fill the gaps Thomas had left behind. I told God he could take me out of this ministry anytime. I was finished.”
Chris shared with me how discouraged he had been over the next months. There were some small glimpses of joy in the ministry, but most of it was gone. Looking back he realized he’d built his ministry more on a person than on Jesus.
Discouragement can come to us in many ways, as it did with my friend Pastor Chris. It can sneak up on us completely unaware and knock us off our feet. Many of the things we once hold confidence in lose their allure.
Usually discouragement is completely irrational. For example, you may do a project for school in which 100 kids evaluate you. If you get 99 high grades and 1 low grade it’s easy to focus on the one low grade and not the other 99 high grades. It’s the way we are wired. We tend to see the negative far more easily than we see the positive.
Discouragement happens when we lose confidence in ourselves and our enthusiasm disappears. It can be the result of personal attacks, failures on our part or the death of someone important to us. Whatever the reason, discouragement leaves us disheartened.
Imagine what it must have been like for Joshua. Joshua was a Bible Character and assistant to Moses as Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. As they neared the Promised Land, Moses died and left Joshua in charge.
Imagine how Joshua felt. Moses was the only leader he had ever known. Moses was the one that stood by him, trained him, and encouraged him. Moses made all the difficult decisions. Joshua followed his lead. Now it was his time to lead nearly 1 million people into a land known to be inhabited by fierce and powerful enemies. In the midst of this overwhelming challenge, Joshua receives assurance from God that God would be with him every step of the way.
Discouragement comes when we focus on our own ability and see the solution to our circumstances as being dependent on our own power. When relationships fail we tend to be discouraged because we think we are the only ones at fault when, in fact, relationships can only prosper if all parties are working together.
When we fail because of sin in our lives discouragement sets in because we get the notion that being morally perfect is possible and that God is disappointed in our actions. The fact of the matter is we will never be morally perfect and God is never disappointed or surprised by our actions. He not only knows our weakness, he is ready and willing to forgive us and help us through our weakness and use those weaknesses to make us strong.
We can lose confidence in life situations, or ministry (as Pastor Chris did) or our jobs, or classwork because we’ve neglected to seek God’s help or place too many expectations on ourselves. Confidence is also robbed when we compare ourselves to others rather than reminding ourselves that we are created in God’s image as his masterpiece.
Are you discouraged today? Remember that no matter what you are going through, God knows where you are, how you got there and the best way out.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, right now I find myself in a situation I see no way out of. Please forgive me for not trusting you. Please empower me through your Holy Spirit to see the way you have for my escape. Help me to focus on you rather than my circumstances. In your name I pray, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 