Lies.
I'm thinking about lies. Why we lie. How often we lie. Who do we lie to. All of it.
As you may have guessed I believe mankind is fallen. I didn't always believe that but I do now because the Bible states it and proves it. Anthropology also brings this out.
Lies, to me, are an evidence of the fall.
I know... people who believe in evolution or some other scenario where man is 'progressing' also have an explanation for lies and lying but 'wow'... the fall just puts it right into perspective for me.
Fallen people have gaps in knowledge and they try to fill them in ways that are beneficial. We do it to survive and to dodge guilt and shame but the thing is... we all do it. Some just make it into a lifestyle.
'Gaps' are a result of the fall.
I see three things that are just part of the human experience but to me they provide evidence that mankind is fallen and needs Heavenly intervention.
- The fact that we lie (gaps in knowledge)
- The reality that people age, get sick and then die (gaps in our biology)
- That we kill each other (gaps in love... we see the need to remove a person who would just die anyway later because it benefits us in some way)
Jesus came to deal with all of these things and He has.
The 'progression' folks have strange convoluted answers for all three of these things but just look at them. They are cracks in our existence that we all suffer from. They are downward cycles with no escape.
The liar needs a savior.
Go ahead and tell a liar that their children's, children's children are going to outgrow lies and hatred. Not only is that a lie but it is no comfort to them.
We all need a perfect person who sees us just as we are and loves us just as we are. Some one who won't lie. Some one with no gaps. Some one to give us hope.
Jesus loved His lying disciples. He embraced murderous humanity as we killed Him. He carries those who grow old and die into His bosom and makes them young again.
Jesus is the solution but many still don't want Him. His way is a narrow way. For some it will take them realizing He isn't 'a' solution. He is the only solution. Still others would rather die lying to themselves and hold on to that false control of perception until it is too late.
I love the term 'believer' to describe someone who has trusted Jesus because a believer is someone who doesn't just settle for things as they are now 'by sight'. They trust in a higher better way and you can see glimpses of that higher better way in their lives. They touch the Holy One and light shines from that Holy One into a dark world.
"But that is not the way you learned Christ! - assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." - Ephesians 4:20-32 ESV
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Showing posts with label Lies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lies. Show all posts
Friday, September 2, 2022
Friday, November 6, 2015
Lies And Power
It is no wonder that many politicians are liars. Lying is an extension of power lust.
"Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And after this Ahab said to Naboth, 'Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.' But Naboth said to Ahab, 'The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.' And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, 'I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.' And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food." - 1 Kings 21:1-4 ESV
This is where is starts. The King wants something he can't have. People lie to add things to themselves. Convenient things like power or false peace. Wine and grapes often represent happiness in the scriptures. More grapes meant more wine. Ahab wanted to add to his happiness. There was no honest means to do that.
"But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, 'Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?' And he said to her, 'Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.' And he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'' And Jezebel his wife said to him, 'Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.' " - 1 Kings 21:5-7 ESV
Here we see the birth a the lie. Reason dances with power and devises a method.
This whole chapter is worth reading but if I quoted it all here this would be a very long post. Jezebel promotes Naboth but she is setting him up to knock him down. Once he is down Jezebel presents the vineyard to Ahab her husband.
"Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, 'Have you killed and also taken possession?'' And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: 'In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.'' Ahab said to Elijah, 'Have you found me, O my enemy?' " - 1 Kings 21:17-20a ESV
Ahab sees the prophet as his enemy that he must coexist with. For Ahab everything was a power struggle.
It is easy to detach ourselves from an account like this but we are kings also in our own circle of influence. Sweet little girls learn to lie. Timid young men do also. We all do. Some embrace the practice more than others but all human beings lie. All except One.
"I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed, even when I spoke: 'I am greatly afflicted'; I said in my alarm, 'All mankind are liars.' " - Psalm 116:9-11 ESV
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." - Isaiah 53:6 ESV
Powerful people lie but it is also not strange to see that the ones most angry at lies are powerful people also. Power. Morality becomes just another way to enforce order.
God has laid every lie on Jesus Christ. All human lies are already paid for.
Still lies hurt people. They are illusions crafted for gain, protection and convenience.
There are individuals that I know and love who are just not honest with me much of the time. They feel the need to project a persona. I love them. I realize the situation and greatly value them. My desire is not to get them to come clean with me. My desire is that grace would build them up to a point where the persona would melt away and they would be free to live in the truth of what God has already done on their behalf.
There is a little phrase I like... 'I don't do fiction.' It isn't a moral thing. Grace has made fiction obsolete.
The lie creates a covering. It reshapes reality by skewing perception. If the lie is believed there is a false sense of power and acceptance. People lie to impress. They lie to avoid. They lie to get.
The cross throws a monkey wrench into all of that. Human cruelty and God's compassion meet there and burst all illusions. The cross breaks things while at the same time it was the place where the Son satisfied the Father's need for justice and holiness. The cross disassociates us from false identifications.
Grace causes us to connect with a pre-creation identity that is outside of time. It is eternal. New. It is better than fiction. It is higher.
1 John 1:9 is our provision to confess truth and be cleansed. God is faithful to connect us to cleansing and disconnect us from the past.
Grace is God's method with mankind. Grace coaxes us into the light. The cross kills the liar and the rules written against him with Christ on the cross. God adopts the person who used to thrive in misconception and elevates them because they have a new identity in what Christ has done.
God cares for us. I sometimes imagine Him looking at us living in our small world of limited perception with great care and a kind of pity. We jump to conclusions and don't even know it. We rationalize and misunderstand so much. He knows what we are thinking just won't work. He loves us too much to leave us where we are but respects our right to make our own decisions so much that He won't override our will.
That is why Jesus came. That is why (in part) that the Father sent His Son. The truth walked among us to free us from all falsehood. In Christ the need to alter the landscape to gain an advantage disappears. God prospers us in our own vineyard and multiples it's harvest.
--
"Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And after this Ahab said to Naboth, 'Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.' But Naboth said to Ahab, 'The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.' And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, 'I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.' And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food." - 1 Kings 21:1-4 ESV
This is where is starts. The King wants something he can't have. People lie to add things to themselves. Convenient things like power or false peace. Wine and grapes often represent happiness in the scriptures. More grapes meant more wine. Ahab wanted to add to his happiness. There was no honest means to do that.
"But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, 'Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?' And he said to her, 'Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.' And he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'' And Jezebel his wife said to him, 'Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.' " - 1 Kings 21:5-7 ESV
Here we see the birth a the lie. Reason dances with power and devises a method.
This whole chapter is worth reading but if I quoted it all here this would be a very long post. Jezebel promotes Naboth but she is setting him up to knock him down. Once he is down Jezebel presents the vineyard to Ahab her husband.
"Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, 'Have you killed and also taken possession?'' And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: 'In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.'' Ahab said to Elijah, 'Have you found me, O my enemy?' " - 1 Kings 21:17-20a ESV
Ahab sees the prophet as his enemy that he must coexist with. For Ahab everything was a power struggle.
It is easy to detach ourselves from an account like this but we are kings also in our own circle of influence. Sweet little girls learn to lie. Timid young men do also. We all do. Some embrace the practice more than others but all human beings lie. All except One.
"I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed, even when I spoke: 'I am greatly afflicted'; I said in my alarm, 'All mankind are liars.' " - Psalm 116:9-11 ESV
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." - Isaiah 53:6 ESV
Powerful people lie but it is also not strange to see that the ones most angry at lies are powerful people also. Power. Morality becomes just another way to enforce order.
God has laid every lie on Jesus Christ. All human lies are already paid for.
Still lies hurt people. They are illusions crafted for gain, protection and convenience.
There are individuals that I know and love who are just not honest with me much of the time. They feel the need to project a persona. I love them. I realize the situation and greatly value them. My desire is not to get them to come clean with me. My desire is that grace would build them up to a point where the persona would melt away and they would be free to live in the truth of what God has already done on their behalf.
There is a little phrase I like... 'I don't do fiction.' It isn't a moral thing. Grace has made fiction obsolete.
The lie creates a covering. It reshapes reality by skewing perception. If the lie is believed there is a false sense of power and acceptance. People lie to impress. They lie to avoid. They lie to get.
The cross throws a monkey wrench into all of that. Human cruelty and God's compassion meet there and burst all illusions. The cross breaks things while at the same time it was the place where the Son satisfied the Father's need for justice and holiness. The cross disassociates us from false identifications.
Grace causes us to connect with a pre-creation identity that is outside of time. It is eternal. New. It is better than fiction. It is higher.
1 John 1:9 is our provision to confess truth and be cleansed. God is faithful to connect us to cleansing and disconnect us from the past.
Grace is God's method with mankind. Grace coaxes us into the light. The cross kills the liar and the rules written against him with Christ on the cross. God adopts the person who used to thrive in misconception and elevates them because they have a new identity in what Christ has done.
God cares for us. I sometimes imagine Him looking at us living in our small world of limited perception with great care and a kind of pity. We jump to conclusions and don't even know it. We rationalize and misunderstand so much. He knows what we are thinking just won't work. He loves us too much to leave us where we are but respects our right to make our own decisions so much that He won't override our will.
That is why Jesus came. That is why (in part) that the Father sent His Son. The truth walked among us to free us from all falsehood. In Christ the need to alter the landscape to gain an advantage disappears. God prospers us in our own vineyard and multiples it's harvest.
--
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Crucial Untruths Become Obsolete
When grace is not present or known lies become very important elements in the plot lines of our personal story.
Big lies, little lies and white lies all have important roles. Good people have little white lies. They bend the truth for morally justified reasons. Bad people just break the truth until they don't blush doing it.
Lies are the thick greases that coat the workings of social interactions. It is the 10w40 of natural existence. What award winning movie doesn't have some major or minor misunderstanding to resolves or hide. Lies provide drama and comedy.
But grace does something different and many times unwanted because of the initial exposure.
"Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way." - Psalm 85:9-13 ESV
God is righteous and lies have nothing to do with Him. His truth and holiness are a pathway for Him. Lies are nothing to Him. He won't walk down those roads.
Mercy has rejoiced against judgement. The Gospel of Grace is truth that casts no shadow because it glows from within like Jesus on the mount glowing white. The law was right but it cast a long shadow and people used that shadow to hide from reality because that reality was so hard to bear.
The orphan invents parents. The young man pretends to hide the pain attaching his identity to some strong role model. The woman married to an angry man plays a role and lives behind a mask to hide from the man's anger. Fake phone numbers in bars. Expensive clothing hides insecurity. A smile hides pain. Governments must look strong and knowledgeable. Companies must look profitable. People must pretend without grace and mercy.
No more lies. When Jesus comes there are no more lies.
He stands in Peter's boat to preaching and the fish come at His silent command and Peter knows He is a sinful man but Jesus will not depart from Him. Jesus stays for the rest of Peter's life. Even when Jesus leaves to ascend to Heaven He never leaves Peter without a comforter to indwell him. Grace stays forever.
No white lies to make someone feel pretty and hide a fear of ugliness... just love. A creator's love... a parent's love... love and connection.
"And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them." - Leviticus 20:23 ESV
"So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous." - Proverbs 2:20 ESV
"Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil." - Proverbs 4:14 ESV
"If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." - 1 John 1:6-10 ESV
1 John verse 9 has us confess which is really just stepping out of the shadow that isn't hiding us anyway and confessing God's faithfulness for that particular situation. We are stepping out into the light and light is where we have communion with God and fellowship with people.
The truth is so much better than fiction when there is full unconditional acceptance. People don't need to remake the past or invent the future when there is grace.
"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein." - Hebrews 13:9 KJV
Those strange teachings cast a long shadow. They have no glow of life. When we have a message that gives off light we just are who we are with no need to be anything else.
That is the message we have for others, 'Just come as you are. You don't have to be anything for God or for me. You may not know what you are but you are very important.'
Big lies, little lies and white lies all have important roles. Good people have little white lies. They bend the truth for morally justified reasons. Bad people just break the truth until they don't blush doing it.
Lies are the thick greases that coat the workings of social interactions. It is the 10w40 of natural existence. What award winning movie doesn't have some major or minor misunderstanding to resolves or hide. Lies provide drama and comedy.
But grace does something different and many times unwanted because of the initial exposure.
"Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way." - Psalm 85:9-13 ESV
God is righteous and lies have nothing to do with Him. His truth and holiness are a pathway for Him. Lies are nothing to Him. He won't walk down those roads.
Mercy has rejoiced against judgement. The Gospel of Grace is truth that casts no shadow because it glows from within like Jesus on the mount glowing white. The law was right but it cast a long shadow and people used that shadow to hide from reality because that reality was so hard to bear.
The orphan invents parents. The young man pretends to hide the pain attaching his identity to some strong role model. The woman married to an angry man plays a role and lives behind a mask to hide from the man's anger. Fake phone numbers in bars. Expensive clothing hides insecurity. A smile hides pain. Governments must look strong and knowledgeable. Companies must look profitable. People must pretend without grace and mercy.
No more lies. When Jesus comes there are no more lies.
He stands in Peter's boat to preaching and the fish come at His silent command and Peter knows He is a sinful man but Jesus will not depart from Him. Jesus stays for the rest of Peter's life. Even when Jesus leaves to ascend to Heaven He never leaves Peter without a comforter to indwell him. Grace stays forever.
No white lies to make someone feel pretty and hide a fear of ugliness... just love. A creator's love... a parent's love... love and connection.
"And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them." - Leviticus 20:23 ESV
"So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous." - Proverbs 2:20 ESV
"Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil." - Proverbs 4:14 ESV
"If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." - 1 John 1:6-10 ESV
1 John verse 9 has us confess which is really just stepping out of the shadow that isn't hiding us anyway and confessing God's faithfulness for that particular situation. We are stepping out into the light and light is where we have communion with God and fellowship with people.
The truth is so much better than fiction when there is full unconditional acceptance. People don't need to remake the past or invent the future when there is grace.
"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein." - Hebrews 13:9 KJV
Those strange teachings cast a long shadow. They have no glow of life. When we have a message that gives off light we just are who we are with no need to be anything else.
That is the message we have for others, 'Just come as you are. You don't have to be anything for God or for me. You may not know what you are but you are very important.'
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