Lies! What is a lie? The first thought that comes to my mind is “not telling the truth”. It is far more than that! Untruthfulness has become a rampant phenomenon in the world today. Look at the corporate scandals in high circles world wide, the stock market scandals, the Politician’s promises, heads of state lying under oath, people sentenced to prison because of false witnessing, or just a little child saying “I didn’t do it” when you know that it is not so! A lie is colourless. There are no white or brown lies. I remember a story of a person who had the tendency to “stretch” or to “exaggerate” the facts to make it look spicier! It became such a problem in her life that she went to the pastor for advice. She said, “I have a tendency to exaggerate, and now hardly any body believes me. “Why don’t you call it lying madam” said the Pastor. A lie is something that is intended to convey a false impression or a false statement with a deliberate intent to deceive or it can be described as an intentional untruth! There are other words that can describe lies, such as: deception, dishonesty, fraud, false-hood, distortion, fabrication, purposeful misinterpretation, false impression, intentional misconception, forgery, tale, pretence, slander, deformation, alteration, invention, smear, counterfeit, imitation, stories and such like.
When I begin to go through this list, a lie to me seems more than a casual statement of untruth. It’s like, deception and falsehood in whatever level, is somewhat “woven” into our personality. All of us at some point in our lives are guilty of being untruthful. This is because we all come under the “fallen nature”. The Bible says in Psalm 58:33, “The ungodly are perverse and estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. (AMP). The “fallen nature” naturally likes to project the best while there is something else beneath, it’s a kind of a “Dr Jakyll and Mr Hyde” personality. One of the most deceptive is an outward “religious look” and an inward self of deceit and even hatred towards others. You see it all over the news sometimes: members of the clergy who have taken advantage of certain situations and have caused pandemonium in the pews! Jesus called them “White washed sepulchres”. How do people get to the point that hardly anybody believes them? How is it possible for a person to become a “conman” or a master deceiver?
First: You lie. Second: You believe in that lie. Third: The lie you believe becomes the truth. Fourth: Then you become a master deceiver, and a double-dealing person. Then lying becomes a life-style because you are convinced that this is the truth! I have seen this cycle in people over and over again! That is a pathetic place to be. The tragedy is multiplied when a wrong perception (Mind) coupled with a lifestyle of lying (doing) become partners. This is a very deadly combination. You should not entertain perception to “rule over you” (see the truth about lies part one). For example, there is a wrong perception in your mind, then, the mind prompts you to say things that you presume and are not true, and then the words that you speak ensnare you. And naturally you will live and experience what you have ensnared yourself with. And that’s a vicious circle! Proverbs 6:2. You are snared with the words of your lips and you are caught by the speech of your mouth. And if a person continues like this without seeking a remedy, he will be "imprisoned" by his lies.
The Scriptures have a clear answer as to why people behave this way: The master deceiver will come into this world and 2 Thessalonians: 10-12 says: 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.” (NIV) The same truth in the King James Version verses 10b -11 goes like this: “Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: Rejection of the truth of the Word of God brings delusion. Believing in the Word of God, and adhering to it brings life and peace. The Cornerstone of the building blocks of our lives is the Word of God today. Believe the truth of the word and live. Reject it and be deluded. Falsehood is death. Read Isaiah: 28-15-16. You boast, "We have entered into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place." In order to combat this the next verse goes: 16 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.
Friend, there is an age old warfare between light and darkness, truth and lies. We need to take a stand as to see where we really belong. I urge that we take a long hard look and put things in the right perspective. If we make falsehood our hiding place we will be deceived. We must put our foundation on the Cornerstone in Zion. We will weigh ourselves in the balance and find out where we really belong. We will discuss this in the next chapter.
When I begin to go through this list, a lie to me seems more than a casual statement of untruth. It’s like, deception and falsehood in whatever level, is somewhat “woven” into our personality. All of us at some point in our lives are guilty of being untruthful. This is because we all come under the “fallen nature”. The Bible says in Psalm 58:33, “The ungodly are perverse and estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. (AMP). The “fallen nature” naturally likes to project the best while there is something else beneath, it’s a kind of a “Dr Jakyll and Mr Hyde” personality. One of the most deceptive is an outward “religious look” and an inward self of deceit and even hatred towards others. You see it all over the news sometimes: members of the clergy who have taken advantage of certain situations and have caused pandemonium in the pews! Jesus called them “White washed sepulchres”. How do people get to the point that hardly anybody believes them? How is it possible for a person to become a “conman” or a master deceiver?
First: You lie. Second: You believe in that lie. Third: The lie you believe becomes the truth. Fourth: Then you become a master deceiver, and a double-dealing person. Then lying becomes a life-style because you are convinced that this is the truth! I have seen this cycle in people over and over again! That is a pathetic place to be. The tragedy is multiplied when a wrong perception (Mind) coupled with a lifestyle of lying (doing) become partners. This is a very deadly combination. You should not entertain perception to “rule over you” (see the truth about lies part one). For example, there is a wrong perception in your mind, then, the mind prompts you to say things that you presume and are not true, and then the words that you speak ensnare you. And naturally you will live and experience what you have ensnared yourself with. And that’s a vicious circle! Proverbs 6:2. You are snared with the words of your lips and you are caught by the speech of your mouth. And if a person continues like this without seeking a remedy, he will be "imprisoned" by his lies.
The Scriptures have a clear answer as to why people behave this way: The master deceiver will come into this world and 2 Thessalonians: 10-12 says: 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.” (NIV) The same truth in the King James Version verses 10b -11 goes like this: “Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: Rejection of the truth of the Word of God brings delusion. Believing in the Word of God, and adhering to it brings life and peace. The Cornerstone of the building blocks of our lives is the Word of God today. Believe the truth of the word and live. Reject it and be deluded. Falsehood is death. Read Isaiah: 28-15-16. You boast, "We have entered into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place." In order to combat this the next verse goes: 16 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.
Friend, there is an age old warfare between light and darkness, truth and lies. We need to take a stand as to see where we really belong. I urge that we take a long hard look and put things in the right perspective. If we make falsehood our hiding place we will be deceived. We must put our foundation on the Cornerstone in Zion. We will weigh ourselves in the balance and find out where we really belong. We will discuss this in the next chapter.
1 comment:
Oi, achei teu blog pelo google tá bem interessante gostei desse post. Quando der dá uma passada pelo meu blog, é sobre camisetas personalizadas, mostra passo a passo como criar uma camiseta personalizada bem maneira. Até mais.
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