“LIARS LIE” – Nov 29

“And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”  Revelation 12:9

I have known a woman who was a liar.

She did not stretch the truth.
She did not exaggerate.
She did not take liberties.
She did get confused in the grey areas.

She lied.

Her years of elaborate deceptions finally fell apart when the pieces of her puzzle failed to come together.  Once a few of her tales came into question, the remainder of her web quickly crumbled under closer examination.

We found that most of what she portrayed was an elaborate ruse of half-truths and misrepresentation.  She was a magician at distortion.  She understood human behavior like few that I have met at her age.  Her skill allowed her to merge truth and untruth in an amalgam of distortion, misdirection, and outright fabrication.  She created these fantastic fairy tales that were designed to manipulate those who cared about her.

When we picked through the ashes of her falsehoods, we found that she lied even when the truth would have sufficed.  It seemed that the purity of the truth was never sufficient.  She could not allow an unadulterated word pass her lips.

She was a liar.

It is difficult to deal with a liar.  I want to trust people.  I am inclined to believe what I am told.  I easily grant the benefit of the doubt to the spirit behind the words.  However, those tendencies are foolish to convey to someone who struggles with lying.  They thrive on the temptation of the trusting.  A true liar deceives and manipulates the naïve often without them even realizing it.

Only the simple or foolish will blindly trust the words of a liar.  I am on my guard when I am dealing with a message that comes from a liar.  I am cautious of being mislead.  I am inquisitive of underlying assumptions and redefinition of words.  I am hesitant to blindly follow the promises of one tempting my confidence.

I am reminded of the words of the French poet, Charles Baudelaire:
The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world that he did not exist.

I am continually amazed by the lack of discernment that is shown to the messages of the world.  What do you think is the source behind the common message espoused through various media outlets?

What spirit do you think is behind Richard Dawkins message that there is no God?
What spirit do you think is behind Jon Stewart’s message that Christ is not the only way?
What spirit do you think is behind Rob Bell’s denial of hell?
What spirit do you think is behind Oprah Winfrey’s spirituality?
What spirit do you think substituted Santa for the manager?
What spirit do you think substituted the easter bunny for the Cross?

I am not making aspersion about any person nor am I presuming their motivations.  However, I believe there are spiritual forces in this world that have a strategy of deception.  We are told that Satan is the master of the false message.  The spirit of the great liar is infused into the messages from the world he controls.  His purpose is to lead people astray.  He can manipulate the unsuspecting into advocating an underlying message without ever revealing himself.

Do you believe that? 

I believe that.  It is why I believe that it is critical to judge the spirit behind all the messages that we are persuaded to believe.

Does the message teach that all spirituality must be consistent with the Bible?
Does the message teach that salvation comes by Christ alone?
Does the message teach that all glory is due to God?
Does the message affirm the teachings of prophets, Christ and the Apostles?

We live in a world filled with messages from conflicting winds.  These winds originate from opposing poles.  What you believe will determine where you are blown.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, SO THAT we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.  (Ephesians 4:11-14, emphasis added)

Those who are not in Christ will be blown about by the deceptive spiritual wind of Satan.  They do not have the Spirit of Christ within them to guide them.  They have not been equipped by the teachings of the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers.  They do not have the knowledge of the Son of God.

Therefore, we must be wise when handling their messages.  We must be discerning.  We must be on our guard.  We must be cautious of being mislead.  We must be inquisitive of underlying assumptions and redefinition of words. We face a liar behind all these messages who is bent on deceiving us.

If you believe that, then you should live in that reality.

We need to learn to trust the reality of the world revealed through scripture and not the one obscured by a liar.  We need to trust the words of the faithful servants of God who are a gift to our souls, given to keep us from being blown astray.

PRAYER: O Lord, thank you for giving us the tools to recognize the message of our enemy.  Thank you for teaching us how to stay close to You.  Thank you for you Spirit who you have sent to guide us.  Lord, open my ears to hear.  Strengthen my heart against all the enticing messages from this world that will blow me astray.  Write your word upon my heart.  Give me wisdom to discern your Spirit.  Grant me understanding to know You.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son,  Jesus Christ.   Amen.

Sources:

Charles Baudelaire Quotes
Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science
Jon Stewart on Religion – Morality
Love Wins a Review
The Church of Oprah Winfrey

“TRUSTING GOD WITH MY SANITY” – Nov 9

“But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him.  He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys, He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will.  Daniel 5:20-21

I was recently watching a commercial for the Wounded Warrior Project.  The warrior they were highlighting had suffered a severe head injury.  Mentally, he is no longer the man his wife married.  He was expending tremendous effort to learn basic motor skills that a few years earlier had taken no thought.

However, the damage to this soldier’s brain has effected more than his ability to control his body.  My heart broke for this family when his wife explained that she now considered her husband among the children she cares for.  Her husband is no longer the decisive, independent, cheerful man that he once was.  His brain injury took more than what he could do.  It took who he had been.

Patrick Hoesly / Foter.com / CC BY

This story stirred within me a hidden fear.  I, like most people, do not relish the thought of a debilitating injury.  However, I have less fear of injuries and diseases that affect the body but don’t damage the mind.  While a person’s body may not function, they remain themselves as long as their mind functions.

I find the loss of my mind a fearful prospect.  Prior to public speaking, I have gotten a twinge of fear about sudden onset of tourette syndrome; what if I drop an f-bomb in the middle of a sermon or started barking during a City Council meeting.  When I can’t remember something common, I will go through a self-diagnosis for Alzheimer’s.  Depression’s thief of emotional balance, freaks me out.

Brain injuries, mental illness, Alzheimer’s, all defile the sanctuary of the mind and change the personality of a person.  I have difficulty separating my mind from my identity.  If my mind becomes lost, does the only person I’ve ever known myself to be, cease to exist?  Am I merely a unique network of synapses whose existence depends upon healthy tissue, proper chemistry, and the timely firing of neurons?

By my mind, I do all things.
By my mind, I know the world around me.
By my mind, I know my wife, children, and all whom I love.
By my mind, I read the scriptures and know my God.
By my mind, the world knows me.

ecstaticist / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

We learn in Daniel that Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind.  Today, he would have been institutionalized rather than being left to eat grass and live exposed.  However, his reduction to beast was not due to random mental illness, an injury, or blood clot.

God took Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity. 

madamepsychosis / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

I do not know the means by which he was deprived of his ability to reason but I know who its author was.  All that Nebuchadnezzar was; his position, wealth, status, intelligence, and personality were in God’s hands.  God took Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity from him so that he would “…know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” (Daniel 4:25)

I don’t know all the why’s behind malfunctioning brains.  I don’t know why age eventually strips everyone of clear thought.  However, I do know that God is in control of all things, including the function of brains.  I do know that God continued to know Nebuchadnezzar even when he did not know himself.

Therefore, I do not need to fear the loss of my mind.

Institut Douglas / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

God knows me.  I am His.  If my sanity leaves me, He has the power to keep me.  He will continue to know me even if the person I was ceases to be recognizable.  I am more than a network of synapses. There is a difference between soul and mind, even if I cannot perceive the difference.  The failure of my mind does not erase my soul.  No matter where suffering afflicts us, God keeps the souls of those who are His and brings them home.

God is great and greatly to be praised.  All that we have, even our sanity, is a gift from him.  All is His.  The Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will.  He is a good Father and knows what His children need.  He will take care of His children when they cannot take care of themselves.

Therefore, He can be trusted with all that we are and all that we have, even our sanity.

PRAYER: Lord, I lift up all my brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering through brain injuries and mental illnesses.  I pray that you will make yourself known to their troubled minds.  I pray that you will grant them a peace and understanding beyond the function of their mind.  Father, thank you for my mind.  Thank you for the gift of sanity.  Thank you enabling me to know myself and more importantly to know you.  Forgive me for my pride and fear.  I praise You, my Lord and Savior.  You truly are the most High God and all things are yours.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son,  Jesus Christ.   Amen.

“TOSSING BABIES” – July 6

“O Israel, trust in the Lord!  He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!  He is their help and their shield.
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!  He is their help and their shield.”  Psalm 115:9-11

Baby Toss (Photo credit: Valdemarick)

Squeals of delight; shrieks of admonishment.  Most every father has heard both of these sounds at the same moment.

I do not know what possesses us fathers to throw our children but it must be written in our DNA.  Fathers have this strange obsession with making their progeny fly.  If it were not for the concerns of mothers and grandmothers, we probably would have made it into a sport.  I can just imagine the World Championships of the Baby Tossing.  It probably could be an Olympic event.

Like any good sport, there are some fundamentals to baby tossing that need to be mastered:

1. The power for the toss comes from the lower body.  So, a good explosive movement from bent legs is essential.  A tosser might even exhibit a small hop when transferring his upward motion into the frame of the toddler.
2. The release needs to be crisp.  Entanglement on a diaper or the clinging of small hand can send the tossee into the most irregular of patterns.  The energy is then wasted into flailing rather than soaring.
3. While the soaring occurs, the tosser has to keep his eye on the child.  ADD dads might struggle at this stage but it is critical not to become distracted while the full delights of flight are expressed in wonderful squeals of youth.
4. The most critical of all the baby tossing stages is the catch.  The arms should be extended high so the catch can be accomplished as early as possible.  This enables the speed of decent to be consumed into the arms and legs of the father as they bring their joyful child back to ground.

Baby Toss (Photo credit: deltaMike)

The most important factor in baby tossing is trust.  The child must trust his father.  For the child to fly, he must trust that his father will not drop him.  Flying can be terrifying if you are afraid of being dropped.  There can be no delight in flying upwards when all you can think about is tumbling downwards.

Therefore, trust is the difference between experiencing delight or fear.

Trust is defined as an assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.

The child who loves being tossed has an assured reliance on the character, ability,  and strength of his father.  He knows that he will be caught.  He can enjoy the flight because he is assured of the catch.  Mothers’ concerns arise because they do not have the same assured reliance in the father as their child.

The uncertainty of this world can often feel like being tossed in the air.  There are a variety of emotions that can be felt when we are tossed about but I have known very few who have described it as delightful.  I wonder if the reason we fail to enjoy the flight of a good toss comes from being so concerned with the catch.  Our unwillingness to being tossed into the unknown often has more to do with trust than prudence.

Happy Baby Toss (Photo credit: Kables)

Do you trust your Father in heaven?

Consider God’s character, his ability, his strength, his faithfulness.  We can be delighted in all of our circumstances because we have an assured reliance on being caught.  He is more than able to catch us.  He has the power to lift us high.  He has the ability to make us fly straight.  He will never take His eye off of us.  He is faithful to make everything work out for good – He promises to catch us.  Our problem is that we often don’t trust the promise.

We can soar through this world in the strength of the Spirit if we will just trust in our Father.  The difference between living in joyful delight or fear resides in trust; an assured reliance on the Father.

Who are you trusting?

PRAYER: Lord, open my eyes.  I know that I hedge.  I know that I can become so afraid of crashing that I never enjoy the delights of fully trusting in you.  Father, you are more than capable of catching me.  Lord, help me to trust You when I feel like I have been tossed high.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ.   Amen.