Speak Truth And Yet Not Believe It…

Is it possible to speak truth and yet not believe it? Yes, hypocrisy has that effect. There are many examples of this throughout scripture. Here’s one of them. The religious leaders call Jesus an honest, impartial person Who doesn’t play favorites. They even go as far as saying He teaches God’s ways truthfully. All of these are 100% accurate, yet they refused to embrace Him. Why? Because that would mean they would have to change. Isn’t this the reason why every single human being on this planet rejects God? Submitting our will to His will goes against our sinful nature. “I want to do it my way”, is the humanistic mantra. When it’s all said and done, and people are permanently cast out of God’s presence, the reason will be the song they chose to live out instead of embracing the truth they spoke but did not believe. It’s a popular song sung by Frank Sinatra, “I did it my way”. One reason it’s so important to stay connected to Jesus (the vine), is for its life giving abilities to recognize and believe (embrace) the truth.

13 Later the leaders sent some Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus into saying something for which He could be arrested. 14 “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest You are. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. You teach the way of God truthfully. Now tell us–is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay them, or shouldn’t we?”Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said, “Why are you trying to trap Me? Show Me a Roman coin, and I’ll tell you.” 16 When they handed it to Him, He asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”“Caesar’s,” they replied.17 “Well, then,” Jesus said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”His reply completely amazed them. Mark 12:13-17

God Can Be Trusted….

God can be trusted in everything He does; to meet our needs, to protect us, to honor us, to comfort us, to teach us, to be our advocate, to heal us, to discipline us, to infuse hope in us, in any and every situation. Do you trust Him?

4 For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything He does. Psalms 33:4

Prone To Follow Our Own Desires….

Without God, man is prone to defiling himself. Look around; sexual sins run rampant. Violence in the name of justice. Abuse. Hypocrisy in the name of political correctness. And on and on. Without the Holy Spirit, man will try to fill the void; he will worship whatever he thinks is worthy. Man is fickle. We are fickle. Without God we are prone to follow our own desires. That’s one of the benefits of having the Holy Spirit in our lives, He helps us manage our selfishness.

37 Then the Lord said to Moses, 38 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord. 39 When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do. 40 The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God. 41 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the Lord your God!” Numbers 15:37-41

Wealth Usually Keeps Us Away From God…

No matter what the world tries to tell us, money can’t and won’t save us on Judgement Day. Money has a tendency to make us believe we can say “No” to God. It falsely gives us a sense of security. We believe if we have enough, or a little more, we will be all right. This isn’t true. Having wealth usually keeps us away from God. Rich people believe in their comforts here on this earth so much that Heaven becomes a threat to them. They think “Heaven may not be as comfortable as it is here”, so they don’t want to go. However, poor people think “anything is better than here”, so they long for Heaven. Jesus did say that it’s easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Don’t put your trust in the mighty dollar, it won’t save you. Use money to meet your needs, but do not buy into the notion that it can save your soul. Only Jesus can do that. Get right with Him today, and start living real life.

4 Riches won’t help on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death. Proverbs 11:4

21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 24 I’ll say it again–it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” Matthew 19:21-24

Where Love Can’t Reside….

Here’s a simple lesson. Pride is selfishness on display. Selfishness says, “me me me me”. When there’s too many MEs in the situation, there’s no room for anything else. If the opposite of love is selfishness, when we are prideful, it keeps us in a place where love can’t reside, for it has to room. Pride keeps love out of the picture. Over time, it destroys anything that love has built. 2 Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11:2

Infidelity….

Could you imagine how much infidelity would be reduced if the process was initiated in American culture? The reason why we have so much unfaithfulness in marriages is twofold. First, few honor their commitments any more. Marriage is seen as a piece of paper, not a vow taken seriously, even though people won’t admit the pain and suffering divorce causes. Second, and more importantly, there’s no one to be accountable to, God isn’t real, so “I can do as I please”. If people were honest with themselves, and took their marriage vows seriously, being accountable to God first and foremost, divorce wouldn’t be a concept in people’s minds. It wouldn’t be considered an option when you “feel” like you’ve fallen out of love. Marriage takes work. It takes commitment. And regardless of what modern day people think, you are responsible to God for your vow, regardless if you believe in Him or not. Just think, if there was a method of testing infidelity, or lying, or slandering, or greed, or covetousness, do you think people would be so flippant in rushing into practicing those kinds of sinful behavior? Holding people account has it purpose, as does forgiveness. What matters most when it comes to freedom, isn’t exercising our rights, it’s being responsible with it. Just because we can, doesn’t always mean we should. Just because we have the right to do, doesn’t mean it trumps another’s right to do the same. Our responsibility to treat our neighbor as ourselves, applies this concept. God’s ways are always better than our ways. There’s proof in that.

And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.“Suppose a man’s wife goes astray, and she is unfaithful to her husband 13 and has sex with another man, but neither her husband nor anyone else knows about it. She has defiled herself, even though there was no witness and she was not caught in the act. 14 If her husband becomes jealous and is suspicious of his wife and needs to know whether or not she has defiled herself, 15 the husband must bring his wife to the priest. He must also bring an offering of two quarts of barley flour to be presented on her behalf. Do not mix it with olive oil or frankincense, for it is a jealousy offering–an offering to prove whether or not she is guilty.16 “The priest will then present her to stand trial before the Lord. 17 He must take some holy water in a clay jar and pour into it dust he has taken from the Tabernacle floor. 18 When the priest has presented the woman before the Lord, he must unbind her hair and place in her hands the offering of proof–the jealousy offering to determine whether her husband’s suspicions are justified. The priest will stand before her, holding the jar of bitter water that brings a curse to those who are guilty. 19 The priest will then put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has had sex with you, and you have not gone astray and defiled yourself while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune from the effects of this bitter water that brings on the curse. 20 But if you have gone astray by being unfaithful to your husband, and have defiled yourself by having sex with another man–’21 “At this point the priest must put the woman under oath by saying, ‘May the people know that the Lord’s curse is upon you when he makes you infertile, causing your womb to shrivel and your abdomen to swell. 22 Now may this water that brings the curse enter your body and cause your abdomen to swell and your womb to shrivel.’ And the woman will be required to say, ‘Yes, let it be so.’ 23 And the priest will write these curses on a piece of leather and wash them off into the bitter water. 24 He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings on the curse. When the water enters her body, it will cause bitter suffering if she is guilty.25 “The priest will take the jealousy offering from the woman’s hand, lift it up before the Lord, and carry it to the altar. 26 He will take a handful of the flour as a token portion and burn it on the altar, and he will require the woman to drink the water. 27 If she has defiled herself by being unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings on the curse will cause bitter suffering. Her abdomen will swell and her womb will shrink, and her name will become a curse among her people. 28 But if she has not defiled herself and is pure, then she will be unharmed and will still be able to have children.29 “This is the ritual law for dealing with suspicion. If a woman goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority, 30 or if a man becomes jealous and is suspicious that his wife has been unfaithful, the husband must present his wife before the Lord, and the priest will apply this entire ritual law to her. 31 The husband will be innocent of any guilt in this matter, but his wife will be held accountable for her sin.” Numbers 5:11-31

God’s Way Is Far Superior….

Imagine if everyone on earth behaved in such a way it resembled this passage. Imagine if people apologized to those they’ve done wrong. Imagine if they paid full restitution to them as well. Wouldn’t the world be a better place? Accountability is paramount in the life of a believer. We live life knowing we are responsible to God. Not a perfect life, just a forgiven, grace-filled one. God’s way is far superior to man’s way. When we are lead by His Spirit, the world takes notice, because we give them a small glimpse of what God is like.

5 Then the Lord said to Moses, 6 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If any of the people–men or women–betray the Lord by doing wrong to another person, they are guilty. 7 They must confess their sin and make full restitution for what they have done, adding an additional 20  percent and returning it to the person who was wronged. Numbers 5:5-7