"The tradgedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives."~ Albert Einstein
Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips
And from a deceitful tongue...
My soul has dwelt too long
With one who hates peace.
~ Psalms 120:2,6 (NKJV)
The LORD hates ... a lying tongue ...
~ Proverbs 6:16-17 (NKJV)
And in their mouth was found no deceit ...
~ Revelation 14:5 (NKJV)
Yesterday's conclusion of Psalm 119 extolled Truth. Psalm 120's author prays for freedom from lies. Truth sets us free to live as children of the Kingdom of Heaven. Deceit makes us vulnerable to the power of hell on Earth.
Oft heard are statements such as, "Truth is relative and this works for me ... it's a half-truth / just a white lie ... it's not the kind of lie that sends you to hell."
The habitual convenience of compromised truth is a foundation of sand waiting to collapse.
A "half truth" is still a lie. A white lie cracks open the door to the prince of darkness, who himself masquerades as an angel of light. Truth is the first line of defense against him.
The devil is father of lies and lies are his language. He hates peace and has an agenda to steal, kill and destroy. Lies need not send us to hell, for they maintain the strongholds of hell on Earth.
The tradgedy of lies is their touch of death upon God's child while he lives.
Father of life and Spirit of Truth, cleanse us from all the devil's deceit and death. Give us hunger and thirst for righteousness.
#powerofwords
Contrasting points-of-view, questions and feedback are invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
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How do we quantify the several white lies in the bible? Rahab and Abraham for example. Don't get me wrong, I do not condone it's use but would love to split hairs with you.
ReplyDeleteIf you get a chance check this out http://tanneadams.com/
Not really a great end product, but a beginning. I'm jumping through hoops here. Guess I really want this whole writer thing to work out ;)
I'm just so thankful to have a Lord who is always Truthful, always Merciful and always Just.
ReplyDeleteCurious how you will answer the above.
Glad to be back blogging. I missed reading.
~ Wendy
T. Anne,
ReplyDeleteAbraham's lie was not directed by the Lord. It was a product not of faith but of fear that Pharaoh might take his life. The Lord had already promised Abraham descendants, and a perfected faith would have believed God able to deliver him without him lying. Pharaoh wound up giving Abraham many slaves as a result, and one consequence may have been receiving Hagar in that group.
As for Rahab, her lie was her progression of faith in the Israelite God. Had she been truthful, the spies might have perished as martyrs, but the Lord's hand would not have been shortened. He would have still accomplished all He promised.
The Bible is filled with examples of people who did not live God's ideal, and how He nonetheless acheived His purposes. I freely admit that I myself do not live up to all of God's ideals which I present here. But I recognize from Scripture what they are, and believe that however much we fall short, His ideals will bring us closest to His will and His greater blessing.
When I fall short of God's ideals, I am compelled by fear and by love (in turn) to look to Him for the strength to continually grow in my Christlikeness. I say fear, because I've experienced lost blessing as a consequence for my failures, and I recognize that I serve a God whose blessing is never withheld, but which may diminish as I am out of step with Him. Seeing that makes me love Him more, in realizing that His love for me gives discipline only so that I'll be equipped to received not the greater, but the greatest blessing.
T. Anne, PS: I welcome challenging questions. This one did challenge me. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWendy, I've missed you, too. I also appreciate the wisdom which pulls back from the internet as the Lord and family indicate. I suspect you're closer to "the ideal" on that than I am. :D
Another thought about "small" lies.
ReplyDeleteJohn's Gospel tells us that Judas Iscariot was a thief. He evidently had a habit of listening to little lies from satan which said there was something to be purchased from this world which exceeded the treasures of the Kingdom—treasures he witnessed daily in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
How many times did Judas listen to those lies, accept them, and act upon them before his heart was darkened enough by death to betray Jesus, and to do it with a deceitful kiss?
Anne you are indeed- building His body. I am so thankful to have this site as a visiting place to gain comfort and insight into the Word of God. The scriptures challenge me to take a long hard look at me, and that can be painful. But the joy is that it causes me to surrender more of myself to the Holy Spirit, in ways that bring intense peace and deliverance.
ReplyDeleteThank you always!
This furthers some thoughts and meditations I have been pondering. Thanks Anne. Great post.
ReplyDeleteCreepy picture... Now that I've scrolled far enough to not see it... I can comment. :)
ReplyDeleteT. Anne's question is good, as is your response. I've spent much of the past year in the book of Judges, which for me was one massive brain teaser. But in the end, I like you see how God's people fall short and God stays the course. At times it seemed God at best tolerated, or at worst was complicit in, the unthinkable. I stared at the same page for weeks on end before I could move on.
And when I moved on, it was with the realization that I had to let God be as big as He is, which sometimes means I won't get it. I won't wrap my mind around Him. Not today, not tomorrow. And in those cases, to do so would be to reimagine Him to fit my limitations and my wishes.
Seems it takes that step for me when looking at Abraham, Rahab, Samson, Jephthah...all of whom take their place in the Hebrews 11 hall. God's big enough to get it, even when I don't.
Don't like to leave links in comments, but this one seems to fit if you'd like to have a look... my gut-wrench over Jephthah's deal. http://adifferentstory.net/2009/07/14/a-deal-is-a-deal/
Perfect! As I knew your answer would be. I have so much more confidence with which to embrace those chapters in the bible as I cross them this year. Thank you for removing any barrier of doubt the enemy may have had in respect to them.
ReplyDeleteThis morning my reading was the beginning chapter of Matthew. The genealogy of Jesus. I've read it before but today it occurred to me what a miracle each leg of that (DNA?) journey took. Each name brought to mind the amazing circumstances the hand of God had to override. I loved it! Of course I didn't recognize some of the names like those near the bottom of the list. It made me wonder about their stories and what they were like. Now, was Mary also in the blood line of David? I though I heard that somewhere. Not that I want to cause any ore trouble for you today ;) Happy New year friend. XOXO
Lies are signs of weakness, a shield we try to hold up to cover ourselves when we feel vulnerable. Our God is an unbreakable rock, a fortress of strength, and as we come closer to Him, we become stronger, protected under His wings -- better than any shield of false words. He is omnipotent and has no need to lie, ever.
ReplyDeleteTamika, surrender to God is surrender to His love. You bless me with your words. I pray you never stop by this site without feeling the presence of the Lord.
ReplyDeleteJason! I'm likewise blessed by you, to hear that the Lord might further what He's speaking to you by what's said here. Thanks!
Clifford, the image of being under His wings is one I use often to think of salvation. When we come under His protection, we come under His ownership, we come under His authority. There's no more precious place to be than in the shadow of His wings.
Lyla,
ReplyDeleteThe story of Jephthah is definitely intriguing. His vow was that whatever came to him would be offered up to the Lord as an 'olah. The Hebrew word literally means "ascend," referring to something being offered "up," the ascent of the altar steps, and the rising of smoke in a freewill burnt offering.
The vow was made after the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. I'm inclined to think that in the midst of that zeal, Jephthah declared his willingness to give all to the Lord without restraint. And though the Lord is not One with Whom we bargain, I do not think He was displeased with Jephthah's motive, however impulsive.
God did grant Japhthah's prayer. He might easily have allowed anything or anyone else to greet Jephthah. But instead, the Lord further tested his faith. Jephthah's agony seems greater than Abraham's at the point he offered Isaac. Yet Jephthah did not deny the Lord what he had vowed.
How does the story end? The daughter is given two months to "bewail her virginity." She will never have a husband. After that, Scripture is a bit ambiguous: "And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She knew no man." (Judges 11:39 NKJV)
It says only that she knew no man, that is, never had sexual relations. It never says she was killed. She was a woman of faith. I cannot think her death would have pleased the Lord. There's room to believe that the daughter was not killed to be offered up as a burnt offering, but that she was in some other way offered 'up' to the Lord. Perhaps she was given to the service of the tabernacle and the Levites, to never again see her family, to never have the Israelite woman's honor to bear a son.
We are left to simply believe that because Jephthah is included in the Faith Hall of Fame of Hebrews 11:32, he pleased the Lord.
T. Anne,
ReplyDeleteMary was also of the line of David. Jesus' royal lineage is traced by Matthew through Joseph, a descendant of David's son King Solomon. Jesus' natural lineage as the seed of woman, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Genesis 3:15, appears in Luke 3:23-38, through David's son Nathan.
We know that Mary was a relative of Elizabeth, the wife of a priest. The high priest was required to marry a woman "among his own people." While there is dispute about whether that meant an Israelite or specifically a Levite, rigid adherence to the law and a priest's hope to be the high priest means he likely took as wife the daughter of another Levite priest. So, there is some likelihood that Elizabeth was a descendant of the priesthood. If Mary's relation to Elizabeth was through maternal bloodlines, then Mary's maternal lineage was of the Levite priests.
This is all conjecture, but not an unlikely series of circumstances. I like to think that Jesus human lineage was of both Aaron the high priest and David the king.
Anne,
ReplyDeleteAs per my expectations, brilliant. I tend to hold the position that he did not kill his daughter, but the ambiguity of the text and disagreement of the scholars leaves just a tiny crack of doubt. And that's where I have to just let God be bigger than I sometimes make Him. The truth is that puzzles like this one are what make me love the Word as I do.
The work of your analysis makes me think I owe you a diagram from Eph. 1. :)
A happy new year to you and your family.
Lyla, LOL! No hurry. THAT's just for fun. ;D
ReplyDelete