2002-09-06
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We are finally coming to the conclusion of the segment called "Truth Matters." Because the Holy Spirit gave me all these messages for you, I think we can get an idea of just how important to God the truth really is. I would like to relate one short story from an episode of The Cosby Show, a wonderful comedy series from the 1980's which Peter and I are now enjoying in reruns. We love Bill Cosby, because he has a way of making us see important truths while we laugh. The scripts for that show were brilliantly written. One show in particular really emphasizes God's attitude toward the truth. It was dealing with teenagers experimenting with smoking. Vanessa and her girl friends were visiting up in her room, when two of the girls lit up cigarettes and offered Vanessa one. Vanessa refused it, but couldn't stop the others from smoking. Vanessa was quite worried about how her father, Cliff, would react when she decided to tell him what had happened later. She knew Cliff wouldn't approve. Cliff's reaction caught her by surprise. He was very understanding about it. Then, she asked him why he didn't get mad at her the way he had when her older brother, Theo, had dealt with the same issue in the past. Cliff smiled and explained, "There is a big difference. Your brother and his friends were all smoking. When I smelled the smoke in the room, those fools tried to hide it; they lied to me. You came and told me the truth."
COL 3: 3-4, "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory!" God is in control and is always righteous. He reveres those who tell the truth. God punishes those who lie. God love each of us, and His timing is perfect. Remember HE 4: 12, which defines the truth for us in so compelling a way that if we live "in Christ," we will always want to use it as the guiding light to illuminate our paths.
With this paragraph, I am led to begin the next segment of these spiritual warfare messages, called "Righteousness." Righteousness could be difficult to discuss until we make the distinction between righteousness and self-righteousness. The former is what God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit always display as a model for us to follow. Self-righteousness is a human thinking he has all the answers and the right to judge others. So, let's make it clear that the only One with the right to judge is Christ Himself, because God gave Him that right [DN 7: 13-14]. So then, this segment is about what goes into being righteous, not self-righteous, and about what God has to say about this.
Once again, I will cite 1 PET 5: 8, as a reminder of the enemy's attitude, always the opposite of God's, and what he is willing to do about righteous people. "Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." Let's follow the word of God and thwart our enemy in this process!
When human nature is in control of a person, the door is open for Satan to gain a stronghold in his life and is closed to the Holy Spirit. Human nature's greatest desire is to feed the appetites of the flesh. All believers know that leads a person to sin, and that making a lifestyle out of this leads to spiritual death-the worst fate available to mankind. RO 1: 21, "They know God but they do not give Him the honor that belongs to Him, nor do they thank Him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness." Satan's favorite point of attack is the mind. That is why God, through Paul, wrote this amazing description found in RO 1: 18-32 of the mechanism of how a sinful lifestyle gets started and why there is no excuse for it. Any good soldier of Christ knows that he must strap on the "breastplate of righteousness" [EPH 6: 14] in addition to "strapping the belt of truth tightly on his waist." The example I gave yesterday about how an idea taught by professors in top-notch business schools about profit being all that matters is a beautiful example of a notion put in their minds by Satan. The adversary loves to work hard in schools, and even in some seminaries, because he knows that many more people with be reached with his evil this way. What results from buying into this lack of ethics has been a disaster in the business world and has generated all the awful failures, head-lines, and losses we are seeing. Satan loves it when he can convince religious leaders to take Scripture out of context and place it in human constructs that lead to apostasy and sinfulness in the churches and synagogues. Righteousness stands side by side with truth as an effective defense against Satan's dirty work. It is from these two weapons that we can get discernment, and discernment is gotten directly from God. We are going to take the time to look into what God has to say about this in the Scriptures, and we'll see some examples from today's society too. We should take the time to reflect on righteousness in our own individual and congregational lives to assess where it lays with regard to the standards God sets.
PRAYER: O Lord, long ago Moses asked You a crucial question in EX 33:15-16. "If You do not go with us, do not make us leave this place. How will anyone know that You are pleased with Your people and with me if You do not go with us? Your presence with us will distinguish us from any other people on earth." What is inherent in this question is a great truth. We are made righteous by Your presence in our lives. We cannot find righteousness from any other source. Without You, Dearest Abba, we are ruled by the flesh and on the path to destruction. With You, we are given the weapons we need to fight Satan and the model to follow of Your righteousness. You love us so much that when we come to faith in You after repenting, that You impute righteousness to our accounts. You did this for Abraham in GN 15: 6, and You do it for each believer, be they from a Jewish or Gentile background. In David's Song of Victory, he writes, in PS 18: 16-21, a message which is still true for us today. "The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me; He pulled me out of the deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemies and from all those who hate me-they were too strong for me. When I was in trouble, they attacked me, but the Lord protected me. He helped me out of danger; He saved me because He was pleased with me. The Lord rewards me because I do what is right; He blesses me because I am innocent. I have obeyed the law of the Lord; I have not turned away from my God." While David was writing about his own experience, this applies to each of us. Our enemies are Satan and his followers-who have influenced the people who bring evil into our lives, just as David's enemies were the Philistines influenced by Satan and his followers. We must not turn away from You, just as David didn't turn away from You. The lessons of his life apply to us too. We must not forget what You told Paul to say in RO 12: 9, "Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good." We humbly confess our sins and offer You our heartfelt adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, honor, glory, trust, obedience, thanks, and praise. In Christ's name, amen.
The Holy Spirit leads me to discuss why we need righteousness in our lives and what God has to say about it in tomorrow's message. I have been led to think about how helpless we are without God in our lives. How would we know how to open that narrow gate that leads to the hard path to eternal life without Him. Often, I personally have been at a crossroads, when I had a difficult decision to make. Without God, I'm stuck in a Mexican standoff, not knowing which way to go. It is rather like a sheep who gets lost and needs its loving Shepherd to guide it to safety. When God is in our lives, He leads us to the truth and shows us how to act righteously in living it. God places a protective umbrella over us when the storms of our lives get too hard for us. Outsiders without faith would call this mind control. Those who are faithful would recognize it for what it really is-God's utter love for His children. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn