Jump Start # 1564

Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”

  Yesterday, we introduced the idea of deception. The word involves distorting the facts and telling lies. Multiple times the Bible states “do not be deceived.” Our verse says this. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul states, “Do not be deceived, bad company corrupts good morals.” Don’t believe the lies you are being told. In Acts 13, Paul encountered a Jewish false prophet who was a magician. This wasn’t the slight of hand kind of magician. He fooled audiences and used potions and drugs to deceive his audience. This wasn’t entertainment, it was a form of false teaching. Paul described Elymas as “full of all deceit and fraud.” He was “making crooked the straight ways of the Lord.”

Sometimes, innocently, and even hopefully, we can fall into the trap of believing lies and promoting lies. We mean well when we say these things, but it’s what we actually say that can be without basis and harmful in the end.

For instance:

• A young couple at church is having marriage troubles. He’s wanting out. She’s upset and scared. To reassure her, you say, “I just know that you guys will work this out.” Really. You KNOW that. You want that. You hope for that. You may even pray for that. What happens when he walks out and files for divorce. How do you face your own words, “I just know this will work out.” It didn’t. You really didn’t know.

• The same false assurance is given to someone who has a serious health issue. “I just know you’ll pull through this.” “I just know you’ll beat this.” Again, we want that. We pray for that. We are hoping for that. But do you really KNOW that. Have you looked at the medical charts? Have you been to the treatments? Has God revealed something to you that He has not to anyone else? What happens if the person doesn’t make it?

• A young man quits attending church. He’s hanging out with the wrong people. His choices are taking him the wrong way. In hope, we tell the parents, “He knows what is right. He’ll come back to the Lord.” We want this. We pray for this. But what happens when he never does.

These hopeful deceptions are often used on self. We tell ourselves, “It’ll work out.” “Everything will be fine.” Sometimes we say that, believing somewhere, somehow something magically will be done. We stay on the sidelines and do not get involved because “it’ll work itself out.” Addictions never do. Sin never does. There are ways out, but they involve God’s plans. Repentance. Faith. Walking in the light. Leaving old ways and old friends that pull us from God. Those are specific choices based upon faith. Those things do not just happen. Things do not just work themselves out. We can be guilty of deceiving ourselves. We don’t want to admit that we might have a marriage problem. No, instead of coming to that conclusion, we convince ourselves, “It will just work itself out.” “We just need a vacation.” Guess what? Problems at home, become problems on the road. A trip doesn’t solve marriage problems.

Deceiving ourselves is a nice way of denying what we do not want to admit. We wear masks and believe everything is fine, when there is trouble in River City. A child doesn’t believe. A daughter is pregnant. A son is on drugs. Mounting bills has led you to think of dishonest ways of getting money. A flirting co-worker has made you consider lustful adventures. Rather than deal with these temptations and sins, we hide behind the lies of “everything is ok, it’ll work itself out.” But it never does. On it’s own, our heart deceives us. On it’s own we take the wrong path. On our own, we fail to see consequences and dangers that lie ahead. On our own, we are lost. We need God. “I need Thee every hour,” is much more than a wonderful hymn, it’s the way it really is. We do need God. We need His guidance and His grace. We need His mercy and His words. We need His warnings and His commands. We need to obey Him. We need to trust Him. We need to know that what He says works.

Oh, the lies that we can tell ourselves. Those that deceive themselves are actually in a worse state than those who admit the big mess that they have made. This is true in life and it is true spiritually. The guy who has been eating chips and drinking pop nonstop since he was a teenager, one day will admit that he’s overweight and out of breath. His admission to the problem will lead him to better health choices. The guy who admits that he is broke and hasn’t saved anything for retirement will make adjustments. He knows what has happened. It’s the other guy, the one who has lied to himself all these years that will continue on the same self destructive path. He continues bad health habits admitting, “It’ll be alright.” He continues to fall financially, admitting, ,”It’ll work itself out.” He is the same one who is dying spiritually, not growing, not connecting, that will say, “I’ll be ok.” No, he won’t. He’s been lying to himself and now he believes those lies.

That poor prodigal stopped lying to himself. Looking at the pigs, broke, he didn’t say, “Things will get better. I just know they will.” He didn’t believe, “It’ll work itself out.” Hungry, hopeless, friendless, he came to his senses. The lies stopped. I’m heading home. I’m confessing and apologizing. I’m going to do something about this. It is that disposition that will change things. It is that will that leads a person to the doctor, the financial adviser or fall to his knees and pray to God.

The Eagles sang a song, “Lyin’ Eyes.” Many of us have been lying to ourselves. It’s time we got up, like that prodigal did, and got help. It’s time we saw things as they are. It’s time for us to do something and stop believing, “It will just work out.”

Save yourselves from the perverse generation is what Peter preached. Work out your own salvation is what Paul told the Philippians. Own your faith and take charge of things. You can be as closes to God as you want. You can be as strong as you want spiritually. Your choices. They won’t just happen.

Let’s keep ‘lyin’ eyes’ in a song, and not the image that looks back to us in the mirror.

Roger

Jump Start # 896

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

Our passage today reminds us of two eternal truths. First, there is a connection between behavior and consequences. This seems to be played down today. It is so obvious, yet it seems shocking for many. There is a growing segment that claims to love God yet they continue to regularly ignore God’s word and are bent on doing what they want to do. They seem to think that loving God is a trump card that covers every thing and any thing that they do. As long as they love God, what they do doesn’t matter. This definition and use of love is tainted and not Biblical. The Lord said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Living like a sinner and dying like a saint doesn’t fly with God and is not a lesson one comes away with from a study of the Bible.

Second, God knows. There is no fooling God. He is not mocked. There is no getting one by God. We can live a life on the edge, using schemes, lies, and deceit to keep us out of trouble and doing only what we feel like doing, but God knows. He sees through all the smoke. He knows the heart. He isn’t caught off guard by slick words, fake promises, crocodile tears or lame excuses. God knows. He knows how serious you are about things. He knows how hard you are trying. He knows just how much you care. He knows. So playing church, playing Mr. Nice Guy, when you’re not, pretending to be what you are not, putting on a front—all these things, God sees through. He knows. Sitting in church services but using the time to text friends, play games on your phone or talk to those near by, all the while, not singing, not paying attention, not listening, not growing, not becoming—God knows. We are only hurting ourselves when we do that.  A fake faith doesn’t connect one to the Lord. It doesn’t get you through the storms of life. It’s useless.

So this reminds us that that we need to be honest with ourselves and with God. Genuineness and humbleness and faith is what God is interested in. He wants substance, not a performance. Real interest in spiritual matters. Real prayers that are more than repeating the same words over and over. Real joy. Real faith. Real commitment. Real love of His word. Real effort in His kingdom.

These thoughts are hard for some. We’ve mastered a way of making our selves look good. We do that to our parents, spouses, coaches, teachers and bosses. We know the right things to say. We know how the game works. Yet, God knows. He knows the truth.

Trying to keep an image of perfection does more harm than good. First, most realize that no one is perfect, other than God. It hurts our children. They feel that they must be perfect because their parents are perfect. No one can measure up to that level. They feel like failures when they don’t reach that standard. Parents are not perfect—as parents, or as humans. Being real means that parents will admit when they were mad, over reacting and apologize. If you want your children to be honest and real, then you must be the same.

This image hurts relationships in church as well. There are always some who are struggling. Their journey with God is hard. They want to do right but temptation seems to win most battles. When they come to worship and see others, who appear to be perfect and never have any doubts or struggles, this makes them feel like failures. This standard seems impossible to keep up with. This is the reason some drop out and never come back. They can’t be the perfect church member that they feel that they are expected to be. There are days when they don’t think about God. There are long periods of time when they don’t pray. Guilt always seems to hover over them. Like a roller coaster, their faith is up and then it is down. It’s those down periods when they really need help. It’s those down periods when they feel so inferior to everyone else. Elijah had some bad days. Queen Jezebel had issued a death warrant on him. He had exposed the prophets of Baal as frauds and led Israel to slaughtering a bunch of them. Jezebel was livid. She wanted Elijah dead. He ran. He hid in a cave. The Bible uses the expression, “He dwelled there.” Dwell carries the idea of staying. He was holed up in his cave. A cave of loneliness, discouragement, defeat and doubt. He would have died in that cave had God not spoken to him. God wasn’t through with Elijah. God need the prophet to do more things. Getting out of the cave was first on the list.

All of us, even the best among us, fight Satan. Our battles are different, but the struggles are the same. All of us, even the best among us, have bad days. All of us, even the best among us, need God’s mercy and forgiveness on a regular basis. All of us, even the best among us, need to worship, pray and study God’s word. All of us are in the same boat. The struggling Christian  needs to see that God loves him, wants him and can help him. The struggling Christian should not feel left out because of his struggles. He should not feel that he is a failure. His heart, his attitude, his spirit has a lot to do with all of this. If he is arrogant and indifferent, he will crash. If he is humble, genuine and seriously trying, he can find joy and peace.

Could it be that some do not return to the Lord and His people because they do not feel like they can ever succeed? Could it be all they see is perfection in others? It’s time to be honest and real with each other. It’s time to be helpful and take off the masks. It’s time to realize that we are all in this together and that we indeed need each other. It would help, like in an AA meeting, for us just to stand and admit, “Hi, I’m a sinner and I need Jesus.”

God is not mocked…be real. Be a Christian.

Roger