Honesty: the key to Genuine faith and relationships

Lying must always be traced back to the Devil, for he is the father of lies (John 8:44). Did I get your attention! This is why I believe honesty is a non-negotiable characteristic of the Christian faith. Without real honesty I would say that a genuine faith will be difficult to live out and genuine relationships will be difficult to have. If there are lies operating in our lives than anything that is influenced by or built around or on a lie can never be 100% genuine because the very nature of a lie is falsehood and whatever is false can never be 100% true and real. 

I've come across a definition of lying from an article which I appreciate: "Saying something false to someone who is entitled to know the truth is the very definition of lying. This includes misrepresenting or distorting facts in order to mislead a person. Omitting information to deceive someone, and exaggerating the truth in order to give a false impression also fall under that definition." 

The reason I appreciate this definition is because it encompassing the full spectrum of lying. Oftentimes, many people will internally justify distorting the facts, omitting information or exaggerating the truth for all kinds of reasons and motivations. But, at the end of the day, we lie because of fear. We are afraid of the responses of others. If we couldn't care less of what others thought of us, we could and would be completely honest with them all of the time. This is why little kids always tell the truth because they haven't been conditioned yet to be afraid of what others may think of them. They live in a place of freedom from the fear of rejection. 

I believe when we stand before God and have to give account for these situations, He will ask us why we didn't just tell the truth? And if there was information we were not comfortable in sharing why didn't we just say "There is more but I am uncomfortable in sharing this with you right now because..." Again, probably because of fear. But, the Good News is that God has given us His perfect love to drive out all fear from our lives (1 John 4:18). I know this is easier said than done, but it is still the truth we must allow into the very depths of our being and let it shape all that we are. 

I have done my fair share of spiritual direction, mentoring and counseling others and something that I repeatedly encourage in others is to share their heart. If you share your heart, you can never go wrong. Oftentimes, miscommunication and misunderstandings happen because instead of honestly sharing our hearts with others we end up giving excuses or lying (as defined above) which will always give others the wrong (and often false) impression because that is in essence what we are doing if we are not honestly sharing our heart with someone. 

Now, some of you may be thinking "well, people can't be trusted" and my loving response will always be "yes, I agree, but our trust isn't in people because they will (maybe not always but) at times let us down. No, our trust must always be in the Living God who holds our lives in His Almighty Hand (John 10:28-30). It is in Him we must place all of our trust." 

It's when we begin to shift our faith from God and begin placing it onto people, that fear will creep in and we'll be tempted to withhold truth and honesty from others. But, honesty must always begin with ourselves. If we cannot be honest with our own self, then we will never be able to be honest with others, let alone God. I can't stress this enough. So, my question to you the reader is, "How honest are you with yourself?" On a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being completely (brutally honest) and 1 being not so much (where lying, minimizing or exaggerating is an everyday thing you do with yourself): What number would you give yourself? 

What empowers me to live out a genuine faith in genuine relationships has its roots solely in God's love and care for my life, period.

If you are struggling with fully embracing God's love and care for your life, here's a wonderful video (3:54) which illustrates well what living in the security of the Father's love and care looks like.

This is my prayer: that the Almighty God of Heaven will release greater revelation to you about His perfect love and care for your life and that you would have many experiences and encounters with His love. In Jesus' Name, Amen. 

Good Good Father: Chris Tomlin (written by Housefires)

I just can't stop listening to this song over and over and over again. It is such a powerfully true song about who we should understand God to be towards us. If I've learned one thing in the last 15 years of walking with Jesus, it's been that everything in the world both visible and invisible comes against the goodness of God. But, this is nothing new, it is one of the oldest stories every recorded.

After God created the universe and everything in it (Genesis 1-2), we read in Genesis 3 of the exchange between the serpent and the woman:

1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" 2 "Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," the woman replied. 3 "It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, "You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die." 4 "You won't die!" the serpent replied to the woman. 5 "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." (NIV) 

At the heart of this exchange, the serpent is attacking the goodness of God. What the serpent is trying to do is make the woman believe that 1) God has lied to them "did God really say... you won't die!"; that 2) God doesn't have their best interest in mind for them "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as..."; and that 3) He has been holding out on them "you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." All of these come directly against God's goodness towards Adam and Eve.

The serpent of old has not changed his tactics. I can recall countless times where I have had the same kinds of thoughts float through my mind (maybe you can relate), that:

1. God has lied to me: "Did God really say He loves you?" or "Did God really say that He will never leave nor forsake you?" or "Have you really been forgiven by God?" Each of these questions is trying to get me to not trust God, to doubt His goodness towards me. 
2. God doesn't have my best interest in mind: "God didn't heal you because He wants you to suffer" or "God doesn't think you deserve to be blessed" or "If God really cared about you He won't have let that happen to you." Again, each of these statements is trying to get me to question God's care for me, to again doubt His goodness towards me. 
3. God's been holding out on me: "You see how God helped that person, but not you" or "God loves that person more than you" or "God is intentionally withholding His blessing from you." Each of these accusations are all trying to paint God as a moody and stingy God who doesn't want to bless His creation, to once again get me to doubt His goodness towards me. 

This is why I love this song so much and listen to it over and over and over again, because it reminds of the truth of God's goodness towards me in the midst of a world that would have me believe that God cannot be trusted, that He doesn't care for me, that God is a moody and stingy God who is not good. But, what I've come to know and believe both through the reading of Scripture and from my own encounters with the Living God is that He is good, that He is extremely generous, that He does care for me immensely and that I can trust Him completely. Because He is a Good Good Father.  

This is my prayer: Jesus, You tell us that "no one truly knows that Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him" (Matthew 11:27b NLT), So, Lord reveal the Father to us. In Your Name we ask, Amen. 

Here's the story behind the song:

Jesus I Come: Elevation Worship

I am just coming out of a long season of busyness and I've come to realize that this busyness has been slowly robbing me of my deeper passions and longings of 1) growing in deeper intimacy with the Lord and 2) reaching out to the lost children of God. Now the good work that I have been busying myself with has been within the walls of the church which like I said is good work. But, each day I take in breath and walk in the world, what I am confronted with the reality that there is much more urgent good work to be done outside the walls of the church.

Now don't get me wrong, I love serving the local church and ministering to the found children of God. But, we are living in precarious times with so much pain and brokenness happening all around the world. Everywhere I go, the Holy Spirit highlights to me the loneliness and lostness of those around me and their desperate need for faith, hope and love. In the past months, I befriended a neighbor who has been battling depression for 30+ years. To hear his story of pain and suffering pulled at the strings of my heart. I prayed for him in that moment and invited him to come to church which was all the time and energy I had at the time. I know that I need to be Jesus to this man, but to pursue a deeper relationship with him will take time and energy which is a scarce commodity.

In the past few weeks, I've made the decision to intentionally slow down and begin seeking to be simply present with Jesus.This will mean clearing my schedule and saying no to the many expectations that others may place on me. A word that a very wise and insightful person spoke to me recently which has helped to bring some reorientation to my disorientation was: "People's expectations for us are often much higher than God's expectations." If I'm honest, in this last season of busyness I regretfully got tangled up in trying to live up to people's expectations, rather than checking to see what God's expectations were of me.

Thankfully, Jesus is faithful and has begun to break me out of this. I know that it will take some time to shake off all the baggage and poor habits that come along with living in busyness, but I know that the Holy Spirit is Almighty and that He is passionate about drawing all of God's children into the rest that Jesus extends to us: "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light" (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT). If you are in a season of busyness, then receive Jesus' words with faith and know that this is His heart and will for you.

This is my prayer: Lord Jesus, I pray your words would come alive in me and whoever else needs them. In Your Name I pray Jesus. Amen.