truth

Truth or Lie?

February 10, 2013 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given February 9, 2013

You get an email that says you’ve been chosen as the grand prize winner and all you have to do is click, “Here”, to claim your prize. When you click you are then asked to authenticate your identity by giving your address, Social Security number and your bank account number. Truth or lie?

Someone approaches you in the parking lot at Walmart and says their car is out of gas and their mother is in the hospital and they need to go to her. They only need $20 to get some gas and go to their mother. You ask where their car is and they say its way over there somewhere. Truth or lie?

God tells Adam and Eve they can eat from all the trees in the Garden but one. Then the serpent comes in and says, “You will not certainly die,..for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5). Truth or lie?

You’re sick and not feeling well at all. Many others are sick and some are in serious situations. The voice of fear comes into your mind, “You are really sick. You have a serious disease. You are never going to get well.” Truth or lie? The Bible says, “By His stripes you are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5). Truth or lie?

You’ve made a serious mistake and that voice inside says, “You’ve messed up this time. You’ll never get out of this, you’re through, don’t even try.” Truth or lie? “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved”. (Ephesians 2:4-5). Truth or lie?

How do we know when the devil is lying to us? How do we know whether the voice of fear in our minds is true or not? The answer: WE HAVE TO KNOW GOD’S WORD! The devil is a liar, (John 8:44). He has no power over us unless he can get us to believe his lies. If you have been duped and are trapped with his lies, there’s a way out: “Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32).

In God We Trust

January 23, 2009 by Bill 1 Comment

Given January 12, 2009

We have many problems in this life. Jesus said, “In this world you will have troubles. But take heart, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. We can worry about what may happen or we can trust God to handle it. It’s our choice. Right? Right.

I have a few things going on in my life right now and I need to know what to do. I am asking God to tell me what to do; to give me wisdom on how to act or which decision to make. I’ve realized that sometimes God will give his kids specific instructions on what to do whether it comes from His Word, the words of a pastor, or from the Holy Spirit who will speak to us on the inside. He’ll say, “Do this, this, and that, then do the other and see what happens.” Then, there are other times when He just says, “Son, don’t do anything, just trust me, I’ll handle it.” He showed me what that means on this day.

My mother is a wonderful Christian lady who I love to help and her car wouldn’t start last week. Every time it rains for a day or two, her car won’t start. I learned it might be moisture in the carburator so I got some WD-40, took off the distributor cap, sprayed inside, and left it to dry. A couple of hours later, it started. Now, a few days later, it happened again. When she called, I could have told her, step by step, what to do but I knew she wouldn’t be able to do that. So I said, “Mom, don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it.” She said, “OK”, and went about her business assured that I would handle it. She trusted me.

God showed me that’s the way He wants me to trust Him. Sometime, He will tell me what to do but other times, he’ll say, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it.” “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” Psalm 37: 5-6. I need the same trust in God that my Mom has in me.

Freedom

May 25, 2008 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given May 18, 2008

Freedom in worship is a hard thing sometime. Depending on what denomination you are involved in, you may be totally free or not free at all. I’m reminded of King David being free in worship: “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 2 Samuel 6: 14-15“. He didn’t care who saw him or what they thought, he was going to worship his God for the things He had done.

My church is one that encourages freedom in worship and many are, especially the youth. Most will clap their hands, raise their hands, and even move a little. Even though I’m one of the “older” generation, I love praise and worship and even sing on the praise team and consider myself pretty free in worship. However, God showed me a contrast this day in church.

We have three praise teams and mine was not leading this day so I was in my regular seat worshiping God with the congregation. I was clapping, raising my hands, and getting into the worship. I noticed a family nearby where the father and teenage son were pretty ridged. The son was tapping his hands on the back of the seat in front of them so I could tell he wanted to do more but seemed hindered to do so. The dad stood still. I prayed for them to be free.

I lead the morning prayer too so I made my way up to the front during the third song and behind the stage, where it’s dark, to await the end of praise and worship so I could lead in prayer. In the darkness, behind the curtain, as I participated in the last worship song, I was in tears at the wonder of my God. He spoke to me there and said, “You aren’t really free either. See the difference between your worship here and out there?”

Oh man! It was like night and day! I saw that it did matter to me what “people” thought. No one was looking behind the stage and I let go and worshiped. It was a revelation to me. I had to repent.

Jesus said to worship God, “in spirit and in truth. John 4:24“. I will think of this today as my praise team is not leading and I will be in the congregation again. Lord, make me free to praise you and be pleased with my response to your presence. Amen.

I’m Blessed!

November 6, 2007 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given October 24, 2007
I’ve been reading and hearing a lot lately about who I am, what I have, and what I can do as a born-again Christian. The Bible is full of promises made to me, as a believer, that can impact my life and those around me. I’m saved by faith, Ephesians 2:8, I’m a child of God, John 3:1, I have authority over the devil, Luke 10:19, I’m healed, Isaiah 53:5, I can do all things, Philippians 4:13, just to mention a few.

But there’s one promise God has directed me to go a little farther in than just knowing it and declaring it over myself. How many times a day do you meet somebody, say hello, and then they ask, “How are you?” For me, it’s all the time! My answer for years has been, “Great!” or “Wonderful!”. I just didn’t want to say, “Fine.”; that didn’t tell how I really am as a Christian. I’m better than fine!

On this day I read Ephesians 1:3 which said, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ“. That verse says God HAS blessed me, He’s already done it, so I’m blessed! All the time, I’m blessed! So, God directed me, when someone asked me how I was, to say, “I’m blessed!” And that’s what I’ve been saying for a few weeks now.

About half the people I say that to do a double-take and make a comment about what I said. It’s a witness! Sometimes I say, “I’m blessed and so are you.” It’s the truth. We are all blessed and I’m enjoying telling people about it and seeing God get the glory! How are you?

Truth or Fact?

July 2, 2007 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given January 13, 2007
We’ve all heard the expression, “Tell it like it is”, and that’s supposed to be a good thing. Tell the truth, don’t sugar-coat it, be honest. Well, let’s look at what is truth and what is fact.

Christians believe, or we should believe, that the Words of God are absolute truth. Right? However, in this world, there are certain facts that are evident. I’ll use sickness as an example. It is a fact that there could be cancer cells in your body. The medical tests, PET scans, etc. would show this. But, the Word of God says, “and with His stripes we are healed, Isaiah 53:5“, which is truth. So, what’s real, the facts or the truth?

I submit to you that the Bible is the ultimate truth and our words can change the facts. “Yet we have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, I have believed, and therefore have I spoken. We too believe, and therefore we speak, 2 Corinthians 4:13, Amplified Version“. I’ve heard testimonies galore and have experienced it in my own body that our words, based on our faith, can change the facts. If we believe God’s Word is true, we must speak it without doubt or fear and see it come to pass.

Moses told Pharaoh, “Be it according to thy word…Exodus 8:10” when Pharaoh said get rid of the frogs tomorrow. Abraham practiced this when he did as God did and, “…spoke those things that were not as though they were, Romans 4:17“. We can do it too. You can have what you say, so don’t keep saying what you have. Think about it.

Truth or fact? Find out what God’s Word says about your situation and speak His words over it. You can change fact by speaking the truth! Tell it like God says it is and don’t give up!