Daily Devotional Pt. 1 For Friday, April 26, 2024
Right now in the media, the big news is former President Trump’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. It seems that the justices are attempting to separate what constitutes an official act and motive as president verses an act and motive that was personal. It seems that everyone, even Trumps’s lawyer, feels that in our system of justice, no one, not even a President or former President is above the law. Well, this devotional is not about the trial but to reaffirm that God knows all. No matter who well we hide or shield our true motives, they are not hidden from God.
- David writes in Psalm 139:2, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar” (ESV).
- Look at Proverbs 16:2, “People may be pure in their own eyes, but the LORD examines their motives” (NLT).
- Proverbs 21:2 says, “We may think we’re right all the time, but God thoroughly examines our motives” (TPT).
- Look at Hebrews 4:13, “And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (ESV).
The point we see here is in the end not matter what we say our intent or motive was, whether art not we are being truthful or deceitful, God knows. We live in a culture and world where it is challenging to know a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ from a fake one. We tend to size people up by the externals and apparent appearances. We can easily be swayed by personality or charisma or status rather than by their genuine character.
The same is true with “churches.” Just because it has in its title “church,” does not automatically mean it is a Bible-believing, soul-winning, Gospel preaching, and disciple-making church. Just because they sing only hymns or contemporary hymns does not make them a biblical church. Remember, “not everything that glistens is gold.” Just because a church has multiple worship services or thousands coming to it, does not automatically make it a biblically-based church. Numerous cult leaders have done this too.
Sometimes we all can have the purest intentions and motives but somewhere along the way loose them. In scripture we have an example of this that came at a great price. It involves a married couple named Ananias and Sapphira. Read Acts 5:1-11 below:
“But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, (2) and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. (3) But Peter said, “Ananias, why has satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? (4) While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” (5) When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. (6) The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. (7) After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. (8) And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you[a] sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” (9) But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” (10) Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. (11) And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things” (ESV).
Up to this point in the book of Acts, everything about the early church has been very positive and encouraging until we get to Acts 5. If you have been a part of a local body of Christ for any length of time, you have seen people come and go. Some moved away. Some died and some simply quit. Acts 5:1-11 scares me and it should put the fear of God in all of us. Many see this passage in Acts is about the sin of lying. Think about the paragraphs below:
“No one wants to be seen as a liar. Liars are considered untrustworthy. And yet, we are perfectly content to lie to ourselves all the time. “I’ll enjoy this sleeve of Oreos today because my diet starts tomorrow,” I might tell myself. Or, “I love my job; who cares that I complain about it constantly?” Or even—ironically— “I am always honest with myself.”
Deceiving yourself doesn’t make logical sense. After all, lying involves telling someone something you know to be untrue. When you are both the liar and one lied to, this means you have to both know the truth and not know the truth. To be really godly, we must learn to be completely honest with ourselves.
Relatively few people are completely honest with others. In one study, researchers found that 60% of people lied at least once during a 10-minute conversation, and many lied multiple times. Distorting reality inside your own head might be even more common. No one is completely honest with themselves, because the truth hurts. Life is simply full of harsh realities.
All that self-deception takes a lot of work to maintain. Consider procrastination, a form of self-deception that can be trivial (“I’ll unload the dishwasher later”) or catastrophic (“I’ll call the doctor next week about that chest pain”). This form of self-deception is costly not only because avoiding problems can make them worse but also because the procrastinator must do the mental work of a task over and over, without reaping the rewards of actually getting it done.
If you are willfully oblivious to your flaws, you can’t correct them. In the end, each of us has to decide: Do I want the full truth, no matter where it leads? The honest path isn’t easy, but you can be sure that day by day, you will be proud to say that the person in the mirror is not a liar. And that will be the truth” (Source: Arthur C. Brooks, “Quit Lying to Yourself,” The Atlantic (11-18-21).
Tomorrow, I will give the biblical context for this passage but for now, how would you respond to the questions below and why?:
Questions To Answer
- Are you always truthful to yourself? Why or why not?
- Are you always truthful to others? Why or why not?
- Does Acts 5:1-11 scare you? Why or why not?
- Why do you think people lie to themselves? What is an area of your life you need to be gut-level honest with yourself and others? Why?
- What is God saying to you in Acts 5:1-11?
Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 12:22, “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in those who tell the truth” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, help me to be a person who is always truthful. I accept that the truth sets me free and I understand that sometimes that truth may be painful for me to accept. Jesus, I want to be a person whose life is one that lives that You are the Way, the Truth and the Life before others. I want my “yea” to be “yea” and my “nay” to be “nay” as you say in Matthew 5:37. Jesus, please “Create in me a clean heart, Oh God and renew a right spirit in me” as David asked in Psalm 51:10. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! — Pastor Kelly