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True Lies
[audio:TrueLies.mp3|titles=True Lies|artists=Christian St John]
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There’s a story that goes something like this: The devil and one of his minions are walking along a road one day and they come across a piece of the truth. The devil picks up this piece of the truth and smiles. The devils minion looks at him and asks, “What do you want with that piece of the truth my lord of lies?” The devil’s smile widens as he replies, “I’m going to take this piece of the truth and make a cult out of it.”
If you were to ever know one thing about the devil then know this, he is the master of lies. Lying is not just part of his nature it is his nature and there is no truth found in him. But that’s not to say he won’t use and abuse some of the truth in his deceptions. In fact I would say that his best lies contain at least a sprinkling of the truth.
I was in Powell River last week and while there I took my son fishing. As we stood there on the rocks casting out into the sea it occurred to me that it would be pointless to fish without a lure of some kind. And sometimes you have to try several different lures in an effort to get the fish to bite. The same can be said of the devils tactics – he will use whatever it takes to get us to believe and go along with his lies. And so adding the truth to his vast array of lures is not only a brilliant strategic move on his part but something that we are a expect.
And that is where we make a major mistake because we think that all of the devils lies will be as obvious as day and night… but they’re not. Let’s face it the devil is going to make it as hard as possible for us to spot the lie… he’s not going to make it easy for us.
Ever wonder why there are so many cults and religions and why so many people willingly follow the most bizarre teachings? Because usually there at least a sprinkling of truth on offer along with the lie. And like those fish in the sea who are simply looking for a nice treat but end up with a hook so we too with the promise of something good many times fall for the devils lies and end up on a spiritual hook.
So how will we know the truth from a lie especially when the lie is candy coated in the truth? Basically we need to know the truth for ourselves and then we will know when a lie is introduced into that truth? Take the example of faith… there are those who would say that if you are sick and remain in that sickness then you don’t have enough faith. Now it’s true that it was by faith that people were healed in the Bible and it is by faith that people are still healed. The cruel lie is that you don’t have enough faith if you remain unhealed physically even though you have prayed and sought God.
And what about finances – some would say that if you don’t have then again you lack faith. After all, they argue, Jesus said that if we ask anything in His name He will do it. What the lie fails to mention is that when we seek the heart of God for His will, His will becomes our will and we then pray for the things of God, which are most definitely not prosperity in the sense of worldly gain.
Another example is Jesus. Some religions say that Jesus was a good man… this is truth. Some say that he was a prophet… this is truth. Some say he was a rabbi… this also is truth. The lie that often follows these statements is that Jesus may have been these things but he was only a man.
So we see how often truth precedes the lie. Maybe we need to ask ourselves if we really know the truth. Because it’s by knowing the truth that we will be able to spot the lie. The preacher John G. Lake once wrote that the first thing about wisdom is to know the truth; the second is to discern what is false.
Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
October, 2009