Lying – Deception as a Defense Mechanism - Self Deception Series 31 – Purity 1120

To see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of the shadows of a man and man's best friend falling on the freshly mown field of green under a wispy sky of blue comes to us from yours truly as I captured this scene Saturday morning as my canine pal Harley and I took an extended walk up Wells Road to State Route 40 in Easton, New York. I found myself just awestruck by that wide open space and realized just how blessed I was to have the continual opportunity to walk through farmland when I am at my countryside home. I took my, uh, took a new path Saturday and it caused me to realize that there was more to see if I just chose to go a little further than I was used to. Well, it's Monday, and as I come crashing back into post-vacation reality, although a little weary over the— what the workday may bring my way, I'm really content to be back to my regular routine here down by the river in Stuyvesant. Not that it didn't come with its struggles already, as I huffed and puffed through my morning workout after rusting and relative inactivity last week. The week at Countryside really tested my resolve and my relationship as I was challenged to feel at home in a place that was exposed for its extreme lack of familiar accommodations and comfort. Not only did I not feel comfortable exercising there in the mornings, the uncomfortable wooden chair in my quote unquote prayer closet that I had endured for many a weekend without complaint was suddenly replaced by a comfortable gaming chair as I just couldn't take it anymore. My efforts to feel at home I regressed into some old patterns of seeking comfort, eating junk food and disinterestedly watching football, and was reminded that I'm a shadow of my former self, which is a good thing. And when I go back to those things, they don't bring comfort and really create stress in a mini identity crisis. Going back to what I once found comfort in previously causes me to feel uncomfortable. Just be, uh, because they don't satisfy me like they used to and cause me guilt because I know they are neither or either unhealthy or a waste of time. I was given the option to do whatever I wanted, and I learned that I didn't know what that was in the extended stay in a house I didn't completely feel at home in, doing things that reflected my former self more than who I am and who I want to be in Christ. As much as I enjoy my time at Countryside, I guess in my mind I don't live there, and the week staycation really pointed that out. Like any vacation, after a while you just want to go home, even though I consider home to be where my wife is. I am married with two households, and I guess I still don't feel I live at Countryside because I don't— because I don't 5 days of a normal work week. And as much as I tried to be at peace, my stress levels and discomfort tell me that part of me wasn't convinced I was at home and that I was in some ways living a lie. Although I was able to endure that wooden chair for over a year, my body demanded a change when I was subjected to it for more than a few days. I couldn't lie to my backside anymore, apparently, and I demanded the true comfort that it was used to at home. No matter how convincing we try to be sometimes in the things we tell ourselves, our bodies and emotions can reveal conflicts between the things we say we believe and the things we really believe in our hearts, minds, and bodies. We can't or shouldn't lie to ourselves. And that brings us to our current series on self-deception, where we have decided to investigate some of the ways ways we deceive ourselves by walking through step 2, deception versus truth, of the Steps to Freedom in Christ, to see what ways we may have been deceived by the world and ourselves, and in what ways we have wrongly defended ourselves. So we present the seventh of the ways to wrongly defend yourself today with number 8, lying. The Steps to Freedom in Christ describe lying as protecting self through falsehoods. So I just have to do a quick edit. My bad. My apologies. I think one of the biggest lies we can tell ourselves is everything's fine when it isn't. That's classic denial, of course, and the reason we employ it as a defense mechanism is because we can't handle the truth. I don't want to admit that I'm in an abusive relationship. I don't want to admit I am an addict. I don't want to admit I don't know what I'm doing. So we employ lying to cover the sad truth. Or we can employ lying to impress people or to be accepted. I love to jog. I love mountain climbing, golfing, fishing, etc. I go to all the right places and know all the right people. But we most likely learn, learn to lie, um, the first few times because it kept us out of trouble, or so we thought. I didn't do it. I didn't take it. I don't know what happened to it. I wasn't even here. Unfortunately, because it works, we can make lying our natural defense mechanism. Become adept at dishonesty, hiding the way we feel, who we are, and what we do. But as Christians, we are encouraged to drop the con and fess up, uh, to openly confess the truth about all these things and to turn from lying to be set free. Uh, the truth sets you free, and the father of lies is the devil. So what are you going to pick? Even though lying may seem to work, that's a lie too, because even though it may protect you from getting into trouble, make you— your unbearable situation bearable, or maintain your relationships built on lies, those things aren't good things. God doesn't want you living in fear that your lies will be exposed. He doesn't want you doing anything wrong that you would have to lie about to, uh, a lie about to cover. Um, cover. Yeah, uh, he doesn't want— he doesn't want you suffering in something you have to lie about. He doesn't want you to lie about who you are to be accepted. One of the first things that I instruct people to do that I disciple or encourage to live in freedom is to stop lying. We are only as sick as our secrets, so I prescribe a continual treatment of truth. I recommend a daily intake of God's word of truth and recommend that we tell the truth in our lives no matter what it costs, because living according to a lifestyle of lying is the way of the devil and not the way of our Heavenly Father, and results in hate, fear, depression, anxiety, roughness, impatience, disloyalty mindless indulgence, and evil— the polar opposites of the fruit of the Spirit. So commit yourself to God's ways, and if you do— don't do it already, start telling the truth. Following the word of God and the Holy Spirit's guidance will lead you into all truth and will cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in your lives as you stop lying. When you have nothing to hide and you are honest about what you are doing, what you think and feel, and about who you are, you find the peace of the Lord and the joy of living openly before Him, and you will not live a lie anymore. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Kruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on Affliction, Discipline, Chastisement, and Trials. And today's verse from the English Standard Version is James 1:12, and the Word of God says, "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." Today's verse falls under the 16th— well, the 17th point of our Counseling Reference Guide section on affliction. Discipline, chastisement, and trial. Just to give you a heads up, there's 25 of these bad boys, so buckle up as we— we're past the halfway point on the affliction, but we're not quite through it yet. Anyway, the 17th point from that section on affliction, discipline, chastisement, and trials is God blesses those who persevere under trials. Today's verse encourages us to remain steadfast under trial because it will result in the crown of life. Which God promises to those who love him. This verse points to the fact that being a Christian isn't going to be easy. Standing by our faith in Jesus will cause— cost something. We may lose relationships and face increasing persecution because we proclaim the truth of the gospel. Jesus told us we could expect persecution. We are not given the option of giving up on him. Scripture tells us that those who fall away from the faith never really believed. When the going gets tough and you walk away, it shows you never really believed in the first place. Uh, it shows— let's see, it shows you never really believed in the first place. It shows you may have liked the ideas of being forgiven of sin and going to heaven, but it exposes the hard truth that you never really loved God. Those who do not endure trials and give up their faith show they wanted to be blessed, but they did not love God and did not really know who He is. There is no escaping the Lord. He is the life giver, but if we decide He is not real, good, faithful, or that there is some other way to Him other than faith in Jesus and quit on Him, we forfeit the life we have been given. In eternity, we are denied the crown of life and sent to the outer darkness of hell where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. So know who God is and love Him. He will give you the strength to endure all the trials of life, and He will see you through and will award you the crown of life and a place in His royal family for all eternity when He welcomes you into His kingdom. As always, we invite, uh, we invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit as we conclude chapter 19 on the Spirit teaching with the final section which is called What the Spirit Teaches. So if you want to know what the Holy Spirit teaches Go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post and see what A.W. Pink has to say about that. As always, we encourage a lifestyle of honesty and Christian discipleship where we don't just admit to our sins, but we repent of them. You know, going around, yep, I did, you know, admitting I did it is one thing, but admitting God's truth tells us how we should live and that we're going to agree with that is another. Unfortunately, you know, when we don't really believe, we're exposed for believing, you know, for the lies we believe. We might believe that God is good, but you know, that you're different and incapable of living according to his word. And you go off and sin, and when you do that you suffer, and you can go in that cycle continually claiming the forgiveness of God and just going right back to your sin and suffering. But, uh, we've learned how to break that cycle by following the Spirit, and we recommend a lifestyle of Christian discipleship that leads to it, and it and incorporates the truth of God's Word into your life, into your mind, your heart, because when you really realize how good God is, you would choose, you know, to love him and to follow him. You know, he's made you and everything you've ever experienced, and he invites you to live with him for all eternity through his Son Jesus Christ. That's a good thing. And we can choose to go our own way and believe the lies of the world, the flesh, and the enemy, or we can believe Him and the truth that will endure through all time and space. The Creator— are you going to go with the Creator or one of His created things? We'll go with the Creator, and He gives us life. So we recommend a daily practice to get that truth in your head, your heart, and your life, and the daily practice is to read the Bible, pray, thank God for what he's done, and then commit yourself to do what's right according to his word and to, you know, put others above yourself. As much as we can be selfish, like I needed that chair and other things, ultimately we We try to put our own feelings aside for others as we're directed to love others. That's countercultural for sure. And that's why we need to grow in it and take it step by step, one day at a time, to repent of our sins, to start living according to God's truth, and then to share and show the love of God through the way we live. So today we'll do that. We'll need the Lord's strength to do that. Um, so we're gonna, we're gonna pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for everything you blessed us with, uh, with our jobs, with our homes, with our, with our wife, with our friends, with our church, with our family. And Lord, we just pray for you to go before us today, um, to bless us and to guide us and strengthen us so we're not afraid and we're we're set on a course that you've set before us. We ask you to open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead our path in the things you want us to do. We also ask for you to bless anyone who's reading or, or listening to this message, Lord, that you would come alongside them and their faith, their faith walk and their prayer request. Because, Lord, we all need your help. We need to help one another while we're on this path as Christians. To encourage one another that we can endure whatever trials that happen in life. And we can do that by stop lying and live by the truth of your word and tell the truth. And Lord, so we just pray for you to help us today as we— all we want to do is represent you on the earth and to point other people to the life we found in Jesus. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.