Truth And Lies (Prov. 12:22)

Read Proverbs 12:22.

Lying lips seek to cover sin, to divert attention from violation and irresponsibility.  Lies promote the continued convenience of self.  To deal truly is to look at things and call them what they are, not what you think they are or hope they become.  You must confront reality.

• May my mouth not speak until my heart, under tutelage of the Holy Spirit, has settled on the truth.
• May my mind think God-implanted thoughts and not entertain self-glorious, vain imaginings.
• May my hands do what is right and what is expected, not what is fruitless and unprofitable.
• May my feet pursue the direction and vision God is revealing.  Don't try to push forward that which is expedient but not anointed.
• May my knees bow regularly in submission and humility, drawing strength from God and depending upon Him.
• May I not live insulated and isolated, but may I receive counsel from others.

The Opposite of Truth (Jn. 3:20-21)

Read John 3:20-21.

For John, and therefore for us, the opposite of truth isn't mistake or falsehood but is evil.  A lack of truth means more than you were wrong, in error or led astray.  That summary allows for too much passivity, as if evil is only something that happens to you.  John says that lack of truth is an active pursuit, a doing of evil.  You end up in evil because you refuse the truth and embrace its opposite. You choose to reject God's light and walk away from it.  See also Romans 1:18-19.

That Speck In My Eye (Mt. 7:3)

photo: http://tinyurl.com/hoqvv3h

This verse doesn't speak well of me or of any disciple of Jesus.  How we wish Jesus was speaking primarily to the Pharisees!  His audience, as this is still the Sermon on The Mount, is His disciples (Mt. 5:1-2).

The plank in my eye is . . .

1. Big enough I can't deny it (unless I'm willing to lie to myself, which is possible but never profitable).
2. Big enough God cannot not notice it.
3. Big enough that others cannot not notice it.
4. Deceptive enough to cause me to become a piddly fault inspector.
5. Dangerous and common enough for Jesus to mention it (Among all else Jesus could've said in the Sermon on The Mount, He didn't leave out "planks.")

The main question is "why."  "Why do you see the speck" and "not consider the plank"?  Why?  I'm a master at having to avoid my own sin.  It is built into my fleshly DNA to always look better than I am.  I always want someone else to be the one who struggles or is the problem.  Bottom line -- pride.

Forgive me, Lord.