April 20, 2022 – Click here to listen
As you read these words we are on our way to Costa Rica. This is our final visit prior to deciding which area in which we intend to settle down. We are going to the northern Pacific area and I’m told it is the most beautiful in all of Costa Rica, fishing is great, fabulous restaurants abound, gorgeous sunsets and sunrises, friendly people, and so on. Unfortunately, I have found that you cannot believe what you read on the Internet or hear from a fast-talking salesperson.
I had a long conversation with one of my sons today who has recently been lied to by someone whom he trusted. This son was already cynical and now I fear he will be doubly so.
I think that the most disturbing thing about this old world is that lying is so prevalent. It is undoubtedly worse these days with social and mainstream media with their bias and fake news. Perhaps the worst are the two-bit politicians who say anything they think we might want to hear in order to cling to power.
It is not just a Democrat problem Republicans share in it. Reagan had his Contra moment where our country was lied to about the war in Nicaragua. I actually had my photo taken in one of Pablo Escobar’s planes that was shot down in Nicaragua while carrying a load of guns for the Contras. A CIA operative was flying it.
The plane has now been made into a restaurant that sits atop a hill in Costa Rica and has bar stools inside the bay of the plane where the guns were stored. We were told by our country’s leaders that we weren’t helping the Contras. Ugh. . . .
And who can forget Watergate and Richard Nixon, the disastrous lying Clintons, the terrible lies of Obama which led to his abandoning his election rhetoric after being elected and supporting gay marriage and its legalization among other things, and the corruption of the Biden family lining their pockets with Chinese cash?
The church is not immune. Recently a pastor of a megachurch was caught lining his pockets with the church’s money. The devastating result of his lies and thievery might be the end of one of the finest ministry programs in the country. It has already destroyed many worshippers’ faith in God.
News Flash! Don’t blame God for this preacher’s failures, God is the way, the TRUTH, and the life . . . Lies come directly from Satan and manifest themselves through lying lips. The Bible states this unequivocally. Jesus spoke to a group of Jews, in John 8:44, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies”.
And yet people still believe lies. Adolph Hitler, a man who learned how to lie effectively, once said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” Hitler was perhaps a perfect example of Satan’s counter to the work of God. As a murderer, Satan works against God, who is Life. As a liar, Satan works against God, who is Truth. Hitler did both and convinced millions to follow him.
How can we protect ourselves? First, we must realize that this battle is spiritual and conventional weaponry will not work against it. We are told in the Bible to draw close to God and to put on the full armor of God. The phrase “full armor of God” comes from Ephesians 6:13: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
The first element of our armor is truth (verse 14). This is easy to understand since Satan is said to be the “father of lies”. Deception is high on the list of things God considers to be an abomination. A “lying tongue” is one of the things He describes as “detestable to Him” (Proverbs 6:16). We are therefore pressed to put on truth for our own deliverance, as well as for the benefit of those to whom we witness.
Our world and our nation are full of lies from top to bottom. God is truth. It just shows how we as Christians must separate ourselves from this world to the extent we can. Lies are so unnecessary. Make a point, to tell the truth and nothing but the truth so help us, God.
Matt. 5:37
Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.