The Truth that sets us free

This day - and each day - of life is a precious gift of God that cannot be repeated. We should not attempt to program it according to our wants, our desires, our perceived needs. We should be thankful for what the Lord has given us. Should be.

I am not preaching. It is what God has said, tells us repeatedly in His word, if we would but read it and study it and consider all that He has to say. See what   Jeremiah 29:11 says: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

His plans are for us all, and His plans are far better than ours. His plans start with a relationship between each one of us and Him. You want to know God? Invite Him into your life. Too hard you think, too much to give up? How much do you really want to hang on to what and where you are right now?

 God loves us. His plans are to prosper us, to give us hope, to give us a future. Why? Because He does loves us. He loves us far more than we can ever ever imagine. God created the world. He created everything, and His first created beings were Adam and Eve. And they lived in paradise. And then they chose to do something that was against God. They disobeyed His instructions. They sinned. Sin separates us from God who is All Truth, All Good. But because God loves us so much, He provided a way out for us, a way to save us – He sent His Son Jesus to earth. Jesus lived a perfect life. He went to the cross and died for us. Jesus paid the price – He took the punishment we deserved, and in God’s eyes it was as if we had never sinned, even though we really did. Jesus did this for us so we can experience forgiveness. We cannot have that relationship with God which brings eternal life unless we are forgiven. After Jesus died, he was buried, and after three days, He arose from the grave. He did not stay dead. God brought Him back to life. When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we are a child of the King. We serve a risen Lord, and we celebrate His resurrection at Easter. It is His birth we celebrate at Christmas.

Each day can be an adventure, but it doesn't have to be one filled with acts and words and thoughts that only destroy us. We can have an adventure that fills us with joy and love every day.

We will have sadness and disappointment; it is a part of life, but we don’t need to allow the pain to bring us down so low we seek other avenues that bring only a brief moment of happiness that doesn't last, doesn’t fulfill, isn’t fruitful.

Not one of us is better or worse than another. God offers new life for us.

The choice is ours. He seeks us out. He brings people into our lives who truly care about us and shows us a better road to travel. But they, any more than God, cannot make our decisions. We are responsible for ourselves.

God's Word – The Bible – tells us how to live responsibly.

You do not have to be depressed – insecure – lonely – ashamed – discouraged – frustrated – confused – angry – defeated – fearful. You do not have to live with personal guilt and condemnation. God can set you free. Free – and joyous – contented – loving – radiant – confident – gracious – peaceful.

Satan is the father of lies.

 One lie – listened to, believed and acted on – was the beginning of all trouble in all the universe. One lie brings about every broken relationship, every heartache. One simple lie became a springboard for countless more lies that we listen to, that we believe, that we act on over and over again.

The mastermind behind the lies is Satan. He promises everything good and pretends to have our best interests at heart When he really doesn't care at all about us. His goal is to deceive. He works to get us to believe the negativity we hear in our minds and then act on it. The result being we are filled with disgust and shame and sorrow. We don’t want to continue this path, but are caught in its web and we don’t know how to escape.

The Truth, God’s Truth will set you free.

God loves you. He created you and me in His image. Each of us are unique. There is no one else like you. You are special.

Do you believe that truth? Or is there a life you believe more?

Satan will go to any length to get you to listen to him, to believe what he tells you and to coerce you into acting.

God does not coerce. He tells you the Truth. What you do, what you say, it is your choice. We cannot have it all, we cannot have both the good and the bad. To be free of guilt, free of past habits and emotions, free of wrong ways of thinking, we must choose to step out of, away from the darkness and into the light.

Jesus is the Light. He is the one who will be with you in your daily struggles. He is the one who will help you shoulder your burdens and enable you to be rid of excess baggage that clings to you seeking to destroy you.

God wants what is best. He knows what is best. Remember He created us. Begin the journey, come to Him, follow Him, abide with Him, stay the path with Him. He will never lead you astray.

He loves you.

Satan makes promises but they mean nothing.
He promises his best, delivers his worst
He promises honor, delivers disgrace
He promises pleasure, delivers pain
He promises profit, delivers loss
He promises life, delivers death.

Satan convinces you to believe something that isn't true. No matter what action takes place, in word or deed, Satan tells you it is okay. But is it really?

1  God’s Truths -  About Himself
 1. He is good and everything He does is good. He doesn't make mistakes.

2. He loves me unconditionally. There are no strings attached. There is nothing I can do that will make Him love me less.
3. God is all I need. I don’t need things to be satisfied, to fill the empty spaces in my heart.
4. God’s ways are best. His laws are for our good and our protection. Obedience is the path to freedom, not doing what we want, which brings
conflict and heartache.
5. God has a purpose for all of us – the problems we face are to change us, to reveal His grace and power to the world.

God’s Truth - About You and Me
1.    I have worth.  God values me. You can’t win if you don’t try. Failure is refusing to try.

2.    God loves me. You love you. Allow God to love others through you.
3.    I am responsible for my own choices. I can be changed through the power of God’s spirit.
4.    Claiming your rights will put you in bondage, will keep you imprisoned. We do not  have the right to be happy – to be understood – to be loved – to have a certain standard of living or a decent wage – to a good night’s sleep – to be angry – to be depressed … the list is endless. Yielding our rights to God will set us free.
5.    Physical beauty is temporary. The beauty that matters most to God is my inner spirit and character.

6.    I will always have unfulfilled longings that cannot be filled by any created person or thing.

God’s Truths - About Sin1.   The choices I make today will have consequences. If I play with fire I will get burned. I will not escape the consequences of my sin. 

2.    Every act of sin is rebellion against God. No sin is small. God sees every action. You are the one being deceived. Not God.

3.   There is no sin too great for God to forgive.

4.   God does not hold me accountable for the actions of others. I am responsible for my own choices.

5.    If I am a child of God, I don’t have to sin. I am not a slave to sin. Through Christ, I have been set free from sin. By God’s grace and through the finished work on the cross, I can experience victory over sin.

God’s Truths - About Priorities1.. There is time in every day to do everything God wants me to do. God does not want me to follow my own agenda. God’s daily tasks for me are not the same as those He has for you. The tasks change through the years. I cannot do everything.
2.    I cannot live my life without being dependent on God. I need a relationship with God in His Word and through prayer. I cannot do anything of spiritual or eternal value without Him.

3.     There is no higher or holier calling than to be a wife and mother.

God’s Truths - About Marriage1.    It is not my spouse’s responsibility to make me happy, to build up my self-esteem. The ultimate purpose of marriage is to glorify God. Happiness is not found in or out of marriage. It is not found in any human relationship. Happiness or true joy can also be found through Christ. God has promised to give us everything we need. Contentment is not found in having everything we think we want, but in choosing to be satisfied with what God has already provided.

2.   It is not my responsibility to change my spouse. Portraying a godly life and prayer will produce results more so than nagging, whining or preaching. Being honest with your spouse will open the door of communication necessary for your marriage to work.
3.    God made woman to be a helper to her husband, not the other way around. However, if men love their wives as Christ loved the church, there would be a willingness to lay down their lives and become servants. If women expect to be served, we will often be disappointed.
4.    Submission places me under the covering and protection of God. Wives are not inferior to their husbands. Husbands, too, are not superior to their wives. The responsibility of the wife to submit to her husband’s authority does not make her less valuable or less significant. The husband is not to be harsh or dictatorial. Husbands are commanded to love their wives as they love themselves. Wives can provide input and express opinions. If husbands choose to act contrary to her counsel, the wife must be willing to back off and trust God with the consequences of her husband’s decisions, even when the husband is wrong.
Do you believe God is bigger than any human authority? Do you believe He knows what is best for you? Are you willing to trust Him to fulfill His perfect, eternal purpose for your life?
5.    God created man to be the initiator and woman to be the responder. If the wife takes the rein rather than waiting on God to move her husband, he is likely to be less motivated to fulfill his God-given responsibilities. It is better for the wife to give her husband encouragement and affirmation, not correction or rejection. We must be willing to let our husbands fail. Our security does not lie in having a job or bringing in money. We can take matters into our own hands and may even be able to achieve immediate results, but it is not lasting. For all we do, we will eventually resent and blame those we feel pushed us into taking action.

6.    There is no marriage God cannot heal. There is no person God cannot change. God uses the rough edges of each partner in a marriage to conform the other to the image of Christ. God’s grace is sufficient to enable you to be faithful to your spouse and to love and forgive without limit.

Marriage is hard and a good marriage is even harder. Every married couple is incompatible – each of us is selfish, insensitive, hurtful to the other, misunderstood and fail to meet each other’s needs. Instead of forgiving the offense and beginning anew, we nurse the grudge and becomes vulnerable to the deception Satan plants in us … such as he or she is always inconsiderate, he or she doesn't care that they hurt the other, they are impossible to live with, they will  never be any different, there is no way to make this marriage work … if we can’t make it work, apparently we weren't meant for each other.

Satan convinces us that our spouse is totally or mostly at fault. We do not see our own faults. We do not see how anything we do or don’t do contributes to the mess. Satan convinces you life is about you, your happiness, your hurts, not in restoring your relationship.

True Love – God’s love is unconditional and never fails. We cannot love another human being perfectly on our own. Love is not a feeling. Love is a commitment to act in the best interest of another.

God’s Truths - About Children1.    God is the creator and giver or life. Childbearing is a basic God-given role for women. Children are to be received as a blessing from God.
2.    We are to bring up children who will be used by God to change our world, not just fit into the world or merely survive it. Children need to be protected from worldly influences until they are spiritually mature enough to withstand them.
3.    Parents who expect their children to rebel should not be surprised when they are.
4.    Parents have an enormous influence in molding the lives of their children by their example, their teaching, their leadership.

God’s Truths - About Emotions
1.    My feelings cannot always be trusted. They are not always connected to reality. They can be deceiving.
2.    I do not have to be controlled by my emotions. I can choose to fix my mind on God instead.
3.    I can choose to obey God regardless of how I feel.

God’s Truths - About Circumstances
1.    My circumstances do not reflect who I am, but does reveal what I am.

 Satan deceives us in to believing things would be different, we would be different “if only.” 
“If Only” we moved or didn't move – “if only” we lived closer to my family – “if only” we had a bigger house or a smaller one – “if only” we had more money – “if only” my husband didn't have to work so many hours – “if only” we hadn't lost that child – “if only” my spouse would communicate.

Satan deceives us into believing we would be happier if we had a different set of circumstances. If we are not content within our present circumstances, we are not likely to be happy in any other. 
It is our disposition that says more about who we are than our circumstances. We cannot control our circumstances, but also, our circumstances don’t have to control us.

2.    Suffering is part of life. We do not have to allow it to control our being. We can experience true joy in the midst of pain because the Lord is with us.

3.    Suffering … our circumstances can change. It will not last forever.

4.    God will never place more on me that He will give me grace to bear.

5.    God is the beginning and the end and the center of all things. It is all about Him. It is not about you. 

The Truth. The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth.

 Husbands want from their wives … respect, admiration, peace and tranquility, commitment, acceptance and participation, being able to lead, sex.

 Wives want from their husbands … love, attention, protection, security and commitment, appreciation and value, compassion, partnership in every aspect of life.

Is the Truth worth working toward for you?