The Truth of the Lie

Devotion

2-16-10

The Truth of the Lie

John 3:19-21

 

Marcy sat quietly in the stillness of the evening. She felt almost numb and emotionless, simple thoughts were not even coming to her mind. What had she done? It all started two days earlier when she had been talking to a friend. As they stood chatting about work, church, and their families questions began to pop up that she really didn’t want to answer.  In fact to avoid the truth she made up an answer, basically she lied. Oh but it was just a little white lie, no one would know and so she went without giving it another thought.

 

The next day while at work she had been sharing with a co-worker about a devotion she had read, it was in the book of John and it was about telling the truth.  As she spoke her own heart began to be convicted about the lie she had told her friend.  Over and over again it ran back into her memory and how she had not been completely honest, not only with her friend but with herself or with God.  Later that afternoon, when she returned home she opened her Bible and began to read.  As she read John chapter three, verses 19-21 jumped out at her and caused her to fall upon her face before the Lord.  “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”  Over and over again Marcy read these verses and felt a heavy pain upon her heart.  She knew what she would have to do next and she didn’t look forward to it.

 

For the rest of the evening, Marcy, prayed to the Father for forgiveness and restoration.  Sure it was just a little lie, but Marcy loved the Lord, the Light, and didn’t even want a little hint of darkness in her life.  She knew that one lie always leads to another and that it breaks the Father’s heart to see her walk in fear of the truth.  Truth had to be her way of life if she was truly going to be a witness for Christ.  So as she sat quiet she began to hear the voice of the Lord speak to her spirit telling her what she needed to do. In the stillness of that night the Lord’s light shined upon her and she felt His love embrace her.  So the next day Marcy did what He wanted her to do. She wrote a letter to her friend and took it to her.  Her heart was broken for lying to such a special person in her life, for bringing shame to herself, and most of all for dishonoring her Lord with her words. Yet her obedience to come clean with the truth would only make her stronger.

 

The beautiful thing about this story is that Marcy’s friend displayed a heart of forgiveness and mercy for her, just like the Lord did. Marcy knew that as a believer she was not condemned nor was she going to lose her salvation because of the lie she had told, but she also knew that as a believer she was to always walk in truth and allow the Light to shine through her.  God’s mercy and love are unconditional and His arms are always wide open to receive us no matter what we have done.  But we as believers must remember not to misuse His mercy; we must honor His love by walking in the Light of His truth.  Marcy learned a valuable lesson from one small lie she told.  That little lie grieved her spirit and convicted her heart to repent, tell the truth, and restore her witness.  Now she would practice living in the truth through the Light so that her deeds would be manifested as having been wrought in God. The truth of the lie was exposed by the Spirit that lived within her and His love embraced her and taught her to be more concerned with truth than with her own feelings of fear. Praise the Lord for His mercy and forgiveness.

 

Let’s look at John 3:19-21 Read it out loud and underline anything that really stands out to you.

 

Does Marcy’s story reveal anything in your own life that needs to be exposed by the Light?

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Marcy’s story is much like all of our lives at some point in time.  We’ve all done something that we truly regretted and wished we could go back and change.  Though we cannot change the past we can use it.

How can something in our past be used for the good? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What is in your life that was a negative, perhaps a lie like Marcy told, or maybe you took something that didn’t belong to you, maybe you spent money your spouse didn’t know about and you don’t want them to know because they would be mad, maybe you told your child a lie to get them to be quiet, or maybe you made up a story so you could get out of work or a job that needed to be done.  It doesn’t matter what it was, how small or how big it may seem, a lie is a lie and the Lord says those who practice lying do not live in the Light.

 

Notice that in these verses the word light is capitalized.  Light here is referring to Jesus.

Now read it again and insert the name Jesus.

 

Ok, how does knowing that practicing lying, or not walking in the truth, make you feel about your relationship with Jesus? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Remember, as a believer you are not condemned but you are convicted to tell the truth.  As a believer it should hurt your heart and spirit if you are not living in the truth.  So allow the Lord to search your heart today.  Let the Light reveal any darkness that may be in you keeping you from a full and rich walk with the Lord. Believers do not practice the sin of lying so let’s walk in truth today.  I know for myself I must confess to someone.  This lesson has touched my heart and convicted my spirit.  I want to live only in the Light, to walk only in the Truth, and to reveal only His love through my deeds, my words, and my thoughts.

 

What about you? I pray that if there is anything at all in your life that needs to be taken to the Father and repented of, that you will do it this very moment.  Allow His Light to take away darkness and embrace you with His forgiveness and love.  Then go to the one you have hurt with your lie and seek their forgiveness as well, even if they don’t know you have lied to them.  For in your humility you will be raised up so that what was done wrong will become a testimony of His mercy that you can share with others as a witness of His forgiveness and restoration.

 

I know because Marcy’s story is mine.