Alex on #Lies

Let's say that you and I are sitting in Math class. We're working on a group project together, in which we have to figure some calculations and create a graph or chart based on our findings. We decide that you should be in charge of subtracting and I'll be in charge of adding. So, we're trying to decipher this complicated Math work.
Your page says 1004-3=. You carefully subtract each digit until you get your answer. "974!" You exclaim. I nod, then I say, "My problem is 99+2. I think the answer is 992." We both think both answers are correct.
Then we begin to draw our graph. As we are coloring the graph, one of our friends walks over to our desks. He looks at our graph for a minute, then shakes his head. "You guys are all wrong. 1004-3 is 1001. And 99+2 is 101. I used my calculator."
In disbelief, we look at him and shake our heads. "No, I don't think so," I say.
"Yeah," You tell our friend. "We worked very hard to figure out what the right answers are. We determined these answers for ourselves; we think they're right."
"Anyway," I say, crossing my arms, "You can't tell us what's right. Who are you to judge our answers?"
...
The sketch above doesn't make any sense, does it? I mean, we all know that if you subtract 3 from 1004, you'll get 1001. It's a proven fact.
But there are many people who would say that many proven facts just aren't facts.
Look again at the sketch, where the friend enters. The friend is speaking truth into the two characters' lives. He has used his calculator to determine the correct answers. Then he's sharing this truth with his friends. But look at what the friends say. One says, "We determined these answers for ourselves; we think they're right." The other says, "You can't tell us what's right. Who are you to judge our answers?"
These two statements seem to be a common consensus now days. It supposedly demonstrates your independence and strength if you can "determine truth for yourself."
Have you considered that the friend knew more about the answers than the other characters? He used a calculator! In life, we often ignore or fight with people who try to speak truth, especially our parents and pastors. But why? I mean, people who have lived our circumstances before as well as people who have studied Truth definitely know more about the answers than we do.

The next time you hear competing truth claims (although they'll probably be less obvious than the answers to our Math problems), realize that they cannot all be right. Consider what those who have studied God's word say. And determine truth based on what's Godly, not what feels good or seems good.

Alex W / Message Writer

Alex on #Truth

Has Satan ever told you a lie? In 2007, I wrote the following mini-devotional for my friends.

Don't. Look. Back. He's behind you... You know, him. He's back there... watching and waiting. ...Oh, come on, I know you don't exactly see him, but he's there. He's the one that whispers those little lies in your ears. Yes, they're lies. Can you hear him? Just one little peek won't hurt... Or: But it's love. It doesn't matter whether it's a guy or a girl. Or maybe: God wants you to have fun. It's just one drink, anyway. Can you hear him? I can.

So what are you going to do about it? I mean, really. You can't just sit and let this happen. Because if it hasn't happened already, it's going to. And the enemy has very creative lies. They get much worse if you keep listening to them. So what should you do? What are you doing? What will you do?

When Satan (as a snake), appeared to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he told them lies to get them to disobey God. But his lies were't outright blatant. They were half-true. A little right. Satan asked Eve, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Well, no, God didn't say that. God said that Adam and Eve could eat at any tree in the garden except for the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. So, of course, Eve chose to defend God, but she went too far, claiming that God said that she and Adam couldn't even touch the tree.

Satan said, "You will not surely die, For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Satan will find ways to ask you little questions, to test your trust in God, to deceive you. But do not let him win! Find out what truth is - and believe it. Find out what truth is - and live it with grace. And how do you find out what truth is? Find Jesus.

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

- John 14:6

Alex W / Message Writer