LIAR, LIAR your life’s on fire.

LIAR, LIAR your life’s on fire.
Pr 19:22 What matters most is loyalty. It's better to be poor than to be a liar.

Col 3:9-11 Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire.  Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. {Message}

Some of you have seen “Liar, Liar” am movie with Jim Carrey Fletcher Reede (Jim Carey) is a particularly career-focused lawyer and divorced father. He has a habit of giving precedence to his job, breaking promises to his young son Max (Justin Cooper), and then lying to both his son and his ex-wife Audrey (Maura Tierney) about the real reason for having done so. Ultimately, Fletcher misses his son's birthday.  Max wishes while blowing out his cake candles that his father couldn't tell a lie for an entire day, a wish that immediately becomes true.    His brutal honesty reveals all the lies he has been telling in the past and the consequences it brings to his life are numerous.  

What if that happened to you?  What if you were not able to do anything but tell the truth without reservations?  What would be revealed?  

Now I am not saying you have to speak your entire mind.  That foolish and violates other scriptures? Proverbs 29:20 says, “Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” But what lies would be revealed that you have revealed that you have already spoken?  

Lies can start a blaze than sometime cannot be put out. Pr 16:27 Scoundrels create trouble; their words are a destructive blaze.{ NLT} The scripture also posits that, “ It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire.  A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. {Jamess3:5-6 MESSAGE}

Before the liar knows their life, world, relationships and possible your eternity is on fire, smoldering than nonexistent:  Liar, Liar you life’s on fire.  You need the water of the truth. One of the occupants of Hell is “all who love and live lies”. Revelation 22:15.

The word “lie” in the Greek language carries the idea of any type of falsehood. It can picture any person who projects a false image of himself; someone who deliberately walk in a pretense that is untrue; or someone who intentionally misrepresents the facts or truth.  They can also be talking about you who feel like you view of theology is the only one.  Your view of the truth can be a twisted lie that excuses you lifestyle. I have seen a lot done in the holiness of God that was a lie and an excuse for sin and worse, self righteousness.   Pope John Paul II said, "An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded."

When we are asked if we lie, we may pause and say well not really. When asked again, “are you or have you ever been guilty of exaggerating the facts or embellishing on the truth?”  We may answer with a sheepish yes.  Richard Nixon said, “I was not lying. I said things that later on seemed to be untrue. “If you going to be a “good” liar you better have a good memory.

The bible tells us that we, as sinners, have propensity of lying. Adam and Eve misrepresented the facts in the garden, when asked about eating from the tree…the blame game started, the facts were twisted and the lies began.  The bible tells us from the inception of our lives we started lying.

Ps 58:3 The wicked crawl from the wrong side of the cradle; their first words out of the womb are lies. {THE MESSAGE}

 A liar is self deceived, for he has been mislead by the devil into believing that if he lies, he can get better results in life.  But the truth is that lying is a great sign of insecurity and poor self worth. What the devil never tells you is that a liar is an impostor, a fake, a phony, one who has lost his Identity, and has now become the man behind the mask, the puppet on the devil's string.

 Lying is an act of fear and lack of trust in God.  When we lie to someone it is usually a desire to get out of trouble" by other means than God's help.  Sins against other people committed by speech, such as defamation, gossip, swearing falsely, and scoffing are "bearing false witness against our neighbor. A failure to defend someone who is unjustly criticized is under the category of lying.  Anything or anyone that is false is a liar.  Lying hurts people Proverbs 26:28, “A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin. “

Listed in scripture are: False apostles (2 Co 11:13); False prophets (Mt 7:15); False teachers (2 Peter 2:1); False Christ’s (Mt 24:24); False brother (2 Co 11:26); False witness (Mt 19:18) and False words or one who speak falsehoods (1 Ti 4:2).

Who can say he has never lied?  Who can say he has never sinned or lied? In fact 1 John 1:10 says, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.  You call God a liar when you do not admit your sin.  God is the only one who cannot lie, 1 Tim 1:2; Numbers 23:19 and Hebrews 6:18}

When you realize how untruth mankind is it really adds to the compliment Jesus gave Nathaniel in John 1:47, “When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching; he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."

[i]In Col 3:9 Paul's words to the Colossians could be interpreted like this: “I command you to stop the practice of misrepresenting the truth, twisting the facts, projecting untrue images, or deliberately misleading others by giving them false information....”

Lying is a temptation that all of us have to deal with in our lives. Apparently even the Colossian church struggled so strongly with this problem two thousand years ago that Paul had to write and tell them to stop lying.

You may not deliberately set out to lie, but anytime you misrepresent the truth about your abilities; say something about another person that you don't know to be true; slightly twist the facts to your advantage; or trump up a story about yourself or your past deeds to make yourself look better in the sight of others — you have fully entered into what the Bible views as “lies.”

All this behavior was forbidden by Paul when he wrote, “Lie not to one another....” Paul's words cannot be misunderstood or misinterpreted. This is a clear mandate to stop the habit of lying and to no longer give your consent to participate in any type of falsehood, dishonesty, deceit, fabrication, or misrepresentation of the truth in your life or in your conversation.

If you are the head of your household, church, ministry, or business, you have every right to demand that people stop being untruthful with you and each other. Let it be known that truthfulness is important — so important, in fact, that it is the foundation of all successful relationships at home, at church, and at work. It is impossible to build trust in a relationship if you suspect that the other person is being dishonest with you.

If you are the one in charge, set the example by always being truthful with the people under you. When people know that you are being straight with them, at least they'll know they can always depend on you to tell the truth, even if they don't like what you're telling them. In this way you can set the standard for integrity and truthfulness between all the members of your family, your church, or your business.

But what if you are the one who dresses up or slightly misconstrues the facts to your advantage or to the disadvantage of others? If that is the case, it's time for you to get honest about this sin in your life! And that's exactly what it is — sin! Quit telling yourself that you're just exaggerating a little or being dramatic.

Maybe that's how you try to rationalize your behavior, but God views it as telling falsehoods and says it should not be tolerated in your life!

Are there any areas in your life where you have permitted a little exaggeration? Have you ever misrepresented the truth about who you are, what you can do, what you have done, or what you have heard or think of others? Can you honestly say that the words you speak are accurate, or would you have to admit that you have been a little dishonest in how you report certain matters? If you know in your heart that you haven't been totally truthful, what are you going to do about it now?

Or perhaps you are a leader in your family, church, or business, and you know that people under your authority are regularly misrepresenting the truth to you. If so, will you continue to tolerate this seriously wrong behavior and thus allow a lack of confidence and suspicion to prevail? Or are you going to put an end to all lies and deception? What are you going to do about this situation?

The Holy Spirit is available to help both the liar and the one who must bring correction to the liar. So if you have misrepresented the facts in the past but are willing to repent and change, God's Spirit will enable you to stop lying and to learn how to be more truthful. And if you are the one who must bring correction to the dishonest person, just turn to the Holy Spirit for help. He will show you exactly what to say and how to say it so truth can prevail in that particular situation.

PRAYER FOR TODAY: Lord, I admit that I've exaggerated the facts and embellished the truth on many occasions. I'm so sorry for doing this. I blamed it on my personality, but now I understand that You view this as dishonesty. I ask You to help me stop making excuses for this behavior and to accept responsibility for the words and messages I project to others. When I stand before You, I want a clear conscience that I have been honest, forthright, and balanced in the things I've said about myself or about others. Holy Spirit, I need Your help to bring correction to this part of my life, so today I yield myself to You.  I pray this in Jesus' name!

CONFESSION THIS by faith: I confess that I speak the truth and that I don't exaggerate the facts or speak lies! When people talk to me, they can count on the fact that I don't embellish the truth or twist the facts to my advantage. They can rest assured that I'm honest about myself and the situations in which I find myself. I keep my nose out of other people's business and concern myself instead with those issues that have to do with me and my areas of responsibility. Because God is my Helper and His grace is working mightily in me, I am becoming more and more honest every day!   I declare this by faith in Jesus' name!

Prov 12:22 The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.

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[i] Sparkling gems in the Greek is used as a reference throughout

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