Isaiah 28:17 (NLT)

I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness. Since your refuge is made of lies, a hailstorm will knock it down. Since it is made of deception, a flood will sweep it away.

Psalm 119: 29

Keep me from lying to myself; give me the privilege of knowing your instructions.
What lies are we being deceived by? Do you know that some lies are passed down through generational lines? Our ancestors were caught in the lies trap and we, having been socialized by their teachings and practices sent down the line, become trapped as well.   If we are not careful these lies become entrenched into our hearts, translate into our actions and are lived out as our truth, the gospel according to us.

So for instance, if we are told when we are young that there is never enough to share, no matter how rich we get later in life, we operate out of a never enough mindset.  So everything we have, get or are in charge of, we hoard up, wield power over, stingily give versus freely because there is never enough.

These lies then become lifestyle traditions until they are just a part of who we are and have formed shadows on our hearts.  So when we are asked to practice the golden rule, we do it from this trapped mindset.

In contrast, when we operate from a mindset of overflow, everything we are and have are springs of blessings where everyone can benefit from their cool, clear waters. This overflow passes down generations as well and often children drink from the springs left by their ancestors.

However, we have a challenge and it is this.  Our hearts can be so deceptive we often fail to see that each of us have some area in our lives that is covered by the shadow of lies. This shadow unfortunately is reinforced by the father of lies and sins whose goal is to keep us trapped forever in the land of shadows.

But thanks be to God! The Lord Jesus Christ died and rose again to permanently remove those shadows. Only the Lord can remove the shadows that have held our hearts hostage over generations and replace them with springs of living water.  Only He can break the curse of lack that is crippling us and preventing us from moving forward as individuals, countries and the world. He wants to remove them right now.

Won’t you seek his help today?

Prayer

Father, only you can move these crippling lies and shadows in our hearts that prevent us from recusing the perishing and care for the dying. We cannot treat others as they should be treated unless you save us from ourselves. Please remove the traps of lies and shadows and replace them with instructions from your word.  Only then will we be able to take our eyes off ourselves and be a blessing to others.  In Jesus’ name. Amen- so let it be.