Honesty

"If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it."
--Unknown

"I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man."
--George Washington

"Honesty pays, but it doesn't seem to pay enough to suit some people."
--F.M. Hubbard

"I have found that being honest is the best technique I can use. Right up front, tell people what you're trying to accomplish and what you're willing to sacrifice to accomplish it."
--Lee Iacocca

"He who is passionate and hasty, is generally honest; it is your cool dissembling hypocrite, of whom you should beware."

"I keep six honest serving men: They taught me all I knew. Their names are WHAT and WHY and WHEN and HOW and WHERE and WHO."
--Rudyard Kipling

"The man who cannot endure to have his errors and shortcomings brought to the surface and made known, but tries to hide them, is unfit to walk the highway of truth."
--James Allen

"The greatest truth is honesty, and the greatest falsehood is dishonesty."
--Abu Bakr

Deceit

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
when first we practice to deceive."

Sir Walter Scott in Marmion

"Lying covers a multitude of sins -- temporarily"

D.L. Moody

"A lie is a snowball: the further you roll it, the bigger it becomes."

Martin Luther

"A half truth is a whole lie."

Yiddish Proverb

"Those who think it is permissable to tell white lies soon grow color-blind."

Austin O'Malley

"The most dangerous untruths are truths moderately distorted."

George Christoph Lichtenberg

"When you stretch the truth, watch out for a snapback."

Bill Copeland

"Beware of the half truth. You may have gotten hold of the wrong half."

Author Unknown

"The cruelest lies are often told in silence."

Adlai Stevenson

"It takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen."

Homer Simpson, The Simpsons

Off White

We're doing some remodeling in our home so we've been thinking about colors to spark things up a bit; the interior of our home was entirely white when we bought it. Well, not actually white, it's an off-white called Swiss Coffee. At the paint store you can find a special "white" color pallette with hundreds of shades of white. Each color sample standing alone looks "white". The true shade stands out only when placed next to a color sample that is "pure white".

This spoke to my heart. "Pure white", spiritually speaking, is God's written Word, the Bible and the "Word made Flesh" Jesus Christ - God the Son. Our thinking and the pattern of our lives may not be black, but neither are they "pure white". That's why it is so vital that we keep ourselves in the Word of God. Then the flaws in our thinking and manner of living will show up for what they are, "off white".

Some people look at the Bible and Jesus and "re-invent" both to reflect their own "off white" thinking. Others find objective truth statements through sound exegesis and the application of time honored principles of interpretation. These get a glimpse of "pure white" and with the enablement provided by God's grace make the necessary adjustments in their thinking and manner of life.

Sincerity is not Enough

Sincerity is no substitute for truth. One can be sincerely wrong. I stopped for gas on the freeway that runs through the flat and somewhat boring Iowa countryside. It was one of the places where you exit then cross over the freeway and then make a left turn into the gas station. Upon filling up I proceeded on my way to Denver. After about 10 miles a sign shocked me into the realization that I was going in the wrong direction. I didn't have a compass, and it "felt" like I was going West when I was actually going East.

In spiritual matters, feeling and sincerity, without the compass of God's Word, can send us in the wrong direction. Not the "subjective" use of God's Word, ie., "what do you feel that means to you", but the objective truth statements derived from sound exegesis and the application of time honored principles of interpretation.

"Thus saith the Lord", like the signpost, can turn you around in a heartbeat, unless you want to argue with what is written and would rather go with your feelings.

How to Change a Lamb into a Pig and Vice-versa.

How to change a lamb into a pig.
The lamb gives a little lamb and takes a little pig. Give a little,take a little; give a little, take a little, etc, etc, etc, etc. Soon the little lamb can no longer say bah, bah, bah. All he can say is oink, oink, oink.

How to change a pig into a lamb.
The little pig needs to get born again, into a Lamb's family. "Therefore, if anyone is in (The Lamb), he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."

Want to Get Involved?

"There is no more significant involvement in another's life than prevailing, consistent prayer. It is more helpful than a gift of money, more encouraging than a strong sermon, more effective than a compliment, more reassuring than a physical embrace."

Charles Swindoll in "The Quest for Character"

"As for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you."

I Sam. 12:23

A Spirit Filled Moment or a Spirit Filled Life?

There is a big difference between a Spirit filled moment, and a Spirit filled life. God, the Holy Spirit, makes Himself known and felt in a wonderful way when He comes upon us in great power or softly and as gently as a dove. One "Spirit filled moment" can change the direction of a life forever because God steps out of the realm of doctrine and theology and into the realm of experience. However, God does not want us to always be looking back to that mountain top experience. He wants us to walk in the Spirit and to constantly be being filled with the Spirit. Then, and only then, will we be where God wants us to be in our Christian life.

Gal. 5:16-26; Eph. 5:18