It’s more righteous to rebel than to lie:
Jer. 3:6-11 – the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. 7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the Lord. The Lord said to me, “faithless Israel is more righteous then unfaithful Judah…”
Pretense:
1. an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true.
2. a claim, especially a false one.
God and people both hates lies. You’d be better off being honest about your sin, than lying. As it applies to marriage, it’d be better to divorce than to deceive. As it applies to Christians in the South, in warrants the question, ‘Are we are going to church to appease God or man, or are we going out of a true desire to know God?’
Rev. 3:16 – I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other. So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
Matt. 27:37-38 – Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
If loving God with your whole heart is the first commandment, I think a lot of the South needs a heart check. Likewise, loving your spouse with all your heart, mind, and strength means letting go of porn, unfaithfulness, and thinking about past relationships.
Rev. 3:17-22 – You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 21To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Matt. 12:30 – He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
Prayer: God help us live before you in truth. Help us let go of fear, fakeness, and lies that waste our time. Help us live on purpose and be all in, in whatever we do. Help the Bible-Belt in the South be free from religious spirits that would blind us to our true condition. Help us see the true state of our hearts, and our dire need for the fullness of You. Let us not continue to sit in church because our parents did, or our friends do, or because it’s expected of us, or even with the thought that it will make us right with You. Raise up more churches in the South that help people walk in ALL You have for us. Churches that can tear down generational and doctrinal lies and equip people to walk in their full purpose. Raise up leaders who call out our worthless idols and call us up to something more than a worthless life (Jer.2:5). Let the people of the South no longer be looked at as those who attempt to make something that is not the case appear true. Let us be Christians, mature, walking and living the way you lived, Jesus. Remove the mask for your glory, Amen.
lovedisciple 