February 22
Bible Reading: John 8:39-47
John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Where do lies come from? That they exist in our world is empirically obvious. We’ve told them. We’ve heard them. Small ones. Big ones. Life altering ones. World changing ones. They are so much a part of our existence that we take for granted the truth that people aren’t always telling the truth.
It hasn’t always been that way. A stupendous lie, by the father of lies, to Eve, worked to sin-curse our world. The father of lies has been spreading falsehoods ever since. Jesus traced the lies of the religious leaders to the source, their father the devil (John 8:44). Their Pharisaic cult was a religious sham, a construct of lies. Jesus, their Messiah, stood right in their midst, but they refused to acknowledge that truth as they actively worked to deceive others that way. In their lies, they were speaking the devil’s language.
We tend to not connect those dots in the lies we tell, but James makes that connection: “The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell” (James 3:6). It’s good to remind ourselves, as believers, that when we lie, we are speaking a foreign, evil language that has as its source the devil himself. Not only is the devil the father of lies, but he was also “a murderer from the beginning.” The father of lies gives birth to lies that they may, in turn, inflict harm on both the tellers and the hearers.
There will be no more lying in heaven (Revelation 22:15). In the meantime, as we journey there, we are to speak the truth: “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor” (Ephesians 4:25). Lies are the language of the devil, but we’ve been born again (and Spirit-filled) to speak with a better tongue, according to the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Lying is the devil’s native tongue, but Jesus speaks a better language (truth) that has the power to save and transform our lives!
O JESUS, I HAVE PROMISED
O Jesus, I have promised
To serve Thee to the end;
Be Thou forever near me,
My Master and my Friend;
I shall not fear the battle
If Thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway
If Thou wilt be my Guide.
Oh, let me feel Thee near me;
The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle,
The tempting sounds I hear;
My foes are ever near me,
Around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw Thou nearer,
And shield my soul from sin.
Oh, let me hear Thee speaking,
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will;
Oh, speak to reassure me,
To hasten, or control;
Oh, speak, and make me listen,
Thou Guardian of my soul.
O Jesus, Thou hast promised
To all who follow Thee
That where Thou art in glory
There shall Thy servant be;
And Jesus, I have promised
To serve Thee to the end;
Oh, give me grace to follow,
My Master and my Friend.
LookingtoJesus 