The Lies We Tell.

Read the background story on Peter’s denial of knowing Jesus in Luke 22:54-64.

Luke 22:60-62

But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.

At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.

Today we can relate to Peter. Today we can understand how Peter is not all that different than you and me. 

Peter is caught lying! 

It was in Peter’s denial of Jesus that we find ourselves in the story as well. In this brief picture we hear the groans and see the tears of a man who is broken. Peter’s denial of Jesus brought Peter guilt and shame. 

Peter’s denial of Jesus reveals his most vulnerable weaknesses! 

Peter’s denial of Jesus becomes the central theme of the entirety of the cross, his death, and resurrection of Jesus. A lie precedes the Truth! 

Lies have their origin in a fallen world - in a world of sin!  Human nature is on full display, and none of us are excluded. Lies make us prisoners, in chains we are captive.

Can you hear them? Have you spoken lies to yourself? Have you lied to others?

The lies we hear.... 

In our children, we know them well enough that we could even hear the lies they tell us. Catching our kids with their hand in the cookie jar. We ask, what are you doing? They respond, “NOTHING!” 

In our closest friend, we know them well enough that we can even hear the lies they tell us. We ask, “How are you doing?” Catching them in a lie, we ask about that one thing that brings them burdens as they respond, “NOTHING IS WRONG!” 

In our spouse, we know them well enough that we can even hear the lies they tell us. We ask after a long day at work, “What did you do today?” Catching them in a lie, we know that look anytime as they respond, “NOTHING IMPORTANT!” 

You and I hear lies every day! Typically there are subtleties that we pick up on. Other times they are obvious. At yet other times, we know the truth already! 

Jesus knew a lie when he heard it! Half truths that are disguised as the right answers....

Satan confronted Jesus in the wilderness when he told Jesus three lies during a time when Jesus was most vulnerable. The lies Jesus was told began with, “IF 

IF you are the Son of God.... (Matthew 4)

Jesus knew the truth! No matter what he heard — though the lies were convincing — Jesus answered the accuser by the Word of God! 

In the reading of Peter’s denial....we can hear the lies that were told. 

In this short exchange of the last supper and around the smoke of a campfire, there is both a confrontation of a lie as well as a message of the Truth of redemption.

The lies we tell.... 

1. The lies we tell ourselves... 

They are all too common. We say we are strong enough, likely, we attempt to convince ourselves. We pride ourselves in our abilities and overlook our vulnerabilities. We say that we are strong enough! 

The lies we tell ourselves are not all that different than what Peter told himself. “I am strong enough!”

The lies we tell ourselves are many...each one of us are capable of telling ourselves lies! We do this daily! We hear a lie and potentially convince ourselves of it’s substance and tell ourselves those lies.

Have you heard and believed those lies?

• I am worthless.
• I am not capable.
• I can’t!
• I doubt it!
• I can’t believe that!
• I ...precedes ...the lies we hear and tell ourselves.

Most of our untruths are things we were told to believe and we repeated these lies by telling them to ourselves! 

Too often we have deceived ourselves. We believed ally that we heard and we have repeated that lie to ourselves. Peter found himself at that moment repeating what he has heard and believed from the master deceiver himself, Satan

But there is more! 

1. The lies we tell others....

When confronted by Jesus during their last supper together, Jesus predicted the betrayal. Perhaps deep down inside Peter knew to defend himself against what has become the inevitable. “Lord, I will be with you! I will not leave you!”

But Jesus knew better. He could peer into the very heart of Peter - as too in all of us. 

He knows Peter best. Jesus spent three years with his disciples but he knew them even before we met them. Jesus, as God in creation knew the vulnerabilities and the trespasses & deceptions of a man’s heart!

The lies we tell...

Stemming from the lies we tell ourselves are the lies that we tell others. You can see, as we attempt to convince ourselves, in own strength, apart from the power of God in our lives, we convince ourselves! 

We may believe that we can do far more than what we can in reality. We even verbalize those beliefs by telling others. 

We believe a lie, convinced of its merit, and repeat that to others! 

Perhaps, it’s the lies that we were told, those half truths that we were convinced of that make this passage real for us today! 

We identify with Peter who was caught in a lie; in his tragic exchange during his denial, the rooster crowed! He looks up to see Jesus looking back at him! 

• his hand is in the cookie jar.
• his dishonesty to his best friend is brought to light.
• his report to his spouse of his day was worse than he first admitted!

On this Good Friday, with the overshadowed darkness that was to consume the earth through the death of Jesus, we are confronted with the lies we hear, and the lies we tell ourselves, and the lies we tell others. 

We are reminded that it is Jesus, who is acquainted with our temptations, (though he never sinned), in-which he would understand the humanness of mankind! As Jesus went to the cross He knew His purpose; that of redemption!

We are filled with guilt but God’s grace is filled with an abundance of hope!

Through the cross, we are confronted with sin but in this we discover the Truth of God’s amazing Grace! 

It is NO LIE...

... we are redeemed through the unselfish love of a mercy we don’t deserve,

...a hope we cannot manufacture, 

...a grace we cannot buy, 

...a redemption we receive,

...which is unmerited favor of God through Jesus Christ! 

Lies make us prisoners but, through Jesus Christ, the truth shall set us free!

Bread of Life

My wife loves to bake fresh bread. Growing up I love the smell of freshly baked bread and even going into a bakery, is a favorite of mine. The aroma is so enticing. I’m sure that you could say the same thing. There’s just something about the aroma fresh baked bread‘s. In a previous article you may have read about the elevation of the automatic bread slicing machine. If not take a look here.

Better than sliced bread. It is a slogan we use for innovative ideas. The invention of a bread slicing machine in 1927 brought in a new era of pre-sliced bread. Convenience was never better. This was such an innovative item at the time. When Jesus was on earth he smoke a very different ideas. People were drawn to him because he was not just a miracle worker but a man of great wisdom. There’s also a man of great love. 

People are drawn to him because of his unfailing love.
Jesus says about himself, “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35) Jesus taught that He is more satisfying than nourishment from daily bread. We need daily nourishment to sustain this physical life. We also need spiritual nourishment in order to keep the spirit and soul connected to God. Mini draw their inspiration from what I read it scripture and certainly the example of what Jesus represented and who He is can make a profound difference in all of our lives.

Furthermore, we find that God intended for us to live a blessed life. Not necessarily a life free from struggle but nevertheless a life that is happy, and spiritual terms we might see fulfilled. We read in scripture that God’s blessings our new each morning. In the book of Lamentations, and of all places where the writer is lamenting, that is been Sorrowful we find a spark of hope!

What do you normally put on your slice of bread? How can the Bread of Life nourish your soul?

A “Let Us” Salad Is Healthy!

It’s that time of year when we start thinking about gardening. As spring means greater warmth and sunshine, it is also a time for planting. April showers produces me flowers, as the saying goes. Preparing the soil music as important as planting seeds.

It’s a great time to be outdoors as well. Breaking out all of the patio furniture and cleaning up the grill is a favorite for most people; Spring cleaning can be motivating. I especially love the sunrises and sunsets that we can see. God’s blessings are new each morning! 

Newness can be found afresh in 2021 when we have gone through they terribly difficult year with a pandemic and civil unrest, we have not seen such incredible news events in our lifetime! Yet, there is good news on the horizon! 

I’m reminded of the story of The Good Shepherd from Matthew 18. In this account we find the disciples arguing as to who his greatest. Yet, we see the response from Jesus in the form of a story!

Sheep tending was a common practice in ancient biblical days. In those days it was a highly honored position among the most lowly of status positions. you were in trusted with the welfare of some of the most honorable of creatures, the sheep. 

There are three things that come to mind as I think about this but first let me tell you a joke. **What do sheep like to eat? Think about that for a minute as I break down further what my three thoughts are. I’ll tell you the punchline soon. 

Similar we find in Hebrews chapter 10 the importance of understanding sheep in the meaning of the parable.

 - Flock Together. Sheep we’re safest when they were with the great Shepherd but even been together as a Flock meant a certain level of safety versus being left alone.

 - Encourage One Another. The metaphor that we find is that Jesus encouraged his disciples to stay together for the purpose of encouraging one another. Did you know that there are over 70 “one another“ sayings in the Bible? Certainly it is something that we need to do. 

You may ask, how do we know if someone needs encouragement? I love what S. Truitt Cathy said, founder of Chick-fil-A. He said we can tell if someone needs encouragement if they are still breathing! 

**What do sheep like to eat? Baaaaanaaaanaaas! 😂

 - Have compassion for the lost. We also find that Jesus left the 99 other sheep for that one that had been separated from the flock. Why did it matter? After all, he had 99 which was a pretty reasonable profit for a businessman. But those that tend to the sheep do not see this as mere prophets. Neither did Jesus when he said that one who has left the flock is important! He risked going after the one, who may, metaphorically speaking be you or me! 

What is this have to do with a vegetable salad? In Hebrews chapter 10 we find four types of “Let us”. This is likened to a food, it is vita nurisent to our spiritual nourishment; a food staple.

Let us: Draw Near- vs 23 (to God)
Let us: Hold Fast- vs 24 (to truth/from the world)
Let us: Consider one another- vs 24 (to others)
Let us: Not neglect meeting together. vs 24

Do Good = The word “good” appears 749 times throughout the books of the Bible.

Here are the 40 most encouraging Bible scriptures on doing good. :: 40 Encouraging Bible Scriptures on Doing Good – ConnectUS

2020 was a rough year and there is hope in the spring of 2021.

Given all the new language that we have come to understand during the COVID year, allow me tell you some of the good things that God is doing!

In this new day in which we live, we are learning new terms. Let me reflect on this and offer new hope from the lesson on The Good Shepherd and the “Let us” salad. Please hold the tomatoes! 

2020 has taught us new terms that we are now using every day and I vocabulary. Terms like social distancing and mandatory masks, and, like never before we have heard from the CDC.

We may have been issued executive orders to require us to quarantine because of COVID-19; instructing us to wear a mask to prevent the spread have a deadly virus; and to distance ourselves from one another! But I tell you this, that’s social isolation might prevent the spread of a deadly germ but we cannot escape death, Eternity has always been knocking at our door!

The face-mask may prevent the spread of the germ but there is good news, we should be spreading the seed of life to everyone. It is good news because of Jesus Christ! What if we could get the gospel to spread like a wild virus?!

We need to remember that only in Christ do we have the right PPE — Personal Protection Equipment - which is prayer and worship as well as through the reading of His Word; We can have our sins forgiven, God eternal PPP - Payment Protection Plan (because He paid it all!) and by his blood we are healed!

In the age of the cancel culture, God has cancelled our sin and redeemed us through Jesus! The World may want to cancel you but God reconciles everyone unto Himself! We are redeemed through His Blood! They may try to cancel your message but God‘s truth cannot be ignored!

We know that every life matters to God, #BlackLivesMatter do indeed matter, as does the life of the unborn! God our Creator, who has knit us together while in our mothers womb and has gifted us through the power of the Holy Spirit for every good work!

While tensions and worries seem to be on the decline there is talk of “herd”immunity through vaccine! Yet, I am here to encourage you that there is only one remedy to the deadly results of sin - which is through Jesus Christ alone. His grace and shed blood is sufficient. You don’t need a second dose because he has done all that is necessary, once and for always!
We can come together as a church to benefit from “flock” immunity!

In spite of all the “fake news” there is GOOD NEWS! 
I owed a debt I could not pay. I needed someone to wash my sins away! **Jesus has paid the debt the He did not  own!**

Life is fleeting! I am reminded that we need to make the best of the times as we have them, moments matter! 

Religion and ritual alone will not save us. Communion with Jesus and his church is necessary. It’s about a relationship. It’s about hearing his voice and staying together that we can be found in the safety of The Great Shepherd, Jesus.