A Liar by Nature

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Scripture

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
(John 8:44 NASB)
“But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.
(John 8:45 NASB)

 

Observation


We often talk about the nature of God, which is love. God, in the Holy Trinity is a relationship in which pure and holy love can be found as the Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father, and the Father loves the Spirit, who loves the Father, and loves the Son, who loves the Spirit, etc. It is an amazing relationship into which each and every one of us is invited. One would then think that the opposite of love -- or hate -- would define the devil, but that is not the case. Instead, Jesus says that in the devil, there is no truth. He is the master of deceit and lies. His very nature is to lie. He is so cunning in his deceit that those who believe that they are followers of God cannot even discern that they are being deceived. Jesus, standing before them, is attempting to speak to them in truth, but they will not hear it.

 

Application


What a cunning practice on the part of the devil, to deceive us with great sounding lies! Why not help humanity to begin to believe that what's right is wrong and what's wrong is right? In doing so there becomes great confusion and no longer do we know what we stand for or what we believe. We are to know the "truth and the truth will set you free." But, what is truth? Truth is not knowledge -- Truth is Christ! We are compelled to know Christ in a deeply intimate and personal way and only when we know Christ and his nature will we understand what truth is. That is why the devil is the opposite of truth -- because he is not Christ! He wants the world to think that he's Christ -- he wants the world to think that he represents truth -- but he is not. Along the way the enemy, who is skilled as a liar will attempt to take us down the path with him.

Living many years in the former Soviet Union I used to sometimes wonder at the way of thinking. I remember one day going to the open market and discovering that they were selling burned-out light bulbs. I asked my friend why they were selling burned-out bulbs. She looked at me rather incredulously and said, "Because they are cheaper." I understood that they ought to be cheaper than ones that really worked -- but why would they even be selling them? Then, the system was explained to me. If you bought the cheaper burned-out light bulb you could take it to work and replace it with one that does work and bring that one home and use if for yourself. Therefore, you could get a functioning light-bulb for cheaper. It was the way the system worked. My brain simply didn't work that way. However, under the years of Communism a system had developed that became so corrupt that literally the things you thought were right were viewed as wrong and the things you thought were wrong were viewed as right.

The Pharisees were the top religious people of their day, and yet they had been deceived. They no longer know the real Truth! They had become hung up on the externals and the enemy had led them astray. This scripture serves as a warning to each and every single one of us. We may think it would be difficult to deceive us, but the enemy is smart and he will try to find a way. We must stay plugged into the Truth on a daily basis or we too will become deceived. The one who is a liar by nature is trying to win us over.

 

Prayer


Lord, I want to know the Truth -- I want to know You. May You and Your Truth -- set, and keep me free! Amen.

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