Fleeing from Falsehood

"He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood ... "

(Psalm 24:4)

I have been deeply burdened lately over the vast difference between light and darkness. Burdened and possibly a little confused by our complacency as believers to accept and partake in the things of this world - myself included. Both the New King James Version and the New American Standard Bible quote Ephesians 5:7 the following way: "Therefore do not be partakers with them." Sometimes I feel like I am such a partaker, when I should be overwhelmed with an inclination to set myself apart. I should desire more than anything in this world - more than my own comfort, happiness, success - to be an imitator of God (Ephesians 5:1).

In thinking through this, I have deeply desired to attain an awareness of good versus evil. Of uplifting versus destructive. Eternal versus earthly.

And in doing so, I have realized the truth - the very real truth - that not everything I subject myself to is of spiritual significance. Nope, quite the contrary. Much of it is actually destructive, leading me only to defeat and discouragement, to selfishness and vanity, to pride and insecurity.

And I'm over it.

A friend of mine said something yesterday that hit the depths of my soul. She recently attended a women's conference where the speaker said the following: We are supposed to be the light of the world so much that we are dangerous to the darkness.

That is what I'm talking about. Being dangerous to the darkness. Standing boldly for what is right, for what is of the Lord, even if once in a while that means me uncomfortably standing alone. Even if it means sacrificing my own ambitions. And yet it begins by being able to distinguish the difference. The difference between what is of God, and what is clearly not.

I could talk about this all night. Maybe this one will turn into multiple posts. The above Scripture is one that has not been able to exit my mind. It is here that the Word of God instructs us not to lift up our souls to falsehood (Psalm 24:4). Jesus knew what our struggles would be: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:11-13).

Falsehood: Evil (as destructive), idolatry, uselessness, falsely, lie, lying, vain, vanity. A masculine noun meaning emptiness, vanity, evil, ruin, uselessness, deception, worthless, without result, fraud, deceit. The primary meaning of the word is devastation.

When we give our souls over to idolatry, to feelings of uselessness, lies, vanity, emptiness, worthlessness, etc. ... We are basically setting ourselves up for devastating results.

And let me just let you in on a little side note. One that is most definitely not of little significance. In Psalm 101, David insists the following: "I will set no worthless thing before my eyes" (Psalm 101:3). Does anyone care to know the origin of the word "worthlessness"? Believe me, you do.

Worthlessness: without profit; destruction; wickedness. Belial, evil, naughty, ungodly (men), wicked. Often a strong moral component in the context suggests the state of being good for nothing and therefore expresses the concept of wickedness. [Worthlessness] does appear in the Greek form at a name for the Devil in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 6:15).

When was the last time you caught yourself feeling worthless?

2 Corinthians 6:15 - "What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?"

The word worthlessness originates from the word Belial. Who is Belial? Satan himself!

So, once again I ask - When was the last time you caught yourself feeling worthless?

So sad. We are falling into a trap. Into a pit. Guilty of falling for one of the millions of lies of Satan himself. He's such a schemer. Feelings of worthlessness are clearly not of God, and therefore there is no way they can bring Him glory. There is absolutely no spiritual significance in feeling worthless. Zero. Zilch.

Talk about devastating!

[Like I said, little side note.]

I will end with this today.

God wants to have victory over our souls. He desires complete ownership of our being. When we give ourselves over to falsehood - whether it in thought, action or word - we are not obeying God. Plain and simple. Rather, we are gratifying the desire of our enemy.

YUCK! Just the thought of pleasing that creep makes me mad.

So today, let's make an intentional effort to cling to what is good. Are you with me, sisters? I pray that God will give us a check in our spirit when we're walking on thin ice. And that we would stop it - right then and there. Allowing God to have the victory. Because it begins with allowing Christ to take ownership of our souls.

May we move closer and closer to distinguishing good versus evil. Uplifting versus destructive. Eternal versus earthly.

Choosing Truth today ...

Fleeing from Falsehood.