Liar Liar Pants on Fire!

My dad is the worst liar on the face of the earth! Whenever we're playing and joking together he'll say something like, "It wasn't me," with a huge grin on his face. His words say he didn't do it but his expression says, "Did you see what I did there!?" Gotto love a man who can't lie! But it's all in good fun! He jokes with us and we tickle him till he cries! It's true! Ok, on a more serious note, I wanted to share something along those lines but in a more serious sense. Something MIND-BOGGLING!

The other day I was going about my day when all of a sudden I had a frightening thought! It was a discouraging and terrible thought, about myself, about my future, about everything! It was for a few moments that I began to ponder this thought and I was greatly discouraged. But then I came to this amazing discovery: IT WAS A LIE. The thoughts that I was having, believing, even "living" for those moments were all LIES! The sad thing was that I believed them! And because believing something leads you to act upon it, I was already living in total defeat, in total failure, for no reason at all, for a lie, a vanishing cloud without substance!

No doubt you have also been in this position. You're going about your day when out of nowhere it hits you! A lie! A lie that distorts who you are, who God is, what your future holds. The sad thing is that it leads us to act in failure; we can't do our devotional the same way, we can't pray the same way, we can't worship God as we used to! Because the LIE HAS BECOME ACTIVE in our hearts!  So what to do when this happens?

#1. Know where it comes from! It comes from the devil. The father of all lies. He is such a liar that indeed his pants are on fire!! Anything that brings conflict and discouragement to your heart is a lie from the devil. Anything that wants to destroy your peace and separate you from God is a lie! Usually he will try to tell you who you are, who people are or think about you, who God is and what he won't do or can't do in your life. But they're all lies! Learn to detect them! Detecting them is key!

#2. Tell that lie to GET A LIFE! That's right! After you have detected the lie, defy it, forbid it, challenge it, don't accept it. Don't let it settle in your spirit. Don't let it get acquainted with your life! Don't let it rent the room of your heart! Don't even let it be a "guest"! You have to stand against it and refuse to believe it!

#3. Cling to what is TRUE! All truth comes from God and His truth is found in His Word. Read it! Believe it! Live it! Challenge every lie with His Word. If the lie is about who you are, declare who you are in Christ! If it's about your future, declare God's promises for your life. If it's about God's love, remember that Christ died for you and declares His love for you over and over in His Word.

After discovering they were all lies, I decided to stop them.  I decided I was not going to let my life be based on lies. I am who God says I am! I can do what God says I can do! I will be who God says I will be! I will see the things He says I will see!  My prayer for you is that you will do the same; that you will stop any lie that comes your way, that you will take a stand against them, and that you will live in the truth that sets us free! :)

Destroying "Can'ts"

"I can't!" Have you ever said that? Have you reached a moment in your life when you simply say "I CAN'T! I just can't!" And no matter how much you try it's like there's a wall there, and there you are, without a rope to climb it.  But there is an amazing promise in the bible that boldly and unapologetically says, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength"!!!! (Phil. 4:13).

What? I CAN do ALL things? So why do I feel like I can't? I "can't" get rid of my ugly past, I "can't" get closer to God, or I "can't" give up this or that addiction. The truth here is, that in reality, the bridge to cross from the "can't" to the "can" lies in ONE decision.  That's right. All it takes is a decision! And you are the person that can indeed make such a decision.  Yes! You CAN get rid of your past, you CAN get closer to God, you CAN give up any addiction you're struggling with. Yes you can! Yes you can! Why? Because God says so! The devil wants you to think you can't. He lies to you telling you that there is no other option but for you to fail, to stay where you are, to be stuck in a rut and never get up. Why? Because he wants to see your life destroyed. Don't believe him. It is all a lie!

Yes YOU CAN! What impossibility are you going through at this moment? What is it that you keep saying that you can't do? What is it? Is it that you "can't" be happy? That your ministry "can't" grow? Is that you "can't" speak in public? That you "can't" read the Bible? Is it that you "can't" forget the person that hurt you? Take this promise from God in Philippians 4:13 and believe that you indeed can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. You make the decision to say "YES I CAN" and then the Lord Jesus gives you the supernatural strength you need to do it!

Believe me when I say this...YES YOU CAN...I pray you believe this for your life! Yes, in Christ all things are possible!

Believe it! :)

KT

True Beauty

Growing up I never thought I was beautiful.  I always compared myself with the prettiest girl in school or with the actress on TV or the model in magazines. I would always say, "If only I had her eyes! Her hair! Her skin color!" All I knew was that for some unfair reason, I was given skeleton-like fingers, crazy hair, and that I was late in the distribution of perfect features!  It was an even greater torture when I found myself in the U.S; in a school where I was the minority and the definition of beauty did not include me.  Oh how I tortured myself! I would go home and cry because I couldn't be that "beautiful" person I wanted to be. But I was wrong. Oh So Wrong! I learned that God created me unique and perfect in his eyes. And that true beauty is the result of what is inside of our hearts.

True beauty has nothing to do with a person's appearance. True beauty has to do with the quality of who we are inside. We all know that Jesus was BEAUTIFUL, the most BEAUTIFUL person on earth! But the Bible describes Him in Isaiah 53:2 as one who "had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him."  The message version says, "There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over."  According to this world's definition of "beauty" Jesus was "looked down on and passed over", yet we all know that there is no more beautiful person in this world than our beloved Jesus! Our Savior! Who gave it all for us! Oh how beautiful our Lord is!

So what is true beauty? It is the quality of our hearts, our intentions, our feelings, our thoughts toward ourselves and others.   Do you want to be more beautiful? Then you must turn to the Maker of all things beautiful.  Our beautiful Jesus! Only he can beautify our hearts and our lives in general! He took this empty, shattered and tasteless heart of mine and has and continues to miraculously turn it into His perfect masterpiece. He can do the same with you. Only then will you be truly beautiful.  He will make of your heart His home. He will turn your thoughts into a place of faith and love.  He will destroy all the ugliness of your past mistakes, sins, and shameful ways. And He will make you beautiful.  Yes, beautiful! Truly beautiful!