April 24 - Jesus on Genuine Truthfulness - Evangelical Caucus/Devotional

“‘But let your statement be, “Yes, yes” or “No, no”; anything beyond these is of evil’” (Matthew 5:37).

Keeping your word is the mark of a genuine worshiper and demonstrates that you, as a child of God, hate lies. Everything in God’s kingdom is sacred and all truth is His truth, so truth has no degrees or shades. Thus even what seems to be the most minor false statement dishonors God’s name.

The Lord has never had any standard other than absolute truthfulness. He wants every one of us to possess “truth in the innermost being” (Ps. 51:6). And it follows that “lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 12:22; cf. 6:16–17; Ps. 58:3–4).

Because God has the ultimate criterion of complete truthfulness, even our most routine conversations should be truthful and dependable in every detail. Our everyday talk ought to be plain and straightforward, uncluttered by qualifiers, exaggerations, or hedges on the truth. Our word must be as good as our bond or as any vow or oath we ever make. James’s admonishment agrees with Jesus’ teaching, “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment” (James 5:12).

Truth and honesty will never be your default setting until you pursue it deliberately—spending your words carefully and keeping your word completely. In what particular areas of your life is it hardest for you to keep your promises?

Studying God's Word ping

Religion Forum Guidelines - From Religion Moderator's Homepage
https://freerepublic.com/~religionmoderator/

Religion Forum threads labeled “Devotional:”
Devotional threads are closed to debate of any kind.

Religion Forum threads labeled “Caucus”

Caucus threads are closed to any poster who is not currently and actively a member of the caucus group.

For instance, if it says “Catholic Caucus” and you are not currently, actively Catholic, then do not post to the thread. However, if the poster of the caucus invites you, I will not boot you from the thread.

The “caucus” article and posts must not compare beliefs or speak in behalf of a belief outside the caucus.

There is little to no tolerance for non-members of a caucus coming onto the caucus thread to challenge whether or not it should be a caucus. Gross disruption usually follows.

If you question whether the article is appropriate for a caucus designation, send me a Freepmail. I’ll get to it as soon as I can.

Caucus Designations, Generally

Caucus labels exist only for the purpose of avoiding unwanted disruptions on Religion Forum threads. The terms used in a caucus label are not necessarily precise with reference to Canon Law, theology or even dictionaries – but are intended to communicate briefly who should or should not post on a thread. A reply post may be removed from a caucus thread if the moderator recognizes the poster as a non-member.

If you believe a poster is not a member of the caucus, or if you believe the article or reply posts are mentioning the beliefs of non-members of the caucus then let me know by Freepmail and I will follow-up as soon as possible.

Do not disturb the caucus.

If I may......

Verse 3 is also relevant to it and uses the term *itching ears* which many people are familiar with.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

That's a good verse. I had not thought of it. But then again, it's morning and I don't wake up until about noon even if my body is up.

Since God is Truth, there are many verses about being deaf (or blind) to it:

What is spiritual blindness?
https://www.gotquestions.org/spiritual-blindness.html

Excerpt:
“Those who reject Christ and His Word are spiritually blind and cannot understand the truth of the Scriptures.”

We see a lot of that deafness today. People don’t know good from evil. They live in moral relativism. They’ll often choose evil as a virtue out of ignorance.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.