Tale of Two Lies

Many of us have thought to ourselves, “If God would take care of my needs I would be able to make a total commitment to Him.” Or we may have thought, “If my environment was better, I would be able to serve God with all my heart.”

I call this the Tale of Two Lies. I have to admit that at one time I believed those thoughts, too. But if you ever come to the place where you’re ready to stop playing games and kidding with yourself, you’ll have to admit that having all your needs met and having a perfect environment won’t change what’s in your heart.

The first man and woman were placed in a perfect environment and absolutely all of their needs were met. In spite of both of those factors, satan still was able to deceive the woman, and the man willfully disobeyed God.

Many years ago, when I was youth pastor, I presented the story of mankind’s fall in a modern setting. I asked everyone: “What if someone gave you a limitless credit card, you don’t have to pay the bill, they placed you in a gigantic shopping mall, gave you permission to shop in any store in the mall with the exception of one store; what would you do?” This was the situation for the first man and woman.

Yet, the woman listened to that slick-talking salesman who approached her about shopping in the one forbidden store named KOGAE (Knowledge of Good and Evil). He convinced her to ignore the fact that she had hundreds, if not thousands, of other stores in which to shop. He got her to focus on the one place that was forbidden.

He got her to question why God would not allow her in that store. After shopping in the store, she invited the man inside as well. So even though all their needs were met and even though they were in a perfect world, they still chose to go after what belonged to God.

So it is clear that the real battle is within us. Will you and I continue to listen to the enticement of the enemy? He’s still using the same old lines: “God is holding out on you. Why is He keeping you from this one thing? Could it be that if you partake of this one thing, you’ll discover that you don’t need Him? What good is all the things that God has already provided for you, if there is still something out there that you can’t have?”

These are the same lies that have devastated mankind for centuries. However, I'm praying that the Urban Life Church family has chosen to turn our hearts TO God. I'm praying that we will push aside the lies and choose to trust God because HE desires to do something great within us. I pray that we will desire to do something great for Him.

Here in America, over the past 30-40 years, people have been taught and trained to believe that the only purpose for believing in God or any higher power is so that whatever deity we pray to, will help us achieve our goals and dreams. So millions of Americans only seek a higher power to help them have personal success. Unfortunately, the same philosophy resides in many church assemblies where Christian believers seek God ONLY for what He can do for them. To update the statement of a famous U.S. president, “Ask not what God can do for you, but ask what you can do for God.”

That’s because GOD has already done the most awesome thing that can be done for anyone. He laid down His life for us. Worship artist Kelly Willard once wrote, “God so loved the world that He gave. He gave and gave. He still gives today. And the only thing He came to take away was our sin, so we could all begin to love this way.”

I want us to love God so much, that all we want to do is offer our lives to Him in exchange. That’s what our weekly session is about. This is not another one of those churches that will teach you the ten steps to get rich and famous and the five things you can do to move God’s hand in your favor. No, no, no! We will not teach principles of manipulation and witchcraft.

Our heart’s cry is, “Have thine own way Lord, Have thine own way. Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me, after thy will; while I am waiting, yielded and still.”

So we’re not seeking a higher power just to gain personal success. We’re not chasing our empty fantasies. Our souls follow hard after the Lord.

I see our weekly sessions as a church family that gathers to pray and seek the face of the Lord. No one has to entertain them and pump them up emotionally in order to get them to praise and worship the Lord. The cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches will no longer choke the Word of God and prevent it from flowing in our hearts and lives. I see a people who will do something great for God. That’s because the people who know their God will do exploits.