Wednesday of the 6th week of Eastertide Bible Study: Acts 17:15-18:1, Psalm 148 and John 16:12-15
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” (John 16:13)
We live in a world where people are loved for telling lies and hated for speaking the truth. The spirit of lies is one demon that has possessed such a vast majority of our population, old and young, rich and poor alike.
We fall too easily into the lie-trap because we do not realize the seriousness of the existence of lies in our lives. Telling lies glorifies the devil. How? Jesus puts it in this way:
“You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44).
Spreading falsehood deliberately just to incite others or achieve mundane objectives is plainly assisting the devil in his work as a destroyer. A single lie can kill a person, it can set a whole nation ablaze. Telling lies is demonic.
Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit “will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it you.” (John 16:14). Dear friends, just as lies glorify the devil, truthfulness brings glory to God. No wonder the popular saying goes: “Say the truth and shame the devil.”
Indeed, it is impossible to have the Holy Spirit in you (the Spirit of Truth) and still remain adamant in telling of lies. Once you tell a lie, the Holy Spirit speaking through your conscience will not let you rest. That is if you still have the Holy Spirit in you.
A sign of the absence of the Holy Spirit in a person is the resistance to the truth; fighting people simply because they tell us the truth. The Athenians did not grant audience to Paul because they couldn’t face the truth.
The Athenians acknowledged their ignorance by making an Altar with the inscription: “To An unknown god,” but when Paul tried to clear their ignorance, they resisted him. Truly, there are some people who know they are ignorant yet they remain satisfied in their ignorance.
There are times we know fully well that someone is telling us the truth but instead of listening, we become defensive and begin to find faults in the person. We literally look for a thousand reasons to shut the person down. Nevertheless, Truth is too powerful to be hidden. The world may believe lies for a while but one day, like a volcanic eruption, it forces itself out.
Let us pray: Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and enkindle in us your Sacred Fire. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.