HOME IN THE PRESENCE OF JESUS

He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart. . . Will never be shaken.

Psalm 15:2,5

JACK HAYFORD'S MOTHER, Dolores, never took five minutes to get the truth out of her son. And how did she get the truth out so quickly? She would simply challenge him with these words. "Tell me the truth, Jack, in the presence of Jesus!" A godly woman, she simply reminded her children that Jesus Christ was present, and He knew whether  they were telling the truth or not. Read (Galatians 3:23-24). "So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law." Sometimes the sin we commit are not moral one but spiritual. We cultivate a legal attitude toward God, and that's wrong. Christians start out in the spirit, but when it comes to daily living, we try to perfect ourselves by the flesh.

Why is getting the truth such a challenge today? Living in a Sodomesque society where kids grow up placing little or no importance  on telling the truth, the conscientious parent is faced with challenges: How do you raise kids who tell the truth?

Acknowledging the presence of Christ in a home, remembering that He said "Lo, I am with you always," introduces a spiritual framework. It requires that we speak the 000pp truth in love and acknowledge lies as an abomination before God. It repudiates the culture of lies and deceit that is so prevalent  today.

The Law says, do these things and you shall live, but the Gospel say live and these things you will do. The Law commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, the Gospel says that this is love: Not that we have sought God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to atone for our sins.

The Law demands holiness, but the Gospel  gives holiness. The Law make a blessings the result of obedience, but the Gospel obedience  the result of blessings. Under the Law, the old man was retrained, but with the Gospel, the new man is give liberty. If we are right in our inward being, we shall certainly  do right in our outward  actions. 

Do you want your home to be characterized  by the truth? Then ask yourself, "Have we declared our home to be a place of refuse where we leave the corruptions of our culture behind us? Do we consider our home a place of safety where we speak the truth openly and freely with each others? Do I as a parent speak the truth or share it to better serve my purpose?" 

The battle for the minds and hearts of our children is going to continue indefinitely. It's time to draw the line at the front door of your home and say, "The culture of lies and deceit stops here!"