Kingdom Principle: Lying drains anointing, and cheapens your appointing.

Last week we saw that we are not to trust in princes of the earth…. they seek appointing to utilize power to control others…. This week we see an indicator of those who seem to lack anointing, yet seek appointing – they speak and follow lies. Liars are losers, because they are constantly losing favor, credibility and character. The irony of lying is that the hope in or reason to lie is to increase one’s power or status, which is an appointing. While the lies may prove “successful” to grant appointing, it is at the demise of one’s anointing. (You can’t lose the anointing, but you can lose the blessing and favor of it.  – see post two weeks forward) The reminder from last week is that ServantLeaders follow their anointing to gain and appointing for the Kingdom. This exchange of lies for truth, is the beginning of a slippery-slope that nullifies anointing and forces one to trust and seek worldly appointing.

This week we see Ahab is spineless & follower of lies– Jezebel is manipulative and a deceiver to the core. The Pharisee who invites Jesus to dinner hopes to ensnare him and to reveal his unrighteousness, but in setting the trap the Pharisee reveals his own unrighteousness. Jesus in-turn stands on grace and truth which is expressed in faith and forgiveness. We have seen that Paul is looking for no man’s approval, yet he is also not willing to give approval simply because of who someone’s appointing may be – this includes Peter or any other Jew who minimizes the grace of Christ. Being justified by faith, through grace – Paul stands righteously, not by the Law but filled with the Life of Christ in him. He therefore has nothing to lose and nothing to gain in this world. (Phil 1:21) God is the King and ruler of all! – The Psalmist seeks the ways and desires of God –and rejects the ways of the liar, whom God also rejects, that he might remain in the presence and blessing of the Lord.

While the truth will set you free (John 8:32) it does not provide a guarantee to help you win or keep you from losing. It is for his reason that many choose the short-term gain of a lie over the lifestyle choice of the truth. The people who are least likely to lie are those who have nothing to lose or gain….  This is true for those who are at the end of their life and have no hope, (listen to these death bed confessions) as well as those who are being filled with life and have hope as the anchor of their soul. Liars often seek to increase their appointed power or to avoid any potential fear that might cause them harm and decrease their approval.

The truth doesn’t help Naboth win not does it keep Naboth from losing. Be it also is the way in which Naboth declares his obedience to the LORD. He knows as the Psalmist proclaims “I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple. ⁸ Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness,  because of my enemies—    make your way straight before me.” By the worlds standards Naboth has much to win –more time with his wife and kids, restitution or vengeance against Ahab, but these are not the concerns of a Kingdom ServantLeader.  It is only the King’s win that the ServantLeader seeks. And an outwardly perceived loss to a ServantLeader has no impact, for the ServantLeader has already lost all things for the cause of the King. This is not weakness or giving in to the enemy– it is quite the opposite – it is a call to strength not to bend at the power of evil, conviction to resist the temptation of money, and character to stand tall defending the Truth of Scriptures when no one else shares that same value.

When are you most apt to lie? What is the gain of lying that can get the best of you? Social acceptance, financial gain, avoidance of pain… the experts say the everyone lies, but that certainly some do more than others… I won’t get in to that here – you can read more if you want – But the focus here is that those who are lying are attempting to protect themselves – they have a fear which they are avoiding. This is not the fear of the Lord, that is the beginning of Wisdom (Proverbs 1:7,  James 3:13-18) but rather it is a fear that is rooted in the father of lies and has no love in it. (1 John 4:18)

Ahab and Jezebel represent the epitome of a lying relationship that is despised by God. Ahab is a weak, man who holds the position of the appointed King of Israel, doing more evil that those who have ruled before him. His wife a devout Baal worshipper, who strong arms her husband to do her will through manipulation and all around her are controlled with deception and fear. (To various degrees, the church is filled with Ahab’s and Jezebeel’s all who are to seek lead others, but themselves are lost) Ahab and Jezbeel have exchanged the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1:18) and all the while Elijah comes proclaiming the truth.

What does this means for you and I today in the Kingdom. Either we are trusting in the anointing of the Spirit by living in the truth or we are playing to the hand of the enemy. (Col 1:13, 2:20-22)  If we are justified by faith in Christ, then we have nothing to gain or lose, and this world has nothing to entice with…  Where you find yourself with lying lips, your heart is corrupted. (Matt. 15:18-20)  This does not mean you lack salvation, but it does mean you have not fully crucified the flesh . (Gal. 5:24) Since,  we all are confronted with the challenge to tame the tongue (James 1:19-21, 3:1-8) we need not be ashamed of who we are, rather  we are to turn to Christ all that much more, so that we gain may die to our flesh and take up the grace of God as the only means by which life is worth living. (Paul argues in Gal 2 and Jesus in Matt 15, it is not what one does on the outside that matters, it is a matter of the heart, but that one’s actions will follow the heart.) Lying is an indicator of the life lived out of the flesh.

If you ever wonder why you can’t seem to figure out what God wants you to do with your life – it may be because he actually is waiting for you to die to this life, so that you might begin to live for Him. If this be the case, then come to the feet of Jesus and weep, for he is ready to receive you and send you on your way in peace.