Luke 6:49(NLT)But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.
Emily met Roy at a department store she was managing at the time. He’s a truck driver and was there to pick up his mom’s favorite perfume, at least that’s what he told her. They hit it off instantly. That was seven years ago. She describes the relationship as lovely the first couple of years, but after that it was on and off. She has caught him in several lies and seen concrete proof that he’s seeing other women. He knows how much Emily wants to be married and dangles his allegiance to the idea each time he’s caught in a lie. Like many women stuck in this pattern, Emily always takes Roy back, and because of her willingness to accept far less, far less is what she has. We need to know that every person, male or female, deserves better, and we must also have faith that God will help us receive it.
God created relationships to help us walk in truth. Jesus Christ said in John 8:32(NLT), “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The magnitude of what he has revealed in this one verse alone requires an eternity to fully digest. It comes in two extremely insightful morsels. The first of which is that you and I MUST know the truth. God, our Heavenly Father, IS the truth! Truth comes from Him, and we cannot derive it from any other source. He has done His part to make it available, and He has made it our responsibility, yours and mine, to grab hold of the truth and make it our own. He will not open our heads and hearts and begin to fill them with knowledge of the truth. We must take the actions aligned with opening the Bible and studying it, so that we can know God’s truth for ourselves.
A lot of us get this truth business twisted. We think that just because we’re firmly planted in a notion of our own conviction, that we can call it “our truth,” and ride or die by it. We say things like, “I don’t like shady people. That’s just my truth.” It may be a fact, but facts change all the time. For instance, some of us might say we dislike shady people, and like Emily, we choose to stay in a relationship with a person that does shady things behind our backs all the time. This person has made a sport of cleverly disguising a lie to look like the truth. They’re deceptive, play on our affections, and see other people romantically. We know the game they run, and yet we continue to stay in the relationship.
God’s truth—His Word—is the only truth of which we can have unfailing confidence. Every other thing outside of God’s truth will fail us. This is why Heavenly Father instructs us to build our relationships on Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is the truth. He’s a solid foundation, one that won’t fall apart when things in life get rocky. From this, we can better discern when the significant, non-marital relationship we have with someone is something that honors God. If it does not honor God, it certainly will not honor us. And if it doesn’t honor, it corrupts. If we’re being lied to and cheated on, we can’t build a solid foundation, and every house built on a shaky foundation will ultimately fall.
There were always crowds following Jesus Christ because of the many miracles and good works he performed. Many saw him perform miracles but were not converted in their souls. They were looking to be entertained and had no intention of making a change in their lives. This can be said of people today. Jesus knew that they were not interested in hearing the Good News he taught. He said in Luke 6:47-49(NLT), “I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49 But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”
It’s dangerous to our souls to accept poor treatment from someone who is not our destiny partner. This takes us out of the Will of God for our lives. It makes a huge statement about our unbelief, and unbelief is a sin. We accept lies and betrayal because we do not believe we deserve better or that God will give us better, and this is not the truth. Some of us are so afraid of being lonely that we accept crumbs from someone’s table, but God wants to strengthen us so that we are no longer fearful. He wants us to attract a partner from a place of strength and love, not fear and obsession. 2Peter 3:9 tells us that He’s not slow to fulfill His promises, but He’s being patient with us. He wants us to develop spiritually, so that we repent from our poor behavior and choices; and escape destructive circumstances.
Many of us hold on to the people in these shaky relationships because they have become strongholds. It’s a crazy-n-love pattern that must be broken, because holding on to this relationship is keeping us from fulfilling the destiny God has for us. We might convince ourselves that this is the person we should marry one day, but it isn’t wise to begin a marriage without the blessing of knowing we’re in the Will of God. And we must know that wherever His Will is not followed, there is no respect and honor for the truth.
To know something is more than just hearing a piece of information. It is to digest it, to take it in to the point that your mind understands it and your heart believes it. This is when it gets to the level of knowing. God didn’t create us to feed upon lies. Our identity is grounded in the truth of Jesus Christ. We must know, love, and walk in the truth so that we live our lives based on our true identity. Then we will stay on the path of destiny.
The second part of yumminess that Jesus Christ revealed in John 8:32 is that the truth will set us free! It is impossible to be set free by believing and accepting a lie. God’s Will is for us to live free, not bound by the darkness of obsession and dependency on another person. He tells us in 2Corinthians 3:5(NKJV), “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” Heavenly Father is our everything. He’s our Provider and Protector. We should never look to receive from someone else what only He can provide. He desires intimacy in our relationship with Him, and He wants to talk and commune with us continually. This relationship He’s made available through Jesus Christ is so precious and powerful. Through it we learn to love His way, and through His power we can pull down any stronghold. As we are patient with ourselves, and seek to walk in His love and light, being free of strongholds must be our prayer.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Breaking Free of Strongholds” written for Crazynlove.com ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!