https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/SeeingOnlyWhatYouWantToSee.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Psalms 50<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. I would like to share a portion of a letter I received: <\/p>\n“I am in love with this girl who loved me too. We loved each other so crazily but\nat one point I realized that she had been lying to me for no reason to spend time\nwith her friends and other mates. She liked spending time with boys, and she hid\nthat from me. She said she doesn’t have time for me, spending a little or no time\nwith me, but she lied to me and was with other people and friends. I always asked\nGod if she was the one for me and I got positive replies. All I wanted was for her\nto know her limits with people and live a good life. I did not like her exposing her\nbody by wearing short dresses. I advised her, but she thought I was controlling her\nand taking away her space. When I asked her to keep her distance from guys, she\nthought I was controlling her.\n
<\/p>\n“If she was sent by God, isn’t she supposed to be a good person? I mean a person\nwho loves me and only me? Or at least change to be a good person when I try to\nchange her? I do not understand. Now she has broken up with me and it is really\nvery hard for me to carry on! Was it my misinterpretation of what God said, or\nwas it suppose to be like this? I’m praying to God asking to bring her back in to\nmy life. I do not know what more to do. Please do pray for me! I’m so confused,\nand sadness is all I have in my heart all the time.”\n A. What struck me first was how this young man was able to list out strong reasons\nwhy this girl was not a good choice, and yet cling to the notion that he was in love\nwith her.\n B. One author said, “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are” [Anais\nNin].\n 1. Our personal bias colors things, sometimes to the point that we lose sight\nof reality.\n
II. Preferring delusions<\/p>\n
A. Isaiah speaks of the foolishness of idolatry – Isaiah 44:14-20<\/p>\n
1. The person deceives himself, never stopping to realize his own lie<\/p>\n
2. Men cannot create gods, God created man.<\/p>\n
B. Idolatry has no profit, yet men pursue it – Habakkuk 2:18-19<\/p>\n
1. It gives “comfort” – Zechariah 10:12<\/p>\n
C. Why do people do it?<\/p>\n
1. They don’t want to think about God – Romans 1:28<\/p>\n 2. To do so means facing the unpleasant idea that they are accountable – John\n3:19-21\n 3. Thus people turn to those who tell them what they want to hear – II\nTimothy 4:3-4\n 4. They love being told lies that agree with what they want to hear – Jeremiah\n5:31\n
D. The shame of it all – Micah 2:11<\/p>\n
III. Shifting Blame<\/p>\n A. Ahab accused Elijah for causing problems when Ahab was the one promoting sin\n– I Kings 18:17-18\n B. Jeremiah was blamed for telling people that those who stayed in Jerusalem would\ndie – Jeremiah 38:1-4\n
C. Paul was rejected for telling the Galatians they were sinning – Galatians 4:16<\/p>\n
1. And this was after the Galatians had strongly accepted Paul<\/p>\n
D. In each case the truth was told. A truth that the receiver did not want to hear. <\/p>\n
1. But it can’t be their fault, so it must be messenger’s fault.<\/p>\n
2. People want to be told they are all right, just as they are – Isaiah 30:10-11<\/p>\n
IV. Blind to the Truth<\/p>\n
A. The blind cannot lead the blind – Luke 6:39<\/p>\n
1. But it doesn’t stop people from trying<\/p>\n
B. There are people who have no truth in them – I Timothy 6:3-5<\/p>\n
1. The wicked don’t want the truth – John 3:19-21<\/p>\n
2. Refuse to listen to the truth – John 8:45-47<\/p>\n
C. Those who lie are often victims of lies – II Timothy 3:13<\/p>\n
1. They think there is safety in lies – Isaiah 28:15<\/p>\n
2. They trusted empty words – Isaiah 59:3-4<\/p>\n
3. They actually live in lies – Jeremiah 9:3-6<\/p>\n
D. Speak evil of what they don’t understand – II Peter 2:12<\/p>\n
V. We need to be people who seek truth<\/p>\n
A. That means we have to be truthful – Ephesians 4:25<\/p>\n B. We must want the truth so much, that we will work hard to get it – Proverbs 2:1-6;\n8:17; 23:23\n
C. We ought to fear not having truth – Proverbs 1:7<\/p>\n
D. When we find the truth, we must stay with it – Proverbs 4:5<\/p>\n
E. Where we end up begins with where we are looking to go – Romans 2:7-8<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 50 I. I would like to share a portion of a letter I received: “I am in love with this girl who loved me too. We loved each other so crazily but at one point I realized that she had been lying to me for no reason to spend…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[351,392,441],"class_list":["post-63446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-expectation","tag-lying","tag-truth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29511,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-she-was-sent-by-god-isnt-she-supposed-to-be-a-good-person\/","url_meta":{"origin":63446,"position":0},"title":"If she was sent by God, isn’t she supposed to be a good person?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am in love with this girl who loved me too. We loved each other so crazily but at one point I realized that she had been lying to me for no reason to spend time with her friends and other mates. She liked spending time with boys, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47083,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-girlfriend-left-me-twice-and-is-now-pregnant-by-the-other-man-how-do-i-get-past-her-past\/","url_meta":{"origin":63446,"position":1},"title":"My girlfriend left me twice and is now pregnant by the other man. How do I get past her past?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I met this lady, several years ago. I loved her so much. I told her and we became friends. Later she dropped me and went with another person she loved, though she didn't tell me. I still loved her so much that we got back together and this same\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5419,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-lie-for-my-daughter\/","url_meta":{"origin":63446,"position":2},"title":"Should I lie for my daughter?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Should I lie for my 11-year-old daughter? She was spanked and sent to bed at 4 pm. When her friends came to the door my I told them she was sick. I didn't tell them she was being punished. Answer: Let's see: By your example then, when your daughter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34170,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-didnt-my-old-girlfriend-want-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":63446,"position":3},"title":"Why didn’t my old girlfriend want me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I was 15 years of age and a girl lived just in front of our house. She proposed to me one day. She was 16 years of age at the time. She said to me that she loved me a lot. We exchanged flying kisses and smiles. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53533,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-girlfriend-lies-about-her-past-all-the-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":63446,"position":4},"title":"My girlfriend lies about her past all the time","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening sir, I am in a relationship with a girl whom I love. The only problem I have with her is that she lived a sinful sexual life in the past, and it makes her continually lie to me. Most of the time she tells me that she\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27526,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-help-my-daughter-see-it-is-not-good-to-be-jealous-of-friends-who-are-having-babies-out-of-wedlock\/","url_meta":{"origin":63446,"position":5},"title":"How do I help my daughter see it is not good to be jealous of friends who are having babies out of wedlock?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am so concerned about my daughter who is in her early twenties and still lives with us. She is a faithful Christian, has kept herself pure, and tries to be what God wants her to be. 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