The Right Kind of Refuge

For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception. Isaiah 28:15

Have you ever been lied to or deceived by someone you trusted? Living your life daily under the banner of "buyer beware" can leave you feeling drained. Someone has wisely said, "Growth in the Christian life begins with learning the truth about God, learning the truth about me, and letting the truth about God impact the truth about me."

It is easy to trust others to give us all the answers. I have seen many people follow false leaders to spiritual ruin. For those of you who are old enough to remember Jim Jones, you immediately see the 900 plus dead bodies lying all over the ground of the compound in Guiana. They had been lied to and they sought refuge in those lies. I am sure many people tried to warn them but they could not let go of what they thought the truth was.

At one time I held tightly to numerous lies about God and the Christian life. Let me share a few ~
God's love is dependent on what I do.
God tolerates me more than loves me.
I am saved by grace but must work at staying in His favor.
Conformity to church standards means conformity to God.
Other people can properly define my Christian life for me.

The list could go on and on but my point is this....true freedom in Christ began with letting go of what I THOUGHT was the truth and allowing God to show me what He was really like. He is now my refuge and I am concealed in His hands.

Sometimes the journey gets difficult but not as difficult as it was when I depended on others to tell me what to believe, how to act, what music to listen to, who to fellowship with, what version of the Bible to read, etc..... Now I place my hand in His on a daily basis and together we walk in truth!

Father, You waited decades for me to join You. Thank you for not giving up on me even now. Amen.