***Living a Fake Life***

This post is part of the Friday Verse Series. Today, may you be a discerner of the times and seasons, and may you be able to distinguish whether you are living in the truth right now, or if indeed you are living a fake life.

What do we mean when we say "living in the truth"? No, let's start with the phrase "living a fake life." What does it mean to live a fake life?

A fake life is unraveled when God has no place in one's life. Have you ever wondered why humans are on a critical search for spiritual freedom? Many people are looking for God somehow, only they are looking for God in the wrong places. People are looking for God in objects, trees, mountains, oceans, and other inanimate objects that can't speak. Have you ever said "Good morning," when you know inside that your morning is really NOT good? You are living a fake life when you smile and there is nothing to smile about. You are living a fake life when you use caffeine to cover your pains and sorrows. You are living a fake life when you hang out with friends, and at the end of the day, you do not gain anything substantial from their company. You are living a fake 'make-belief' life when your co-workers feel like you are the best thing since sliced bread and butter, or when they feel you are the 'light' of the party,' yet when you get back home at night you feel you are at a loss, all alone and sunken, with no soul-mate lying next to you at night. In other words, your life is fake when you place priority on the wrong things. People search for a God because they know somewhere within their hearts that there must be something bigger than all of this. After experiencing all these fake things, they come to the realization that those things have a limit as to what can make them happy.

Today I present the truth...the truth that no man is an island, and no man can truly obtain happiness in all truth unless they obtain it from someone or something else. Following that sentence really closely, I say that no man can derive happiness from any other man or thing. Happiness comes from God. The bible records that God is the 'joy of our salvation (Habakuk 2:17),' that He has the ability to turn our 'mourning into dancing (psalm 30:11).' This is why God says, 'cursed is the man who puts his trust in another man (Jeremiah 17:5),' because guess what, if you trust in man who has a lot of flaws, then your life is built on sinking ground. Man is bound to disappoint, but when you trust in God, God never fails. That's why the psalmist joyfully declares that 'some may trust in horses, and some may trust in chariots, but we will trust in the name of our God.'

When you place all your trust in God, then your house will be built on a solid foundation. How do I know this? When you trust in a friend to do something for you and they don't do it, disappointment creeps in, and you start to be miserable. But when you know that friends will have flaws, regardless of how close they may be to you, then its easier to forgive them, because you trust in a much higher authority that is bound to work all things together for your good. This, my friends, is living a life of truth...because when you trust in God and say 'Good morning,' then you truly and honestly mean that your morning is good, and you have nothing to hide. When you smile to a co-worker, you are not smiling because they expect that from you, but because your strength comes from your Creator. When you stand in front of people and give a wonderful testimony, you smile because you know that it was not man that brought you out of the miry clay when your feet got stuck in the mud, but it was God who used His mighty right hand to pull you out.

***When you think about the fact that ALL power belongs to God, then your life will no longer be superficial, but you will be transformed from living a fickle life to living in the truth that God loves you, and you were created to make His praise glorious. When you know that 'all things work together for your good,' then your smile will no longer be superficial but real, and when you say, "good morning," you say it in all honesty.***