Do You Know the Truth?
Gary Keesee • June 10, 2020
They didn’t know the water they had been drinking, bathing in, and cooking with was packed with chemicals and carcinogens.
But then the symptoms started to surface.
You’ve probably heard at least one news story about contaminated water.
- A million marines and sailors and their families exposed to carcinogens after the military allegedly dumped fuel and cleaning agents near two drinking wells in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina from the 1950s through the 1980s.
- So many people sick and dying in Hinkley, California that the small town is now nearly nonexistent.
- More than 400,000 residents from the greater Milwaukee area infected and 100 people dead after bacteria that causes gastrointestinal illnesses invaded the water supply—making it the largest documented waterborne disease outbreak in U.S. history.
(Stick with me. There is a really good spiritual point coming.)
Last year, during weekend services at Faith Life Church, I asked for a volunteer to help me out with an illustration—someone who would like to make a quick $20.
I asked one woman who had raised her hand to come up front, where I opened a brand new bottle of water and asked her to take a drink. She did.
Then, I told her I was going to add something to her bottle of water—a sample of water from a dirty pond behind our church building.
The water was nasty!
Then I asked her to drink it.
Of course, she refused.
And, of course, I still gave her the $20.
The point was made though—no one wants to knowingly drink contaminated water.
But without knowing it, many people are.
Friend, here’s where I stop talking about water contamination and start talking about the things that might be contaminating your soul, your mind, your body—your LIFE.
Because the culture is out to get you—to contaminate you—“to make you impure by exposure to or addition of a poisonous or polluting substance.”
Satan is out to get you—to contaminate you. He is set on killing, stealing, and destroying (John 10:10).
Are you unknowingly “drinking the water?”
I love this illustration our son, Tim, once gave using the game of Jenga®.
Have you ever played it? Basically, you have a big tower of blocks that’s been stacked in opposite directions to allow pieces to be poked at and pulled out one by one without having the tower collapse. Only, you have to stack the blocks you’ve pulled out on top of the tower, which means the block tower gets more and more unstable as the game goes on, because it’s getting taller and balancing on less and less stable blocks.
At some point during the game, the tower collapses.
Some of us are building our lives like that. We think we’re building this strong tower day after day and year after year.
But Luke 22:31 tells us that Satan desires to sift all of us as wheat. Too often, we forget we’re in a spiritual battle, and we don’t take the spiritual adversary we have seriously. We’ve seen too many TV shows and cartoons all of our lives that downplay the enemy to just some creepy guy with horns and a red cape. But Satan is alive and demons are real, and they don’t want to see you prosper and live the destiny God has for you.
Satan wants you to fail. So he’s always looking for loose blocks to poke and pull at—those little areas of your life that aren’t so sturdy and stable; those little areas that are contaminated—in his effort to make your whole tower collapse.
And he knows he doesn’t have to come at your tower of blocks with a full-on wrecking ball. That’s why the Bible tells us to watch out for the little foxes.
“Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” – Song of Solomon 2:15
Here’s the thing: Satan uses a lot of little foxes, a lot of tactics, to try to trick us out of our dominion. He knows that faith—your heart being in agreement with heaven—is the currency of the Kingdom. And he knows that if your heart holds onto the Word, it’s going to produce. He also knows that it’s imperishable and it’s always going to produce after its own kind. Guess what? He doesn’t like that. He claims this place as his. So, he has tactics he uses to get you to agree with him—to contaminate your life with what he says instead of what God says.
And, he’s pretty sly. He takes a little bit of the principle of God, a little bit of the Word of God, and twists it. He uses it to deceive, to contaminate. But, if we know the truth, we can discern for ourselves.
But if you don’t know the truth, as Satan works on knocking out loose block after loose block, there are more openings in your tower, more places for him to get a foothold, more opportunities for him to make the whole structure—your whole life—more rickety and ready for collapse.
Satan is after your fruitfulness. He’s after your assignment. He’s after your purpose. He doesn’t want you to be useful to the Kingdom of God. He wants to prevent you from being a demonstration of the Kingdom of God to other people.
So he keeps going after your heart.
Just drink this little bit of contaminated water. It won’t hurt you.
Our culture, the earth curse system, is full of perverse ideas that they say won’t harm you.
That’s a lie.
What you think about, what you feed yourself, and what you look at all put images into your heart, for good or for bad. If you’re contaminating your heart, it’s going to be drawn away and produce what you’re putting in it.
You have to CHOOSE to turn your ears to the Word of God and CHOOSE to guard your heart, or you’ll begin to buy into the lies that the enemy and our culture are constantly screaming at us.
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What you think about, what you feed yourself, and what you look at all put images into your heart, for good or for bad. So, without realizing it, you might be contaminating not just your body, but your soul, your mind—your life.
You have to know the truth and know how to protect yourself.
Get your instant digital download one of Gary's most powerful, honest, and hard-hitting series, The Antidote: Finding the Cure to the Human Condition, now and learn the truth you must know so you can combat the lies of the enemy and the culture, protect yourself, and qualify for the success God has for you.
You have to know the truth and know how to protect yourself.
Get your instant digital download one of Gary's most powerful, honest, and hard-hitting series, The Antidote: Finding the Cure to the Human Condition, now and learn the truth you must know so you can combat the lies of the enemy and the culture, protect yourself, and qualify for the success God has for you.
Reading Time 2 mins 49 secs – Okay, let’s take a breath. Not everything has to be heavy, and healing doesn’t have to feel impossible or mysterious. Sometimes, we just need to be reminded that God actually wants us to feel better. Yes, you included. God Cares About How You Feel We can get so used to pushing through that we forget God never designed us to live burned out, worn out, or always dealing with pain. Third John (NIV) 1:2b says, “ I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well .” God’s heart is not just that we survive life. His heart is that we thrive—spirit, soul, and body. That includes your sleep. That includes your energy. That includes your mind and your moods. Healing Isn’t Just for Emergencies Most of us wait to think about healing until something significant goes wrong. A diagnosis. A surgery. A crisis. However, healing is an integral part of your daily life as a believer. You don’t have to wait for something to fall apart to lean into God’s promises. It’s kind of like drinking water; your body needs it regularly, not just when you're dehydrated. The Word is the same. It brings strength, clarity, and peace to your health before the storm hits. You’re allowed to believe in a life where you’re not constantly recovering—you’re well. Small Shifts, Big Results Maybe you’ve been dealing with something for a while—nothing catastrophic, just something that lingers. A chronic ache. Fatigue. Brain fog. A stress habit that’s hard to shake. Can I encourage you? You don’t have to settle for “just getting by.” Start speaking life over your body. Make simple changes in faith; walk a little more, drink more water, eat a bit better, get quiet with God. Healing isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes, it happens gently. Daily. Gradually. The power of God isn’t always loud, but it’s always effective. The Best Kind of Doctor He doesn’t rush your appointment. He’s never stumped by your symptoms. And He doesn’t hand you a bill at the end. He simply says, “Come to Me.” Come tired. Come unsure. Come with your questions. And He’ll give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Yes, He heals in big, miraculous ways—but He also heals in little moments of laughter, sunlight, worship, and truth. Let’s Make This Simple Healing isn’t about performance. It’s about proximity—staying close to the Healer. So, take the pressure off today. You’re not failing if you’re still waiting. You’re not disqualified if you’ve had some doubts. You’re growing. You’re learning. And most of all, you’re loved. Let healing be a conversation you have with God, not a crisis you fear. Let it be part of your everyday life with Him, not just a 911 prayer when things feel scary. A Simple Prayer to Start With “Lord, thank You that You care about every part of me. You know when I’m tired, hurting, anxious, or overwhelmed. Thank You for being my Healer, not just in emergencies but in the everyday. I receive Your peace and Your promises. I speak life over my body and my mind today, in Jesus’s name. Amen.” Take This with You Healing doesn’t have to feel far away or hard to reach. It’s not reserved for the super spiritual or the desperate. It’s available, it’s real, and it’s for right now. You don’t have to make it complicated. Just take one step. Open the Word, talk to God, speak life over yourself, and trust that He’s working behind the scenes. You don’t have to live in survival mode. You were made for wholeness. And friend? You’re allowed to feel better.
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They wanted to drive the tractor, be seen, and have identity. They were jostling for position, all fighting over spiritual gifts, all trying to judge who was more spiritual. Paul had to write this letter to give them wisdom. He said: Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. —1 Corinthians 3:1–3a (NIV) Friend, we have to go back to the basics. We've got to get this thing fixed. Finding Your Place in the Body In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul explains how the body of Christ works. The foot can’t say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body.” It would still be a foot no matter how much it decided it wanted to be a hand. Why? Because God made it a foot. The ear can’t say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body.” It was created as an ear with a very distinct purpose. Psalm 139 tells us: You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. ... My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place... Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. —Psalm 139:13–16 (NIV) Wow! The place where you’re going to end up has already been decided. All your days have already been ordained by God for your life. What you’re going to end up doing was written in His book before you were ever created. Discovering the Mystery of You It’s sad that so many people never discover themselves. You’ll hear me say many times that God will help you unravel the mystery of you to you. The world has raised us to bounce off the mirror: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” And besides you in the mirror, there are a ton of comparisons. In Ephesians 4:11–13, we learn that Jesus gave the church five ministry offices: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers. Their purpose is “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith.” Here’s what’s important. These offices are not something you pick like a job opportunity. Jesus calls people to these offices. I know when I was called. I remember that day when I had the open vision and God spoke to me saying, “I’m calling you to preach My Word” three times. Standing in Your Place For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. 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