TRUTH

Speak the Truth/Watch Your Words

The words you speak bring about consequences for you and for others. That
is, you will eat the fruit of what you speak. (You will have whatever you
say.) Confession is made to salvation, forgiveness, unbelief, and faith; and
“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” You can tell where
you’re at by what is coming out of your mouth because “as a man or woman
thinketh, so they are.” Whatever is going on in you will eventually come out
in an expression.

When the Lord spoke, things happened. In Genesis 1 God said, “Let there
be….,” and whatever He spoke came to pass. He said in Mark 11 “When
you pray, believe that you have received whatsoever things you say. If you
don’t doubt in your heart, and believe those things which you say will come
to pass, you will have whatsoever things you say.” Our words are vitally
important.

The Lord is the Spirit of truth. John 1:14 says the Holy Spirit is the Spirit
of truth and the Comforter.

Words can comfort and words can excite people.

One time I did a study about words. A little lady came up to me about a
week later saying, “I had a great week, Pastor.” I asked, “Well, what
happened?” She answered, “I kept my mouth shut. After you taught about
the words that I speak, I looked at the words that I spoke and decided I
didn’t have anything profitable to say. I’m working to change my words
because I found that everything I was saying was negative. It was critical, it
was prejudicial, it was speaking out of pain. I should be speaking out of
faith, love, and hope. I should be speaking encouraging things to people.”
She went on to say, “I thought I would just take a week off, examine things,
and reverse any curses that I have been speaking.”

In Proverbs it says, “You are ensnared by the words of your mouth.” In

other words, you can trap yourself by speaking lies, doubt, or fear. The end

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 1
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
product is not blessing. The Lord says to speak life and blessing, not
cursing, to yourself and to others. In John 6 Jesus said, “My words are
spirit and they are life.” They brought life to people because when He
spoke, He spoke by the Spirit of the living God, and God’s purpose came to
pass. “Whatsoever things you pray, believe you have received” and you will
have what you say. It will come to pass in the Name of Jesus.

God has put His authority and rule within our hearts as children of God. The
Spirit of God always speaks the truth, and He encourages us to speak the
truth in love Ephesians 4.

You can speak the truth, but if it is not spoken in love, it is not the Lord.
God’s words may tear down only to build up, and “The wounds of a friend
are faithful.” What they say may hurt, but it is intended to help you to grow
up into everything that God has intended, and to prevent you from lying.
When you lie, you not only lie to yourself and to others, but you lie to God.

Ephesians 4:20 and following says, “You, however, did not come to know
Christ that way. Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him in
accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to
your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by
its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put
on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Therefore, put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness
and holiness.

God calls things that be not as though they are, and they become. So instead
of speaking negative garbage, we are going to call things the way God calls
them so they are able to happen. Such words are spirit and life, and they
will bring and create life.

A lady came to me who was having a lot of trouble with her husband. He
was drinking and doing all kinds of neglectful things. She was very upset. I
looked at her and said, “I want you to go home and tell your husband this
when you see him: I thank God for you. You are such a blessing in my life
and Jesus wants me to call you lord.”

1 Peter 3 says Sarah called her husband lord, and she honored and
reverenced him. Many times attitudes of disrespect, rebellion, and
independence come into a relationship especially when somebody is

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 2
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
shirking his responsibilities, acting like a jerk, not loving or caring, and not
doing the right thing.

After I told her what to say, she looked at me in amazement, but she went
home and said it to him. After he listened to what she had to say, he left the
room, not responding in any way. He came back about half-an-hour later
and asked her this question, “Did you really mean what you said?”

That was a moment of testing. Was she lying or was she telling the truth?
To tell the truth you have to have a right heart with God. You have to have a
right heart with yourself (personal integrity), and you have to have a right
heart towards the other people you are speaking to. You don’t want to do
God, yourself, or somebody else a disservice. You want to love God,
yourself, and other people.

At that point the woman was faced with a moment of confrontation. She
really had to take a good look at herself. Was she just doing this because
Pastor, by the Holy Spirit, told her to do something? Or was she doing this,
yes, out of obedience, but with a heart of submission and obedience to God,
herself, and to her husband? She took a moment and said, “That is exactly
what I mean. You are my lord under the Lord and I am thankful to God to
have you as my husband.”

He said, “If that is what you really mean, then from this moment I am going
to change my life. I’m going to start to honor God. I’m going to start to live
for God, and I’m going to start to be the kind of husband and dad that God
wants me to be in this house.”

He stopped his drinking and started going to church. He started giving his
tithes and his offerings to the Lord, and to this date he is still doing that. It
has probably been about 10 years now. He is walking with God, he loves
God, he loves his family, and he is setting a good example for his children.

How amazing that a transformation took place when someone spoke the
truth in love and did it God’s way. 1 Peter 3:1 says, “A wife can win her
husband to the Lord without even saying a word, simply as he beholds her
godly behavior, an attitude of heart of reverence, honor, and respect.”

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 3
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
Unfortunately, a lot of women don’t have the kind of attitude that God has.
That is why they are not seeing results. A lot of fellows don’t have the kind
of attitude that God has, and that is why they are not seeing results.

We have a marriage series on tape to reach people God’s ways: one for
ladies only and one for men only. (Often when people read the Bible, they
like to read about the part that pertains to the spouse and not about the part
that pertains to them.)

When the Lord teaches me from the Bible, it is always what pertains to me,
and it goes through me before it gets to you. That is how it works. You
have to sift it, sort it, work it, and ask yourself, “Is this really what I want,
and is this really who I am and what I want to do?” Since you are a child of
God Ephesians 4:24 “You put on the new self, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness,” that is, right-standing with God, which is truth
and holiness.

“Therefore,” it continues in Ephesians 4:25 “each of you must put off

falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of
one body.”

People lie for different reasons: Usually there is fear of something

happening, fear of loss, covering themselves, fear of punishment, or fear of
consequences.

We always taught our children to tell us the truth. We said, “We don’t care
what it is that you have done or what you are doing, you tell us the truth
because we are going to find out eventually. There is nothing hidden that
won’t be revealed, and there is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered
because that is the way life works. You tell us the truth and it will always go
better for you. If you lie, the consequences will be more extreme.”

I trust my children implicitly. I know they will tell me the truth, and I have
seen them do it many times. I thank God because it is encouraging that truth
yields blessing. We might even have to say, “Man, I messed up over here
and this is what I did.” If we are faithful to acknowledge our sin to God, to
parents, to pastor, and above all to self, and we acknowledge that what we
are doing or saying is wrong, then God says He will be faithful and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. If you are not faithful to God, yourself, or
others to tell the truth and acknowledge the truth, then you are deceived.

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 4
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
Your life will be wasted by the waster, the thief who has come to steal, kill
and destroy. Jesus said that the devil was a liar and a murderer from the
beginning. But God is the Spirit of truth.

When you lie, you are not operating by the Spirit of God, no matter what
reason you think you have to justify and rationalize it. You have lost
credibility, and as a child of God you are not representing who you are to
others. Do you want to have a reputation as a liar, deceiver, cheat, or
conman? That is not the way to go. You want to be known as a man or a
woman of faith, love, hope, and truth. You want to be somebody who
people can count on, so that when you say something, it is the truth as far as
you perceive it.

You may not understand the whole truth yet, or you may speak about
something in which you don’t have all the truth. Job did that as you can
read about in Job 42. He asked God’s forgiveness, and he repented. “I
spoke about things too wonderful for me, things I didn’t understand or
comprehend.” He operated in the truth that he understood, but more facts
were revealed, and more revelation and understanding came as far as who
God was. Then Job said, “I repent. I ask your forgiveness, Lord.”
Remember he is the same guy that had said, “The Lord gives and the Lord
takes away.” Job 1:21.

This statement was false because Job didn’t have all the information. He
didn’t have all the understanding, but when he got the understanding, he
admitted he was wrong, that he had spoken falsely. He didn’t do it
maliciously, but he was still wrong. Wise men and women humble
themselves and admit when they are wrong. A true person, a person with
integrity, will make the change he needs to make.

A lot of people don’t realize that one of God’s commandments is about

bearing false witness. We live in a day and an age where the Ten
Commandments (Exodus 20) are being shoved aside or buried.

Don’t speak falsehood anymore because you are not a false person, you are a
child of God. “Speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are members of
one body,” meaning we are on the same team. The devil lies to steal, kill,
and destroy.

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 5
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
Have you ever lied for somebody else? – You didn’t help that person with
your lie, nor did you accomplish the purpose which God would have for you.
Once you start lying it becomes a way of life: “Little foxes spoil the vine.”
You don’t help a person when you cover for him because that isn’t the way
God would deal with him. God’s way could cause him to come into a better
place and get some help. When you enable a person who lies, it gets in the
way of the person getting help and changing.

Have you ever tried to cover for yourself? We call it justifying,

rationalizing, and making excuses. Once you get into that, things will go
downhill. David said in Psalm 32, “While I tried to cover my sin” it got
worse, and “my bones rotted within me.” The guilt increased. God says,
“Just come to me and admit it, ask forgiveness, you will be forgiven, and
you will be restored. You will be back in the right place of truth.” But pride
or self won’t let people deal with that. People who are into the same “stuff”
don’t want anybody else “ratting” on them.

When you don’t cover for someone it isn’t “ratting.” In fact, it gets rid of
the rats. Hallelujah. It brings out the truth so that everything can get
cleaned up and blessed the way God would have it.

Some people have a false sense of loyalty. Friends love at all times, but it is
in God’s way that they should love. Love is always in truth, it is not in
compromise or falsehood. In Ephesians 4:15 Paul says, “Speak the truth in
love so that people can grow up into the things of God.” He said this to the
apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers so they could equip the
saints for the work of the ministry, and people could rise up to the place
where God wants them to be. He has died so that we could be there.

As long as we are making excuses for ourselves and trying to justify and
rationalize, we can’t come into what He has.

People are actually being counseled about how to cope with emotions. What
a joke. You don’t cope with anger, you do away with it. You don’t cope
with conflict and fear, you confront it, and you deal with it in truth.

It says in Proverbs that a king demands the truth. He puts away all liars
from around him because he wants to get proper information. You are only
as good as the information you’re getting. If you have a bunch of liars
around you, you will be set up.

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 6
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
There is a story about an emperor who wanted new clothes so he sent out a
decree across the land to all the people and all the tailors that he would
greatly reward the one who made him the finest set of clothes. (A king
deserves that. You are a king and a priest in God’s kingdom and God has
the best for his children spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically,
financially, and in relationships, but you will only get the best through truth.
You will never get the best in life by lying because sooner or later it will
catch up with you.)

So the emperor sent out the decree, and the tailors came and went. One man
claimed he had made the finest set of clothes. The day came when the king
was supposed to have a big parade. He put on his fine set of clothes and
went out into the parade where all the people were cheering, raving, and
going crazy. Then one little kid blurted out, “He is naked!” (Children will
speak the truth about things.) The emperor was in his birthday suit, but
nobody else around him would say anything. Let me tell you, if I have a big
hair growing out of the top of my nose, I want to know about it.

One day when I was up ministering before the people, my fly was open. A
lady graciously went to my wife and had her come up to tell me. My wife
did these hand signals: X, Y, Z your zipper is open. So I had the people
greet one another. I just politely turned around and zipped back up. We
need to speak the truth in love to help somebody. We need some good
input. There are times where you have blinders on and you can’t see.

Everybody was telling the emperor, “Oh, how wonderful you look.” Well, I
haven’t seen many naked folks that really look good. I don’t spend time
looking at naked people, I want to clarify that. The whole point is, there
isn’t anything hidden that won’t be revealed, and as far as God is concerned
you stand before Him clothed with righteousness or naked before Him,
exposed. A lie is going to cause you to be exposed. Since there isn’t
anything hidden that won’t be revealed, it is going to come to light.

We used to tell our children when they were little, “There isn’t anything you
are doing that isn’t going to come back to our attention because God is going
to show us,” and He would. Those two were always in amazement. They
would say, “How would you know about that?” They weren’t doing a lot of
weird, crazy stuff, but they were always in amazement because God would
show us things. The reason is that Diana’s prayers were “God, don’t let

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 7
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
them get away with anything. Let everything come to the light.” She loved
those children, and I loved those children. We knew that if something was
hidden, it was not God. It was darkness, and there is no truth in darkness.

Because the truth is in the light, people didn’t want Jesus or the prophets of
God around. Jesus exposed the motives of people’s hearts; that is, he
showed what was really going on. Wise people say, “Thank you, Lord, for
showing me so I can change.” Foolish people don’t want to hear it. They
want to continue in their lives, but they will be cursed the rest of their days,
not having the life that God has intended.

In Ephesians it says, “In your anger do not sin: Don’t let the sun go down
while you are still angry.” Cain was caught in a lie, and God exposed his
heart. He said, “Why are you so upset, Cain? If you do what is right, you
will be blessed.”

What people do affects other people, and what you do to yourself affects
you.

Genesis 20 shows the story of Abraham and Abimelech, a king of Gerar.

“Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived
between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar and there
Abraham said of his wife Sarah, ‘She is my sister.’” So he told everybody
there that his wife was his sister.

“Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.” Abimelech
figured Sarah was Abraham’s sister so he would call for her to come. (A lie
sets people up. Have you ever believed somebody else’s lie and got yourself
into trouble? Did it come back on you and your reputation? ) Sarah was
one beautiful lady because even in her eighties and nineties the kings still
wanted her. God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him,
“You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken. She is a
married woman.”

Is God concerned about the truth or what? What He basically told

Abimelech was, “If you touch this woman, I am going to touch you.” God
revealed the truth. (God loves those whom He disciplines. The Spirit of
truth isn’t going to lie, but God is looking out for our good. When you lie,
you are not looking out for somebody’s good. You are not loving them, you
are setting them up.)

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 8
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an
innocent nation? (What affects the king affects the nation. What affects one
person can affect the whole family. It can affect the whole church. It can
affect the whole city.) Did he not say to me ‘She is my sister?’ ” The king
appealed to God and said, “Yeah, I have her here with me, but I haven’t
touched her yet, and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’?” Abraham had
Sarah say that he was her brother, which means they were in cahoots.
Therefore, they were both responsible for what they said.

God spoke to Abimelech before he touched Sarah because He was looking

our for Abimelech. (The truth will prevent serious consequences for people.
On the other hand, a lie opens up the floodgates for bad things to happen.)

You need to have integrity in your own life when you make decisions. If
somebody comes to you and tells you to do something wrong before God,
yourself, and others, you have to have the spiritual boldness to stand up and
say, for example, “No, I can’t do this. This is wrong. I will not lie, I will
not cheat, I will not gossip about that person.”

Gossip is rooted in falsehood and lies. It is half-truths. There is always a

little bit of truth in it, but it is a lie. If you have ever listened to a gossip, you
are worse for listening than the person who is gossiping. You defile yourself
when you listen to that garbage. Have you ever noticed how big your ears
get when you hear gossip? When people say, “Did you hear what happened
to so and so,” this should be your response: “No, and I don’t care to.”

The heart of a liar is to ensnare somebody. The heart of a gossip is to

ensnare somebody in evil. The heart of a true witness is to glorify God and
to bless others.

Many things in life are on a need-to-know basis. If you don’t need to know,
that should be the end of it. My brother is a U.S. Marshal, and people are
always asking him about what he does. He asks, “Do you need to know?”
If they say, “Yes,” he answers with, “I could tell you, but then I would have
to kill you.”

Abimelech needed to know, didn’t he? He needed the information that God
gave him. (There are situations in life where you need the truth. If you
don’t have the proper information, you can’t make the proper decisions, and

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 9
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
if there are people around that don’t have integrity, they’re going to send
you down the rapids without a boat and paddle. That is why the king in
Proverbs says, “Remove from me all liars and deceitful people” Proverbs
25:5.)

Abimelech appealed to God, saying, “The guy told me ‘This is my sister,’

and the wife said, ‘He is my brother,’ so I have done this with a clear
conscious and clean hands.” In other words, I didn’t come into this in a
defiled way. (God will stand up for people that are innocent, but God hates
the false witness and the lying tongue, and He will deal with that person
accordingly.)

Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear
conscious.” Nevertheless, God was concerned about Abimelech’s future.
He wanted good things to happen to him, and He knew if Abimelech had
gone ahead and touched Sarah, which he could very well have done, he was
going to be in serious trouble. (People make choices about what they do
with the information that is presented to them.)

“…And so I’ve kept you from sinning against me,” the Lord said.

When you are innocent and in that right spot with God, even though hell and
high water comes against you, God will stand up for you. He will defend
and look out for you. His truth will come to pass, and over time it will be
made very clear what-is-what and who-is-who.

The Lord went on to say, “…That is why I did not let you touch her. Now
return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you
will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all
yours will die.”

“…Early the next morning” is very significant because it shows the king was
getting right on it. I also believe that if people have lied they need to get
right on with telling the truth and getting things straightened out the way it
needs to be. Lying isn’t going to help you. Most lying is done to cover
yourself and then to cover people close to you, but it is not going to benefit
anybody. Speak the truth in love.

“…Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and he
told them all that had happened.”

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 10
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
Notice, he told all his officials what was going on because he wanted them
to know he was not going to have anything to do with Sarah, in case one of
them might decide to take her. He didn’t want them to have the problem so
he was preventing any further nonsense. And “…they were very much
afraid.”

“…Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said, ‘What have you done to
us’?” (People think, “Well it was just a little lie.” No, a lie has potential to
cause great harm.)

“…How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me
and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.” (A
lie dishonors God, the person who is lying, and the people that are being lied
to. It shows disrespect.)

“…And Abimelech asked Abraham, ‘What was your reason for doing
this’?” (In other words, you lied, be responsible now for your lie and your
life. Be responsible for your words and your actions.)

“… Abraham replied, ‘I said to myself there is surely no fear of God in this

place and they will kill me because of my wife’.”

This is classic: He is afraid for his life. When people lie, they are afraid for
their lives or something that pertains to them. Other people lie because they
hate somebody. It says in the Proverbs when they speak falsely, they have
abominations in their hearts and they hate the person they are talking about.
Remember the emperor story, how all those people flattered him, not telling
the truth because they didn’t love him? Maybe they were afraid of him, or
whatever he thought of them, or they wanted something from him.
(When people want something from you, they will kiss whatever. That is
how people think, even though it is wrong. If you cross them, they will
disappear because they only wanted something. If you don’t give them what
they want, then they will bad mouth you all over town. That is how it
works. - I have been around the block. I have some of these gray hairs from
experience.)

Proverbs says, “Beware of the flattering tongue.” The person with the
flattering tongue doesn’t have your interest at heart. You need to learn
God’s wisdom because flattery is just hot air. You may ask, “What is the

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 11
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
difference between flattery and what you told that woman to do with her
husband?” The difference is God said to do it, and the woman wasn’t lying
because she said, “In my heart I see you as the godliest man I know. I want
you to be my lord underneath the Lord. I am submitted to you as to the
Lord.” She was calling things that be not as though they are, and they
happened because it was God’s purpose.

You will never see somebody change if you keep telling him he is no good,
a failure, rotten through and through, or he will never change.

Thank God somebody encouraged you about God, giving you a chance and
making things happen. In the meantime people have to come to an
understanding that not everyone is “there” yet. If a person is still acting like
a jerk, or still a liar and doing bad things, God will forgive him and we will
forgive him. Just have the honesty, love, and integrity to tell the truth. I’m
not going to judge you, condemn you, belittle you, demean you, or set you
aside. I just want to know the truth. That is all part of caring about and
loving somebody.

Abraham’s actions just didn’t cut it. For one, Abraham was dishonoring
Abimelech, who had treated him very well. Abraham had an attitude toward
the people, saying, “Because there is surely no fear of God in this place.” (I
have seen many unbelievers act, talk, and walk like they have the fear of
God in their hearts better than many Christians. I’m not impressed when
somebody says, “I am a Christian businessman.” Let me tell you, I’m not
impressed by anybody saying he is Christian. Quite frankly, I would rather
deal with a lot of unbelievers who do the job, keep their word, and do what
they say they’re going to do. They are on time when they say they are going
to be there, and they don’t make excuses. Let’s get the truth, let’s do the
truth and live the truth.)

Because a liar has falsehoods in his life, the foundation of his life will be
ruined, being nothing but a sham. He will never see the blessing and
goodness of God come to pass because there is no foundation of truth. If
there is no foundation, his life won’t stand; it will crumble. People who act
in truth want integrity and need integrity in order to have proper information.
They won’t have anything to do with liars anymore. Liars hang out with
other liars and all the other fools, and sorry will be the end of the whole lot.
It is very sad.

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 12
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
Abraham said, “…Besides, she really is my sister.” (What a clown.) “The
daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife.”
(Desperate people say and do desperate things). “And when God had me
wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show
your love to me’.”

Oh my, Abraham is telling his wife this is how you can show your love to
me, that you are my endeared wife, and that you care about me so much you
can say this lie for me. Let me tell you, you don’t want to have anything to
do with people who ask you to do that; you want to run away from them.
They intend to get you to take the rap for whatever they are doing.

“For every scorner there are a dozen fools.” I read this in Proverbs, which
teaches you how to live and see good days. It talks about how the scorner
gets the fools to do his bidding. Guess who is going to take the rap when the
lie is exposed? – The fools. It won’t be the scorner because he will leave,
and all the people who did his bidding are going to have to suffer the
consequences for what he had them do. Things like that are passed down
from generation to generation. Have you had a life like your parent’s?

Diana’s parents are the most loving, kind, gracious people who mean well
when they do good things. Her momma was making Easter baskets, and
Diana said, “Don’t give out those Easter baskets anymore.” (You know you
can do stuff without saying it came from the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus).
Her mom said, “Well, I’ve done this to you for all these years,” and Diana
answered, “Yeah, mom, and I’ve been traumatized. I’ve had to go to
counseling since I was 12 when I found out that Santa Claus wasn’t real.” I
just stood back and laughed, I thought it was so funny. Well, fruit doesn’t
fall far from the tree.

A neighbor came stomping down the block one day, walked up to my door,
and pounded on it. (Sometimes I just know when something is happening,
so when I went to the door to open it, I left the screen door shut. I sensed I
needed a little barrier.) The fellow exclaimed, “Why did your children try to
undermine my child’s faith in Santa Claus?”

My children speak the truth in love, so they told this little boy that there was
no such thing as Santa Claus, and that Santa Claus is not of God. They got a
little carried away.

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 13
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
The guy went on to say, “I’ve worked so hard instilling into my child this
sense of Santa Claus and goodwill.” (He would dress up in the suit and do
the whole thing.)

I stopped for a moment because I didn’t know this guy very well, but I knew
his wife had left him, he was a single parent and he was trying to do this for
his boy. I spoke, “You love your son, don’t you?”

He declared, “Yes, I love my son with all my heart. He is all I have left. My
wife left me and I have all these things going on.”

I asked, “You tried to do this Santa Claus thing because you loved your boy,
didn’t you?”

He answered, “Yes, I did.”

Then I asked, “Is Santa Claus real?”

“No,” he replied.

I stated, “If you love your children, you love your son, you want to tell him
the truth because eventually he is going to grow up and he is going to be
devastated by this lie that you have been telling him.” (By this time all the
anger was out of him, and he was thinking about what I was saying.)

I offered, “You know, you love your son; here, take this as a gift,” and I
gave him a little bible story book. “Read to your son. It tells about Jesus
and what Christmas is all about because you love your son, and you want
God’s best for his life, and you want his best.”

He thanked me and then apologized for what he had said. He didn’t mean
any harm to his child, but he had been caught up in those things.

If your parent lies to you about this, then they may be lying to you about a
whole lot more. After Abraham lied, his son Isaac did the same in a similar
situation. He learned it from his dad when he saw his dad do it. Isn’t God
wonderful that he exposed this working? However, it didn’t stop Isaac, and
Isaac’s son Jacob was a downright liar and scoundrel. It went from
generation to generation, but God turned it around, didn’t he? Hallelujah!

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 14
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
Abraham made excuses saying, “Yes, she is the daughter of my father,
though not the daughter of my mother. When God had me wander I said to
her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me everywhere we go. Say of
me he is my brother’.”

Husbands and wives should have a certain degree of intimacy. You should
be able to recognize them as husband and wife when they are together. It is
not why-don’t-you-get-a-room kind of a thing, but there should be a little
intimacy, a little affection, a little holding of the hands, a little something
going on that indicates there is something happening with them. You did
those things while you were courting, did you lose it when you got married?
Let’s get some passion for the compassion.

“…Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves
and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And
Abimelech said, ‘My land is before you; live wherever you like.’ To Sarah
he said, ‘I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to
cover the offence against you before all who are with you; you are
completely vindicated.’ ”

In other words, love covers when the truth is out. Then a person has the
choice to do things God’s way and to forgive. But you can’t forgive on a lie.

“…Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and
his slave girls so they could have children again, for the Lord had closed up
every womb in Abimelech’s household because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.”

People wonder why certain things happen in life. Well, let me tell you, there
is a lie out there somewhere in the woodpile. There is something not right
with God, and that lie has brought cursing upon the people.

I love you dearly (that is no lie), but the Lord loves you the most (and that’s
no lie). Our prayer for you is that God’s best come into your life. I know
this, the truth is what God blesses. He will take it and run with it. “Call
things that be not as though they are” and they will happen Romans 4:17.

People have to deal with the garbage, but they don’t often see what is
hindering the blessing in themselves. When somebody is in a lie, he
believes his own lie. A person thinks of it as the truth and is convinced of it.

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 15
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
Fire came down from heaven after Elijah’s prayer, there was victory for
God, and all the false prophets were killed off. However, Jezebel then said,
“Today before the sun sets I am going to kill Elijah,” and he ran for the hills.
Let me tell you, a wicked woman puts that kind of fear in somebody. What
she said was not a lie; she was going to do it. There are some people that
mean business for evil business. They mean exactly what they say, and they
are not playing around.

So Elijah ran. He went out from there, and the Lord sent an angel to comfort
him on the trip and to help him. God knows when we are self-deceived. He
knows what is going on. He knows when we are afraid. He knows what we
are going through. He loves us, He is with us, and through His loving
kindness He helps us come to our senses. Then we realize we need to face it
and deal with it. Some people don’t like truth because it involves
confrontation. They just don’t want to deal with things.

Elijah ran off and this is his story: God did this great victory, Jezebel is after
me, there is no one else in Israel that is serving God except me, I’m all by
myself. When you read the account, you can see he rehearsed the same
story two or three times. It was like he was reading a script, playing the
same lie over and over.

People have different lies that they rehearse in their lives, things like, “I’m in
this, I can’t get out of it, there is no hope, there is no help, and I’m all by
myself.”

When the Lord appeared to Elijah in the still small voice on the mountain,
He called him out of the cave. God didn’t go into the cave because God
wanted him to come out into the light. (Get out of the darkness and quit
hiding.) People who lie are hiding. They are self-deceived, they don’t want
to deal with things, and they don’t want the truth revealed.

God didn’t bring up anything that Elijah did wrong. He just basically said,
“Come on, Elijah, get on with your life. I want you to go anoint this king
over here and do this over here, etc., and by the way, Elijah, there are
thousands of others that have not bowed the knee to false gods.” In other
words, “Throw out the stinking lie that has gotten into your head. It isn’t
true. You are not dead, you are alive. Get on about My business now.
There are many other people who still love God out there, so just get on with
your life.”

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 16
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.
Many times we tell people, “Get a life.” Other ones we tell, “Get on with
your life.” God is with us, He is for us, He is not against us, and He is going
to help us. You can see your whole family, your children, grandchildren,
and great grandchildren all come into God. Until Jesus comes back they are
all going to be blessed and live happily ever after. There is not going to be a
lame or a sick one amongst them in Jesus’ Name. They will all have the
provisions they need.

That is what I believe for the people around here. (That is no lie because it
is what God says.) What God says isn’t a lie; it just may not appear to be
true in this earth yet. In other words, we don’t see it yet, but it’s coming. If
we believe it, we will see it.

Have you ever noticed Jesus often said, “I tell you the truth?”

If your prayers go plop and hit the ground, it is because something isn’t
right. You need to ask God’s forgiveness and get it right.

I learned this a long time ago: I can’t even minister if I am out of sorts with
my wife. I have to get things straightened out before I ever step up to the
pulpit. Otherwise I have nothing to say.

Search your heart and look at your life. If you have any hidden lies in there,
ask God’s forgiveness and get rid of them. They take on many forms. It is
as simple as saying, “Lord, forgive me and help me.”

Oh my, oh my, I will not lie. Thank you Jesus.

“Truth” by Dr. Randy C. Brodhagen. Copyright 2012-Glory to God Ministries International; 67-399 E. Palm Canyon Drive, 17
Cathedral City, CA; Mailing Address P.O. Box 4167, Palm Springs, CA 92263, (760) 321-5222. All Rights Reserved.