Are you familiar with the term ‘Foundational Lies?’  Neither was I, at least not until I began hearing those words in my spirit.  A few years ago, suddenly and quite frequently, the Holy Spirit began using that term while teaching me some incredibly valuable, life-changing lessons.  At that time, I was relatively new to the ‘charismatic’ church environment, and this stuff was rocking my little world.  During that time in my life, I was receiving regular prayer for inner healing, and God was transforming me right before my very eyes!  I was pressing in to know as much about the deep things of God as I could digest.  ‘Hearing’ from God was a new adventure for me, and my heart was wide open.

 

During this season of discovery, the Holy Spirit began teaching me lessons about what He called Foundational Lies - words that negatively affect how we shape our world view, keeping us bound up in wrong thinking.  Foundational Lies are false statements we have believed over the years to be truths and thus, we have stood on them.  Making matters worse, we have continuously built other mindsets on top of that wrong thinking.  (Imagine a construction project being built higher and higher on a crooked foundation.)  For example, consider that age-old admonition:  “God helps those who help themselves.”  These words are totally contrary to Scripture.  Although it is true that we are expected to put some skin in the game, when this lie becomes part of our foundation, we set our own plans in motion instead of waiting on the Lord for His direction.   Proverbs 3:5 tells us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”

 

As God began to reveal the power of Foundational Lies, He gave me a visual image of how stubbornly our flesh renounces any thought or idea that contradicts a long-held belief.  In this vision, I was standing barefoot on a flat hot rock, the soles of my feet melted solidly in place.  As a strong wind blew my body around, my feet did not move.  This picture was meant to demonstrate how, even when strong truth was revealed to me, I remained stuck solidly to the old rock that was my foundation.  Although I was confronted with the truth of a matter, I was not able to get past my lie-based core beliefs. 

 

Often these lies form an illusion of protection to allow my sinful flesh to continue feeding its lusts.  For example, I had held onto the belief that there are no ‘bad’ foods.  This lie allowed me to continue to eat anything I desired, even though I was struggling with excess weight and lack of energy.  This Foundational Lie kept me from facing the truth that certain foods are harmful to my body, and eating those things regularly left me feeling sluggish and weary.  The Lord says my body is His temple.

 

For much of my life I struggled with a spirit of rejection, and a fear that I was not loved, or even loveable.  Those Foundational Lies brought much pain and loneliness, and led me to make many poor decisions over my lifetime.  Although intellectually I knew I was loved, and I was perfect just as God made me, the deep parts of my soul still believed those lies.  I knew something was drastically wrong, so I continued to pray for inner healing for my soul.  I longed for the Lord to put His finger on the memories that contained the lies, and speak truth to me.  During one particular prayer time, the Lord led me to a number of childhood memories.  In each memory I was able to see an empty and lonely child who was provided with adequate physical necessities, but was not really loved, or nurtured, very much at all.  That did not seem particularly unusual because I did not know children were supposed to be loved.  I thought parents were stuck with kids and had to get them raised as best they could:  “you made your bed, now lie in it!”  That is a Foundational Lie!  Believing that lie kept me from acknowledging how truly alone and lonely I was; I had no idea that I had a right to expect anything else.  Therefore, I continued to make excuses for my parents’ lack of affection toward me, especially with regard to my mother.  I had already acknowledged that my dad checked out of parenting almost from the beginning.  Another Foundational Lie:  “a father is not held accountable for the raising of children.” 

 

I came to the truth that my mother generally provided me with the bare minimum of affection, and I was left empty and lonely.  I have come to understand that my mother was too caught up in her own pain to adequately care for me as a child, or nurture me in the ways I desired.  Her own insecurity, and her lack of being adequately loved, obstructed her ability to meet my needs.  However, I was unable to really grab hold of that truth because I was holding onto another Foundational Lie:  “she did the best she could with what she had.” 

 

In order to be able to renounce this lie and see it for the excuse it was, I had to admit I used that same lie to defend my own failures.  I would need to take a look at my own past behavior, and admit that I too did not do the best I could with what I had.  I was then able to renounce the lie as it related to my mother, and also acknowledge that these words had falsely shaped my own world view.

 

The next Foundational Lie the enemy told me was this:  “although I had a hard childhood, it could have been much worse.”  This lie brought condemnation, forcing me to minimize or hide my emptiness.  The Lord exposed that lie by asking me what could be worse than not being loved and nurtured!  I needed to renounce this lie (the one that said my problems were not really very big and therefore not very important to God, so just shut up), and ask the Lord to assure me that every area of my life is important to Him, despite the fact that many other people had much tougher issues to work through than I had experienced.

 

These revelations were freeing, and renouncing the lies brought much healing!  I had a better understanding of why my soul had been so bound up.  In the next few paragraphs I will build a ‘foundation’ from what I learned about Foundational Lies.

 

Foundational Lies are hidden deep in our soul and are protected either by demons who do not want us to discover the truth or by our sinful flesh that prefers to manage our sin rather than renounce it.  So long as we believe the lies to be truths, our minds are closed to anything that would contradict our thinking.  Until the lies are identified and renounced, we remain in bondage.

 

Envision a box all wrapped up in twine, similar to what we used in the past for wrapping and mailing small packages.  Even if the post office destroys the box and maybe even damages what is inside, so long as the twine is still in place, the package is considered to be intact.  Foundational Lies are like that twine around a belief.  I can dig into the corner of the box and pull something out, but I cannot fully expose what it contains.  My life may be in shambles, but so long as the twine holds, I can pretend the package is fine.  I cannot remove the lid from the package and deal with the contents until each piece of twine is broken and removed.

 

As I examined these Foundational Lies, I sensed they had three layers, but I realized we often only deal with two.  The top layer is the actual lie, and the next layer down is the truth of the matter.  We often renounce the lie, grasp the truth, and then move on.  However, the Holy Spirit showed me that we must dig deeper to see what is really compromising the foundation.  We must find the root.  At the root of every lie, you will find satan making another attempt to discredit God, which is always his main objective.  He has been doing this since the first lie he told Eve in the Garden.

 

I have experienced much freedom since I let go of the lie that there are no bad foods.  My sinful flesh held onto that lie in order to justify my destructive eating habits.  I knew that once I exposed the lie, I would need to choose to continue my bad choices and take personal responsibility for the resulting consequences, or I would have to change my eating habits.  Although satan may not have initiated the lie, he certainly encouraged me to believe it in order to keep me in bondage (excess weight, low self-worth, low energy, shame, poor health).  The underlying lie was that eating what my flesh desired would meet my needs and bring me satisfaction.  Satan does not want me to acknowledge or declare that only the Lord can satisfy me (John 6:35 “I am the Bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger”). 

 

One day, my husband confronted me about a few unnecessary words I would use every once in a while.  I repented and commanded that demon to leave, but he did not.  In my spirit, he showed me he did not have to go because my own declaration had given him license to remain.  I asked the Lord to expose this declaration, and He showed me that I had spoken, and continued to believe, a Foundational Lie:  “there are just times when no other word will do.”  I renounced that lie, cast that demon out, and searched for the truth.  I discovered that satan was once again trying to discredit God.  He wanted me to believe God had not provided enough words to adequately express myself, and satan had to create a few extra words to make up the deficit!  What an insult to the Creator of all things good!

 

The earlier lie I discussed said my mother did the best she could with what she had.  The Holy Spirit took me to the bottom of that lie and showed me that a person who “did the best she could with what she had” would use that excuse to justify her behavior, and would not see her need for a Savior.  Satan was telling me that if I did the best I could with what I had, that was good enough, and I did not need forgiveness, or a Savior.  The Lord had previously prepared me for this message by prompting Larry, someone I barely knew, to tell me this true story:

 

Larry’s nephew Evan and his friends, who had just graduated from high school, met in the country for a keg party.  Later that night when one very drunk girl headed for her car, Evan attempted to stop her from driving, offering to take her home.  She refused his offer, insisting she was sober enough to drive.  She became belligerent and Evan backed away and let her go.  She never made it home.  At her funeral, Evan was beside himself with grief.   His friends surrounded him, telling him not to blame himself for her death.  Later, Larry cornered Evan and told him he truly was in part to blame.  As the horrified crowd began to argue, Larry told Evan that he really would have been able to stop the girl.  He could have restrained her; he could have called for help.  But, his fear of her anger intimidated him, keeping him from being persistent.  Larry told the crowd that no amount of comforting would ever bring Evan any peace because deep down in his heart, he knew the truth and, if he did not face it head-on, in time he would self-destruct.  Evan’s only hope for restoration was in acknowledging his part and taking that to the Cross.  Until he embraced the truth, he could not receive the forgiveness that would set him free.

 

This message is about breaking off chains, and lies, and distorted thinking, in order to continue to grow in the love of Christ.  My Foundational Lies needed to be exposed and replaced with God’s Truth before I could enjoy a deeper intimacy with Jesus.  Inner healing led to greater freedom to more fully worship and glorify God!  We were created to love Him and serve Him, and to experience all He has prepared for us.  I pray that my Lord and Savior is glorified in this piece, and that its teaching allows you to draw nearer to the One Who extends to you and me His perfect love and truth. 

 

If you have questions and comments, email me at: 

karen@karensparables.com.

 

Good day to you, and may God’s grace and favor be upon you, in good times and in challenging times.  I am still on vacation in Florida, with plans to head home sometime next week.  It seems as though I have been gone forever, and once I return home, I truly look forward to seeing what my life will look like now that I have ‘retired.’  My first goal is to return to updating this website on a more regular basis, like I did when I first began this adventure.  My days have been much too cluttered this past year, and yes, I have repented for that and I continue to ask God to show me His plan for my life.  When my time gets too filled up to attend to the most important things, I know that I have piled on too many of my own priorities and am no longer able to attend to His.  Having recognized this problem, I am now asking my Lord to shine a light into my soul to reveal the places where I need healing and realignment.   

I would like to share with you the experience we had this week.  This event allowed us one more opportunity to experience the goodness of God and His favor in our lives.  As you will see, we were the benefactors of numerous miracles along the way.

Tuesday morning my husband had a “lapse in judgment,” you could say.  It is most unusual for him to be careless behind the wheel of an automobile, so I was more than a little bit shocked when he hit another car.  He pulled out of a driveway, drove across two lanes of stopped traffic (where there was a small opening), turned in to the third lane going the other way, and hit an oncoming car.  Perhaps the very first miracle was that we collided with a small Ford, rather than a Bentley or a Jaguar!  Next miracle:  nobody was hurt and the damage was not extensive.  When both cars pulled over to assess the damage and exchange information, my husband realized that he had made an earlier bad decision:  he had left that big automobile reference book home because of limited space in the car.  Guess what? our registration and proof of insurance were also in that book!  Second miracle:  the other guy did not want to call for assistance.  Had he wanted to call the police, we would have been in deep trouble without registration or proof of insurance, perhaps even a trip to the police station since he had no proof of ownership of the car.  The men exchanged insurance information and parted ways.  Before leaving, I went to the man and asked him to forgive us for such a violation.  We called our insurance agent and began the claims process.  Later in the day, the man called to tell us he had gone to the car wash, and much of the damage had actually washed away.  Huh?  Next miracle:  he suggested we not actually file a claim, but instead, we could pay cash out of pocket for his damage.  (This offer was a huge blessing because accidents that are your fault often end up in an increase in insurance rates.)  Next miracle:  the man traveling with us had $600 in cash, so we wrote him a check and then had cash to pay for repairs to the other car.  Later in the day that same traveling companion bought something at Wal-Mart; the next morning we found out what it was.  Next miracle:  in the night he went out with his purchase - a jar of rubbing compound - and rubbed out most of the damage to our car.  The man we hit planned to take his car to the dealership to get an estimate of his damage.  We waited all day for his call, which did not come, so the next morning we headed down the road, fully expecting to have to turn around and go back to pay the man for his damages.

The next day our insurance agent called to inform us that she had just spoken with the guy we had hit.  Next miracle:  the damage to his car was minimal, and he had decided not to file a claim or even ask for any cash from us.  I wondered if he was actually an angel.  He had said to tell us it was our lucky day.  (Of course, we know there is no such thing as ‘luck,’ but we certainly received the blessing!)  Next miracle:  a Florida friend has a close friend who does auto body work so he sent us to him, and for $30 we got our car touched up, almost as good as new.  Praise God; all was almost completely restored and we were back on our way.  However we will be forever changed from the receipt of the blessing of God’s grace, mercy, and favor.

In asking the Lord to show me the lesson in this adventure, He revealed the following.  The first, and smaller, word was a reminder to my husband to be a bit more cautious with his driving.  Over the years, God has taught us that when we begin to stray off the best course for our lives, He will speak to our hearts about that issue.  If we hear and correct our course, all is well.  If we do not hear, He will speak louder.  If we still do not hear and respond, He will then make a louder statement, which usually results in a not-so-much-fun event.  Because God’s love for us is so great, he will continue to make the consequences more severe until we finally stop in our tracks and make the necessary change in course.   The sooner we make the course correction, the lighter the consequences.  Believe me, we ‘heard’ His voice, studied this lesson, took it seriously, and have since been more cautious when making decisions behind the wheel.

The second lesson is by far the more important one.  Because of our love for the Lord, and because it is our desire to be Christlike in all our ways, we really do, for the most part, try to walk in a way that is pleasing to Him.  And because our eyes are usually fixed on that goal, for the most part, our life experiences are pretty sweet.  Although we all have trials, I do believe we can minimize the troubles in our lives by right choices in our daily living.  I would assume we are all in agreement so far.

However, that was NOT the lesson God was teaching us here.  In this case, we were entirely in the wrong; we had made a foolish decision and deserved whatever negative consequences we ordinarily would have received – except for God’s applying His grace, mercy, and favor. 

The message He gave me was this:  “You do not receive favor and mercy because you are good, but because I am good.”  Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

Words do have power.  After all, God actually spoke creation into existence.  THE Word (Scripture) says that life and death are in the power of the tongue, reminding us that even our own words carry life and death – and the choice is always ours to make.  However, that particular conversation is for another time.

 

What I am led to speak about now are the words I am inclined to share with others:  personal words of “wisdom” I offer to someone seeking my input.  At the time they are spoken, I think the words are good and life-producing.  However, the Lord recently reminded me how the well-meaning words of others had caused me a significant amount of pain.  Some of the words spoken resulted in the loss of relationships.  I know that the Father’s love does not “remember” a wrong that has been forgiven, and indeed I had forgiven those who had hurt me.  Therefore, I understood immediately that His reminder was an invitation to me, to re-examine the well-meaning (and often well-thought-out) words I offer to others.  (NOTE:  this message is not speaking about the Gift of the Spirit called ‘a Word of Knowledge’, which comes exclusively from the Holy Spirit and bypasses my intellect completely.)

 

At the prompting of the Lord, I immediately began to search my heart, and ask myself some hard questions.  When I have offered someone a word, whether or not it was solicited, where did I get that word?  Did I have knowledge about the subject?  And if so, from where did I get that knowledge?  Books?  Other people?  My own personal experience?  Did I just grasp for something to say?  Or, was it truly a word from the Lord in due season, perfect for edification and instruction?  Did I take the time to check that out?  Did I pray until my spirit was at peace with the matter?  Or did I just allow my flesh to jump in and puff itself up?  Pride always wants to know the answers, and it especially wants to make sure others are aware that he knows the answers.  Have I put down my pride, or have I simply masked it in a religious pose?  How many souls have been wounded in the process?  I do have a certain amount of wisdom; however, every ounce of that wisdom was Divinely imparted into me through the Holy Spirit.  I must remember that wisdom is much different from thoughts, or ideas, or assumptions, or opinions.

 

When I share my opinion without the leading of the Holy Spirit, I can stir up a lot of trouble for myself and others.  First of all, if I am truly a bondservant of the Lord like I claim to be, then I will resist offering an opinion.  Servants do not have the luxury of expressing opinions.  Second, I must remember that my opinion will always be clouded by my own personal bias and by my mood at the moment.  Passing that on, at best, bears little fruit; and at worst, can open the door to destruction in the life of another.  The next thing I know, my attempt to encourage that person has backfired, and he walks away confused and discouraged.  I have now opened a door for the enemy to torment the person who received my words, and to dump guilt and condemnation on me as well.

 

I absolutely must avoid the trap of merely speaking out of my own experience, as if my conclusion or assessment holds the key to unlock someone else’s mess.  My own method of experiencing victory could carry much weight in the eyes of another, but rarely will it hold the solution to another one’s woes.  Like snowflakes, no two problems are exactly alike.  It is dangerous to invite another to apply my solution to his problem – I have learned that lesson the hard way.  Someone else’s decision to take this very action caused me several seasons of tremendous pain, and it altered the course of my life.  Yes, he was well-meaning, and yes, the second party sought that opinion and chose his actions based on the words he received.  However, I was the innocent recipient of the consequences.  Yes, God allowed it.  He used it to work a new thing in me.  And in the aftermath, He brought healing and blessings - and complete forgiveness.  That said, I must admit that I sometimes wonder how our lives would have been different had someone else not infused his solution into our issue. 

 

Walking through this experience has prompted me to pray often for the grace to guard my tongue when I am tempted to offer up my own words and opinions.  Because I have experienced the pain of being on the other end, I can say without reservation that only God knows the best solution for each problem.  Only the Word of the Lord in due season can heal, and draw one into the symphony of a life created to blossom in the garden of God.  I must always seek His words when I have the honor of speaking into the life of another one of His precious children.  So long as I am walking in His light, He will expect no less of me.

 

How do I avoid this pitfall?  It gets a little easier when I remember that someday I will be called to account for every word and deed attributed to me.  I must continuously ask the Lord to bathe me in humility, and to teach me how to guard my heart and my tongue.  I must never forget that I am a child of the Most High God.  When I know who I am, and when His opinion of me is more important that others’ opinions of me, I will discover that I have less to say and less to prove.  Only when Jesus becomes first in my eyes can I risk being last.

 

 

Proverbs 15:23

A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!

 

Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

 

Proverbs 25:2b

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

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Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.

 

John 16:13

However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak and He will tell you things to come.

 

Proverbs 18:21a

Death and life are in the power of the tongue…