Call On Him in Truth!

"The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth" (Psalm 145:18 NIV).
Sometimes, those of us who teach/preach The Word, mislead people by what we see The Word say, not having a full revelation or insight as to what it says. I'm not sure if the misleading is intentional or unintentional, but when we discover we have been teaching in error, we must acknowledge it and back-track to get it right.

Specifically, I've heard many people say, "The Lord is near all who call on Him," or "Just call on The Lord," and He will be right there! Looking at this passage of scripture, I glean better understanding of what the psalmist is saying.

God is near all who call upon Him, in truth! Whose truth? His Truth, according to His Word! Why is it that we think we can hoodwink God? The One who looks upon the "heart" of a man and knows all things is not fooled by us.  When we attempt to act contrite, He knows.  When we attempt to act like we love others, He knows. When we act like we are anointed and appointed for the season to provide reason to all mankind, He knows. The problem is, do we know?

Have we become so delusional in thinking we know all there is to know that we forget that God knows? We cannot fool God, but we can certainly deceive ourselves into believing something that is not true.  If we cannot be truthful with ourselves, what makes us think that God is "near us" or that we can "call upon Him" and expect Him to act on our behalf?

God is not a magician! He is not a man that He should lie! His eyes are in every place, seeing the good and the evil! When He responds to our faith in Him, it is because of His love for us and He knows our heart!

The bottom line for me is this:  We have to do more than "call on Him" in order for Him to respond to our needs, desires, requests.  We have to call on Him with a pure heart, knowing we have done everything we can to be obedient to Him and in living His Word.  This is calling on Him in truth! When we know and realize that He knows--everything about us, then we can expect Him to be near and to honor His Word, not ours. So stop telling people that they only have to call upon The Lord; tell them the rest--get their hearts right with God, call upon Him and they will know, He's right there with them.

If people call upon God and are determined to live ungodly, He hears them, but won't respond and then they tell people; there is no God. When children don't get what they want from their parents because they have not earned the privilege of getting (whatever it is), do they say," I have no parents?" How foolish we are to manipulate people into believing something because we didn't get what we wanted.  Keep in mind, "the fool has said in his heart, there is no God!"

Live The Word, Teach The Word, and Honor God in all things and He will be right there when you call on Him--in truth!