I can remember hearing people say with absolute certainty: “Pictures don’t lie!” In our world today, nothing could be further from the truth. On my phone, I have the tools that allow me to manipulate any picture I take. I can remove unwanted people or things with the click of a button. I can add alternate backgrounds to make it appear as though I was somewhere other than my actual location. AI allows you to put a smile on the faces of people who are not smiling.

The truth of the matter is that the saying “pictures don’t lie” has never been true. I’ve seen people hold a fish that they caught way out in front of their body, closer to the camera, to make it appear larger than it is. Three dimensional perspective is often lost in a two dimensional medium. And long before programs like Photoshop, you could crop people out of photos by folding them over or just cutting off the edge containing the unwanted persons.

So what can you trust? Many have reached the conclusion that you cannot trust anyone or anything other than yourself. You’ve probably heard people say, “I won’t believe it unless I see it with my own eyes.” That was the attitude Thomas had about the resurrection of Jesus.

John 20:25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

The other disciples tried to tell Him that Jesus was alive, but Thomas would not believe unless he saw it for himself.

We take that attitude because we have been deceived too many times by the lies of this world. We feel as though we cannot believe or trust anything or anyone. That is why so many refuse to believe the Bible. They are convinced it is just another attempt to deceive them.

I take a different approach. When I read God’s Word, I find a bunch of flawed and broken sinners just like me. The writers don’t edit out the flaws and sins and try to portray people as perfect. There is no airbrush that attempts to conceal the sins of God’s people. Instead, I read the accounts of lives transformed by a God who continues to reach out in love to people who constantly reject and disobey him. I read of people willing to put their lives on the line to share the message of God’s love in Christ with others. And I find a God, the true God, who does not change. He and His message remain steadfast and constant no matter what is going on in the world.

Scripture is not a set of rules that tell you what you must do to earn a reward. It is a love story that tells you what God has done to redeem fallen people from the death their sins deserve. It speaks of a rescue that cost God dearly but is available freely to anyone who believes His promises.

There have been and will continue to be those who twist the message of Scripture for their own personal gain. They will have to answer to God for that. Don’t let them keep you from reading God’s Word for yourself. It is readily available to you. Take the time to let God share His message of love and forgiveness and life with you. It Is all about what He has done for you and the relationship He wants to have with you now and forever. It will help you see things in their proper perspective.

The message doesn’t change because God doesn’t change. He affirms that repeatedly in His Word.

Malachi 3:6 “I the Lord do not change.

Hebrews 13:8  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

And the love God has for you is summarized simply and profoundly in these words:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The picture we have of God in His Word, as He reveals Himself to us, does not lie.