Category: disguise

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Genesis 25-26 Trust…or…Fear

Are you fearful and if so of what?

Two times in these chapters we read that God blessed Isaac because of the obedience of his father Abraham. This is a principle that God has revealed: children are blessed because of the obedience and faithfulness of their parents. 

Yet, Isaac had a failure just as Abraham in that he did not trust God to protect his wife, but instead lied about his relationship with her. But, just as Numbers tells us , if we sin, God will reveal it loud and clear which is exactly what happened to Isaac. [Num 32:23] Both Abraham and Isaac had one glaring failure which the book of Proverbs tells us: The fear of man is a snare but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted. [Prov29:25]

So why did God bless Abraham and Isaac? God clearly points out that He hates lying in Proverbs 6 and in other places we see the fruit of lies like in the account of Gehazi where God pronounced leprosy on him. These are those issues that we find frustrating but when that happens and we don’t have clear cut answers, we need to remember Isaiah 55:8-9. His ways are higher and more superior to ours. 

God has His plans and even though we may not understand, we can trust that His way is the right and true way. Where is God calling you to trust Him today and tomorrow and the next day? 

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10.10.24.Word to the Wise

Listen, look then determine

Proverbs 23 What price? 

Probably one of our weakest areas in this life is this tool of discernment. You may be born with it, but truly it is a skill that you must be taught and honed. To discern is to stop and think what is true in contrast to what is false. The Proverbs chapters speak of this over and over, so it must be a skill that is needed to succeed and one that will protect us from falling for the ways of the world and our arch enemy Satan. 

Discernment is what you can use in nearly every engagement be it, purchasing a garment or even  as this Proverb says to paid dinners with high ranking people. Not always, but many times, the dinner is really a cover up for what they want you to do after the dinner. For example, you are invited to a swanky hotel and a posh dinner but behind that dinner, usually after listening to a speech, you are asked to donate an amount whether it be for a starving child or a man/woman who wants our vote. 

The Proverbs author tells us “do not crave that ruler’s delicacies,for that food is deceptive.” In other words, that meal you are enjoying comes with a price. Warning signal: “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you;” In fact the Proverbs author goes so far as to say: “will have wasted your pleasant words.” 

Word to the wise, stop and consider what the payment will be if you attend these functions. 

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Bewitched or Hoodwinked?

Gal 3 How’s your Christian walk today? Are you walking by faith or the Law with its rules and regulations? 

This chapter is Paul’s “ouch” chapter to this church that he founded. Just as there was a TV show with that title; bewitched has the meaning of being led astray and that is Paul’s question to these Galatians. Sometimes we need a wake up call to really see where we have strayed and so Paul is using that as he is calling them back to the faith. He asks them several questions to alert them to where they are failing. He pointedly asked them if they received the Spirit by faith or by works. He asks them if their suffering was in vain or did it have a purpose?

Paul wanted these believers to rethink and return to their simple faith for which Christ died. The question is did they listen to Paul’s warnings? Do you listen when the Holy Spirit questions your walk? 

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Satan at work

Acts 6: Have you ever been deceived? How clever is our arch enemy. He doesn’t seek to deceive the unrighteous for they are already his servants, but he seeks to deceive the righteous. Jesus rightly called Satan the deceiver and in this chapter we see him at work. He always works in secret as we saw in the lives of Ananias and Sapphira in Chapter 5 and we saw it in the trial of Jesus before the religious leaders. It is his secret tool and we must be aware of his work lest we are taken in to his kingdom’s work. Note vs 11 “they secretly instigated” some men.

Why does Satan use this tool? It is because of what John wrote in John 3 “people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.’ [Jo 3:19] And what is the fruit of these secret works? “They incited the people as they did before Pilate. But, worse, they incited the elders and the scribes of the law who should have had discernment and wisdom yet they languished in their darkness. Truly Jesus said to them: “you search the scripture thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life but these scriptures testify about Me.” [Jn 5:39]

Today be wise and discerning as you listen to words presented to you.

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Hypocrisy

Acts 5 One of the sins God hates most is hypocrisy, the act of being something you are not. We saw it in the hypocrisy of Achan, who hid the riches taken and hidden in the book of Joshua, or the hypocrisy of Nadab and Abihu as they sought God’s favor in burning false fire. All of this tells us that God not only hates this sin but will declare it to the world and His church immediately. In this chapter in Acts, two individuals decided to lie to the church but, more importantly, to God about the purchase price of their land. There is a lesson here for us from the Book of Numbers. Num 32:23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.

Today, if you make a vow to the Lord, be sure to keep it, as Ecclesiastes 5:4 says. God takes no delight in fools. It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

Where are you in this story today? Are you honest before God or a hypocrite? What is God saying to you today?

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Bandages only mask a divided heart

2 Kings 12-13, 2Chron 24 The question before us is, where is God in this story? Do you ask, like me, how/why one can turn away from God after years of a righteous lifestyle under pure teaching? Why does that happen?

Just as then, so today, men begin to trivialize God’s Word and listen instead to the voices of those whose lips speak disdainfully of God. The heart is revealed as deceitful and desperately wicked   [Jer 17:9]. The truth is one can wear the mask of righteousness, but as Jesus said, inwardly, one is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. [Matt 7:15]

So it was with Joash. He was righteous as long as his mentor, the high priest Jehoiada, was alive. But, just as it is said, out of sight, out of mind. After his death, Joash listened to the advice of his officials, not to the words of Jehoiada’s son Zechariah. Little by little, his faith was tested and found wanting. How about us? Is our faith strong enough to stand against those who falsely say they are of God but whose works prove otherwise?

Where is God in this chapter? He is where He has always been – in the heavens. He watches over men and tests their hearts to see if they will follow Him.

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Excuses we use…

Excuses we use

Genesis 32 Feigned Love.

There is a little bit of Jacob in all of us. For example, you are invited to someone’s home or some fellowship outside but feign illness or busyness not to attend. That is where we find Jacob—and ourselves.

Again we return to the truth of Prov 29:25 “the fear of man is a snare..” Like Jacob, we are not willing to seek forgiveness; instead, we cover our behavior with excuses. So, when Jacob hears about Esau’s 400 men, he clearly thinks this is the end of his life and his family’s. Yet, the memories of his deception are still there. In his heart, he knows he was wrong, but he is still unwilling to confess to Esau his wrongful behavior, and so he fudges in his explanations—just like us.

In contrast, Esau has reconciled his past and is ready to move forward. Instead of being honest, Jacob dreams up excuses as to why he can’t accompany Esau to his home. The contrast is clear: the unrighteous often behave better than the righteous. We say we are righteous, but our behavior speaks of hypocrisy. This is a wake-up call for all who call themselves believers. Are you willing to be righteous before others?

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Spider Webs and Dominos

Beware of the deceitful heart

Gen 25-27 Reading this is like seeing dominos lined up, just waiting for the first one to fall. When it falls, the rest fall behind it, and that is what happened in these people’s lives and happens to us if we are not discerning because the heart is deceitful, and only God knows it. [Jer 17:9]

The first domino of deceit to fall was the one Jacob set up for Esau from the cooking pot when he exacted the birthright from him for a pot of stew. Esau said: “What use is the birthright to me?” The second domino of deceit was when Isaac, who had a taste for fresh game, chose to bless Esau over Jacob and inserted his desires over God’s. The third domino to fall was when Jacob knew that deception was wrong but chose to ignore his heart and yielded to Rebekah because, in his heart, he wanted that blessing from Jacob. 

We should glean two principles: “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” [James 4:17] All three characters knew deceit was wrong but yielded. The second comes from Joseph: “how can I do such a great evil and sin against God.” [Gen 39:9]

Deceit is like this proverb: “What a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive.”

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Can you spot the counterfeit?

How good am I at detecting the counterfeit?

Rev 13-15 In the book of Daniel, the king demanded that all bow down and worship the image he had erected. It was neither authentic nor had power, but Jesus said people would follow and worship the beast and the dragon. Jesus came and provided evidence of His identity, but the people cried crucify him. People are easily duped into believing that which is false. In fact, God said He “would send on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false.” [2Thess 2:11]

In the time of Christ, some of the crowd said, “this is really the Prophet, but others said don’t the scriptures say that Christ is a descendant of David and comes from Bethlehem?” [Jn 7:40-42] Yet no one took time to check the authenticity of His claims. Do we check what is said?

Do we check the claims of men who come and produce signs, yet they are of the evil one? The Jews asked Jesus for a sign. Jesus said, “you study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me,” [Jn 5:39]

Here in Revelation, we find one of the signs of the counterfeit is what is said about God. “The beast opened his mouth to blaspheme God.” [Rev 13:6] What are we hearing about Christ and God from men?   Am I discerning about that which is counterfeit?

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Wolves are among us…BEWARE!

Wolves are among us

Acts 20/Titus 1-3 

The work of the despot, Satan, has no boundaries. What he does in one place, he replicates in others. He crafted it in Crete, where Titus was left to establish the church and appoint elders. He was busy in Ephesus, the place of the false god Artemis. There will always be fierce wolves among the flock. They do not spare the flock. “They profess to know God but by their deeds they deny him since they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.” [Titus 1:16] “They teach perversions of the truth to draw the true disciples away after them.” [Acts 20:30]  Therefore, be alert and remember Paul’s warnings.

Because of the despot’s work, we must be on guard. We must be a people of discipline. We must be a people of prayer. We must be a people who live by the principles of the Sermon on the Mount: poor in spirit, mourning over sin, meek yet humble, hungering, and thirsting for righteousness so we can impart the Word to the lost.

If you are facing wolves in your midst, step up and bring that wolf to Jesus in prayer. First, pray for God’s grace and salvation. Then, train the flock to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live in the Fruit of the Spirit.

Be alert, fellow believer, for the time is drawing near for His return.

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