Galatians 6:6-7  – “Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.  ⁷ Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.”

Yesterday, through the night, and this morning, the Holy Spirit has been impressing upon my heart the danger, destruction, and prevalence of deception.   It is not just a world thing, but it is rampant in the church and among believers.

Galatians 6:6-7 issues a stern warning against becoming prey to deception.  It is an effective tactic of the snake and has been for eons.

Deception’s root is the devil, and deception is sin.  Being deceived is possible ONLY if we allow the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life to prevail.   It is super subtle.   It cloaks itself in benevolence and adopts what we desire to be true as accurate.  It listens to voices that appeal to our flesh, deceiving us into thinking it is a word from God.

We dream of what we would do “if only.”    God needs no “if only.” He is the eternal creator God.   He needs no external stimuli or vehicle; He is God!

Deception is like a cancer or leaven.   It begins small, in one outlying area, and permeates the entire consciousness.  Our light becomes darkness through deception.  Ultimately, it will cost the soul if not recognized, rejected, and repented of.   It aligns itself with voices that promote hearsay, heresy, half-truths, and outright lies.   When a lie is exposed, the deceived heart justifies it as a simple mistake, not the diabolical fraud and purpose behind it.

Deception is deadly.  It has consequences.    There are numerous consequences of Deception listed in the Bible:

• Eternal punishment: Revelation 21:8 says that liars will be punished in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.
• Loss of the soul: Proverbs 21:6 says that a lying tongue is a characteristic of those who seek death.  2 Thessalonians 2:12 teaches that believing a lie can cost men their souls.
• God’s hatred: Proverbs 6:16 says that the Lord hates a lying tongue.
• Dishonor: Proverbs 12:22 says that lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.
• False witness: Proverbs 19:5 says that a false witness will not go unpunished.

How do we avoid deception?  

• Know the Bible.
• Pray for wisdom and discernment.
• Avoid believing empty words.
• Avoid living a double life.
• Avoid excluding facts that could change a judgment.
• Avoid altering facts to fit a narrative.
• Avoid fabricating information.

I’m diving into this because I want to avoid and have a defense against deception for myself and others.   The deceived cannot see the deception and often are unconvinced of the truth because it feeds their flesh.  They believe they are just in what they embrace and even insist it is a promise from God.

Anything that depends on man to fulfill is to be viewed with a measure of skepticism.   My God shall supply ALL your needs according to His riches in glory.  God demands 100% of us and desires our total reliance on Him.  I live with no sense of lack because He is my Supply! 

You shall know the truth, and the truth (that you know and embrace) will make you free.  Truth has to be known, acknowledged, and embraced to liberate.  The devil knows the truth but is not free!

May all your “if onlys” become, “God is.”

2 Samuel 18:23 – He said, “Come what may, I want to run.”  So Joab said, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.”

Good morning!  What a day that shall be when my Jesus I shall see when I look upon His face, the one who saved me by His grace.  That song is in my heart today, but with a different twist.   It reminds me of LOVE!   God’s love for us, our love for Him, and our ability to love each other!

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, a plethora of things filled my consciousness.   Most were for private consumption, but one thing draws my focus: Zeal!

Zeal?  More specifically, zeal without a specific divine directive.  That is presented in Ahimaaz in 2 Samuel 18.  He kept bugging Joab to let him run as a messenger to David.  Joab said, “You don’t have the message.”  He persisted, and Joab said, “Run!”   He outran the Cushite who had the message.  He got to David but had no message.  He said, “I saw that something was happening, but I don’t know what.”

•  He had a desire to run. 
• He had the ability to run.
• He ran faster than everyone else.
• But his effort and ability had no redeeming value.  It was wasted energy and ability.

Sometimes, we become stirred by God’s presence and quickly volunteer to run.  We have the desire to be involved.  Zeal drives us into action, but without the divine directive, we are just running!

That’s how we get ahead of God.  We act before there is a clear revelation.  In doing so, we can do damage to the cause.   How?  We stir others up but have no revelation or divine directive.   We are just doing!

God is not interested in doing things for the sake of doing them.   He always has a purpose.   A stirred heart does not, in itself, qualify one to run!   A divine call is required.  Running without God’s message opens the door to deception and disappointment.   

It can result in spiritual frustration.   We ask, “God, why didn’t You, I Ran!”  Then, at others, we ask, “Hey, why aren’t you running?”  We become frustrated with ourselves and think, ‘If I had run sooner or faster, then…‘   Never let Zeal become more compelling than Call.

Doing God’s Word, God’s Way, and in God’s Time produces God’s Results.   It is not inactivity to wait for the Call, the Word, and the Timing of God; it is resting and waiting on the Lord.   The converse is also true; waiting out of uncertainty and fear when God has called is inactivity, not rest.  Jesus said, “My sheep, HEAR My voice and follow Me.”   

The question is, are we His sheep?  If we are, we hear His voice.

May your day be filled with peace and clear purpose!

Proverbs 27:5-6 – “Better is reproof that is revealed than love that is hidden.  Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.”

As I read, prayed, and contemplated the Word of God today, one thought kept echoing in my heart and head.  BLIND SPOTS!

Proverbs 27:5-6 was a key passage for understanding.   So many thoughts leap from those words, but the one singular thought echoing inside is Blind Spots!  We all have them, experience them, and suffer because of them.

Three questions arose in my mind as I contemplated this.

• Are you consistent?
• Are you self-controlled?
• Do you think independently?

Then, I sensed more questions that challenged me.   Can you handle negative criticism positively?  Galatians 6:9 comes to mind in Paul’s directive to never grow tired of what is right.

It is difficult to discern between constructive and destructive criticism.  How can we recognize the difference?  What is the attitude of the person delivering the criticism?   Is their criticism factual?  Allow the Holy Spirit to shine the spotlight of the Word on it and on us.
Do we have true integrity in all things and with all people?   Integrity is what we are; we are.  Are we peacemakers?  Are we open to views contrary to what we think or want to be true?

Most discussions that escalate into arguments generate more heat than light and are often driven by emotion rather than fact.  A person who is secure in Jesus, emotionally strong, and has a positive self-image does not have a driving need to win every argument or debate.   Most people will change their views when they see living proof of a better way.  Our blind spots not only hinder us, but also others.

The Lord spoke to me, saying, “Blind Spots are removed by making Me (Jesus) your focus.  Let Me be Me in you in all things.  Give Me your need to be right.”

My heart desires to be like Jesus or let Him be Himself manifested in and through me.   I want to be like Him in Character, Attitude, Spirit, Actions, and Reaction.   Lord, help us be free of the Blind spots we can’t see.

May all your blind spots be transformed into spots of revelation and sight spiritually!

2 Corinthians 9:8 – “And God is able to make all Grace abound to you, so that you in all things at all times, having all that you need will abound in every good work.”

Benjamin Franklin said, “The only things certain are death and taxes.” I disagree.   God’s love is certain.  The promises of God are certain.  Heaven is an absolute certainty.  Sin destroys is a certainty, and the power of God’s grace is certain.   That the LORD created this day is certain.

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the destructiveness of sin gripped my thoughts, and that was quickly followed by the grace of God.   Grace is unlimitedly limited.  What?  Does that make you pause and ask, WHAT?

God’s grace is for everyone and for everything, so in that sense, it is limitless.  It cannot flow to an unrepentant heart, making it limited.  

In 2 Samuel, David’s tryst with Bathsheba, a married woman, is an example.   David sinned.   There is no justification possible.   There was no one to blame but himself.   He then sought to hide his sin, thereby limiting the grace of God to him.

Nathan brought him a scenario that David thought was real, and David’s sense of justice caused him to become furious, and by his own judgment, he pronounced his own pain. Nathan said, “You are the guilty one.”   David repeated, but the cost of sin followed him throughout his life.  He was forgiven, but the consequences continued.  God’s grace was limitedly unlimited.   Being forgiven was the ultimate prize, but the chastisement was not averted.

After David’s sin, the account of Amnon raping his sister and Absalom’s festering hate surfaces.  Absalom hated Amnon for two whole years, seeking revenge.  No mercy was asked for by Amnon or given by Absalom.  Hate became murder and then rebellion, fulfilling God’s decree to David about his wives, another going in to.

Absalom never repented and limited the unlimited grace of God.   God’s grace is limited, but to receive the limitlessness of it, we must come to Him in repentance.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just.   He forgives all confessed sins.  Until David acknowledged his sin, he bore his guilt.  The grace of God carries us through the chastisement of God.  The grace of God preserves life!   The grace of God enables us to rise above sin.  The grace of God transforms.   By grace, are we saved through faith.  It is the gift of God.  Grace is God’s gift to lift us into His presence and preserve us for eternity.  Sin is devastating, but grace is liberating.

May your day be filled with the Unlimited Grace of God!

1 Samuel 30:6 – “David strengthened himself in the LORD.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I began to have something unfold that will require a great deal of time to unravel fully.  I will share excerpts and hope they resonate.

In 1 Samuel 30:6, it says, “David strengthened (va-yit-chazek) himself in the LORD.”   God identified David as being a man after His own heart.  David trusted God completely.  That’s why he could refrain from retaliation against Saul, Absalom, and others who wronged him.   Love was a motivator.

In 1 John, the apostle John reveals the key to assurance of salvation.   Through the years, I have observed things inconsistent with the heart of Jesus in people.  One of the pieces of evidence of salvation is love.  Not just loving God but actively loving people.   That is a sticking point for many.  Biblical love demonstrated!

John gives several identifying marks of Christianity.   One is obedience to Jesus’ commands.   In 1 John 2:6, he reminds us that if we claim to be a Christian, we are to live in the same manner as Jesus.   That certainly includes how we respond to others.

Hate and salvation are incompatible.  I have heard more justifications than I can remember, and none of them pass the biblical smell test.   If we hate, we do not love, and if we do not love others, we cannot claim to love God.  1 John 2:9-10 reveals the true condition of our hearts.

1 John 3:17-22 is challenging on many levels.   If we see a need, have the ability to help, and remain unmotivated and ignore it, is that love?  It’s not our profession, but our actions, which reveal our true spiritual condition.   Love gives us confidence of our salvation.

1 John 3:14-15 provides a means to have settled assurance of our salvation.   Love for others.  Just because you responded to an altar call does not give assurance, but love (genuine, active love does).   1 John 3:17-24 reveals how we can know we are saved.   True compassion and generosity that compels us.

Benevolence alone is not the key, but the heart that is so filled with love that it acts.  1 John 4:17 is powerful, “By this, has love been perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as He is, so also are we in this world.”

Then, verse 18 has a two-fold application.  If we are filled with love (active love), there is no place for fear.    Perfected love eliminates fear.

Through love, we are free to love actively.  God’s love flowing to us and through us is both evidence of our salvation for us and a witness to the world.

We have no justification to hate.  People do bad things because of bad hearts, so we should not hate them, but hate the motivator for them to act as they do.   Jesus never hated people.  He identified evil and exposed sin, but NEVER hated people.

1 John 3:23 won’t leave my thoughts.  “And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, AND (we bypass that part) love one another, JUST AS He gave a commandment to us.” Therefore, love is not optional.

My continual prayer is, “Lord, help me to genuinely love with an active love.”

May this day be a day of incredible victory for each of you!