The truth about Deceit

The word chosen for this weeks Bible study was deceit.

Deceit:
 Concealing or misrepresenting the truth- a lie, duplicity, deception, trickery and fraud.

Quite a few scriptures stood out to me about deceit I was unable to pick just one,

Have you ever been hurt by lies or deception? Have you hurt someone else this way? I am sure that the answer is yes, everyone of us have sinned in this way, we are human, it isn't fair and it isn't right. When it happens to us, it is so very painful. It is then that we should look back at our selves and see how we can grow from it. Every thing we go through in life is a chance to grow, to change and to become a little more like God. It is how we handle our selves in these situations that really count. Do we hold tight to grace? To peace, and to all things good? When we see our wrong, do we try to right it through prayer and repentance?  Every small step toward God in these times is a leap in the right direction, a chance to turn from evil and embrace good,


Psalm 52: 2-4

2You who practice deceit,

your tongue plots destruction;

it is like a sharpened razor.

3You love evil rather than good,

falsehood rather than speaking the truth.^c

4You love every harmful word,

you deceitful tongue!

I challenged everyone to find a psalm each week that speaks to their heart and this is mine, so many times the power of the tongue is used for ill, and something that powerful as scripture tells us should be used to build others up and not to tear them down.

Jeremiah 9:6 says,

you live in the midst of deception; and in their deceit they refuse to knowledge me.

This struck a cord with me, because in my life I have found it to be true, when I have been deceitful, I can tell that I not only wasn't acknowledging God, but didn't even think about Him and all he has done for me. I assume that is how it goes down for all offenders.

Jesus gives us the answer to how we should best respond to deceit in the book of Matthew

Matthew 4:5-7New Living Translation (NLT)

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect you.
And they will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’[a]”

7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’[b]”

Jesus not just countless times, but every time responded to the devils lies with scripture and we should always make the Bible our Go to place as well, it is so full of wonders and wisdom, all just packed in there for us to discover. With all of the amazing scripture on the word deceit it was hard for me to choose which one to S.O.A.P, but finally I chose Proverbs 20:17 (NASB)

S: Proverbs 20:17- Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth is full of gravel.

O: When we gain by deceit, at first it is good, but soon will turn sour. I can think of some times I have said something knowing it wasn't the truth, and because I thought it would make others think more highly of me I said it anyway. I can also think of times I have been having a normal conversation with another person and an untruth came out in that exchange without me really noticing until later. As with all deceit, in the beginning it seems so small but it grows and grows, a pit forms in my stomach, making me physically ill and all the thoughts of self condemnation pop up,  all those lies that the devil tells us are added to it making it hard for us to see the truth. This scripture reminds me that not only does deceit taste yucky, it makes one feel yucky.

A: I  will continue to speak of lovely things and repeat the truth of life, and Gods love found in scriptures so the devil can not gain foot hold in my life, because he is really sneaky and slippery, his goal is to slip in through the tiniest cracks in your life and expand until he takes over. So we need to guard our homes, hearts and minds with the love of God found in His holy scripture, use that goodness as a barrier, and not let him in.

P: God, I pray that you make known to me any deceit before it leaves my lips, that you help me bridle my tongue with your wisdom. Father I pray that I speak and you help me to speak pure and lovely things as you work on placing more pure and lovely thoughts in my soul.

Slave to God

What does it mean to be a slave to God?

Scripture talks a lot about slaves, and how slaves are freed, it got me to thinking, what does it mean to be a slave for God? I started out looking for slave for God scripture. First I think we should go back and see what it actually means to be a slave.

Slave: a person legally owned by another and having no freedom of action or right to property. 2. a person who is forced to work for another against his will. 3. a person under the domination of another person or some habit or influence.

Romans 6:18

You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

1 Corinthians 7:22

For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord's freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ's slave.

1 Peter 2:16

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves.

The Jews were the slaves of egypt, since the Garden of Eden humans were always slaves to something or someone, I myself have been a slave. A slave to flesh, a slave to attention, a slave to money and to emotion, just to name a few.  Then God taught me about His love, showed me His love and I CHOSE to become a slave to him, but what does that mean? To me it means to live and to love and to treat others they way God has treated you, to think in all that you do, “is this what God would have me do?” Or “Does this please God?”

I want to please God, I want Him to look at me and be proud, to say to me, “good Job daughter, with you I am well pleased”. I want to serve Him and I want others to see His love in me. To do that I need to be wise and remain vigilant of the enemy, the trickster, the one who will get in through the tiniest crack in my faith, who doesn't give up trying but who is not as powerful as he appears to be.

In choosing to serve God, I chose a life of righteousness and a life of victory. The graciousness of God is an amazing thing, though I stumble and though I fall He is beside me, there to set me back on firm ground. Nothing that I do for God will fail, God will not whip or beat me, God is a loving master and He is always after our hearts. Isnt it time that humanity strive to be after His heart?

Make a list of goals, if you resolve to do something but fail it takes a bit of a hit on your emotions, and could cause you to give up, but if you make a goal, something that you can work toward in small steps you are more likely to have favorable results. Start small and add to it as you check things off your list. I am thinking to be a slave to God, I need to start living life more and more like He would, like Jesus did. It's a new year, let's resolve to not make a resolution but to set some Godly goals.

Godly Goals

Be patient when on the phone at work

Say hello and smile at 3 strangers daily

Look for small ways make someone smile each day

Lend a helping hand to someone in need

(just a few to get me started)

The Question of the Laying on of Hands

 "Do you need to have had the laying on of hands in order to have the Holy Spirit come upon you?"

 

 

Well this is a great question! Let us look in the Word to find the answer, but first know where this question came from...In reading the scripture below, ACTS 19:1-7, and specifically verse 6 of THE MESSAGE Bible states "Paul put his hands on their heads and the Holy Spirit entered them."

So, do we need the laying on of Hands in order for us to have the Holy Spirit?

 

 

 Acts 19:1-7 NIV

Chapter 19

1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples
2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when[a] you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”
5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
7 There were about twelve men in all.

Acts 19:1-7 NKJV

Chapter 19

1 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples
2 he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
3 And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism."
4 Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus."
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
7 Now the men were about twelve in all.

 

Acts 19: 1-7 THE MESSAGE

 

1 Now, it happened that while Apollos was away in Corinth, Paul made his way down through the mountains, came to Ephesus, and happened on some disciples there.
2 The first thing he said was, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Did you take God into your mind only, or did you also embrace him with your heart? Did he get inside you?" "We've never even heard of that—a Holy Spirit? God within us?"
3 "How were you baptized, then?" asked Paul. "In John's baptism."
4 "That explains it," said Paul. "John preached a baptism of radical life-change so that people would be ready to receive the One coming after him, who turned out to be Jesus. If you've been baptized in John's baptism, you're ready now for the real thing, for Jesus."
5 And they were. As soon as they heard of it, they were baptized in the name of the Master Jesus.
6 Paul put his hands on their heads and the Holy Spirit entered them. From that moment on, they were praising God in tongues and talking about God's actions.
7 Altogether there were about twelve people there that day

 

  All three sets of scripture from thee different Bible translations, just to show the differences and the similarities in the scripture to see if the way it is read causes a different interpretation. All three scriptures are detailed matter of fact accounts of what happened, well that is how they are written, as with the book of Luke. It is widely thought that the book of acts and the book of Luke were both written by the same author Luke, though there is no proof other then both books are matter of fact accounts, and with the book of Luke being written with more detail then the other gospels it leads to the conclusion that Luke wrote them both.

Just  a little background for you, do a bit of digging into the scriptures that cause you to question and you will learn way more then you first set out to learn.

Acts 2:36-39
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

John 14:15-17,23,26

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15  “If you love me, keep my commands.
16  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—
17  the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
 26  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

These scriptures are Jesus words to us, all of us who are baptized in Jesus name. I now compare that with the question, Do we need Laying on of hands to gain the Holy Spirit? To me the answer is,we do not need it unless we do not KNOW Jesus. I think back to the time before I knew Jesus, I needed tangible proof, I needed to see touch and feel before I would believe, before I would know! It then brought me to realization of the difference in me between my Baptism and when I asked the Spirit to come live in me. This is a conscious decision, one we must choose in our own timing and when we ask for Him that is when He comes. So for me it was a difference of about 8 months that my seeds needed watering after His love was planted in me before I asked for Him to live inside me. I can even remember why I asked, I dreamt of my dad who had died, I woke with peace, and a knowing. I Knew that my Dad was in Heaven and the I would see him again, I knew that this life wasn't all there was and I knew the reason my dad died was to teach me that I am not an orphan and that I have always had a Father in Heaven watching out for me and one who would never leave me. I got lucky, God knew that I would need more information, before I could really understand the meaning of I AM.

So then I thought back to the 12 Disciples Paul laid hands on and I think they needed more information before they would understand. That maybe it is possible they were Baptized before the death of Jesus and did not see his works the way Paul and the others had, they had only heard. Maybe since the rules the covenant had changed in the time they were baptized to the time they talked with Paul, they were stuck in their old thought process, and needed Knowing. So, God will either send someone to physically lay hands on us, or God will Himself touch us so that we are filled with knowing and can appropriately make the decision weather or not to ask Him to live in us. To reiterate, ACTS 2:38 says we received the Holy Spirit, we have to decide to un wrap it.

 

Who are you?

Who are you
  
All of our lives the world tells us so many things about ourselves; it is on the television, on radio ,internet, billboards, magazines and countless adds of all kinds. Everywhere we look we learn something about ourselves.

We are so inundated by these words and images that we loose ourselves in them. Every second, every minute we are lost in these lies, so lost that they begin to feel like truth. The sad part is we believe it, every nasty word we take as our new truth.

 Things like, your dumb, your fat, your ugly, you don't matter, you will never amount to anything, your not worth it, you always fail, you don't belong. Yes I could go on, but why, this is counter productive. There are many examples, examples that attack you, that attack your character, examples that break you down. You don't need to become more broken, you need to become built up.

 It is like you go to a mirror and instead of your reflection you see the rear end of a peacock. It is dull, spiny, lackluster, void of vitality and lacking in force, conviction and is utterly uninspired.

So, the world and people of this world tell us all of this, we begin to believe it when in truth we are not, were never, and will never be the peacocks rear end.

 The only way to know who we are and how our reflections really look, is to know who we are in Christ. To know who He says we are and to believe Him. So turn that Peacock around, it is vibrant, all the colors meld into each other, its blue, green,purple, it is royal and majestic. So just turn it around look at the true you! God lives in everyone and God makes NO mistakes!

You are Beautiful, you are loved, you are amazing, you are victorious, you are chosen, you are an heir, you are wanted, you are wonderful, you are royalty, you are needed, you are cared for, you are unique, you are my favorite, you are strong, you are forgiven, you are a conqueror, you are a warrior, you are MINE.

I chose you, I want you, I created you perfectly, I know the exact number of hairs on your head, I will never leave you, I care about every detail, I work all things for your good, I gave my life so that you will never die, I made you complete.

Know WHO you are and you will begin to become what He created you to be. Know that you are all of these things I have just said and much, much more. You will gain your wisdom from scripture, so I challenge you to start looking up all of the different scriptures that tell you WHO you are. In doing so keep in mind, it is more then ok to speak aloud what your findings are, Apostle John "the one whom Jesus loved" knew this was good, It is time we all proclaim that we are the one Jesus loves.

That is the TRUTH


 

Reactions and thoughts on negitivity

I have had a trying week, one where I reacted on feelings of hurt. God was telling me that I can not be an accurate reflection of him if I base my actions on my feelings. The sad part is I know this, it is just something I keep doing and I am sure that I am not the only person out there that does this so I thought I would share my thoughts and feeling about this, maybe to help others.

How are we supposed to react to feelings of hurt?
Exodus 14:14 tells us
"the Lord will fight for you, you only have to be silent"

See this is my issue, I am reactive, I know this about myself yet I keep falling in to the reactive trap.
Do I think I am justified for my feelings? Yes I do, but I am not giving glory to God when I react on them.

For example, I am changing jobs, and I have been unhappy at my current job for a while now, and a week ago I gave notice and will be leaving that job, however all of the reasons I am leaving my current job have to do with the negativity of others, it is often hard for me to separate what I feel from what I pick up off of others. Yesterday and the day before I worked really hard to get some things caught up that have been lacking because I can never seem to get the time I need to get my job done, what with being pulled to do other things. I was feeling accomplished and proud of the good job done when I was told I was behind, I was shocked and angry, I thought "how can I be behind when I am ahead and trying to get things set up for you to make the transition easier when I am gone?" What???? So if my reaction to this was instant anger, which we all know translates into hurt.

 I then was thinking, "if you are just going to complain, I don't need to be here, why should I stay for my final week when you can't even say thank you, but only see negatively? I don't HAVE to be here!"  It frustrated me and ruined my whole morning and threatened to ruin my entire day.

I spent my lunch hour talking to my mom, asking for advise. She helped me work through my hurt feelings and said "The devil knows how to push your buttons, and you are letting him do it" She then sent me some battlefield things on my phone to read, it really did help me and included was a prayer to guard against those schemes.

When I returned from my lunch break I was reminded that hurting people, hurt people because there are a lot of things going on in that persons life that causes them to be so negative, is it right that she takes it out on others? No, not at all, but had I taken just a minute to use my mind the way I am supposed to, like the mind of Christ, I could have reacted in a way that showed off Christ's love, not a way that feeds the negativity she already has to live with daily!

It must be hard to carry all that all the time. It is defiantly hard for me to deal with it in others, glad I do not have to live with all of that heaviness anymore, I know I used to before I came to Jesus and asked him to live in my heart. I want him to take over my heart and it is beginning to happen more and more, I  just feel like when I make reactive mistakes that I am taking a step back in my journey.

James 1:19 says
Know this my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to anger, and slow to speak

God, I pray today that you help me in this, that you would help me to keep this in the forefront of my mind and my heart. I know that you are growing me daily and I thank you that you point out when I make mistake so that I may learn, and I love how you are working in me and through me and I wish to make you proud. Please Father, help me to not react in anger or hurt but to reflect love, let a mirror reflection of your love be so bright in me that it blinds all hate, hurt, anger and negativity that I see and feel daily, and take the vessel that is me God, and use it for your glory!

Love

Scripture~
1 Corinthians 13:8
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

1Corinthians 13:1&2
1If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.…

Cross References

Matthew 22:37
Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
Matthew 22:39
And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

 

Observation~

Love is important, the most important command, there are many, many, many scriptures that focus on love. These are the ones that stood out to me because, as stated, without love we can do nothing. Sometimes it is hard to like people but we can and should always love them no matter what. When  we step back and look at a whole situation is when we can see how we can better love the people we come across in life. Also I noticed while looking at the Ten Commandments, that if you apply love to each and everyone it makes it easier to meet those expectations.

Will we always get it right?  No, not at all we will make mistakes, but God loved us first so that he could show us how to better love others. 

 

Application~

When I am feeling angry at another human, I must always remember that anger is not a feeling, anger is a reaction to the feeling of hurt or fear. Then ask myself, why am I hurt or why am I afraid. I am hurt because I think you don't love me, because you said something that in turn caused me to feel inadequate. Well, then I need to remember all the times I have said and done things that have hurt others, and that hurt God because I was not being a good steward of his love. Then remember that God LOVED me so much that he forgave me, that he waited for me, that he reached for me and made me new, righteous and victorious. He did all of that in love and I should be able to love those I feel have wronged me, after all God showed me how first. How do I love those that I may not like? First I go to God and I pray for them, and I pray for my heart and I ask God to reveal things to me that maybe in my flesh I had not thought of. It is said that we find peace in God and I know that when I am not loving others I am not at peace so therefore, I am not seeking God. So in short I will pray to God for peace in my heart and to love others as he first loved me, that even if I am hurt I can turn the other cheek and love. That is also another way for me to become a more accurate reflection of who God is, and if I truly want everyone to see God in me I need to love better!

 

Prayer~

Dear God, I come to you and I ask you to reveal to me when I am not loving as I should be, Father I do want people to see you in me and sometimes I fail because I get hung up on my own wants and needs and because I am at times unable to see past myself. I ask you God to please help me love better and put peace in my heart when I am angry as it should be, so that I can see past myself and begin to love others more like you love me.

~Amen
 

"I tell you the truth"

  So this last couple of weeks, honestly it has been extremely hard for me to concentrate on my Bible time, it seems there is always something that has taken my attention away and this is not good for me, I need the focus and I need the direction but life for me got too LOUD!
Does that ever happen to you? life gets too loud? I wasn't sure how to pull myself out of this but I was really missing my quiet time with God, I missed seeing something new in the Bible that got me all excited and asking more questions, and no matter how hard I tried to concentrate the harder it got.

Well, finally I put all my things down as I watched the Pope talk on t.v.  It reminded me of the letters Paul wrote to...well, everyone. That then got me thinking about the Gospels, and how Graham Cooke said that no matter how many times we have read them that we should read them over and over, as often as we can.
I picked up my Bible again and turned to the book of John, which I know pretty well. So I was reading and I see "I tell you the truth" over and over and over in that book, so I counted and...There are 25ish "I tell you the truth" scriptures in the book of John alone, it sent me on a hunt then, how many are in the whole Bible? Well in my research I found three different commentaries that said that phrase was in the Bible 78 times, I didn't count. However that knowledge led me to question the need to say "I tell you the truth" or "very truly I tell you" I read them all in sequential order and loved what I learned...How patient Jesus was and still is...wow, he emphatically wants us to understand. I am sure that he was exasperated but did not stop pointing to the Father, not even once he "truly" was more patient then we a dim witted at times! I Challenge you to do you very own truth study and see what you can learn. I just love getting in there and digging all around and learning new truths about who I am in Christ each time that I do.
   In doing this you will learn more about who God is and more about who he crated us to be and I am sure you will learn something I didn't, so please share. This world is full of people who have no idea of who they are and it is us who have begun to learn who we are, that will help others gain this knowledge for them selves, they will see us changing right before their eyes and want some of that goodness too!