Within The Walls of Deceit

Definition of DECEIT1: the act or practice of deceiving : deception2: an attempt or device to deceive : trick3: the quality of being deceitful : deceitfulness

Proverbs 26:24-26

24 Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips
    and harbors deceit in his heart;
25 when he speaks graciously, believe him not,
    for there are seven abominations in his heart;
26 though his hatred be covered with deception,
    his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

If you have ever found yourself in a dark and unfamiliar place, all you are left with is your faith. If you are a follower of Jesus, then your experience may be different than those of a non-follower. Your spiritual faith may be tested or even found in that moment of darkness. We may like to think what actions we would follow, but depending on you faith, or lack of, we would probably all surprise ourselves, in one way or another.

Faith is believing in what is true. Faith has two elements: 
1. being convinced of the truth, being certain of reality, having evidence of unseen things, and 
2. believing, hoping in, embracing, seizing the truth.

None of us are born with deceitful behavior, it is learned. We are deceived as children by those that love us the most, our parents. Most commonly by mystical beliefs; Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, and so on. We are tricked into believing that these beings exist. Think back to the moment that you found out that there is no Santa, no bunny...it was all a trick, and for what gain? Magical reward? A smile on a child's face on Christmas morning, a game of hunting for eggs. We were given this magical existence only to discover that it was all a lie. As we grow up, there is less and less "magic" in our world. Can we create our own magical existence, is that high that we were taught as children still possible to experience? The answer to that question depends solely on you and your faith.

Revelation 21:4

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

We all grow up within our own walls. We may have similar surroundings, but the structure is always unique. Our life experiences are ours alone, no other person can mirror the same event, not even if it occurred in the same place and at the same time. This is because we are all individuals, we control our own thoughts and perceive situations and events as no other can, we are all unique because of our own thoughts.

Psalm 139:14

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.

As we grow up we begin to realize that the only magic that exists in our lives are created by oneself. We have a choice to see life as a endless cycle of disappointment and struggle or as a stepping stone to a better place. We have the choice to make our lives worthwhile for the good of others, or one can choose to be an obstacle.

It truly is as simple as love or hate...
We can choose to hate and spread hate or we can choose to love and spread love.

“It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.”

~Noel Coward

Within The Walls of Deceit lives the deceivers and the believers. They are both weak, neither is strong in any sense. In fact one prays on the weakness of others because it brings control "magic" into their existence. The believer is so desperate for acceptance, that they ALLOW deceit to control them. In reality they are both weak and neither on of them have faith. They are so unhappy and lost that the only way they can feel as though they have any control, is by controlling others. Some people are easily deceived because they themselves are also deceitful. Negative people find each other and they find it "magical" to spread distention and hate. Rumors fuel deception and hate fuels rumors.

Remove yourself from the cycle if you participate.

Only base your opinions on evidence or personal experience. If you hear a rumor from an individual about another, there are a couple of things you should ask yourself.

1. Is the person starting or spreading this rumor reliable?
2. What does this person have invested in the rumor, what will be gained?
3. Am I better than this, will it be pleasing to me to spread this rumor?
4. Is there EVIDENCE to support the claim?
5. Am I so desperate to belong, that I NEED to believe in order to have a place?

It can be very fulfilling to be excepted into a group when you are lost in negativity, but it is even more fulfilling to go against the tide if in the end you did it for the right reasons.

Some People Love to assume and run with negativity, rather than go from facts and offer support. Don’t be insulted by their ignorance. Just have the wisdom to know they are troubled. There’s weakness in their intimidation, masking their own problems.

God Deeds in an Evil World

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 6:16

What is a God deed?

God: the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe.

Deed: An action that is performed intentionally or consciously: "doing good deeds".

God Deeds: Action that are led by God and performed intentionally or consciously to glorify Him.

A Vessel of God: Man was created as a vessel designed to contain, carry, and convey God!  God’s thought is not that we would be a servant or instrument, but a vessel to contain and express Him.

We all have the possibility of being a vessel God can use.

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. 2 timothy 2:21

There is nothing so fulfilling as knowing that God is using you to reach people. God can take the “slop bucket” of our lives and make it a “silver tray.”

This morning I awakened in deep thought about doing God deeds in an Evil World. I have had a little experience with this in my lifetime, along with questions as to why the good intentions of others are looked down upon by others. Over the past couple of days the “useless” phrases people use when they evaluate the actions of a person that initially appeared to be a good deed, but ended oh so bad.

He started out with good intention, but “something” went wrong.

Would that be equivalent to this:

I didn't want to bring a child into the world because I have no means to raise it up, so I had an abortion to spare it’s suffering.
 

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. What? Read that a couple of times and ponder that oxymoron!!!

I have traveled that road on more than one occasion, and believe me when I say, “it was not paved with good intentions, it wasn't paved with anything good”.

 

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

This morning my past God deeds become clear in the form of an image in my mind. Since I can't draw anything that would resemble said image, I will explain it in words.

Climbing to the top of the God deed platform, sound as though it would be the biggest challenge. Even if that platform is so tall that you can't see the top of it while standing on the ground looking up. In the beginning of a God deed, I don't look up, I just climb with a vigorous stride, my feet barely touch the rungs. I am simply being led, pulled up by the tether of God's grace. I don't have any doubt that once I get to the top, all of my faith will be the platforms foundation in which I will stand. That platform is my faith, and it is stronger than steel reinforced concrete covered in rubies and grouted with marble, it is my rock! The view from the top is indescribable, the view is clear, the weather is perfect, and the company is next to heaven.

I am joined on the platform I built by others that are acting on their God deeds. Some are aware that God is using them as a vessel, other are simply there to check out this wonderfully strong platform. Don't get me wrong, there are storms, some people fall off the platform, some jump, and a few even get pushed off. The people that are acting on God deeds are so focused that nothing can penetrate them, they are a vessel of God. Others make their way up a couple rungs, but don't fully engage. Some circle the platform never finding the ladder to climb. Some individuals will spend much of their time searching for the path (ladder) by aren't able to locate it, and others, sadly, are never alerted about the existence of the platform.Then there are the people stand beneath the platform questioning the intentions of others. I refer to these people as earth dwellers. The dwellers underneath the platform are full of questions, wonder, jealousy, and sadly hate. The disbelievers will try to take down the platform by stealing, cheating, lying, and destruction. Some of the earth dwellers love to start fires and others fuel those fires with lies. I would like to tell you that the earth dwellers can't damage the platform, but the reality is, they can. The platform is protected by faith, but the support system and the ladder can be damaged. The platform (faith) is always present but the path (ladder) to the platform may be damaged by the earth dwellers.

I admire all of the people that join me on the platform, some climb to do good, some climb to simply say thank you. The ones that I find myself thinking of most often are the ones that help me build the structure and line the platform with their own gems, they remain, never questioning intentions, but being a witness to truth. There are those that climbed down from the platform and became earth dwellers, I often pray for them. They have been spoken to and led, but their platform wasn't made of steel reinforced concrete... no rubies, no marble.

If a person's intentions are good from the beginning nothing can or does go wrong. Yes, there are unexpected obstacles that can take you off course, but that is part of the lesson. Obstacles that are placed in your path are simply placed there to test your faith.

Evil can only corrupt your life if you allow others to destroy your platform (faith). Evil preys on the weak by tricking them with doubt, lies, deceit, empty promises, power, and acceptance. All of those tricks can give earth dwellers a sense of belonging in a mental and physical sense, but it only stands in the way of building a platform “faith”. The devil is the master of deception, he only uses those that lack faith. He wants you to doubt the word of God and those that are led to do good. Most people don't even realize that the devil is in control, he's that good at it.

Never allow the devil's earth dwellers to stop you from your God deeds. If you feel God encouraging you to be His vessel, Glorify Him. He speaks to us all, and it is our choice to listen. He isn’t going to use a voice to shout from the heavens. He speaks to us through our hearts and our moral compasses. DO NOT give people the power of discouragement. It can be difficult to have our neighbors bear false witness against us, but faith is strengthened and built from trials.
 

I have seen where people are very quick to judge the character of another person, with hardly any inquiry at all! So... so often, I have seen quick, snap judgments and accusations that another person has or is doing something wrong when the person has truly done nothing at all! Indeed.. so often I have seen one person assassinate the character or reputation of another person based on suspicions and phony spiritual discernment when in reality there is an unclean spirit that is bringing these things to their mind. What's more, such accusations are often done privately and without the other person's knowledge. Let me speak to you freely and bluntly to inform you that anyone practicing such things is bearing false witness and is imitating the accuser/adversary/devil!

In fact, the Greek word from which we get the term "Devil" from the Greek word diabolos and means "Accuser." For instance, another form of this word "diaballo" is found in Luke 16:1...

He also said to His disciples: "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. 2 "So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.' Luke 16:1-2

Have you built a platform?

How strong is it?

Where do you obtain your materials?

How do you maintain it?

Ask yourself...

Is the road to hell paved with good intentions?