Hello brothers and sisters! I am so very glad that the Lord saw you through another day and has gifted you with His sweet grace. I am very glad that you have taken a moment to visit me and my rambling thoughts. Please remember to take a look at the home page. There are a few prayer requests that have been posted and a place to praise the Lord for His goodness! If there are any prayer warriors out there – please say one for them

AH sweet grace! I don’t think we give God enough praise for this sweet gift. Maybe there is a true deception in this inability to see grace for what it is or perhaps it is due to the misuse of it.

Grace

noun

the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings

So lets dive in and ramble a bit about deception and what that looks like in our everyday life. It’s a lot different than you and I might be comfortable with. I know I was uncomfortable as the reality of what I was thinking set in. I have been doing the Red Letters study… off and on at this point due in part to time and really having to think about what it means to follow after Christ.

Deception

noun

the action of deceiving someone.

Have we deceived people if we tell them that dinner was good but we couldn’t eat it?

What about if we tell someone that they look good in something but they don’t?

A child loses a tooth and we place it under the pillow, have we deceived your child?

How far does this go? Can seemingly innocent things or traditions actually be rooted in a place that does not come from the Father?

but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Ephesians 4:15 KJV

Deceive

verb

(of a person) cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain some personal advantage.

But does this mean that the tooth fairy is okay because there is no personal gain to be had by such a thing? What about if the truth is going to cause unwanted emotional pain for our loved one? The bible speaks about deception as being a bad thing. A really bad thing. I don’t think we will find a verse in the Bible that says God was okay with us having deception in our hearts or lives.

Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; And deceive not with thy lips.
Proverbs 24:28 KJV

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Matthew 24:4 KJV

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Matthew 24:24 KJV

There are many verses in Scripture that speak on the topic of deception, being deceived, being the one that does the deception and so on… none of which are good. Jesus wishes that we would live in truth which arguably is the polar opposite of deception.

and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:32 KJV

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:6 KJV

Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Ephesians 4:25 KJV

After all it was the first and greatest deception that cost mankind the ability to walk, talk and visit with the Almighty Ancient of Days. We were able to be with the Father as if He was tangible and touchable. We were His beloved children and nothing came between us. On top of this we had the most beautiful perfect world to live in and then Satan came alone and deceived Eve. What a lie and oh, what it has cost each of us!

Pray for me brothers and sisters, as I am still going strong with the not smoking thing. Even ten years from now I will be thankful for every single prayer. They all are messages to the Father and will be a continuing petition before the Father. As will all the prayer requests that end up on anyone’s blog, posts, or other forms for social media. Kinda amazing if you think about it. Even if they are unspoken, God knows what they are.