Tag: Breaking Down Strongholds

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. ²⁷ Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. ²⁸ A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin. ~ Proverbs 26:24-28

King Solomon wrote, a lying tongue hates its victims. If you hate, you will lie. If you lie, you are harboring hate in your heart. It does not matter who that person is. Whether it is supposed to be a friend or a family member, it does not matter whether it is a stranger or a politician. If that person is lying, he or she is filled with hate. But they will disguise their true feelings. They will pretend to be doing what is best for you and to have your best interest at heart, but they will lead you to a bitter end.

Solomon said, even when he or she speaks to you graciously, don’t believe them because seven abominations are in their heart. They will try to cover their hatred with deception, but God will expose their wickedness. Because God is just and true, He will give those people enough rope to hang themselves.

But as for us, we are to believe God and trust His Word. We must not believe everything that is told to us but measure it against the Word of God and use His Word as our standard. And may the God of truth open our eyes to see and our ears to hear.

Heavenly Father, give us discernment that we will not be fooled or taken advantage of. Be our shield and our protection. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

⁷ The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern. ~ Proverbs 29:7

¹⁷ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. ~ James 4:17

In the show Avatar, there’s a main character by the name of Uncle Iroh. Now, Uncle Iroh was a military hero. He led siege after siege, taking over other tribes for the Fire Nation until he came to one particular city, Ba Sing Se. The siege lasted for 600 days but ended when Iroh lost his son, Lu Ten, in battle. After he lost his son, he no longer saw the necessity of the war, and he brought his men home. The rest of his life he spent trying to help others. We later find out that he lives his life trying to help others because he was unable to help his son.

He never saw a problem with leading the sieges, taking homes or lives, burning down cities until he lost what mattered most to him, his son. He simply bought into the lie that was told to him because he didn’t want to see the truth until the truth directly affected him in a traumatic way. So many of us in the Church are exactly the same way.

We don’t want to open our lives to the truth because we’re benefiting from the lie. Or we’re apathetic because the lie isn’t directly affecting us. But see, that’s how the enemy gets us. He doesn’t directly hit us at first. He allows us to get comfortable. To put our feet up. To turn a blind eye to little things until we’ve completely gone blind, and we don’t even realize it. Then, when we’re completely disarmed, he takes away all security and comfort we once had and suddenly the lie is no longer a big deal, it’s now directly negatively affecting us.

So, how do we combat this? We refuse to listen to apathy’s lullaby and by refusing to turn a blind eye to things, even if they seem minor. When someone else is done wrong, we stand up for them because if it could happen to them, it could happen to us. We can’t wait for the mob to be at our front door before we want to fight back. We need to fight back before they even enter our city. We need to wake up and pay attention to what’s going on in our world before it’s too late to do anything about it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Wait Til It’s You.

⁷ casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. ~ 1 Peter 5:7

God loves us. Jesus loves us and invites us to cast all of our cares, concerns, and worries on Him, for He is able to bear it all. He is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him against that day.

Worries and concerns stem from a place of mistrust and will always give root to doubt, but the Scriptures say to

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

The LORD is good, His mercies are everlasting, and He will never mislead you, nor do you wrong, for His love endures forever. Therefore, put your trust in the LORD. He will guide you. He will uphold you with His righteous right hand.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Cast Your Cares.

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⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also. ⁵² Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. ⁵³ You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it.”  ⁵⁴ When they heard these things, they were enraged and gnashed their teeth at him. ~ Acts 7:51-54^CSB

The people stayed silent and listened to Stephen’s message. He started with Abraham and made his way to Moses. The people didn’t contest anything he said, but when Stephen mentioned that they were the problem. That they killed the Messiah. That they were in the wrong, they were enraged. They were angered. Stephen had struck a nerve.

See, people are okay with hearing the historical references of the Bible. They’re even okay with hearing a moral story from the Bible. People only have a problem when you personalize the Bible. When the Scriptures are used to convict the conscience and change lives, that’s when people have a problem. That’s when people become angry because they’ve become attached to their flesh. The flesh becomes addictive. It becomes a stronghold that keeps you bound.

The message of Christ isn’t just to feel good and tickle our ears. The message of Christ is to lighten the darkness and change the lives of those who hear it. It’s not to make you feel comfortable in your sin; it’s to convict you of your past sins and change your life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let The Message Change You.

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³² Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. ~Ephesians 4:32

This is a very tall order when you couple that command, be kind and tenderhearted to one another, with forgiving them just like God forgave us. We have to remember that after those Roman soldiers nailed Jesus’ hands and feet, and after the Jews turned on Him and asked for a murdering thief to be set free and for Jesus to be crucified for literally nothing that He had done wrong, He had done only good, He cried out, “Father forgive them…” And that is what we are asked to do. That is what we are expected to do.

Sometimes, it is hard to overlook someone who has hurt us deeply with just words, much less with physical abuse or who has sexually abused us. Now, we are being commanded to be kind and tenderhearted to each other, even to those who have abused us, and not only that but to forgive each other our faults and trespasses. It doesn’t say that they have to change, feel remorse, or repay our jester; we must be kind, tenderhearted, and forgive even though we have been hurt so deeply. It doesn’t sound fair, but it will be worth your while in eternity. There is so much stored up for us in eternity that this now big thing will seem like a little thing.

I know that it is hard now, but not impossible. Once you have the love of God in your spirit, it will be easier. Stephen, the first recorded martyr of the Church, was being stoned to death, and just before he died, he cried out to God to please forgive those who were stoning him. It takes the love of God in you to do something like that. Because all of our God-given primal instincts scream the opposite, they scream, “Survival at all cost.” But again, it takes love to overlook, to put someone else first, and to forgive those who have deeply hurt us. It takes love to be kind to those who hate you for no good reason. It takes love to be tenderhearted to those who are closed-fisted toward you and others. It takes love to forgive those who have grievously caused you harm.

I read a story about a mother whose only son was killed by another young man. She visited him in prison and forgave him. She began to pray for him and when he got out of prison, she got him an apartment right next to hers. In essence, he became her son. That is true forgiveness. That is what we are asked to do here, be kind, be tenderhearted, and forgive. And because of her forgiveness, the young man’s life was radically changed. He is now serving the LORD. A soul saved is the main goal.

Heavenly Father, please give us the strength to be kind and tenderhearted towards others, even those who are rude and unkind to us. To forgive those who have deeply hurt us. It is not easy, but with You all things are possible. Thank you, LORD, in Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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