Watch for the Weeds

Food for Thought:
Though a weed may have a pretty flower,
it is still just a weed.

Danger! Be Careful!

“Deception is a cruel act…it often has many players on different stages that corrode the soul.” Donna A Favors

Today I will mount my soapbox to speak from my heart, or maybe it is just from my mind, but whichever, it is a very prevalent issue to me. Practically every day I hear where someone I know takes a detour in life’s journey. In fact this last week, I had conversations with loved ones from four families where deception had taken one of theirs. What happened? The New Testament tells of a time when deception/delusion will be found on an unprecedented scale – it being so convincing that even the very elect would stand in danger of being carried away (Matt 24:24). How many exactly will be overtaken? I don't know but it will come to try us all – no one is immune, not one.

Most seem to attribute the act of deception to the “man of perdition” only. However, I believe the scripture is speaking in general, with such acts tied to all MEN, not one, or two, but ALL. When I was a child, it seemed that everyone reverenced God. No one would think of stealing from the church, defacing the things of God, talking evil of God’s word, or lying to God’s people. And you could take any church goer at their word (no lies, Period). I didn't attend church; my dad was an atheist and my mom went to church on Easter only but I, as others, respected God and His people. Now the reverence/respect has dwindled, and many feel it acceptable to “exaggerate”, talk in the “gray area”, "sin all day/repent each night". Why has the fear of God departed from our midst? Why do men/women feel they can live any way they wish and their salvation still be assured? Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe said it best: “We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.” Deception is a empty hole allowing us to believe everything we say and hear.

No doubt we are living in the Laodicea hour when the church is prey to self-deception. Undoubtedly, in the Lord’s view (Rev 3:14-22) this age church is one of the poorest and most wretched as well as blinded in church history. We definitely take pride in having more gifts, more power, more gospel (definite deception; there has and always will be only one), more ministries (what happened to the basic 5-fold one? didn’t it work?) and more prosperity than any previous church (there’s nothing wrong in prosperity but haven’t we misread what prosperity SHOULD really entail, i.e., prosperity of souls, home/foreign mission works, etc. - and not always read as actual dollars and cents? Our personal dollars and cents are called blessings, not prosperity).

I am concerned, I am shaken, and I am saddened. Could delusion be sweeping into my thinking, and becoming a part of my makeup? Am I truly aware of the many rival voices clamoring for my attention? (these voices having taken hold of many I thought would never be deceived). Oh Lord, may I look deep into my heart, removing any deceptions lodged therein, and in so doing I will work out my salvation with fear and trembling.

Well, I will step down off my box now.

Deception’s Waters

Was going through a stack of photos, and came across ones taken a couple of years ago while vacationing in the State of Washington. The location was Deception Bay, Puget Sound - what an overwhelming sight - the water appearing deep and serene. However, its character was misleading for in moving around its edges, it offered a new perception at every angle.

Stories tell that years ago ship captains guided their ships into the bay’s beautiful waters thinking it was a place of safety in the midst of the sea's storms. Inside the cove, they found the waters, in many places, to be shallow, rocky and turbulent. Its deceptiveness caused many a shipwreck, leaving mighty ships broken apart, with their crews wounded or having perished. I can’t help but think the bay stands as a lesson to guard ourselves at all times, even when all seems calm and peaceful on the surface - for it is the underlying conditions, not readily seen, that may be perilous and destroy the spirit. My poem is written as a reminder not to be complacent but guard myself from becoming a statistic of shipwreck.

Swells boisterously rise above shades of gray,
unmercifully lurching as beasts toward their prey.
In patterns of frustration they ruthlessly toss,
determined to dash anything in their path to cross.

Pivoting wildly beneath, water in the unrest of a storm,
every motion aspiring to seize an unfamiliar form.
Cunningly deception lies on the crest of the wave,
as a fortress, to conquer those daring in self to be brave.

Waters continually strike at each vessel’s existence,

hoping strength is gone, for to offer little resistance.
But as adversity comes to conquer, it must subside again,
it is here that one’s faith must regroup if a victory to win.

The secret in mastering the storms that reside in the sea,
is to set sail toward the pristine shore known as eternity.
For in trusting we embark on a voyage navigated from above,
and we will reach our destination in the safety of love.

Isn’t it wonderful that God speaks to us through the elements of nature? Why not look around your environment as I am sure He has a lesson waiting just for you.