How lying, deception and immorality effect the minds and a person’s health.

Written by Lee Stevenson

People can deliberately suppress memories of guilt from deception, lying or doing something immoral. But it comes at a price it effects and even starts damaging the brain causing personality alterations, changes in behavior and it negatively impacts their health.

These is not to be taken ans something to diagnose someone with or treat them or oneself. Therapist are best for healing mentally. I am writing this so people can be aware when they start seeing changes in others behavior, but you should not assume because they show some of the symptoms they are being deceptive, lying are being immoral. Some illnesses and toxins can cause some of these symptoms. This usually occurs suddenly and more and more of the symptoms occur with the longer the suppress the guilt or memories of guilt.

Ever notice those people who are prejudice , or who may steal or may commit immoral sexual acts. They cannot recall the things they have done. It is called ethical amnesia. They develop cognitive dissonance because they do not want to admit that they were capable of such things and they conflict with their own self image of who they believe they are morally. They intentionally suppress their memories of guilt. These ones will be ale to recall all the days events but not the time that the immoral act took place. They have memory gaps and cannot tell you all that occurred. For example if a wife spent time with another man. And she committed infidelity. She would remember all the things she did that day but would have memory lapses of the times the event took place that caused the guilt.

These ones subconsciously try to cleanse or remove their guilt by being more prosocial. They will start doing many acts of charity and kindness. They are trying to restore the image they perceived of themselves. They will start speaking out for victims such as children who have been sexually abused or wives who have been abused. They stop talking about their lives in fear it will bring back the memories of guilt or that something they say will expose their guilt and they will have to face it. Even though they have suppressed the memories of guilt they will have Freudian slips of things that can revel they are suppressing guilt surrounding something.

But you may say we all do that. The difference is those ones continually put themselves in positions to fail morally. They also continue to have more and more memory lapses it takes a lot of mental energy to suppress guilt. They will often times start being paranoid and start thinking everyone is out to get them and start pushing people away except those involved with approving of their immoral behavior. They will surround themselves who approve of immoral behavior to make themselves feel they are no different them anyone else and may even be better morally.

If someone does something that reminds them of their guilt they will get angry at them attack them , hate them and resent them. Studies have shown this damages the mind and they continue to lead double lives but the morally decline more and more. They start believing rules and morals do not apply to them. They make up stories that others are the cause of their unhappiness and the convince themselves of it. It becomes easier and easier for them to lie and believe their own lies. This cause even more moral decline. Sadly the quality of their friends continues to decrease as their morals decrease. They stat comparing their morality to others and start looking for flaws in others to make themselves feel like their actions were not immoral and that they are more moral then others. The decline in their morals is a result of them losing their ability to learn from past errors causing them to make even more immoral decisions.

Lying takes a toll on their health because in suppressing the lies they are still aware of the consequences subconsciously so it keep their limbic system upregulated and their HPA upregalted which has dramatic negative effects on their health. In time their minds can adjust to lying and the limbic system and HPA will normalize but the negative effect of them supressing their memory causes them to not only become more deceptive to themselves and others but they lose the ability to detect when someone is is being deceptive or lying. The person’s lies eventually come out even it they suppressed the memory . To try and cover for that lie they have to tell more lies until eventually most will lose trust in them because it become clear they are an untruthful and non remorseful person. People will start avoiding them and distancing themselves from them.

When people have done something that makes them feel shame and guilt. They sometimes will go into a state of denial and avoidance. They avoid, deflect, create fantasies and experience frequent episodes of anger, they will refuse to look at fact and this habit can carry over to other areas of their life not just with the act them committed to make them feel guilt, they also experience psychological projection. This is to try and hide the pain, and trauma from realizing what the long term effects of their actions would be if their immoral act is found out.

Psychological projection is a result of the person trying to disown a part of themselves they do not like, it is a form of self denial. They will blame shift, start shame dumping trying to humiliate the victim, they will over idealize things such as animals or even people. They will refuse to look at the fact. Narcissist and those with Border Line personality disorder are the most prone to doing this.

They project their guilt on others accusing them of what they are actually guilty of. They feel vulnerable because of what they have done so they start bullying the victim. This usually comes from them being insecure or fearing what they may lose because of their actions. This makes them develop disassociative personality disorder, if they do not admit their guilt or continue to add to their guilt. Meaning they may develop two personalities. They can experience amnesia of the events of the immoral acts they had done, they will have gaps in memory, lose their sense of identity to will seek out people with qualities they like and try to imitate them to establish their identity. They have a reduced emotional response, so cannot connect emotionally with others. They compartmentalize their thoughts. They separate their thoughts from their feelings and also thoughts that are not compatible with what they think such as thoughts of guilt. They lose the concept of who they are and their ability of self assessment. Self assessment is how we identify what we like and what we do not like, what we feel is right and what we feel is wrong. They become people pleasers in and attempt to reestablish their identity. They could even experience a change in the sex they identify with. This is in an effort to try and hide the guilt and shame. It is also an attempt to hide the guilt because they fear what the long term outcome will be if they get caught. This is also a sign of being neurotic.

Manipulation and responsibility avoidance. They will create false stories to try and make the victim believe what they saw is not what had occurred. They well act surprised or offended and even angry that it was suggested they had done it. They are hoping the person has insecurities or self doubt. If they do then it can provoke guilt and shame in them, this causes the victim to false reason and start believing they were wrong even though they were right in their assessment. If lying and excuses do not work they will start diverting the blame and making excuses this is involved in impression management.

Impression management the more they do this, the more difficult it gets. They have to remember all the excuses, lies and deception they have done. This causes them to start forgetting things and become easily confused. So if something is sprung upon them quickly they have a difficult time separating the guilt, and suppression of the memories of guilt in their brain making them more prone to slipping up.

They use impression management to persuade people to think a certain way. This is where the increase in their sexual activities come in. Because of their suppression of the guilt memories and has increased other areas of the brain causing them to start seeking out multiple sex partners, because they cannot get joy from little things anymore they start getting thrills from the ability to manipulate and deceive people. This causes them to mostly feel anger and envy especially towards their victim or anyone who could remind them of their guilt even the person they may have committed the immoral act with. They are cool and calm if they believe they are deceiving someone but if they cannot deceive that person then they get very angry towards that person and may even hate them. They lose the ability to feel remorse or shame so their morality declines and so does their empathy and compassion. At this point they try to give people gifts, fake showing them positive emotions, and even act like they are concerned for them. If these things do not get the person to do their will then they will experience their full furry. They will have many people they do this with. They will do everything they can to gain power over them even using sex to draw them in. These ones are the ones who will excessively complement someone. They are trying to convince those around them that they are the greatest. They get very good at hiding who they really are but in private around their families . They can be very mentally and physically abusive. They become very sensitive if someone points out a short coming and will severely attack them and even get violent with them. Anyone they feel can expose their guilt they will smear their reputation and push them out of their life. They go to extremes to try to make it look like they have integrity, and will self promote their integrity.

If all else fails they will try to use anger and intimidation. They will threaten people. Try to put them in a vulnerable postions. They develop many defensive and assertive strategies that usually are subtle and not obvious. They will do things like shaming and belittling someone and pretend like it is a joke to down play what they are really doing. If it comes to solving a problem together they will try to make the other person look as if they are unreasonable or not cooperative. In actuality they are they want the person they are disagreeing with to surrender to their terms. They do this in an effort to make the victim admit everything was their fault and they will not acknowledge their own guilt. They will do things to try to make you feel inferior such as pointing out your short comings and even fabricating them and using errors you made in the past as evidence. They may even us that as evidence that you have a mental illness. We all show since of mental illness at one time or another it is when these symptoms persist over a very long period of time it is a problem . Stress , trauma or illness can all cause us to have mental issues at times. But those who are mentally ill the symptoms last much longer and are more pronounced.

It is all about control so they try to shape your personality and how you think to be like theirs. If they do something that is offensive to you are disrespect you they will accuse you of being too sensitive. They will never apologize because they feel nor remorse or guilt. If you ever meet someone who does not apologize no matter what , it does not matter how nice they are be very careful. When they have been guilty of an immoral act they will try to get you to over think it. Do not do that it will cause you to become confused, which is what they want. If they see you are not thinking about it then they will try to do things to keep your thought focus and over thinking things. If you make them justify why they are reacting the way they do and why they feel the way they do, it usually shuts them down because they know they cannot, they sometime throw things at someone to try and convince them they do not deserve to have any guilt , usually it is pretty obvious. Best to walk away because when that fails they will resort to violence. All these things they are doing is because they are trying to maintain their self esteem.

Situational avoidance they will avoid people and place or activities that could remind them of their guilt.

Cognitive avoidance they deliberately turn their minds , thoughts and memories and avoid thinking about them to suppress their guilt. It is a conscious decision, so they are deliberately choosing to block the memories and lie to themselves. They will do things to try and distract themselves so they will not think about those thoughts. They will take an interest in things and try developing hobbies or get pets to distract themselves.

They will also use toxic positivety. They They will try to convince themselves things are better then they are. They feel insure because they realize the bad outcome and long term effects that their immorality can cause if they are found out. There are things they will refuse to discuss problems or concerns because it is not in compliance with the positive view they have. They blame others for the problems they created and refuse to hold themselves accountable. If they did then it would disprove the false image they have developed of themselves of being moral. They will believe others problems or struggles are their fault because they did not try hard enough or they somehow failed, or are flawed. They have difficulty expressing emotions when they are at this point. They cannot handle stress or unpleasant thoughts because it takes a lot of the brains resources to suppress the guilt and the memories of guilt. They will avoid things that can remind them of their guilt. They will refuse to acknowledge problems and struggle to cope with them especially if they are hit with a new unexpected problem. This can cause them to feel powerless and can make their guilt and shame return resulting in depression and anxiety.

They also will fantasize and day dream a lot as part of their toxic positivety. To avoid their guilt they will start playing out different scenarios in their head of problems and how they can gain control over them. They are not about solving problems but about controlling them. They may day dream on how they can protect their reputation as things are found out. How they could manipulate things so the victim looks like the villain.

Somatic avoidance they will avoid things that bring them joy. Lose the ability to feel remorse, guilt or shame. These are replaced with anger, sadness, resentment, frustration, depression extreme grief. They do this in an effort to exchange the feeling of guilt and shame. This is substitution avoidance.

Substitution avoidance is to avoid feelings of guilt or shame. They replace the feeling of remorse, guilt and shame with anger, resentment, hatred, sadness, depression, and grief. They also try to releive their guilt by increasing their immoral sexual activities which only farther increases their guilt but they have learn to suppress it so it gets easier and easier for them to cross the lines of immorality. They also find other distraction like painting the house. Getting pets, developing a hobby. Sometimes they turn to drugs, and alcohol or develop and addictive type compulsive behavior such as gambling.

When all else fails they will start blaming and accusing the victim and others for the negative effects their immorality had on their lives. They will accuse the victim, people they associate with. They do this and many other things like blame shifting to try and convince themselves their immoral act was not their fault or was justified. They will refuse to play and down play the severity of what they have done. They will start looking for shorting comings and flaws in others in order to make them feel better about themselves.

This is sad because their morals decline more and more. They surround themselves with people who have lower morals and compare themselves to them. As their morals decline they have to choose friends with even lower morals. Eventually they reach the scum at the bottom of the barrel. Usually by then they have experienced violence, have gotten sexually transmitted diseases and was in dangerous situations that almost cost their live many times if they survive that long.

Studies have shown if they confess their guilt , and face it their brain can heal and they can become trust worthy and honest again. Studies have shown that partial confession actually damages the brain more then fully confessing. Their ability to recognize moral boundaries can be restored and their ability to inhibit immoral behavior becomes restore. Also their ability to learn from past error is restored , and they learn to be more cautious when it comes to things pertaining to morality. When their actions show they have truly turned their life around many of their friends and families trust in time can be restored. That note was based on my experience and when I had tried to suppress my guilt.

https://www.medicaldaily.com/unethical-amnesia-memory-loss-bad-behavior-positive-self-image-386827

The Perfect Spouse: How Unethical Amnesia Might Affect Getting the Truth

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20853995/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pleased-meet-me/202001/the-truth-about-lying-and-what-it-does-the-body

Here’s what lying and dishonesty do to your brain

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ulterior-motives/201501/why-confessing-is-good-you

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12355343/

Our mouth can save or condemn us.

Written by Lee Stevenson , sorry I am not the best editor.

Mouth can condemn or save

Very soon things are going to change. There will be those causing divisions in the congregations and we have to be very careful. We are very near our deliverance. We know what is about to occur and the mouth is a powerful weapon that will be used against us. We need to be prepared. Watching what we say is very important. It can save or condemn us. We will need to be careful what we so to blood relatives and spiritual relatives.

If we use or tolerate abusive speech or obscene language it is saying something about ourselves. What comes out of our mouths should build others up. We should not be gossiping or murmuring about others. We should not be listening to those who do bad mouth others or gossip. It is destructive and self serving. The bible says not to even associate with such people because they are divisive.

Another type of abusive speech which I have seen people use is they will ask the same question different ways. If you answer even slightly different they would use that as evidence to say you are lying or being deceptive. No one remembers things perfectly. It is unreasonable to expect someone to. This is not a proper use of a person’s mouth it is deceptive and only harms others. The bible says let no deception be found in us. If someone keeps doing that then ask them why they keep asking the same question over and over? It puts them on the spot.

We need to be careful of those who complaining or bragging and associating with those who do. It could draw us away we need to stay focused. If they murmur or gossip about others be cautious associating with them. We should keep in mind Korah and how his murmuring cost the lives of many. The things we speak should build unity and peace. Korah was aware of the errors Aaron and Moses made. It was God who placed them in their positions. It was not Korah’s position to remove them which is what he tried to do. His pride got the best of him and he wanted to lead Israel , which was in opposition to God. We should not speak ill of others especially our spiritual leaders. They are directly accountable to God.

If we have confronted a gossiper or someone who appears to be getting caught up in the world and our spiritual relative seems to be getting worse you may bring it to the attention of an elder so they can deal with it in an appropriate manor. Unfortunately in times past it sometimes took confronting them in front of others to get their attention. Now more then ever we will need to learn to forgive because many are coming into the truth and have much to learn, we need to be patient with them and teach them and help them grow. If someone is going about revealing things told to them by someone who trusted them was said then they cannot be trusted to keep matters confidential and we should be careful. We have to stop and think, if they have no qualms in revealing confidential talk and gossip why are they doing that. Are they seeking attention? Are they trying to smear the persons reputation. Are they doing the same thing to you and others? Gossiping and revealing private conversations causes divisions. People doing these things only cause divisions. These people act very kind and try to get on others good side and even

I have seen others murmur about those who were struggling and depressed because of hard times. This is not how it should be. We should be comforting them and be a support for them. Jesus was always being tried and they even tried to kill him often and he still took time to listen to people and comfort them. speak of these things as if they are concerned. We need to be very careful of these ones they can easily draw us in. If someone gossips or whispers about others we should avoid them. It causes strife, jealousy, anger and many other bad things. God does not approve of back biters and we risk becoming one if we associate with them. We should not go on the defense when we are a victim of such things but react appropriately so they may be saved.

If we jump conclusions based on a rumor it could come back to bite us. We should talk to the person ourselves. If we share that rumor and it proves to be false it will smear our reputation. Keep in mind if the truth does not come out Jehovah knows the truth and if the rumor is a lie you will made yourself a liar in Jehovah’s eyes.

What comes out of our mouths and our friends mouths should be for building peace and unity. We should encourage those who are having a rough time. We should correct those in an appropriate way if they are speaking things the should not be speaking.

If we are disciplined we need to accept it and see it for what it is. A loving parent disciplines a child because they wish them no harm and know their course of action if it continues can bring a lot of misery on themselves and even harm. The discipline is for our own good so we should give respect to the one disciplining us.

What we say could smear our heavenly fathers good name and even cause his name to be spoken of in a bad way. If our behavior does not match what we are teaching then we could be smearing God’s good name. If we claim to love God and Jesus but we lie, we are deceptive, and say things we should not say how would that reflect on God? Jesus told the pharisees their father was Satan and said Satan was the creator of the lie. Surely we would not want to lie and choose Satan as our father in doing so.

Now more then ever we need to stay focused on spiritual things. We should do to others as we would want them to do to us. If we have a bad day and may lose our temper how good do you feel when you have been forgiven by the person you offended. If someone offends us shouldn’t we also let them know we love them by forgiving them?

We need to prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually because it is going to get much worse. We know this system is about to collapse and Satan and those who chose his side are only going to accuse us more. We have to be very careful what we say and who we say it to. Violence is rampant on the earth and so is hatred. We could bring harm on ourselves or others if we are not careful what we say. Others may try to distort what we say to use it against us. Remember the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one.

If we choose to follow Jesus then we will also be treated as he was. We know we are very near the end of this system and Satan and his people will turn on us just as they did Jesus. Jesus was innocent and look at the things that were said about and to him. Keep in mind God knows what they are doing is wrong and he will deal with them. He hates lies also, and finds it detestable. Keep in mind who is behind the bad speech. Jesus suffered the persecution and left us an example of how we should deal with it.

We need to be very careful associating with those who do not produce the fruits of the spirit but are displaying the fruits of Satan and those who reject our heavenly father. Many of us will be isolated and will have to depend mainly on Jehovah for our support so we need to draw as close as we can to him now. The things occurring can rob us of our happiness and health. If someone seems to have a form of godly devotion but are not producing good fruit we should be cautious. Those producing good fruits will strengthen and build others up and not tear others down.

It is more important then ever to take God’s word in now because we are at a turning point and things are going to change very soon. We will need Jehovah more then we ever have before. So we need to put on the complete armor of God. This involves having an accurate knowledge of the truth, trying our best to have a good standing with our heavenly father, sharing the good news, we need to have faith in the future promises and God’s ability to fulfill what he has promised. We have to have an accurate knowledge of how salvation has and will occur by putting God’s words in our hearts. We must pray continually, especially now in these times even little decisions can go bad with all the corruption and Satan’s attacks. We must keep awake especially now. We should not tolerate those speaking bad of others. It is a sign of arrogance which we know Jehovah does not like. We must be cautious about those who make presumptions. Presumptuousness is to do something unwarranted or without a right to. So if they are seem arrogant or over assertive we may want to be careful.

When we listen to others we should not jump to false conclusions or make false assumptions we may say something we regret. Often times it may have been a miss understanding or as in my case I sometimes do not clearly say what I am thinking and it may come out wrong. With social media apps misunderstandings are very common because often times it is difficult to get a person thoughts across clearly. I am myself working on not jumping to conclusions and trying to ask for clarification on before I assume the worst.

The bible warns us about talking a lot. Look at it this way the more you talk the better chance you have of something not coming out the way you meant or even worse you say something you should not have said. It could hurt others. Our speech should promote unity not strife and conflict. We all need to weigh what we say cautiously. If we are speaking things that are not of God it is Satan’s thoughts we are thinking or saying we need to do our best to correct it. If it is someone else then we need to be careful associating with them. Those who refuse to correct their behavior will be dealt dealt with by Jehovah. Things are rapidly winding down now more then ever we need to make sure what we say would be acceptable to God and will up-build others, promote peace and unity. So what we say can either save us and draw us closer to God or it can condemn us and even cost our lives as violence and hatred increases.

(Luke 6:45) 45 A good man brings forth good out of the good treasure of his heart, but a wicked man brings forth what is wicked out of his wicked [treasure]; for out of the heart’s abundance his mouth speaks. . .

(Mark 7:17-23) . . .. 18 So he said to them: “Are YOU also without perception like them? Are YOU not aware that nothing from outside that passes into a man can defile him, 19 since it passes, not into [his] heart, but into [his] intestines, and it passes out into the sewer?” Thus he declared all foods clean. 20 Further, he said: “That which issues forth out of a man is what defiles a man; 21 for from inside, out of the heart of men, injurious reasonings issue forth: fornications, thieveries, murders, 22 adulteries, covetings, acts of wickedness, deceit, loose conduct, an envious eye, blasphemy, haughtiness, unreasonableness. 23 All these wicked things issue forth from within and defile a man. . .

(James 1:26, 27) 26 If any man seems to himself to be a formal worshiper and yet does not bridle his tongue, but goes on deceiving his own heart, this man’s form of worship is futile. 27 The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.

(Matthew 12:36, 37) 36 I tell YOU that every unprofitable saying that men speak, they will render an account concerning it on Judgment Day; 37 for by your words you will be declared righteous, and by your words you will be condemned.”

(Colossians 3:8-11) 8 But now really put them all away from YOU, wrath, anger, badness, abusive speech, and obscene talk out of YOUR mouth. 9 Do not be lying to one another. Strip off the old personality with its practices, 10 and clothe yourselves with the new [personality], which through accurate knowledge is being made new according to the image of the One who created it, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, foreigner, Scyth′i·an, slave, freeman, but Christ is all things and in all.

(Ephesians 4:28-32) . . .. 29 Let a rotten saying not proceed out of YOUR mouth, but whatever saying is good for building up as the need may be, that it may impart what is favorable to the hearers. 30 Also, do not be grieving God’s holy spirit, with which YOU have been sealed for a day of releasing by ransom. 31 Let all malicious bitterness and anger and wrath and screaming and abusive speech be taken away from YOU along with all badness. 32 But become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate, freely forgiving one another just as God also by Christ freely forgave YOU.

(2 Timothy 2:14-17) . . .. 15 Do your utmost to present yourself approved to God, a workman with nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of the truth aright. 16 But shun empty speeches that violate what is holy; for they will advance to more and more ungodliness, 17 and their word will spread like gangrene. Hy·me·nae′us and Phi·le′tus are of that number.

(Proverbs 17:9) 9 The one covering over transgression is seeking love, and he that keeps talking about a matter is separating those familiar with one another. . .

(2 Timothy 2:23-26) 23 Further, turn down foolish and ignorant questionings, knowing they produce fights. 24 But a slave of the Lord does not need to fight, but needs to be gentle toward all, qualified to teach, keeping himself restrained under evil, 25 instructing with mildness those not favorably disposed; as perhaps God may give them repentance leading to an accurate knowledge of truth, 26 and they may come back to their proper senses out from the snare of the Devil, seeing that they have been caught alive by him for the will of that one.

(Luke 23:8-10) . . .. 9 Now he began to question him with a good many words; but he made him no answer. 10 However, the chief priests and the scribes kept standing up and vehemently accusing him

(Jude 16-21) 16 These men are murmurers, complainers about their lot in life, proceeding according to their own desires, and their mouths speak swelling things, while they are admiring personalities for the sake of [their own] benefit. 17 As for YOU, beloved ones, call to mind the sayings that have been previously spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 how they used to say to YOU: “In the last time there will be ridiculers, proceeding according to their own desires for ungodly things.” 19 These are the ones that make separations, animalistic [men], not having spirituality. 20 But YOU, beloved ones, by building up yourselves on YOUR most holy faith, and praying with holy spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love, while YOU are waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ with everlasting life in view. . .

(1 Corinthians 1:10) 10 Now I exhort YOU, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that YOU should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among YOU, but that YOU may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.

(Ephesians 4:1-6) 4 I, therefore, the prisoner in [the] Lord, entreat YOU to walk worthily of the calling with which YOU were called, 2 with complete lowliness of mind and mildness, with long-suffering, putting up with one another in love, 3 earnestly endeavoring to observe the oneness of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace. 4 One body there is, and one spirit, even as YOU were called in the one hope to which YOU were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all [persons], who is over all and through all and in all.

(Luke 17:3, 4) 3 Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother commits a sin give him a rebuke, and if he repents forgive him. 4 Even if he sins seven times a day against you and he comes back to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him..

(Galatians 2:11-14) 11 However, when Ce′phas came to Antioch, I resisted him face to face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before the arrival of certain men from James, he used to eat with people of the nations; but when they arrived, he went withdrawing and separating himself, in fear of those of the circumcised class. 13 The rest of the Jews also joined him in putting on this pretense, so that even Bar′na·bas was led along with them in their pretense. 14 But when I saw they were not walking straight according to the truth of the good news, I said to Ce′phas before them all: “If you, though you are a Jew, live as the nations do, and not as Jews do, how is it that you are compelling people of the nations to live according to Jewish practice?. . .

(Hebrews 12:9-11) 9 Furthermore, we used to have fathers who were of our flesh to discipline us, and we used to give them respect. Shall we not much more subject ourselves to the Father of our spiritual life and live? 10 For they for a few days used to discipline us according to what seemed good to them, but he does so for our profit that we may partake of his holiness. 11 True, no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; yet afterward to those who have been trained by it it yields peaceable fruit, namely, righteousness.

(1 Thessalonians 5:12-15) 12 Now we request YOU, brothers, to have regard for those who are working hard among YOU and presiding over YOU in [the] Lord and admonishing YOU; 13 and to give them more than extraordinary consideration in love because of their work. Be peaceable with one another. 14 On the other hand, we exhort YOU, brothers, admonish the disorderly, speak consolingly to the depressed souls, support the weak, be long-suffering toward all. 15 See that no one renders injury for injury to anyone else, but always pursue what is good toward one another and to all others.

(2 Peter 2:2, 3) 2 Furthermore, many will follow their acts of loose conduct, and on account of these the way of the truth will be spoken of abusively. 3 Also, with covetousness they will exploit YOU with counterfeit words. But as for them, the judgment from of old is not moving slowly, and the destruction of them is not slumbering.

(Galatians 5:16-21) 16 But I say, Keep walking by spirit and YOU will carry out no fleshly desire at all. 17 For the flesh is against the spirit in its desire, and the spirit against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, so that the very things that YOU would like to do YOU do not do. 18 Furthermore, if YOU are being led by spirit, YOU are not under law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, and they are fornication, uncleanness, loose conduct, 20 idolatry, practice of spiritism, enmities, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, contentions, divisions, sects, 21 envies, drunken bouts, revelries, and things like these. As to these things I am forewarning YOU, the same way as I did forewarn YOU, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s kingdom

(Luke 6:31) 31 “Also, just as YOU want men to do to YOU, do the same way to them.

.(Revelation 12:8-12) . . .. 9 So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God! 11 And they conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death. 12 On this account be glad, YOU heavens and YOU who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to YOU, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.”

(Acts 24:5-8) 5 For we have found this man a pestilent fellow and stirring up seditions among all the Jews throughout the inhabited earth and a spearhead of the sect of the Naz·a·renes′, 6 one who also tried to profane the temple and whom we seized. 7 —— 8 From him you yourself can by examination find out about all these things of which we are accusing him.”

(John 15:18-21) 18 If the world hates YOU, YOU know that it has hated me before it hated YOU. 19 If YOU were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own. Now because YOU are no part of the world, but I have chosen YOU out of the world, on this account the world hates YOU. 20 Bear in mind the word I said to YOU, A slave is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute YOU also; if they have observed my word, they will observe YOURS also. 21 But they will do all these things against YOU on account of my name, because they do not know him that sent me.

(Proverbs 6:16-19) 16 There are six things that Jehovah does hate; yes, seven are things detestable to his soul: 17 lofty eyes, a false tongue, and hands that are shedding innocent blood, 18 a heart fabricating hurtful schemes, feet that are in a hurry to run to badness, 19 a false witness that launches forth lies, and anyone sending forth contentions among brothers.

(1 Peter 2:21-23) 21 In fact, to this [course] YOU were called, because even Christ suffered for YOU, leaving YOU a model for YOU to follow his steps closely. 22 He committed no sin, nor was deception found in his mouth. 23 When he was being reviled, he did not go reviling in return. When he was suffering, he did not go threatening, but kept on committing himself to the one who judges righteously.

(2 Timothy 3:1-5) 3 But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, 3 having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, 4 betrayers, headstrong, puffed up [with pride], lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power; and from these turn away.

(James 3:17, 18) 17 But the wisdom from above is first of all chaste, then peaceable, reasonable, ready to obey, full of mercy and good fruits, not making partial distinctions, not hypocritical. 18 Moreover, the fruit of righteousness has its seed sown under peaceful conditions for those who are making peace. . .

(Galatians 5:22-24) 22 On the other hand, the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Moreover, those who belong to Christ Jesus impaled the flesh together with its passions and desire.

(Ephesians 6:10-13) 10 Finally, go on acquiring power in [the] Lord and in the mightiness of his strength. 11 Put on the complete suit of armor from God that YOU may be able to stand firm against the machinations of the Devil; 12 because we have a wrestling, not against blood and flesh, but against the governments, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places. 13 On this account take up the complete suit of armor from God, that YOU may be able to resist in the wicked day and, after YOU have done all things thoroughly, to stand firm.14 Stand firm, therefore, with YOUR loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and with YOUR feet shod with the equipment of the good news of peace. 16 Above all things, take up the large shield of faith, with which YOU will be able to quench all the wicked one’s burning missiles. 17 Also, accept the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word, 18 while with every form of prayer and supplication YOU carry on prayer on every occasion in spirit. And to that end keep awake with all constancy and with supplication in behalf of all the holy ones, 19 also for me, that ability to speak may be given me with the opening of my mouth, with freeness of speech to make known the sacred secret of the good news

(Psalm 101:5) Anyone slandering his companion in secrecy, Him I silence. Anyone of haughty eyes and of arrogant heart, Him I cannot endure.

(Proverbs 25:8-10) 8 Do not go forth to conduct a legal case hastily, that it may not be a question of what you will do in the culmination of it when your fellowman now humiliates you. 9 Plead your own cause with your fellowman, and do not reveal the confidential talk of another; 10 that the one listening may not put you to shame and the bad report by you can have no recall.

(Matthew 18:15-17) 15 “Moreover, if your brother commits a sin, go lay bare his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two more, in order that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. 17 If he does not listen to them, speak to the congregation. If he does not listen even to the congregation, let him be to you just as a man of the nations and as a tax collector.

(Proverbs 20:19) He that is going about as a slanderer is uncovering confidential talk; and with one that is enticed with his lips you must have no fellowship

(Romans 16:17-20) 17 Now I exhort YOU, brothers, to keep your eye on those who cause divisions and occasions for stumbling contrary to the teaching that YOU have learned, and avoid them. 18 For men of that sort are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own bellies; and by smooth talk and complimentary speech they seduce the hearts of guileless ones. 19 For YOUR obedience has come to the notice of all. I therefore rejoice over YOU. But I want YOU to be wise as to what is good, but innocent as to what is evil. 20 For his part, the God who gives peace will crush Satan under YOUR feet shortly. May the undeserved kindness of our Lord Jesus be with YOU. . .

(Jude 16) 16 These men are murmurers, complainers about their lot in life, proceeding according to their own desires, and their mouths speak swelling things, while they are admiring personalities for the sake of [their own] benefit.

(Isaiah 5:21) 21 Woe to those wise in their own eyes and discreet even in front of their own face. . .

(Proverbs 15:2) The tongue of wise ones does good with knowledge, but the mouth of the stupid ones bubbles forth with foolishness.

The things that comes out of a person mouth should be up building and comforting.

(Proverbs 25:11) 11 As apples of gold in silver carvings is a word spoken at the right time for it.

(Proverbs 11:2) Has presumptuousness come? Then dishonor will come; but wisdom is with the modest ones.

(James 1:19) Know this, my beloved brothers. Every man must be swift about hearing, slow about speaking, slow about wrath;

(2 Corinthians 12:20) For I am afraid that somehow, when I arrive, I may find YOU not as I could wish and I may prove to be to YOU not as YOU could wish, but, instead, there should somehow be strife, jealousy, cases of anger, contentions, backbitings, whisperings, cases of being puffed up, disorders

(Proverbs 10:19) 19 In the abundance of words there does not fail to be transgression, but the one keeping his lips in check is acting discreetly. . .

Many try to hide God’s name, we are to make it known. We should avoid those who do not acknowledge his name. It is his unique name and the name of the only true God.

(Hebrews 13:15) Through him let us always offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which make public declaration to his name

(Romans 10:10) For with the heart one exercises faith for righteousness, but with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation.

(Ephesians 4:1-6) 4 I, therefore, the prisoner in [the] Lord, entreat YOU to walk worthily of the calling with which YOU were called, 2 with complete lowliness of mind and mildness, with long-suffering, putting up with one another in love, 3 earnestly endeavoring to observe the oneness of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace. 4 One body there is, and one spirit, even as YOU were called in the one hope to which YOU were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all [persons], who is over all and through all and in all.

(1 Peter 4:15-19) 15 However, let none of YOU suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a busybody in other people’s matters. 16 But if [he suffers] as a Christian, let him not feel shame, but let him keep on glorifying God in this name. 17 For it is the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God. Now if it starts first with us, what will the end be of those who are not obedient to the good news of God? 18 “And if the righteous [man] is being saved with difficulty, where will the ungodly [man] and the sinner make a showing?” 19 So, then, also let those who are suffering in harmony with the will of God keep on commending their souls to a faithful Creator while they are doing good.

(2 Timothy 2:23-26) 23 Further, turn down foolish and ignorant questionings, knowing they produce fights. 24 But a slave of the Lord does not need to fight, but needs to be gentle toward all, qualified to teach, keeping himself restrained under evil, 25 instructing with mildness those not favorably disposed; as perhaps God may give them repentance leading to an accurate knowledge of truth, 26 and they may come back to their proper senses out from the snare of the Devil, seeing that they have been caught alive by him for the will of that one.

(James 1:26, 27) 26 If any man seems to himself to be a formal worshiper and yet does not bridle his tongue, but goes on deceiving his own heart, this man’s form of worship is futile. 27 The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world. . .

(Matthew 16:22, 23) . . .” 23 But, turning his back, he said to Peter: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you think, not God’s thoughts, but those of men. . .

(Colossians 2:8) 8 Look out: perhaps there may be someone who will carry YOU off as his prey through the philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary things of the world and not according to Christ;

(Proverbs 6:12-15) 12 A good-for-nothing man, a man of hurtfulness, is walking with crookedness of speech, 13 winking with his eye, making signs with his foot, making indications with his fingers. 14 Perverseness is in his heart. He is fabricating something bad all the time. He keeps sending out merely contentions. 15 That is why suddenly there will come his disaster; in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no healing. . .

(Matthew 12:36) I tell YOU that every unprofitable saying that men speak, they will render an account concerning it on Judgment Day;

(Romans 12:17-21) 17 Return evil for evil to no one. Provide fine things in the sight of all men. 18 If possible, as far as it depends upon YOU, be peaceable with all men. 19 Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but yield place to the wrath; for it is written: “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says Jehovah.” 20 But, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by doing this you will heap fiery coals upon his head.” 21 Do not let yourself be conquered by the evil, but keep conquering the evil with the good.

Things that may indicate guilt.

Written by Lee Stevenson, sorry I am not the best editor.

We are living in the last days. I believe it can works as a protection to know when someone may be guilty, but we should not over think the things that can indicate guilt, if there are many of the things I mention occurring at once it may be wise to start paying a little more attention to things.

There are ways to tell if someone may be guilty of something, things you can watch for. Now these are not absolute because there are those who grew up being falsely accused of things so will feel guilt for any little thing they feel they failed at or even believe they have guilt they do not. I am going to discuss the ones who will have guilt and who hide it. These ones usually act over confident and will point out what they view as others short comings to keep the attention away from them. I will discuss common tactics used by those who have guilt they are hiding. But this should not be taken as advice for using it to convict someone. It can be useful in determining if this person is hard on themselves which can cause a negative reaction or over reaction to many things or if they truly have guilt. This would take knowing the person’s previous behavior compared to their present behavior. When I was a child my did bought me psychology books. This does not qualify me to make an evaluation I am writing this because I feel these things could be useful considering the times we are in. I use the term victims because when a person is guilty of a wrong doing there are multiple victims involved because when the main victim suffers from a person’s wrong doing it often time effects their friends and family. I have found many of these things to be true especially if many of these things occur frequently. If they occur here and there and not frequently I would be hesitant to believe the person had guilt. But if it is a pattern that keep occurring a person may need to pay attention. If we find ourselves doing these things we need to keep in mind that with guilt there are victims and it hurts purple. If we have made an error , it is best to admit it hope your are forgiven so that you and others can move on. Hiding guilt draws out the person who is guilty misery and the victims misery. It also ends in many people no longer wanting to associate with a person who has hid their guilt, because of the extreme measures it takes to hide guilt. Granted admitting guilt takes time to regain peoples trust but it is better then losing them entirely.

When they are first guilty they will love bomb the victim or victims. They will overcompensate by being overly nice and helpful. Some are naturally overly nice and helpful but when things are out of character for someone is when we need to pay attention.

People who have guilt will try to justify their actions in detail and try to discuss why that may have taken actions that seemed suspicious. They will target a persons vulnerabilities and use their insecurities to keep the victims distracted so they will not see clearly and be able to think clearly about matters.

If a person has guilt it can cause them to get over emotional. The brain gets stuck in fight or flight mode. If they are questioned about their suspicious actions often times the guilt will present as anger and direct that anger towards the victims. If this does not work they often times will go into sympathy mode and try to get the victim or victims to feel sorry for them. Emotions are very strong and they will try to use emotions to keep people from reasoning.

Guilt often time causes sleep disruptions.

A tactic often used by guilty people to try and make a person like like they are lying is asking the same question only different ways. No one has a perfect memory we always deviate a little from how we remember thing. Any deviation to how we first told something is used as evidence the victim is lying even though they are telling the truth. Lawyers are aware of this fact and will use the fact our memories are not perfect in court to make it appear a person is being deceptive. This is why it is very important to state you do not remember exactly or if you don’t remember then say you do not. In court you have to answer the questions, sometimes we may make errors in how we recall and remember later. If we try to correct this guilty people and lawyers will try and use that to prove you are being deceptive.

Often times the guilty will go out of their way to avoid the victim and make excuses for avoiding the victim. They may even try to paint the victims in a negative light to hide the true motive for their avoidance. They will spend less time around the people or things that could trigger the guilt. Thy will get preoccupied by things to use as a cover for the avoidance and exaggerate their importance. They may even create scenarios that will keep them too busy to have to face the victims so they do not have to face their guilt.

When the guilt progresses they will start accusing others of the things they are guilty of. They may also start to justify their actions. Like the avoidance, or the angry outburst. They also may start exaggerating their victims guilt.

When it seems they are going to get caught they may start shaming the victim and pointing out their flaws and short comings. This justifies their actions in their mind. If the victim or victims are getting close to the truth they will also use this method to prepare them so they can use this for an excuse to justify their actions. They will nit pick at the victim or victims pointing out any flaws and even convincing them they have flaws they may not have. This is also to induce an emotional response which can prevent a person from being able to reason things through or get them to false reason on things.

Gas lighting is also used to try and alter the victims perception of reality. They will accuse the victims of being overly sensitive or overly reactive. They may even use this as evidence to try and say this is proof the victim is guilty of something. When they are gas lighting they will do little things here and there to draw the victims imperfections out and get them to react to them. Then once the victims do react they use this to guilt them.

If they are sure they are going to get exposed they will start playing the victim so that when the lie is exposed those around them will not believe the victims. Usually by the time guilt is exposed the guilty party has already put things in place and has convinced people to lie for them and to validate things for them to cover over their guilt. This prevents their guilt from being exposed to others because no one would believe the victims. Often times they will start arguments in front of people or fights and do it in a way that it will make the victim look like they started it. This is to produce evidence to discredit the victims by making them look irrational and making them look unreasonable.

We all have our short comings. If someone is using guilt , embarrassment , or the many other ways they have to justify what they do, it does not make the victim at fault. Many of us may come close to being guilty of things but when someone crosses the line, just because we may have almost made a similar error this does not make the victims guilty. We recognize those lines and do not cross them. If they cross the line the guilt is their own and any excuses they have are not justifiable.

If the guilty readily admits their guilt they could save themselves and the victims a lot of trouble. If you study the bible it is required we forgive them if they truly repent. Keep in mind how good it feels when you make an error and you are forgiven. We all make errors admitting the guilt prevents suffering for the guilty and the victims because once someone is forgiven and no longer commits the offense again, everyone can move on and put it behind them. It is unreasonable to think anyone will be innocent at all times. But it is how we respond when we are in error that is the important part. Most of the trouble with society now days is when someone does repent many refuse to forgive them. They will beat someone with their error over and over again. If we are a victim and someone has repented, we need to keep in mind how good it feels when we are forgiven and how much weight is lifted off when we can put things behind us and move on. If a person is unforgiving it may be best not to remain in contact with them if possible then can cause a lot of stress and tension. The bible tells us we will be forgiven as we forgive others. So even if the guilty person does not repent we should not hold a grudge it will only take from us mentally and even effect our health.

How to protect ourselves from deception.

Written by Lee Stevenson, sorry I am not the best editor.

With this system winding down and corruption and deception is rampant. The lines between what is right and what is wrong are getting skewed. This can open the door for us to be deceived and can cause a lot of misery and possible harm to ourselves or loved ones. So we have to pay special attention to the history of those we put our trust in. If they have a history of corruption, deception or outright lying we need to be careful trusting them. We also need to consider others ways we can protect ourselves from deception. The worst deception and the one we are most vulnerable to is self deception. The pharmaceutical and biotech industry has a history of criminal activity, deception and harm. Many governments have been caught colluding with them to hide the harm they have done. That is evidence that when the bible tells us is true the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one. It is also proof of how easily man can be deceived or corrupted.

The bible tells us many times not to leave ourselves be deceived. It will happen but as we are deceived and we apply the scriptures we can learn how to better protect ourselves from being deceived. The bible makes it clear to look at a persons fruits. The more fruits of the spirit the person produces the better the chances are we will not be deceived. The bible makes it clear we should not trust the world and even the governments because it warns the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one. There is going to be a time where many governments will turn on true worship world wide. They will try to deceive people into turning their backs on God. The better we get at identifying deception the harder it will be for us to be deceived. By reading God’s word and praying to him on matters it can help to train our minds so we will not be easily deceived by Satan and the world. We have to remember Satan knows God’s word also. The bible warned he and his messengers can appear as angels of light.

The bible showed us clues so we will know when something originates with the world and not God. One thing that is a clue, is most of the talk of a person would be of the world and not of God’s word or of God. For example if a person constantly avoids speaking of the bible it may indicate they have a matter of conscience and hearing God’s word could be hurting it. In such an instance we would need to be careful trusting such a person. Looking for the fruits of the spirit is very important. Does the person continue to grow and show more and more of the fruits of the spirit? For example do they pursue peace, do they leave love guide them, are they patient and kind, do they have self control in various areas of their life, do they have strong faith in God and trust his word to guide them. Some may show many spirits of the fruits but if there is an area they need to grow and they are not progressing we may want to be cautious.

Does the person show signs of works of the flesh for example fits of anger, hostile towards others, cause conflicts with others, do they frequently get jealous in a bad way, do they envy others, do they get drunk often, do they associate with people who do these things? Do they lack self control in areas of their life. Do they put spiritual things first? The bible makes it clear putting worldly things over spiritual things is a form of idolism. For example if a person puts the pursuit of money or material things first we may want to be careful. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy but when the pursuit of it takes from us being able to worship God with our whole heart then we are doing an act of worship to the money or material things because that is where our devotion is.

Something else we want to watch for. When a person does experience trials and tribulation do they come out of it more spiritually mature and wiser or has it drawn them away from God. If it has drawn them away from God we may want to be careful putting our trust in them. We should try and build them up, we should try to be there when they are experiencing trials and tribulation but if they are not growing from it and taking in the spiritual food offered we may want to be careful in trusting them.

Another way we can be deceived is if a person is very good at false reasoning , or has a lot of worldly knowledge. If they are using fancy words and not quoting the bible , or they keep complementing a person and doing what appears to be acts of kindness but do not talk about Gods word and show their faith in it but looks for solutions from the world we should be cautious. There are certain responsibilities we have and certain professionals that we do have to rely on for assistance sometimes but if the advice they give goes against what God would expect or require of us we should be cautious.

We even have to be careful of our spiritual relatives. I had a spiritual relative that would continually ask me the same question about something that pertained to my life. If I did not repeat the answer back in the same exact words I had first told them , they would try to use this as evidence that I was being deceptive. No one remembers everything perfectly, it is unreasonable to expect them to. Be careful about they questions they are asking, if they have a history like the spiritual relative I mentioned be careful. Those ones cause divisions and strife. We are warned to be careful of such ones. Even when talking about spiritual things. Know your bible well enough to be aware of when you are being ask a loaded question. This way we can give an appropriate answer ans sometimes now answer which Jesus did when he realized the motive of the question was to entrap him or had deceptive motives behind it. Be careful of those who ask questions like that. They are forms of deception and indicates we may not be able to trust them. Jesus knew he was being tried and convicted of something he was not guilty of. So when he was accused he would not reply. This does not mean we should not defend ourselves but when it is obvious the person has already come to a conclusion and are asking the question to try to get you to incriminate yourself it is best to remain silent when possible.

Sometime things may occur maybe those taking the lead among us may be in error or we may be aware they have imperfections. Some who have their own interest at heart can use this to draw some away from the truth. This happened Moses and Aaron, they were chosen by God to lead Israel. They made mistakes. God corrected them and they accepted the discipline and did not make the errors again. Korah was a high priest. He most likely was very aware of the errors that Aaron and Moses had made. He decided that he was more qualified then Aaron and Moses to lead Israel. He tricked many into following him in the rebellion. Moses and Aaron were chosen by God so were directly accountable to God. It was not Korah’s place to question the choice God made and it was not his position to remove them. In doing so he was trying to undermine God. This resulted in Korah and others losing their lives. So we need to know our bibles well enough to know when something like this is occurring so we cannot be deceived. God has chosen imperfect humans, we know they made errors in the past and corrected them just as Moses and Aaron did. We should not loose faith in Jehovah he always sets matters straight. Over the years true worship has become purer and purer. As this system winds down things may occur exposing things that need corrected. We can be sure Jehovah will set matters straight as he did with Moses and Aaron when they were in error. There are many Korah like ones out there. Many have websites they have set up. They look for those who are disappointed in something our spiritual leaders and guides may have done. They may even exaggerate something that has occurred. If we give them an ear it leaves Satan get his foot in the door and can lure us away from true worship and just as Korah and the 250 did, we could start opposing God. These ones use comforting or flattering words and then slowly try to draw people away from true worship.

Often times people with hidden motives will come with soothing words and complements because they know the person is vulnerable. They may tell us what we want to hear instead of what we need to hear. We need to be aware when we are vulnerable and when we are accepting words we want to hear instead of what we need to hear. If we get upset or uncomfortable with a scripture we should self reflect on what this tells us about ourselves it could indicate something we may need to work on or overcome. Though it may mean we need to do deeper research to understand the meaning. When you care about someone it is not easy sharing scriptures with them you know they need to hear. Sometimes for a brief time they may get upset with you. But if we see someone stumbling and did not try to help them where would that leave us in our standing with Jehovah?

Another way we can be deceived is believing a bad association will not draw us into sin. The bible warns us about having bad associations. If we are tolerating behavior that in in opposition to God or that is not bringing glory to God we are not only telling the person their behavior is okay we are telling God and Jesus we approve of that type of behavior. In doing so even though we are not participating we share in their guilt. This does not mean we should completely avoid them. When we have the opportunity we should plant the seed of God’s word and watch to see if it grows. If we see them apply what they have learned in their life and make changes , it is God that makes the seed we planted grow so we need to continue when possible to share God’s word with them. When we may be teaching another or we are helping someone who is a spiritual relative we need to be careful that we do not get drawn into sinning. The more we take in God’s word the more aware we become of our short comings and weaknesses the better we can protect ourselves. God wrote his word because we all sin and fall short. If we were perfect God would not have had to give us his word so we could look into the perfect mirror of his word and learn to overcome our short comings. If we ignore the bibles warnings about bad association we are being wise in our own eyes and the bible has warned that can lead us into trouble. If we get overconfident we are thinking we are something we are not, because we are ignoring God’s warnings and believing that we are above being drawn into sin. The bible warns us being overconfident can cause us to fall. Surely we would not want this to happen.

We are told the word of God is sharper then any two edge sword able to discern the deeper things of the heart. If a person tends to not want to hear Gods word or they tend to avoid certain scriptures they could be telling us something about them. If they react badly to a scripture we should not suddenly jump to the conclusion they are hiding something. They may need the scriptures clarified, or need a deeper understanding. Many of us had believed things in error before we learned accurate bible truths. Sometimes those things can be deeply entrenched and may take a while for them to overcome. In situations such as that it is the spiritual growth you watch. If you see them spiritually growing you know they have a deep love for God and his word and we just need to give them time. We should be cautious and pay attention to how they react to God’s word. For example if they frequently avoid scriptures involving immoral sex , it could be a sign we may want to be careful they may have issues in that area. They could avoid them because they still fill guilt for letting God down. But asking questions carefully and not directly or bluntly asking things may help you to determine if you should help them to forgive themselves or if they may be hiding something, or if the scripture causes them confusion because they cannot fully understand it.

Shock and awe is another way we can be deceived by Satan or his people. Satan tried to use this tactic unsuccessfully against Job. Often times a person may do some things to cause you to get overwhelmed. Or circumstances may happen to cause you to become overwhelmed. Often times when this occurs people or even Satan will try to put us in a position where we feel we have to make a quick decision. If this decision can effect the rest of our lives or negatively impact someone else and there is any uncertainty then we should not let anyone pressure us into a decision. It is a moment of vulnerability and when we are pressured, in a state of panic, frustration or anxious we will not use the reasoning parts of our brains. If what God would want us to do is not clear then we should delay the decision. If we are put in a position where we cannot delay that decision do no lean on our own understanding but trust God and do what he would want you to do. Often times I will think what would Jesus do or what would Jesus want me to do. We should not follow our hearts when it comes to making major decisions because the bible warns us the heart is very deceptive. This is where wrighting God’s word into our hearts will protect us. By reading his word daily and applying it and making it a part of our lives it will train our hearts so we will do what God ask when we do have to make decisions and we will not lean on our own understanding.

False reasoning is another way we can be deceived. If we listen to it or we false reason with ourselves we could fall into a trap and be led down the wrong path. Often times that can cause harm to ourselves or others or cause things to happen in our lives that can take years to recover from. The first instance of false reasoning was when even listened to Satan. It was clear she had been taught what was required of her because she had quoted what she had been taught. She should have stopped listening to Satan but she continued the conversation and it lead to her believing that humans did not need God to guide them and that man could guide themselves. We are seeing the end result of that rebellion now as this system comes to a climax. Satan knows Gods word and he can subtly draw us away if we continue to listen to false reasoning. There is also instances in the bible were someone false reasoned and thought that God would back them. For example there were rules of war for Israel. They were only to take back land God had promised to them. There were certain peoples they were not to fight wars with. Israel false reasoned because they were God’s people that he would protect them if they fought the war , even though it was a war God had told them not to fight. Israel disobeyed God and was punished for their disobedience, God did not protect Israel in their battle. I meant someone once who believed if he made money he would get a certain security, which there is nothing wrong with that. But he false reasoned if he made more money he could help more people. This slowly drew him away from God and he did not help others because so much of his time was spent making money.

We are clearly in the last days. The bible as I mentioned earlier said there would be scoffers. They would false reason that things are the same as they have always been and would take no note that they are happening on a grand scale like they have never occurred before. By they time they realized the time frame we are in the bible says it would be too late. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. He had given warnings about what was going to occur but they paid no note and the flood swept them away. There was no way for anyone else to enter the ark because it was God himself who closed the door. This is why Jesus frequently warned stay alert. If we associate with people who frequently scoff about the time frame we are in and ignore the warnings , it could slowly erode away at our faith.

We are told to enter the heavenly kingdom through the narrow gate. Jesus is the gate. He gave his life as a ransom for our sins. While on earth he so perfectly emulated his father that he gave us a guide that can help us enter the narrow gate. Just as in Noah’s day many will pay no note and will be destroyed at the end of this system. As a matter of fact the bible says they will be confident that they are going to live in peace and security when the end of this system comes. Jesus said those who go in through the narrow door are his sheep they would be the ones who were not deceived but listened to his voice.

Other forms of deception used is intimidation tactics like trying to make someone feel embarrassed, picking at someones else’s flaws so victim will not see their flaws, being critical of someone or trying to get someone to doubt their reasoning. Often times they will even remove a person’s support system by convincing people the person has bad qualities, or even outright lying so the person exposing the truth will be put in a vulnerable position and have no choice but to be silent. They tried these things many times with Jesus. When things got too bad he knew it was time to take his leave. If he did not leave often times it would escalate to the point they would want to harm him. Sometimes this intimidation the constant sarcasm and talking down to someone and constantly putting them in a position that people doubt what they say can cause the person to start doubting themselves. If you are around someone like this be careful. They may even try to make your good qualities seem bad. For example if you are empathetic they may try and use it as proof you are weak , even too clingy. Jesus showed empathy, was Saddened when others were sad, Jesus cried when others cried. When confronted by ones who do things like this try to meditate on how Jesus and the apostles reacted. We have the examples of Stephen and Jesus in the bible. So when we see this form of deception we need to be very very careful. So they will go to any lengths to hide the truth and protect their deception.

By focusing on writing God’s word on our hearts and letting it and love guide all we do we will protect ourselves from being deceived and we will store up treasures in heaven. This will also protect our reasoning abilities as things wind down and get much worse. It will help us to realize this is all temporary and will be gone soon but the treasures in heaven and the rewards that come with it, such as our health being restored, being restored to a perfect spiritual state, there will be no more suffering only happy memories. So we must protect ourselves from deception the best we can so we can maintain our hope in the future promises. This will keep us from getting faint at heart and prevent us from losing our faith in God. The bible tells us where our treasure is there is where our heart will be. So if we focus on building spiritual treasures it will protect our hearts and make it much more difficult for us to be deceived. With the end of this system being so near anxiety can overwhelm us and make it so we can be easily deceived. Many things will occur that we have no control or power over. Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow it will make us more anxious. So we should focus on the things we can do something about and the things we do have some control over. Jesus said do not leave our hearts be troubled. If we over think on things it can cause us anxiety and fear. Trust God and Jesus they will not forget all you have done.

If they say we are showing a bad quality reflect on the bible. Reflect on the things that pleased God and whether he would approve of your behavior or personality traits. Would God think your behavior was bad? If a person is tearing others down and making fun of them be very very careful those ones only have their own interest at heart and are covering their own short comings.

(1 John 4:4-6) ⁴ You originate with God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in union with you is greater than the one who is in union with the world. ⁵ They originate with the world; that is why they speak what originates with the world and the world listens to them. ⁶ We originate with God. Whoever comes to know God listens to us; whoever does not originate with God does not listen to us. By this we distinguish the inspired statement of truth from the inspired statement of error.

(2 Corinthians 11:12-15) . . .. ¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is therefore nothing extraordinary if his ministers also keep disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness. But their end will be according to their works.

(2 Thessalonians 2:9-12) ⁹ But the lawless one’s presence is by the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and wonders ¹⁰ and every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth in order that they might be saved. ¹¹ That is why God lets a deluding influence mislead them so that they may come to believe the lie, ¹² in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.

(Galatians 5:22-24) ²² On the other hand, the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³ mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Moreover, those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed to the stake the flesh together with its passions and desires.

(Galatians 5:19-21) ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are plainly seen, and they are sexual immorality, uncleanness, brazen conduct, ²⁰ idolatry, spiritism, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, dissensions, divisions, sects, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and things like these. I am forewarning you about these things, the same way I already warned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom. . .

(Matthew 6:24) ²⁴ “No one can slave for two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. You cannot slave for God and for Riches.

(Matthew 13:18-22) ¹⁸ “Now listen to the illustration of the man who sowed. ¹⁹ Where anyone hears the word of the Kingdom but does not get the sense of it, the wicked one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart; this is the one sown alongside the road. ²⁰ As for the one sown on rocky ground, this is the one hearing the word and at once accepting it with joy. ²¹ Yet, he has no root in himself but continues for a time, and after tribulation or persecution has arisen on account of the word, he is at once stumbled. ²² As for the one sown among the thorns, this is the one hearing the word, but the anxiety of this system of things and the deceptive power of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

(Colossians 2:8-10) ⁸ Look out that no one takes you captive by means of the philosophy and empty deception according to human tradition, according to the elementary things of the world and not according to Christ; ⁹ because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily. ¹⁰ So you have acquired a fullness by means of him, the one who is the head of all government and authority.

(Matthew 22:15-22) ¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and conspired together in order to trap him in his speech. ¹⁶ So they sent their disciples to him, together with party followers of Herod, saying: “Teacher, we know you are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and you do not seek anyone’s favor, for you do not look at the outward appearance of people. ¹⁷ Tell us, then, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay head tax to Caesar or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said: “Why do you put me to the test, hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the tax coin.” They brought him a de·narʹi·us. ²⁰ He said to them: “Whose image and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said: “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them: “Pay back, therefore, Caesar’s things to Caesar, but God’s things to God.” ²² When they heard that, they were amazed, and they left him and went away.

(Matthew 27:13, 14) . . .” ¹⁴ But he did not answer him, no, not a word, so that the governor was very surprised.

(Numbers 16:1-22) 16 Then Korʹah the son of Izʹhar, the son of Koʹhath, the son of Leʹvi, got up together with Daʹthan and A·biʹram the sons of E·liʹab, and On the son of Peʹleth, of the sons of Reuʹben. ² They rose up against Moses along with 250 Israelite men, chieftains of the assembly, chosen ones of the congregation, prominent men. ³ So they gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them: “We have had enough of you! The whole assembly is holy, all of them, and Jehovah is in their midst. Why, then, should you exalt yourselves above the congregation of Jehovah?” ⁴ When Moses heard this, he at once fell facedown. ⁵ Then he said to Korʹah and to all his supporters: “In the morning Jehovah will make known who belongs to him and who is holy and who should approach him, and whomever he may choose will approach him. ⁶ Do this: Take fire holders, Korʹah and all your supporters, ⁷ and put fire in them and place incense on them before Jehovah tomorrow, and the man whom Jehovah will choose, he is the holy one. You sons of Leʹvi have gone far enough!” ⁸ Moses then said to Korʹah: “Listen, please, you sons of Leʹvi. ⁹ Does it seem to you such a little thing that the God of Israel has separated you from the assembly of Israel and allowed you to approach him in order to perform the service of Jehovah’s tabernacle and to stand before the assembly to minister to them, ¹⁰ and that he brought you near to him along with all your brothers, the sons of Leʹvi? Must you also try to secure the priesthood? ¹¹ For this reason, you and all your supporters who are gathering together are against Jehovah. As for Aaron, who is he that you should murmur against him?” ¹² Moses later sent for Daʹthan and A·biʹram the sons of E·liʹab, but they said: “We are not going to come! ¹³ Is it so little a thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to put us to death in the wilderness? Now do you also want to make yourself an absolute ruler over us? ¹⁴ As it is, you have not brought us into any land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of field and vineyard. Would you bore out the eyes of those men? We are not going to come!” ¹⁵ So Moses became very angry and said to Jehovah: “Do not turn to look at their grain offering. Not one donkey have I taken away from them, nor have I harmed one of them.” ¹⁶ Then Moses said to Korʹah: “Present yourself with all your supporters before Jehovah tomorrow, you and they and Aaron. ¹⁷ Each one should take his fire holder and put incense on it, and each will present his fire holder before Jehovah, 250 fire holders, together with you and Aaron, each with his fire holder.” ¹⁸ So each of them took his fire holder, and they put fire and incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting together with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ When Korʹah had gathered his supporters against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, Jehovah’s glory appeared to all the assembly. ²⁰ Jehovah now told Moses and Aaron: ²¹ “Separate yourselves from among this group, so that I may exterminate them in an instant.” ²² At this, they fell with their faces to the ground and said: “O God, the God of the spirit of all people, will one man’s sin cause you to become indignant against the entire assembly?”

(Numbers 16:31-35) ³¹ As soon as he finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath them split apart. ³² And the earth opened and swallowed them up, along with their households and everyone who belonged to Korʹah and all their goods. ³³ So they and all who belonged to them went down alive into the Grave, and the earth covered them over, so that they perished from the midst of the congregation. ³⁴ All the Israelites who were around them fled at their screaming, for they said: “We are afraid that the earth may swallow us up!” ³⁵ Then a fire came out from Jehovah and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.

(Romans 16:17, 18) . . .. ¹⁸ For men of that sort are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattering speech they seduce the hearts of unsuspecting ones. . .

(2 Timothy 4:2-5) . . .. ³ For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the wholesome teaching, but according to their own desires, they will surround themselves with teachers to have their ears tickled. ⁴ They will turn away from listening to the truth and give attention to false stories. ⁵ You, though, keep your senses in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelizer, fully accomplish your ministry.

(Ephesians 5:6-11) ⁶ Let no man deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore, do not be sharers with them; ⁸ for you were once darkness, but you are now light in connection with the Lord. Go on walking as children of light, ⁹ for the fruitage of the light consists of every sort of goodness and righteousness and truth. ¹⁰ Keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord; ¹¹ and stop sharing in the unfruitful works that belong to the darkness; rather, expose them for what they are.

(1 Corinthians 15:33, 34) ³³ Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits. ³⁴ Come to your senses in a righteous way and do not practice sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I am speaking to move you to shame.

(1 Corinthians 6:9-11) ⁹ Or do you not know that unrighteous people will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Do not be misled. Those who are sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who submit to homosexual acts, men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰ thieves, greedy people, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners will not inherit God’s Kingdom. ¹¹ And yet that is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean; you have been sanctified; you have been declared righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and with the spirit of our God.

(1 Corinthians 3:5-7) ⁵ What, then, is A·polʹlos? Yes, what is Paul? Ministers through whom you became believers, just as the Lord granted each one. ⁶ I planted, A·polʹlos watered, but God kept making it grow, ⁷ so that neither is the one who plants anything nor is the one who waters, but God who makes it grow.

(Galatians 6:1) 6 Brothers, even if a man takes a false step before he is aware of it, you who have spiritual qualifications try to readjust such a man in a spirit of mildness. But keep an eye on yourself, for fear you too may be tempted.

(1 John 1:10) ¹⁰ If we make the statement, “We have not sinned,” we are making him a liar, and his word is not in us.

(Romans 12:15, 16) . . .. ¹⁶ Have the same attitude toward others as toward yourselves; do not set your mind on lofty things, but be led along with the lowly things. Do not become wise in your own eyes.

(Galatians 6:2-5) . . .. ³ For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he is deceiving himself. ⁴ But let each one examine his own actions, and then he will have cause for rejoicing in regard to himself alone, and not in comparison with the other person. ⁵ For each one will carry his own load.

(1 Corinthians 10:12, 13) ¹² So let the one who thinks he is standing beware that he does not fall. ¹³ No temptation has come upon you except what is common to men. But God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but along with the temptation he will also make the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

(Hebrews 4:12, 13) ¹² For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints from the marrow, and is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And there is not a creation that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and openly exposed to the eyes of the one to whom we must give an account.

(Proverbs 3:5-7)  ⁵ Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, And do not rely on your own understanding.  ⁶ In all your ways take notice of him, And he will make your paths straight.  ⁷ Do not become wise in your own eyes. Fear Jehovah and turn away from bad.

(Proverbs 28:26) Whoever trusts in his own heart is stupid, But the one who walks in wisdom will escape.

(Jeremiah 10:23) I well know, O Jehovah, that man’s way does not belong to him. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.

(Jeremiah 17:9, 10)  ⁹ The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it? ¹⁰ I, Jehovah, am searching the heart, Examining the innermost thoughts, To give to each one according to his ways, According to the fruitage of his works.

(Genesis 3:1-15) 3 Now the serpent was the most cautious of all the wild animals of the field that Jehovah God had made. So it said to the woman: “Did God really say that you must not eat from every tree of the garden?” ² At this the woman said to the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. ³ But God has said about the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: ‘You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it; otherwise you will die.’” ⁴ At this the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die. ⁵ For God knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and bad.” ⁶ Consequently, the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was something desirable to the eyes, yes, the tree was pleasing to look at. So she began taking of its fruit and eating it. Afterward, she also gave some to her husband when he was with her, and he began eating it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made loin coverings for themselves. ⁸ Later they heard the voice of Jehovah God as he was walking in the garden about the breezy part of the day, and the man and his wife hid from the face of Jehovah God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ And Jehovah God kept calling to the man and saying to him: “Where are you?” ¹⁰ Finally he said: “I heard your voice in the garden, but I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.” ¹¹ At that he said: “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said: “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate.” ¹³ Jehovah God then said to the woman: “What is this you have done?” The woman replied: “The serpent deceived me, so I ate.” ¹⁴ Then Jehovah God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are the cursed one out of all the domestic animals and out of all the wild animals of the field. On your belly you will go, and you will eat dust all the days of your life. ¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head, and you will strike him in the heel.”

(Revelation 12:8, 9) . . .. ⁹ So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. . .

(James 1:22-24) ²² However, become doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves with false reasoning. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, this one is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror. ²⁴ For he looks at himself, and he goes away and immediately forgets what sort of person he is.

(Genesis 7:16) ¹⁶ So they went in, male and female of every sort of flesh, just as God had commanded him. After that Jehovah shut the door behind him.

(Matthew 24:36-44) ³⁶ “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷ For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. ³⁸ For as they were in those days before the Flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, ³⁹ and they took no note until the Flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the hand mill; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. ⁴² Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ “But know one thing: If the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ On this account, you too prove yourselves ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not think to be it.

(1 Thessalonians 5:1-3) 5 Now as for the times and the seasons, brothers, you need nothing to be written to you. ² For you yourselves know very well that Jehovah’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night. ³ Whenever it is that they are saying, “Peace and security!” then sudden destruction is to be instantly on them, just like birth pains on a pregnant woman, and they will by no means escape.

(Luke 21:34-36) ³⁴ “But pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you ³⁵ as a snare. For it will come upon all those dwelling on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that must occur and in standing before the Son of man.”

(Matthew 7:13, 14) ¹³ “Go in through the narrow gate, because broad is the gate and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are going in through it; ¹⁴ whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are finding it.

(John 10:7-9) ⁷ So Jesus said again: “Most truly I say to you, I am the door for the sheep. ⁸ All those who have come in place of me are thieves and plunderers; but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the door; whoever enters through me will be saved, and that one will go in and out and find pasturage.

(Ephesians 2:15-18) ¹⁵ By means of his flesh he abolished the enmity, the Law of commandments consisting in decrees, in order to make the two groups in union with himself into one new man and to make peace, ¹⁶ and to reconcile fully both peoples in one body to God through the torture stake, because he had killed off the enmity by means of himself. ¹⁷ And he came and declared the good news of peace to you who were far off, and peace to those near, ¹⁸ because through him we, both peoples, have free access to the Father by one spirit.

(Matthew 6:19-21) ¹⁹ “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

(Matthew 6:33, 34) ³³ “Keep on, then, seeking first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you. ³⁴ So never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Each day has enough of its own troubles.

(John 14:27) ²⁷ I leave you peace; I give you my peace. I do not give it to you the way that the world gives it. Do not let your hearts be troubled nor let them shrink out of fear.

(Hebrews 6:9-12) . . .. ¹⁰ For God is not unrighteous so as to forget your work and the love you showed for his name by ministering and continuing to minister to the holy ones. ¹¹ But we desire each one of you to show the same industriousness so as to have the full assurance of the hope down to the end, ¹² so that you may not become sluggish, but be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Promises should not be taken lightly. Breaking them can put us under judgement.

Many break promises and now days if you remind the person you become the villain. But in God’s eyes who is right and who is wrong? The bible tells us it is better to not make a vow. It is more serious then people realize breaking a promise, especially if you had no real intentions of keeping it.

(Ecclesiastes 5:5) ⁵ Better is it that you vow not than that you vow and do not pay. . .

If we have broken a promise and have not tried to make it right then that has made us a liar because we stated something and made a vow and did not fulfill it. We know God does not approve of false statements.

(Proverbs 12:22) ²² False lips are something detestable to Jehovah, but those acting in faithfulness are a pleasure to him. . .

We may make a promise because we don’t want to look mean or uncaring but if we cannot fulfill that promise then we are not being honest with ourselves or the other person.

(Proverbs 25:14) ¹⁴ As vaporous clouds and a wind without any downpour is a man boasting himself about a gift in falsehood. . .

The lie originated with Satan, we do not want to choose him as a father we know that will not end well.

(John 8:44) ⁴⁴ YOU are from YOUR father the Devil, and YOU wish to do the desires of YOUR father. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of [the lie].

In Romans they mentioned those God’s wrath would be against. Those who are false to agreements are among those who will experience God’s wrath.

(Romans 1:28-31) ²⁸ And just as they did not approve of holding God in accurate knowledge, God gave them up to a disapproved mental state, to do the things not fitting, ²⁹ filled as they were with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, badness, being full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malicious disposition, being whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, insolent, haughty, self-assuming, inventors of injurious things, disobedient to parents, ³¹ without understanding, false to agreements, having no natural affection, merciless.

The bible tells us no matter what if we make a promise we are to do our best to fulfill that promise.

(Proverbs 6:1-5) 6 My son, if you have gone surety for your fellowman, [if] you have given your handshake even to the stranger, ² [if] you have been ensnared by the sayings of your mouth, [if] you have been caught by the sayings of your mouth, ³ take this action then, my son, and deliver yourself, for you have come into the palm of your fellowman: Go humble yourself and storm your fellowman with importunities. ⁴ Do not give any sleep to your eyes, nor any slumber to your beaming eyes. ⁵ Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand and like a bird from the hand of the birdcatcher.

Even if the promise is not favorable to us we are to keep it.

(Psalm 15:4)  ⁴ In his eyes anyone contemptible is certainly rejected, But those fearing Jehovah he honors. He has sworn to what is bad [for himself], and yet he does not alter. . .

We are in times of uncertainty. To avoid making a statement that may end up proving false if we cannot fulfill it, it may be better to not make a promise or agreement.

(Matthew 5:34-37) ³⁴ However, I say to YOU: Do not swear at all, neither by heaven, because it is God’s throne; ³⁵ nor by earth, because it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ Nor by your head must you swear, because you cannot turn one hair white or black. ³⁷ Just let YOUR word Yes mean Yes, YOUR No, No; for what is in excess of these is from the wicked one. . .

When it comes to promises we could put ourselves under judgement if we do not fulfill it.

(James 5:12) ¹² Above all things, though, my brothers, stop swearing, yes, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let YOUR Yes mean Yes, and YOUR No, No, so that YOU do not fall under judgment. . .

If we have wronged someone by breaking a promise or we have been wronged and we confronted the person and they apologize then just as we have been forgiven by our heavenly father we should forgive others. They also should forgive us but we need to make sure we do not put ourselves in a position to be judged again.

(Colossians 3:13, 14) ¹³ Continue putting up with one another and forgiving one another freely if anyone has a cause for complaint against another. Even as Jehovah freely forgave YOU, so do YOU also. ¹⁴ But, besides all these things, [clothe yourselves with] love, for it is a perfect bond of union.

(Matthew 6:14, 15) ¹⁴ “For if YOU forgive men their trespasses, YOUR heavenly Father will also forgive YOU; ¹⁵ whereas if YOU do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will YOUR Father forgive YOUR trespasses. . .