"Tangled Up in Lies"

"They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?" (Psalms 64:5) Before you start doing victory laps, there are still some things we need to set right in our hearts and minds. It's as if something within us needs to be undone; besides our sin nature, which we are told to "reckon it crucified with Christ", there is something else which keeps us going down those same paths, over and over again. Just when you think you have overcome, wham, there you are again, smack dab in the that same stupid hole again! I have heard some teachings that Paul's "thorn in his side" might have been a weakness, not a physical condition, but something that he just struggled with that was sin; maybe it was anger, or something that caused him to be afraid or doubt his calling; but I dare not speculate anything. We all have some things that keep us humble; and if we don't think that we do, then we really need to be humbled! Not quite sure what "shot in the dark" actually meant, except that when I thought about it in the context of trusting God no matter what, I began to breakdown and weep uncontrollably. We have really got to understand something about the God that loves us: He is on your side! You don't think He knows your inward struggles? He knows every single thing that there is to know about you; and guess what: He loves you, and He and has given His very best to set you free from anything and everything, even death. Yes, I said death; as in dead, gone for good, non-existent; what happens to something that is vanished for ever. It all started with a lie, "You shall not surely die", but it has evolved into something all together different: "You shall surely die." That's what we have been told; at least in my generation, that's what the story is: 'you came from nothing and you will end up as nothing.' I don't know what you have been told, but anything that takes God out of the picture is a lie, straight from the pit of hell. Don't you ever wonder how the devil gets people to peddle his lies? I know I have. I have always wondered how people can be so deceived, that they become so motivated to try and cover the truth. Maybe it's just because they want to believe that there is no one out there to judge them, and to keep believing, they will do anything and everything to suppress the truth. Do we buy into that lie just a little? Maybe not all the time, but just when it is convenient to do so?
"Then He brought me to the door of the Temple courtyard, where I could see a hole in the wall. He said to me, "Now, son of man, dig into the wall." So I dug into the wall and found a hidden doorway. "Go in," He said, "and see the wicked and detestable sins they are committing in there!" So I went in and saw the walls engraved with all kinds of crawling animals and detestable creatures. I also saw the various idols worshiped by the people of Israel. Seventy leaders of Israel were standing there with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan in the center. Each of them held an incense burner, from which a cloud of incense rose above their heads. Then the LORD said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, The LORD doesn't see us; He has deserted our land!'" (Ezekiel 8:7-12) NLT