Tag Archives: Lies

The Power of Words

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What Do You Think? Wednesday

People said my tribute to my husband on Monday set them on a path toward freedom. They gained a new perspective about the type of woman they should be or want to be. Words should do this, but sometimes, like with strong black woman lies, words bind us, making us serve them. They become our object of worship, our idols, and we think our worth is there. But word binding isn’t unique to strong black women, people and images everywhere telling us what we should believe about us that have nothing to do with what God says about us. Go to The Gypsy Mama and read our sister Lisa-Jo’s word-binding story and how she got free from bondage and plans to continue in freedom with what she calls a “beauty hunt.” As always, please tell me what you think.

Don’t Believe the Lies

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Sometimes we, who too often believe we are self-empowered strong black women, lose belief when OUR powers wane. We may begin to think we can’t do anything spectacular, impact a soul with the power of the Holy Ghost or change our mind even though we’ve tried dozens of times. We may not have peace in the midst of a storm. Perhaps we get here because we haven’t understood or really yet believed the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can change that.

    1. Pick preachers who follow this example: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
    2. Select scriptures that point you toward belief beyond salvation: Psalm 112:6-7, Matthew 5:16, Luke 10:19, Romans 10:17, 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 2:13, 4:13, Hebrews 11:6.
    3. Find friends who will stand with you like Jonathan’s armor bearer: 1 Samuel 14:1-15
    4. Meditate more on these scriptures and other things like them: Philippians 4:4-9

You can do whatever God commands and be whoever He declares you are. Yes. Now please believe that.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Evil Men and Seducers

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A few months ago I drew toward the screen slowly, glued to the tweet that revealed all the heat Bishop Eddie Long was taking: Accused, four times, of taking the innocence from young men and posturing like his interactions were daddy’s privileges. Still, we don’t know if it’s all true, who lied and what prices will be paid to settle the dust of it all. Though he recently agreed to mediation instead of a trial, the dust won’t really settle. It will cover and cling to a church and its leader’s reputation like relics in the attic, kept around for nostalgia’s sake, a way to remember the good that used to be. As the process continues to find who is at fault and perhaps get to the truth, I’m reminded of this:

But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.—2 Timothy 3:13

This verse is the story of our day. Headlines blaze with the latest charlatan coming and carrying folks away with enticing words and various schemes. Some say this may be Long. I say whether Long is a charlatan or not, we must learn from this verse because we are all vulnerable to being deceived.

Evil men are those who are ethically bad, wicked people. Though they could be people in the church, they are probably those outside the church. I say this because the next phrase in the verse is seducers, written to be distinct from evil men. It means deceivers/imposters. These people are concealed evil men, wolves in sheep’s clothing. Their mission is to act like they are Christians so they can be deceiving, which means leading away from truth; leading into error. Imposters have to be among believers so they can blend in. They are our teachers, worship leaders, ushers and, of course, our preachers. They come with agendas, intending to do wrong from the very start. These fake Christians work to lead people away from the truth of God’s word, supplanting and twisting it to suit their desires. And I believe they do so easily because, as the verse tells us, these seducers, too, have been deceived. They have been led away from truth and into error so when they are leading others, what they have are lies to give and with these lies they will lead others to do wrong. Paul, the author of 2 Timothy, is telling us that there will be an increase in the amount of evil people outside and inside the church. Both these groups have nefarious intentions, causing great harm to the world and the church. Without claiming to have the Spirit of God, the wicked outside the church may be easier to spot. The tricksters are the ones we really have to watch out for.

What has been your experience with evil men and seducers? Please comment on the blog site so we can get a lively discussion going.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Worldly Wisdom

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With age comes wisdom, usually. This is why I love fellowshipping with the aged in my life, in my family, church and neighborhood. I have learned so much about motherhood and men, gardening and grooming, cooking and cleaning and how to seek hard after Christ. But recently when spending time with one of my aged loves, I saw how God’s wisdom can evade when worldly wisdom creeps in its place.

“When people are going through and want you to tell a lie sometimes you have to support them.” I wanted to respond to the woman who has taught me much about intelligence and integrity and who would call women out when they lied to her. I had to just listen, to search for some sort of sense in this.

She went on to tell me that her friend who has suffered several health challenges had to leave her place because she couldn’t pay the rent. Now trying to get a new lease, the woman asked my aged love to pose as her sister and say that the woman lived with her, that she has been paying her rent on time and my friend could vouch for her credit. As the story and my silence went on, the strength of my love’s voice weakened. I then asked, “Can’t you be charged with fraud if found out? Are you willing to experience that?”

    “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
    “Oh, okay.”

We both knew things weren’t okay, that telling a lie was larger than we wanted it to be.

Even among the sage, with friends in desperate need, we can easily rely on our own devices, not thinking about where the lies may take us or where they come from:

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

Sometimes we may suspect that the wisdom of our lies is worldly (earthly) or from old wives’ tales (unspiritual), but I don’t think most of us consciously think our thoughts are demonic. I know my aged love didn’t and wanted me to approve of her selflessness to help a soul in need. I know if I think about well-intentioned lies—those white ones, those little ones, those fibbed and information-omitted ones—as demonic I’ll be less inclined to consider them, and, with hope, you will, too.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

The Healing Truth

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I’m not pretty.

This is the lie I believed growing up.

You may think it’s not much, that a lot of girls believed this, but I couldn’t see beyond the pimples and plump and stubby pigtails. I couldn’t see that complexions change and weight and hair can, too. One day when I was overwhelmingly blinded, I struggled through my faucet of tears and jerky heaves to tell my mother “I’m ugly.” She almost laughed, but pulled that in and me onto her lap, wiped my tears and cuddled me, and I suppose she told me how ridiculous what I said was. I don’t remember. I just remember that when she loved me I didn’t think of pimples and plump or pigtails; I thought about my mother’s love and that cradled me. Whether I was pretty or not or could change or not wasn’t the real issue (though most girls do want to be pretty). It was the ‘therefore’ that caused my fountain to flow.

  • I’m not pretty therefore boys won’t like me.
  • I’m not pretty therefore I won’t have as many friends as my sister.
  • I’m not pretty therefore people will tease me.

    • When we embrace a lie we live in the therefore, which often is the lie or a bigger lie than what we initially believe.

  • Gideon lived in the therefore. I’m too small. I’m too weak therefore I can’t defeat.
  • Naomi lived in the therefore. My family is deceased therefore I must cease.
  • Elijah lived in the therefore. I’m the only one therefore I can’t overcome.

    • And in each instance someone was there to give them another ‘therefore’ to push them on to defeat and to not cease and to overcome. We need those mamas and daughters and angels and God to minister to us to help us forsake our ‘therefores’ and live in the truthful ‘therefores.’

    I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) therefore

      1. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13).
      2. I can stand against the wiles of the enemy (Ephesians 6:10-18).
      3. I can redeem the time (Ephesians 5:15-16).
      4. I can mature to the full stature that Christ intends for me (Ephesians 4:13).
      5. I can walk in the Spirit so I won’t fulfill the lust of my flesh (Galatians 5:16).
      6. I can love my husband and my children (Titus 2:3-5).
      7. I can lay aside anxiety (Matthew 6:25-34; Philippians 4:6).
      8. I can witness to others (Acts 1:8).
      9. I can love my enemies (Matthew 5:44).
      10. I can forgive (Matthew 18:15-35).

    The time is now to forget our ‘therefores’ and believe God. Happy New Year as you seek to live in God’s ‘therefores’ and make 2011 a year of healing truth.

    Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith