Dishonesty--Satan's Open Door

September 20, 2017

Lord Jesus, without your strength and integrity, who among us could stand? Do we not all have a price whereby we are tempted? Please deliver us from temptation. Amen

Well, my dear ones. This is a subject near to my heart. What do you do when someone you trust, and have been very good to, betrays your trust and takes advantage of your weaknesses? This is a situation I was just confronted with. Someone close to our family, whom we have been supporting in their work for the channel, took advantage and cut corners--I am sure, thinking I would never notice.

But God notices.

And God told me to investigate the situation. So, I took all night yesterday, when I wanted to be giving you a message, recording another song or practicing piano and my voice. I took that time to investigate because the Lord and my husband warned me. We had been getting Lying and Honesty from the Bible Promises for a few weeks now.

And for those of you who aren't familiar with the Bible Promise book, it's a book we recommend for rhemas, very straight-forward. Not like our Rhema book, but just Scripture. Strictly Scripture.

And under Honesty it says:

The Lord detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him. Proverbs 11:1

and

Do not have two differing weights in your bag--one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house--one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly. Deuteronomy 25:13-16

Well, I would like to say--I don't want to contradict Scripture... He detests the SIN, but He loves the sinner. And this is Old Testament, so...Old Testament's kinda rough. But sin is sin and the Lord detests sin.

Another Scripture on that page is:

Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, which is accursed? Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights? Micah 6:10-11

So often it was the rich who were deceitful and oppressed the poor. Here in New Mexico--and I am sure around the world--when a father and mother both pass away, the children fight over the inheritance. And in some situations use the money that was set aside as an inheritance for the other children, or confiscate the property before the parent dies, by having them sign papers. And they don't know what the papers mean. And the siblings don't get any part of the inheritance. People who are normally decent, can deal treacherously with their own sisters and brothers.

And how many of us have padded expense accounts before we knew the Lord?

And...the other Scripture that came to mind is:

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

I Timothy 6:10-11

And the earlier one was Micah 6 - "Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures?" That was Micah 6.

So, moving on. I finally was prompted to put everything down and find out the truth. I found many small discrepancies spread wide through several different situations. Now this person is dearer to my heart than a son, and I held my emotions back until tonight when I couldn't stop crying.

Not because they took some material thing. But they took my trust and betrayed it. And put themselves in danger. That hurts much more deeply, especially when I have always gone out of my way to see to it they were rewarded for the great work they were doing.

Now the Lord has led me to look with His eyes at the situation. It was a series of little things. Some of them were oversights, some of them were deliberate to cut corners--even though I had been paying this person a very good wage to help with the channel.

What I saw was not malicious intentions, although it was going to lead to that. What I saw was a soul that was weak, because they don't have a deep enough relationship with Jesus to stand up to temptation. This friend has been putting off their deep conversion, when they really needed to be cultivating a relationship with the Lord. Part of it, I'm sure, is sloth and laziness. And another part is them feeling like they are not good enough to talk with God.

Nevertheless, they were unable to maintain integrity in the face of the small temptations.

I saw that Satan had resented the fact that this person was working at a very good job and getting used to being around holy things. I'm sure the enemy was thinking "What if they get deeply converted? Then we'll have another one to deal with."

So the enemy decided on a two-prong attack: set them up for a fall.

"Not a nickel and dime fall, but a big fall. Don't do it all at once, because if you do, they won't go for it. Start them out on the little things...just a little here and there.

"Then increase the occasions with a few more temptations and get them used to being dishonest. Now, as they take more and more liberties, lie and steal more and more, then their conscience is hardened off and they are ready for bigger and more malicious things.

"They are beginning to die inside, their soul has been withering slowly and now it is so weak it is ready to take on bigger things and lose their soul altogether. Then we'll have them."

This is the way Satan thinks.

Dear ones, the devils never sleep; they are always, 24-7 devising ways to hurt you or make you fall. If you are praying and cultivating a relationship with Jesus, you are getting built up in integrity every day. Just like the devils undermine you day by day by putting occasions of sin in your path that you'll fall for--and coaxing you to fall for them--being with Jesus every day makes you more and more resolute not to sin. Ever.

So, I looked at this much loved soul and realized what the enemy was up to, and I couldn't be disgusted or angry. Only hurt. Realizing that they were in serious danger of losing their soul.

Ezekiel and I decided to confront the situation and I prayed to Holy Spirit as to how to do it. Because I didn't want to come across condemnatory.

He came back with a very low key, unemotional, "just checking kind of attitude" as I went down the list of indiscretions. The more I confronted them with, the more discrepancies, it was very clear they had been dishonest.

I tried to explain to them: to work here is to have a huge, red, blinking target on their backs that the enemy just can't resist. And if they make one dishonest move it is going to be very bad for them. Because one dishonest move sets the stage for another. And another. And another. Until you've fallen so far down, you've lost your soul.

I had just caught myself with a load of wood that I bought for heating this year. And when they dropped the wood off, I realized that I had been stuck with writing a Heartdweller's business check, rather than a personal account check, because there wasn't enough in the personal account to cover it.

And I pointed it out to the one who handles this stuff and said, "Please see to it this is taken from the Heartdwellers account and put on to the personal account. I don't ever want to lie about anything to IRS. I want to be completely above board."

So we caught it and fixed it.

And I mean it with all my heart, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, give to God what is God's." In this case, I owed absolute integrity and honesty to God and honesty to Caesar.

Dear ones, we cannot let anything go unnoticed...nothing. We can't turn the other way. If you see a wrong, you are under an obligation before God to right it and be honest. Most people do not understand: what goes around, comes around.

As an example, I have seen similar situations to this. Someone holding back from giving a donation they'd promised to God, and that He'd put on their hearts to give. And they didn't give it. Well, they ended up with having to buy a brand new transmission for their vehicle. The Lord is very serious about us showing kindness and fidelity when He entrusts us with His money.

He has been very serious with me, to see to it that I don't buy things for myself, but feed the poor. And in this season, take care of the Hurricane victims.

And I'll tell you, I really blush at my grocery bill. Because I get those ready-made meals. 'Cause I don't have time to cook, my schedule is just jam-packed. Between the money for medication and for food, it makes me blush! But I don't have time to cook and cook and cook. So I have to just go with what I can get.

And that, I think, is a necessary expenditure. I don't think that's out of bounds. But if I were buying steak and lobster, shrimp and all these delicacies - that would definitely be out of bounds.

So, that is why we took so much off the top of our income to send to Florida. We can get by without extras when others don't have the very basic necessities. If we are going to serve God, we must act like Him and take care of our children around the world who suffer want for the basics.

I confess, I could do a lot better about that, but I am still learning. For instance, someone sent a donation and encouraged us to take a vacation. Oh, boy! I would love to take a vacation. We have NEVER taken a vacation, although one wedding Ezekiel presided over was in an ancient church in Mexico on the Baja peninsula. And that was the closest thing to a vacation we have ever seen in our lives! When we went there, lobster tails were 1.00 a piece and whales romping and splashing out on the gulf - it was quite beautiful.

But honestly, there is nowhere else I would rather be than right here, sharing the Lord's love with you; that is my absolute joy.

Well, the situation has been rectified, though my heart still aches. At least I did what I was told to do and some good resolutions came out of it. For one, never put anyone in a position where they are tempted to do wrong. Unless they are an over-the-top, seasoned, stable committed Christian and know the serious consequences that come with dishonesty, and have a reputation of faithfulness.

So, at this point I asked Jesus, "Do You anything to add, Lord?"

He began, "You remember the reading I gave you from Rhema, about obedience? In that, I explained that you are in a spiritual war zone 24-7 and you cannot outsmart the devil. Your only protection is in a meaningful relationship with Me and obedience when I tell you to do something.

"I know it cost you a great deal to confront this person, Clare. But I tell you the truth: Satan had his eye on them and was slowing hardening off and deadening their conscience and hearts, so they would commit a crime. They would never consider doing that now. But after time and hardening off, they would be put in a situation where they would consider it and in their minds, even justify it.

"You see, you cannot outsmart the devils... but I can. I know their next move. I know exactly what they are setting you and others up for. And if you are listening to Me, very carefully, and obeying Me, as you just did--you rendered their plans to ruin this person's life in this way fruitless. And a failure.

"There will be other attempts in different ways, but I will always warn you so you can sidestep the traps. Pray for this soul to wake up to know how much I love them.

"The greater My plans for a soul, the more Satan is resolved to bring them down so it never happens. You attract many wonderful souls, and that is why it is imperative that you teach them how to know themselves. Because Satan will use their weaknesses to bring them down.

"My people, never allow yourself to be put into an occasion of sin. And if you see others walking into a trap, do all you can to stop them, including warning whoever is above them, from parents to employers.

"It is a great disservice to see sin being committed and remain silent. Although in some situations, I will have you wait before you say anything--you can pray and listen very carefully to Me. In this way their blood will not be on your hands and you may have saved their souls."