Hands That Shed Innocent Blood

“There are six things that the Lord hates,

    seven that are an abomination to him:

haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

    and hands that shed innocent blood,

a heart that devises wicked plans,

    feet that make haste to run to evil,

a false witness who breathes out lies,

    and one who sows discord among brothers.” (Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV

A person with haughty eyes is a person who is arrogant, disdainful, proud, a showoff, i.e. someone who tries to appear better than he is for the praise of other humans. He (or she) may be like the Pharisees, as Jesus described them (see Matthew 23:1-39). He does his deeds to be seen by others. He loves attention. He professes one thing while he lives the opposite. He adheres to religious rituals but not to God’s righteousness. He appears righteous outwardly, but inwardly is full of wicked deeds and self-indulgence.

People who are full of pride are not humble, not submissive to God and to his righteousness, not those whose lives are conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. They are self-made individuals who want things their way and who often will do whatever it takes to get things to go their way, no matter who they have to step on to get there, and no matter who gets hurt in the process. For it is all about them and what they want, not about what God wants, and not about what is in the best interest of other humans.

And going right along with pride and arrogance is also lying and deceiving and giving false testimony. For being honest about oneself engages humility, and pride works the opposite of that. And being honest to others also engages humility, which is against pride. For when a person wants to give a false impression of himself for the attention and approval of others, that person is not going to be honest, but he is going to present a picture that is better than reality, or he is going to make himself look better than others.

But going right along with lying and deceiving is the devising of wicked plans. For those who are engaged in secretive sins are going to lie about what they are doing. They will even lie in advance to try to set a stage to present an idea that something is about to happen that is not going to happen at all, but the opposite of that. And they will lie to cover up their sins and to give the impression that something else was going on other than was really going on. And liars and deceivers abound in this day and time.

So, what kind of wicked plans? Well, this can be happening at the top of all human organizations, including but not limited to the governments of nations, heads of “church” denominations, the news media, heads of families, pastors of “church” congregations, CEOs of corporations, and all sorts of heads of all sorts of people groups and organizations and businesses being marketed as institutions for the welfare and good of humanity, but who are, instead, plotting evil against those they pretend to care about.

And some of these institutions and groups mentioned here are also engaged in the shedding of innocent blood in their own nations, among their own people, and/or in foreign nations and against a people who are not their people. For war is big business, and war is being used to conquer people and nations and to reduce human population and to do away with undesirables and to force people into “cooperating with the international community” or having to pay the price for non-conformance. This is in “the church,” too.

And part of the scheme of all of this absolutely engages sowing discord among the people, and among Christians and family groups and other people groups, for the goal in all of it is to “divide and conquer” and to bring about “order out of chaos.” And so they have to first of all create the chaos and the upheaval and the discord so that they can come to the “rescue” with a preconceived plan to “save us” from our “problems.” For they do indeed “make haste to run to evil” who plot evil against even their own people.

So, please be wise and discerning. Don’t be paranoid, but realize that not everything and everyone is what or who they appear to be. And those who we think are our friends could be our worst enemies. And those who we think are on our side could be working all kinds of evil against us behind closed doors and in private places where we cannot see what they are doing. We cannot take everything and everyone at face value, for deception abounds! And this is why our trust must be in God and not in humans.

[Jn 3:19-20; 2 Thes 2:9-10; 2 Thes 3:1-2; Jas 1:19-21; 3 Jn 1:10; Matt 7:21-23; Matt 15:18-20; Mk 7:20-22; Lu 6:45; Lu 13:26-28; Jn 5:28-29; Rom 1:29-32; Rom 2:6-10; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-11; Heb 3:12; 1 Pet 3:12; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

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