Author Archives: Rhonda J. Smith

Cleanse Your Soul

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…[I]f you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.—Romans 10:9-10.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.—Ephesians 2:8-9

I wonder if we preached these more, practiced lives that reflect these and that our souls are clean because of the sacrifice of Jesus (Romans 5:11) would less people be inclined to believe in the cleansing power of other things, like real and glass eggs.

    Searching for the Soul to Cleanse It by New York Times Writer Ariel Kaminer

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

Inward Truth

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Truth in the inward parts. In the darkness of morning my husband spoke this light to me. This was his meditation before sunrise and mine today ever since he told me. He mentioned being in Ezekiel yesterday, chapter 33 about the duty of the watchman seeing truth and speaking it. These two passages, along with my pastor’s two sermons on the church at Sardis living by reputation and not in reality, have confirmed for me that we must get beyond the deception and into God’s truth.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.—Psalms 51:6

So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.—Ezekiel 33:7

Destroying deception takes inner work, a deep soul scrubbing to lift the crusts of latent and active lies that cover our core. This is where we learn wisdom, in the parts that others can’t see, that affect the parts that others can see. And with wisdom comes truth, and this brings God joy.

He wants us to know His wisdom. We need it for us; we need it for others, to be watchwomen for suffering souls that believed what seemed good to all the senses. The feels, tastes, smells, sights, and sounds of sin can seductively deceive and have us living in a created reality. But when we hear the truth from God we can heed His warning and shout the same to others.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

I’m counting on this.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Deceived from Desperation

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Young, vibrant and healthy, my life took a turn in an instant one night. I was 24 when I was defiled and diseased and suffered depression that most never suspected. Daily I put on my strong black woman face to face the days, but my heart was weak, gasping for new life. These are times of desperation when we take measures that mirror the same. And in the depth of my desperation I turned to a method that I had only read about and seen in movies. I heard that this African root doctor, a Muslim Imam from Senegal, had cured people from AIDS. I figured surely he could help me.

I went and received counsel and concoctions fit for a fantasy mystery novel. The root mixtures—distilled water and various tree bark from the Senegalese bush country, and macrobiotic diet didn’t cleanse my blood from disease, but this dark period did shine light on my poor spiritual and physical health. From witnessing some spiritually spooky practices and eating really good food, I learned I needed a savior and to change my eating habits for good. I may have been deceived about who could help me, but I understood clearly what I needed to do. Immediately organic and other health food store items became staples in my diet and a year and a half later I became saved. Even with the truth of the Gospel I still fumbled in the spirit and fed my flesh junk. And from time to time, I still do.

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.—1 Corinthians 3:18

Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.—Ephesians 5:6

Sometimes I fumble in spirit and flesh because I have deceived myself. Other times men have deceived me. Either way the onus is on me not to be deceived. The same is true for you, and I want to help. In the next series of posts I will examine deception to build our spirits, minds and bodies. The plan is to continue to lay a foundation this week then set aside Mondays for a lesson to feed our spirits, Wednesdays for a thought to strengthen our minds and Fridays for food and other products to nourish our bodies. I look forward to you journeying with me from the harm of deception to the hope in truth.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith