One morning, many years ago, I was washing dishes while listening to a bible study program on the radio. I didn't know much about the bible back then, some 40 years ago, but I knew, even at the age of 20, that I needed to know what this book actually said, as opposed to what other people claimed it said. 

My roommate, Margie, walked in just as I was finishing up the dishes. Noticing the bible study program on the radio, she commented, "I just don't like what the bible says about women".  Being rather new to bible study, I asked her, "What does the bible say about women?"  Margie, who attended Catholic school as a kid, looked thoughtful for a second, then turned to me with a sheepish grin on her face and said "I don't know".  We both sort of giggled and shared an "ah-ha" moment. Neither one of us knew what the bible actually said about women, or what it said about anything else for that matter. 

But it was a wake up call for me personally. I decided then and there that I would dedicate some free time to discovering as much as I could about the bible and what it really does have to say. And with regard to women in general, there is no more liberating passage about women and their significance to society, than Proverbs, Chapter 31. It contains the definitive bible passage on this topic. And it doesn't say a thing about keeping women "barefoot and pregnant". 

In case you don't have a bible handy, I've included the passage here, for your reference. As you will see, the bible defined "women's lib" thousands of years before "modern" women decided to burn their bras. Which, I've also discovered, was not a good idea. LOL. 

The following text is taken from the King James Bible & edited slightly for modern english. 
​

Did you know that the healing power of God is still readily available to you today? But we've been told various lies about the healing power of God. These lies have the effect of keeping us from accessing that power. The truth is, Jesus was not only a healer himself, when he walked upon the earth, but through His death and resurrection, He made it possible for us to actually obtain the same power that He used for his healing work. Yes it IS true, the healing power of God is something you may already have access to, but because of lies and "religious beliefs" that power may have been hidden from you. 

I love the analogy of electrical power, as a way of describing our access to the healing power of God, through Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. (Yeshua to the Jews, Isa to the muslims). 

In America, we are used to having the ability to access electrical power any time we wish. But we are also aware that there are certain rules we need to follow, in order to use this power properly. When we want to turn on our lights or heat up the oven in our stove, we don't call the power company and say "I need some electricity, please turn on my lights." If we did, the power company would say "Hey dummy, the power is already there and working, you just need to flip the switch to turn it on." 

It's the same way with the power of God, which is transmitted through His Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is the source of the power that we can use in our lives, according to the will of God. And the truth is, it really IS God's will that we live in healing and health. If you are not absolutely sure that this is true, and can be true for you too, just take the time to carefully read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and especially John, which focuses on these miracles, and contains Jesus actual words he spoke to his disciples concerning the power that he intended to give them. 

One of the objectives of Jesus death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, was to conquer death, hell and the grave, and to offer this power to his followers, through the Holy Spirit, which Jesus refers to in the gospel of John as "The Comforter and Counselor" who would come to them to give them power. And indeed, this is what happened on the day of Pentecost, 40 days after Jesus ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. On that one day, many miracles began to happen, and the disciples began to manifest the same power to heal the sick and cast out devils, that Jesus had displayed while he walked upon the earth. And the Holy Spirit is STILL HERE TODAY. But the lies of the devil and religious traditions have hindered the truth and kept most people in the dark, unable to even know that they have access to this power, if they will only "flip the switch" and turn it on. 

Ephesians Chapter 1 actually says that God intended to reveal to his saints - those who believe in Jesus Christ, the Messiah - that we now have access to the same power that raised Christ from the dead. This is an incredible truth that has been hidden from most of us: 

Did you know that there are many healing ministries around today? In order to access this power you need to know how it works. With that in mind, here are some links to some current healing ministries who are helping people understand the truth about the power of God that is available to you right now: 

On Youtube: 

​

I'd also strongly recommend watching the healing testimonies on Andrew Wommack's website: AWMI.net  
Andrew is the founder of Charis Bible College in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. His teaching is available online free of charge and he also has a regular live streaming Healing School on Thursday Afternoons local time. Check it out and discover the truth for yourselves. God wants you healed and through Jesus Christ, He has given you access to the same power that Jesus used! Glory To God! 

The links above are only a couple. There are many more, some historical such as John G. Lake, Smith Wigglesworth and Kathryn Kuhlman. Other current ministries include Reinhard Bonnke, founder of Christ For All Nations, and many more. 

 Matthew 24:3  While He was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately and said, Tell us, when will this take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end (the completion, the consummation) of the age?
Mat 24:4  Jesus answered them, "take heed that no man deceive you."

In the above passage, the word translated "deceive" in the King James version is the Greek word "planao", which specifically implies "roaming from the truth".  Today we have created tremendous problems in our society because of our willingness to roam from absolute truth in favor of what we want to believe is true.

But what we believe has no basis in absolute truth, unless we are willing to face truth for what it is, not what we wish it was or want it to be. This is where most people go astray in their lives. We are making important life decisions based on what we believe to be true, not what actually IS true. In so doing, we roam from the truth and become self-deceived or seduced into believing the lies other roamers have created.

The rise of digital technology, along with the internet and social media have made a way for deceivers of all shapes and sizes to go about the business of creating their own version of "truth". Everyday we are exposed to thousands of pieces of information designed to get us to believe something or take some particular action. Thanks to digital imaging programs, even photos or videos cannot be trusted to be true.

If the information happens to agree with our existing perceptions, we are much more likely to believe it is true simply because it "confirms" something we already believe. Most of us can't bear the prospect of admitting we might actually be wrong or 'misinformed'.

The news media knows this and plays on our personal opinions and beliefs every day via news stories designed and purposely written to get us to agree or get us to get mad because we disagree. Often the stories do not even include the pertinent facts. Most of the news stories we are subjected to day after day are now based on sensational topics for their attention-getting ability rather than any real attempt to expose the true facts or circumstances for what they are.

News services have split into camps that openly promote the version of events that they "feel" is correct or "right". There is no longer any pretense of independent, journalistic professionalism, it's all about what the audience wants to hear. Or rather, what those particular reporters believe. Never mind the facts or evidence that could lead to the real truth.

The only people who cannot be deceived are those who are willing to see the evidence for truth and accept it for what it is. Only when we leave our personal opinions and agendas out of the equation, can we know and discern the real truth about anything. Trouble is, most people would rather "roam from the truth" in favor of their personal opinions or agenda.

Are you deceived? If you believe that your opinions are evidence of the truth-- as opposed to examining the evidence available, then the truth is, you are deceived.

Today I heard a meteorologist mention that the 2013 - 2014 winter season was the very first time that the city of Philadelphia had 6 storms that each dumped 6" of snow or more. Indeed it has been a winter to remember. Atlanta, GA had two major snow storms within two weeks, an event that had never occurred in my lifetime. And I've been around for 57 years. It seems like this must be one of the worst winters in history. Or is it? History is a long time. My 57 years is nothing more than a fleeting moment, in the context of history and time.

As monumental as this winter has been, it's probably a pretty small event on a time line that includes many such winters, and many much worse, that have come through here in the course of history. They are big to us because they happen in our lifetime, in our span of history.

Our perspective on all major life events, weather events, sports, growing up and living and dying is actually very, very tiny. People define truth to be what we think it is, based on our perspective and our personal experiences. Yes its true that this was the biggest snow storm I've seen in my lifetime, but all in all, that's a very short period of time, where weather is concerned.

Truth and Life (as in the "force", that drives all living things) supersede all of our collective human experiences. It may come a surprise to many, but believing something does not make it true. Rewriting history to fit our current definition of truth will only change our books, it can't change the history that went before.

If we are wise, we will come to realize that we must seek the real truth for what it is, rather than inventing our own version of truth to make us feel more comfortable with ourselves. With the passing of time, the older person realizes what the younger one cannot know - that is that life is short and truth is absolute and not subject to our perspective or opinions.

One of the greatest tenets of American life is the principle of the "Freedom of the Press".
In the US Constitution Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press were considered to be two of the most important concepts of a free republic. (we are not a "democracy" we are a "republic", though few in government or the media seem to know this)

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press was intended to safeguard the citizens by helping to insure that lying politicians and others in a position of influence could not use lies to mislead the people. The press has always been considered to be the "gatekeepers" of freedom in America, by virtue of their legally protected ability to expose the wrong doings and lies of those in power.

In nations where there is no freedom of speech, such as China and Russia, people are regularly jailed for trying to expose the lies of their government leaders. When the newspapers, bloggers, television personalities and political operatives in the United States begin to cover up lies to protect leaders, it puts the entire nation in jeopardy.

I believe that this is one of the great threats to American life today - A media complex that is willing to cover up lies for leaders that they support. Regardless of party affiliation, covering up lies to enable lying politicians and bureaucrats to get their way and mislead people will always result in less freedom for all of us. Eventually, if allowed to go on long enough it will allow despotic leaders to take control and manipulate the people for greedy personal gain.

Without a free press that is willing to remain independent and expose the lies of either side, public policy is doomed to be manipulated by the few in power, at the expense of the citizens. In fact, we've already gone so far down this road that government officials frequently change the rules for reporting various types of information, such as employment and inflation data, to cover up the poor job that they are doing. Most of the time, few to no media people even both to question the validity of the data that has been produced.

The press is often made up of younger people who have already been heavily influenced in college towards one set of beliefs or another, regardless of truth. These "journalists" as they are called, often feel it is their duty to protect whichever party seems to be in agreement with what the "journalist" believes or "was taught" is true, Regardless of whether it really is true or not. They are not doing their jobs and they are leaving the entire nation vulnerable to manipulation. This is how many countries go from being "free" to being a totalitarian state where millions of people are then executed because they do not follow the official state version of the "truth".

Did you know that communist China was once a free nation? But in the 1940's after the communists took over, they began a full scale crackdown on the nation, killing more than 30 million chinese citizens in the process of "cleansing" the nation of any opposition. Today the chinese press is tightly controlled by the government. The citizens have few legal rights and are told what to do and how to live. They have an internet, but it is closed to the outside world. The Chinese people can only read and hear what the government allows them to read and hear.

They are also told by an obedient press that things in China are fine and that Chinese people have it better than anyone else in the world. All you have to do to avoid being jailed or killed is to believe what you are told, don't ask any questions, follow the official party line.

The same thing is true of Russia. Before the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 Russia was also a free, Christian nation. All of this changed in just a few years. Once Joseph Stalin took power in the early 1920's he ordered that everyone follow every word he said as if it were absolute truth. If you refused, you were promptly sent to prison or executed. Germany under Adolf Hitler was another example. He also had his media managers who made sure that Hitler always looked good and helped to eliminate any opposition. The result was the holocaust.

Hundreds of millions or even billions of people have been executed over the years by governments who made sure that the media or "the press" were tightly controlled and produced stories that always supported the party line. The press was instrumental in helping these evil rulers lie so as to manipulate and control the people. If the press in America does not work hard to maintain it's objective independence and focus on exposing the lies of it's leaders, regardless of which party they belong to, we could end up losing our freedoms to despotic leaders that will destroy this nation and take away our freedoms. There is no more important job in a free country than to safeguard the real truth so that despotic, lying, deceptive leaders cannot gain power.

What are you saying to yourself? What messages or beliefs do you regularly hear inside your "heart" or "mind"? What message does your memory playback to you over and over? Do you have "positive" or "negative" thoughts about yourself and / or others? Do your thoughts tell you what to do, or are you controlling and developing your thoughts? Are you "fearful", "happy", "up", "down" most of the time?

Whatever your answer to the above questions may be, the ultimate result is that our thoughts contain our version or interpretation of the world around us; what we perceive as our version of "truth". It's what we believe. We take action on what we believe. And what we believe is equivalent to the self-talk that plays in our minds 24 hours a day.

If we learn to examine our own self-talk, if we step back and look inside ourselves to become aware of what we are thinking about and how those thoughts are creating our actions on a day to day basis, we are able to discard those thoughts that we can verify are not true. For example, many years ago I decided that I could not become a professional singer because I "thought" I was not good enough. A fearful personal belief about my singing controlled my decision making, and I eventually gave up rather than continue to focus on getting better and developing my skills as a vocalist. My self-talk at that time was full of fear and that fear in turn controlled my actions without me even realizing it until years later, when I had finally developed an ability to see myself from outside myself. When that flash of insight finally developed in me after many years of working towards it, I began to understand just how I had self-sabotaged my career in different ways at different times in my life. And it all began with negative self-talk that undermined my confidence and filled me with fearful thoughts. Once I believed those fearful thoughts, I acted on them by avoiding the thing that I feared. In doing that, I sabotaged a singing career that could have been very successful.

Wise old country folks have another way of saying this - "you don't know your butt from a hole in the ground, and you don't even know that you don't know your butt from a hole in the ground". 

Millions of people are afflicted by a belief system that is wrong, but they do not even know they are wrong. This most often happens when we are teenagers. As teenagers most of us think we know everything, and have no idea of how little we actually do know. And many of those teenagers go on to become adults in positions of power who still have no clue. Large groups of such people, in government for example, can bring a nation to it's knees and damage all of it's citizens permanently by making bad decisions that become a burden on the people.

Successful companies can be destroyed by executives who have deceived themselves. Ken Lay was the CEO of Enron at the time of it's collapse in the early 2000's. Enron and it's employees were destroyed by their bosses who were driven by greedy self-talk and false beliefs about their own infallibility, Ken Lay tried to defend himself by claiming that he had no knowledge of the manifold scams that top Enron executives had perpetrated. Scams that ultimately destroyed a rich, successful company from the inside.

If Mr. Lay really had not been aware of those scams, he was a prime example of a phony leader who truly "did not know his butt from a hole in the ground". He was either living a lie about his own competence, or living a lie about how well Enron was doing. But in either case he was living a lie. In the end, Lay died of a heart attack before he could go to trial over the enormous web of lies that Enron executives had created.

Self awareness and specifically awareness of our self-talk will give us insight into the truth about ourselves. Be bold enough to examine your thoughts, and discover how they could be leading you to self destruction. It sometimes takes years for wrong beliefs to catch up with us, but as we get older, the day of reckoning does come to each one of us. Many wake up realizing that they have wasted their entire lives on wrong beliefs. Living a life of regret only leads to sorrow later in life.

Being bold enough to live a life of truth, no matter what kind of self-talk you must give up to get there, will result in a life well lived, and joy in our later years, instead of guilt or regret. Start today to become aware of what you "say to yourself" on a constant basis. We can only transform our lives if we are willing to transform our minds by accepting the truth and working with it instead of against it.

"SANTA ECONOMICS"     An article by Alan Gotthardt. More evidence that what appears to be true is not actually true. Much of what we take today for scientific research, facts or knowledge is actually an unproven statement or assumption, often made to support a specific agenda as opposed to being a search for the truth, regardless of the agenda.
The article below is an excellent overview of the extent of this deception.

Click Here For "Santa Economics - We Are All Believers Now"

There are two big words in the title of this article, "discern" and "deception". "Discern" (pronounced "dis-sern"), is often used as "discernment" "discerning of spirits" and so forth.  Discern is generally defined as one's own ability to "see" or understand how people, things and situations are working together and the motivations or intents that are behind those people, things and situations.

A simple example of this is driving. When you drive you must discern what is going on around you. The interaction of the traffic and what each drivers intentions are. You discern the signs along the road and that information helps you make accurate decisions about where you are now, where  you are going to, and how best to get there. This is common every day "discernment".

"Deception" on the other hand, is defined as "a ruse", "a trick" or "the use of deceit". "Lying", "misleading", "misconstruing", "misunderstanding", "spinning" (slanting a particular story or event to fit your agenda), are all common forms of deception. You and I deal with deception every day. Each of us is either "deceiving" or "discerning" the flow of information and events throughout our day.

Many times we are not even consciously aware of our own deceptions that we perpetrate on others. At other times the deception is both deliberate and pre-meditated. Those "little white lies" we tell are small deceptions. The more egregious examples are deliberate media deception, "propaganda" that can be perpetrated on either side of any given issue, in an attempt to influence or control the general population. Human beings really want to be "right" and they are usually willing to lie if necessary, to appear to be "right" on some issue.

The one group of people that Jesus most despised was those who were deceivers. Jesus had superior discernment ability. He could "see" or "discern" what was in someones heart and mind. When asked about the signs of his second coming, in Matthew chapter 24, Jesus proceeds to list a lot of things that were going to happen. The first one he mentioned was "deception". He warned "take care that no one deceive you..."

He clearly felt that deception in the church was going to become a major threat. But his warning is also a general principle of life, that can save us from much heartache and major mistakes. We all need the ability to discern truth from lies and recognize how your life choices you make today will influence your life for many years to come.

The challenge lies in the fact that deception can be presented in such a way as to make it very attractive to the "bait". Take for example Charles Ponzi, the inventor of what we call today, "the Ponzi Scheme". A deception which originated in 1919, in which investors appeared to be making big returns on money they invested with Charles Ponzi. But Ponzi was spending their money, not investing it. He was deceiving these investors into believing that they could make big money by investing with Charles. But it was all a big lie. He was simply taking money from new investors and using it to pay "returns" to the earlier investors, then spending the rest. Ponzi defrauded and deceived dozens of investors before the scheme collapsed, destroying the fortunes of those who were deceived by him.

Why were they deceived? Why didn't they "discern" that Ponzi was not really earning the money he told his investors they would earn? Most deception and fraud is disguised to look like something good, something you really want or something you really need. When the bait looks tempting, the fish are going to bite. Deceivers often present an opportunity or benefit that is so tempting that the "bait" (that's you), cannot "afford to turn it down".

Bernie Madoff was so deceptive in creating his aura of success and power around his own ponzi scheme that he was able to entice even major corporations and wealthy, knowledgable investors to give him billions of dollars. His was the largest financial deception ever perpetrated by an individual. It was nothing more than a deception disguised as wealth and power. Madoff's greatest deception was his ability to make everyone believe that it was "prestigious" to invest with him. People will often make terrible mistakes in judgement in order to satisfy their pride and ego. Investing with a powerful, successful "guru" like Bernie Madoff was a status symbol. And though it worked for some 30 years, events beyond Madoff's control eventually exposed this "investing guru" as a mind boggling web of deception.

Learning to discern the difference between truth and deception requires that we get beyond ourselves and our own ego. We must stop making choices based on what is stroking our ego or promising to immediately satisfy our biggest needs or desires. We must learn to examine the "bait" carefully, before we "bite it". If we are not so quick to "take the bait" and make the effort to understand what is happening and why, we can avoid deception.

Avoiding deception can be challenging. Our hearts and minds can rationalize us into a bad decision if we have not yet developed discernment. Avoiding deception is the essence of freedom. A nation that is deceived by it's leaders is a nation that has been enslaved by them. On a more personal level, seeking truth is the essence of foundation building for success in life. Learn to discern or you will be deceived.