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April 24 Choose joy

The accomplice of a thief is his own enemy; He is put under oath and dare not testify. Fear of man will prove to be a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. ~Proverbs 29:24-25

The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. ~John 10:10

The Lord spoke to me with His strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said, “Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The Lord almighty is the one you are to regard as Holy, He is the One you are to fear, He is the One you are to dread, and He will be a sanctuary. He will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. ~Isaiah 8:11-14A

Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise—in God I trust, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? ~Psalm 56:9-11

Yesterday we talked about the influence of friends. Today, we see more about the mess that can be made by friends in the wrong circumstances. It is interesting to me the couplets that Solomon has put together today. First, we talk about the thief.

Isn’t it interesting that Solomon points out that the thief’s accomplice is the thief’s worst enemy? Why? It is because the accomplice is the “friend” who should have influenced the thief beforehand not to take on that particular adventure. The accomplice should have been the leader here to do good, instead, he followed. Now both are in trouble. Think about Adam and Eve. Apparently, he was right there listening to the conversation. He could have stepped in to cause things to go better. But he became the accomplice and he ate too.

The fear of man proves to be a snare for that accomplice, that’s for sure. Too often, that’s how it works. The accomplice is not a true friend but is an opportunist. He is ready to take advantage of his partner’s daring deeds but is also afraid of what would happen to him if he did try to correct his partner. And by being an agreeable accomplice he emboldens the partner and makes it even worse. In the end the accomplice will still have to take ownership of his part in the deed, because he didn’t stop it or walk away.

When we think of thieves, we think of those who take physical things from others, without permission, to use for themselves. When thieves act, they are carrying out their father, satan’s will. Jesus said that “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy.” That is the thief’s goal. He is not interested in good. A more cautious person, one who is prudent, would see this and either steer clear, or try to influence for the good himself, rather than become in league with him and risk suffering the same fate.

However, we often have thieves in our thought life. There is a devil and his minions can plant thoughts in our heads that we think are our own. They can have a powerful influence and rob us of joy and freedom in Christ. If we are not careful to take the lead and check these thoughts against the truth in God’s word, we can become willing accomplices in our own demise! When we are not careful, we can become the accomplices to their deeds without putting up much resistance.

There is another direction to take this too. It connects with yesterday’s thoughts on how others can influence us by “remote control.” “Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.” In truth, that sounds like a good banner for every Christian to hang in front of their news source, Facebook page and browser.

There is so much creative finger pointing and blame all around us. So many are caught up in fear as a result. It may be prudent not to spread what we don’t really know, so that we don’t become an accomplice to adding to the fear. What is being robbed from us is joy.  “But whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” God told the prophet Isaiah: “The Lord almighty is the one you are to regard as Holy, He is the One you are to fear, He is the One you are to dread, and He will be a sanctuary. He will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”

It’s another way of looking at what we have talked about many other times, that there is perception, what we see and what we think we see. And there is an unseen spiritual reality that is overall. There are conspiracies that have been started to fill a vacuum of knowledge. Some are too willing to make guesses and spread what makes sense to them. This is like the fool we’ve mentioned who blurts out folly.

Sadly, many are ready to be accomplices and spread it around. Others create conspiracies for political reasons. They don’t want to consider certain facts and omit them as inconvenient. They too have willing accomplices that make it difficult for those who just want the truth.

As the Lord’s loved ones, we would do best to seek His face in prayer. Receive His peace during our time with Him and be about His business, alleviating fear and bringing comfort to a world that is frightened and lost. Remember, Jesus said that He has come to give us life in full. He will reveal all Truth someday. I wish that it were today too, but the delay is for His purposes that, someday, we will understand.

We don’t know our future, but when our confidence is in Him, we can more bravely walk into whatever He has for us and say with the Psalmist: “in God I trust, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Man can do nothing that has not gone through our heavenly Father’s hands first. That knowledge should restore our joy because: “whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.”

Prayer: Father, I will not be an accomplice to the thief of my joy! I choose to believe what You say about me. I am a beloved child of God. And as I live by that, I will find that I am not going to be an accomplice of any other kind of thief either, but will be an influence for good. I'm looking forward to bearing much good fruit. In Jesus' name, amen!

Song:  Smile with lyrics. This first one has the words for you, but if you have time, you really have to watch this one too. It will make you smile!>   
Smile official music video.

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