L-S-D (Lies, Secrets & Deception)

Have you ever wondered how lies, secrets and deception impact our lives? How does God view L-S-D? Is it possible to overcome such sins and walk in truth, honesty and integrity? Is L-S-D a choice issue only, or influenced by demonic forces as well? This book L-S-D will answer these questions as it explores the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, looking at the lies, secrets and deception in the lives of those that have lived before us. It reveals how such actions changed their lives or even the course of history, resulting in separation from family, friends and God. This book will not only serve as a warning against the practice of lies, secrets and deception, but also to motivate us to walk in truth, honesty and integrity as it contains many valuable keys to daily living. It also reveals God's grace as we confess our sins and turn to Him for forgiveness.

Brief excerpts: The first lie started in the Garden of Eden by the master and father of lies. The serpent told Eve she would not surely die if she ate from the tree of good and evil, but that she would be like a god, knowing good and evil. This was in direct contrast to what God told Adam in Genesis 2:16-17, “You are to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”Adam and Eve had eternal life before being deceived, but traded that for eternal death!....

Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son and put them on Jacob, she also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins, as it resembled the human hair very closely. The picture of deception is quite clear here. The sin of deception had to be covered up, even before the actual sin was to take place. The end result of the sin was far more appealing than the consequences. This is what the serpent did in the Garden of Eden, he made the consequences of disobedience to God, appear to be far more appealing than the blessings of God!....

Sin does not pay! Not only did it cost Achan his own life, but his family as well, and thirty-six other men. It was only after the penalty for the sin was dispensed, that the Lord turned from his fierce anger and delivered Ai into their hands, Joshua 7:26 - 8:28. This is a very clear example of a secret sin, which affected the whole community. So often what we think is our personal business or our own secret sin, does not affect our individual life alone, but the lives of those around us. Satan would have us to believe otherwise, as the more persons he can infect with a “personal” sin, the more dominion he can have over the earth. What would our society be like to live in if the above example from the book of Joshua was followed in our day?....

Absalom not only sinned against the people of Israel, but against his own father. It would appear that his endeavors were successful up to this point, but the consequences of his actions had far reaching effects and eventually resulted in death. This is a good place to pause, search your heart and ask the following questions. How often have family members deceived each other? How often have church leaders deceived their congregation by living lives with a double standard? How often have leaders of nations deceived their own followers?....

All of us have secret thoughts and desires from time to time, some of them godly and others fueled by our sinful desires, but it is what we do with those desires that create the separation between God and those around us. If we share those secrets and desires with others, the power or the hold they have over us will be broken and easier to resist. Jesus was not only addressing the issue of adultery here, but he was addressing the secret sins of our thoughts and heart. So often we don’t share those ungodly desires and secrets with those we love or even with God, because we want to give in to them and experiment, or to have our own way; regardless of the boundaries that God or even society has set in place to preserve and protect our lives....

Peter said to him, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? You have not lied to men but to God.” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. It may appear from Peter’s statement, that Ananias had no choice in what he did, but he made the choice to lie, he conspired with his wife to lie. Ananias did not get a second chance; the judgment of the Lord was instant. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is it this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” She replied that it was the price. Sapphira was given another choice here, she could have told the truth and confessed to Peter, but she had conspired with her husband and chose to lie. This was met with the same fate as her husband, instant death.

I cannot help but ponder on the incidents in Acts 5, what if the same judgment was dispensed in our day? How would it alter the way we live? Great fear fell on the people of that day, would it have the same effect today? Or would mankind probably try to rationalize and dismiss it as a coincidence? This incident demonstrates to me personally how God views lying, as it is totally contradictory to Him, who is the Truth! Ananias and Sapphira did not die because they wanted to keep back a portion of the money for themselves, they died because they lied and attempted to deceive man and God....

Satan appeared to Eve in the garden and pretended to be a friend, and to Jesus Christ in the wilderness, he pretended to be concerned for his well being, when his design was nothing but evil. He introduces God’s creation to what appears to be the truth, but then introduces them to the most notorious falsehood and errors. And under the pretense of religion, he introduces all sorts of idolatry, superstition and false piety....

Is it possible that Satan, the father of deception, was himself deceived? I will let you be the judge of that after reading the following chapters! If the deceiver himself was deceived into believing something that was totally impossible, why is it that we think that we can get away with lies, secrets and deception? Deception is the cornerstone or foundation for all lies and secrets....

This is the conclusion, but you may still have unanswered questions about your own personal lies, secrets and deception. You may ask the question, “Where do I go from here?” I cannot change the past. I cannot alter what I have done. I cannot take back the lie or deception. I do not want to take my secret to the grave.

The answer may seem all too simple, but this is all that is required of you, confess the sins, make restitution if necessary and possible, reveal the truth and ask forgiveness of those you have wronged. Ask God to forgive you and forget what is behind, and strain towards what is ahead, Philippians 3:13.

L-S-D ( Lies, Secrets and Deception) ISBN # 1-591601-84-3 Can be obtained from all major online retailers. Check out www.Amazon.com and search inside this book.