Month: April 2026

Posted on

Evil Consensus.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When Peter writes to the Church about ridding themselves of evil, he chose five words that every sensible person believes is WRONG. Peter says, “put these away!”

  • “dolos” – trickery, crafty deceit. The word comes from the word decoy.
  • “kakia” – malice, nasty naughtiness, wickedness, no shame in breaking the law.
  • “hypokrisis” – acting under a feigned part, a stage actor, a fake, a pretender.
  • “phthonos” – envy, spiteful jealousy.
  • “katalalia” – slander, backbiting, evil speaking.

Here’s what struck me. No one likes to be deceived. No one likes hypocrites. Everyone dislikes jealousy and nasty gossipers. And, when it comes to malice or a purposeful disregard for the law, it’s only those who are attracted to the bad boy/girl type who “like” it.

Point: You don’t have to be a believer, unbeliever, church or non-church goer, religious or non-religious to understand what Peter is writing about – they all agree! These are things we ALL hate and all struggle with. We have a general consensus and agreement that bad is bad.

We might not all have these behaviors frequently or all of them at once. But we do recognize them as wrong. Whether folks admit it or not, we have an internal, God-given conscience that tells us when we’re wrong. That means we have to actively override that conscience, struggling to silence it to continue to deceive, purposely pursue malice, hypocrisy, envy and be a backstabbing gossip!

Even still, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy that people can sear their own conscience in 1 Timothy 4:1-2, and get “life-advice” from demons! “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.” Our conscience is God-given and within each of us, Romans 2:15. “God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.” If the conscience is “seared”—literally “cauterized”—then it has been rendered insensitive and become ineffective! It is wild that folks can “fry” their conscience but continue to convince themselves and others that everything is alright.

Is it more egregious to see a follower of Jesus continue to practice these behaviors with no remorse? Yes, I believe it is! Followers of Jesus should be the first ones to recognize these common human behaviors/sins and the first ones to say “I’m sorry.” We should be humble enough to not deflect our bad choices, defensively blaming others or making it sound like it’s not that big of a deal. The consequences of deception, intentional nastiness, hypocrisy, jealousy and spreading gossip is primarily pain for others. It’s also a poor representation of Jesus to the world that already believes that “Christians” look down on everyone else.

Peter’s admonition (truthful encouragement) is to get rid of these behaviors, but when we do fail and hurt someone, we should be honest about it and be quick to apologize. Even though there is an evil consensus about what is clearly bad, we can be examples of owning our own sin and show contrition (remorse) for it.

Prayer

Dad,
I have to admit, even though these behaviors are awful, I have caught myself acting them out. Not every one of them is a constant battle, but checking my behaviors and the motives behind them is a regular part of struggling. Especially when I’ve been hurt, want to get even or just feeling spiteful or awry. It is when I see a poor reflection of myself in Your Word, that I feel the pinch of Your Spirit to own it, repent of it and apologize when necessary. Honestly, the pain of asking someone’s forgiveness should be enough to help me to not act on these nasty behaviors. I am so thankful for the Holy Sprit nudges, and your mercy.

Posted on

A 🐸 god?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go back to Pharaoh and announce to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs across your entire land. The Nile River will swarm with frogs. They will come up out of the river and into your palace, even into your bedroom and onto your bed! They will enter the houses of your officials and your people. They will even jump into your ovens and your kneading bowls. Frogs will jump on you, your people, and all your officials.’” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Really? For most of my life as a follower of Jesus, I thought the plagues on Egypt were just strange and creepy. Just annoying enough to make people’s skin crawl and get nauseous just thinking about. Some people hate frogs and are terrified by them. I was forever years old when I heard that each plague was attached to the gods of Pharaoh – and all of Egypt WORSHIPPED them! They worshipped a frog god? Yep, it’s true.

The plagues were judgment on Egypt’s religious system, not random disasters. And, “Pharaoh is part of that picture too, because Egyptian kingship was religious, not just political. Pharaoh was regarded as a divine ruler and mediator of cosmic order, so the plagues also function as a humiliation of Pharaoh’s claimed sacred authority.” Some of the gods are speculative, but a few are historically documented!

Heqet – the frog god is one that is well known. She was an ancient Egyptian goddess, usually shown as a frog or as a woman with a frog’s head. Her main spheres of influence were fertility, birth, regeneration, and rebirth. She was deeply connected to childbirth and became especially associated with the final stages of labor. She was given the title “She who hastens the birth.” Frog amulets linked to Heqet were used by women in connection with childbirth. Sounds like a sci-fi right? Yet she was serious in the Egyptian culture, because she “controlled” the future generations of true Egyptians. Her favor meant increase, and conversely, her anger meant death. So for God to send a plague of frogs, meant that it was a clear sign to Pharaoh and the people that it was a source of judgment instead of blessing. And, more importantly, that God was over the gods of Egypt.

The Bible does not mention the god, Heqet, which I understand. Giving these hybrid or half-breed spirit beings any acknowledgment would be giving them recognition. History gives us these beings identity and role. We now know it was clearly to distort God’s truth and lead humans away from Him. These beings can’t create, only deceive. God mocks them by creating plagues showing the ridiculousness of trusting false gods.

I used to think these gods were just fakes, figments of our imagination and false projections of an actual being. Now, I’ve come to understand, they were and still are active spirit beings who’s sole purpose is to join with Satan in deceiving and creating havoc in human lives, keeping them from seeing and experiencing the one true God who has a plan and purpose for redemption and reconciliation to Himself.

These gods are very real and powerful, but many people dismiss them because they don’t understand how and why they exist. I don’t know if the “frog” god is still active like she was back in Ancient Egyptian days, but I can tell you similar gods exist around the world today, even in the “disbelieving” USA.

Pharaoh recognized the difference between his gods and the one true God, yet he still refused to submit. The Bible says that this act of arrogant defiance hardened Pharaoh’s heart and it cost him the life of his own son as well as every Egyptian firstborn in the nation. Only the Jewish people, with the blood-sign on their doorposts would be protected or “passed over” the Angel of Death. This was the meaning of Passover. We still have a “Passover” in place today, it’s Jesus blood covering over our sins, meaning the final death will pass us over when we die.

Prayer

​Dad,
I am so very thankful for your love, protection and provision. Even when I was duped into believing the subtle lies coming at me as a young teen, you broke through and made yourself known to me. I am forgiven and redeemed because of the price Jesus paid for me on the cross.