MASK-uerade

2 Corinthians 11:14-15, "And no wonder, since Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15) So it is no great surprise if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, but their end will correspond with their deeds."

Transforms. Disguises. Masquerades. They are all one in the same. However, from the scriptures above, you can clearly see who is behind the "mask." 

Led by His Light

This post is another example how I am inspired through the Holy Spirit and being guided by an observation. I originally had a different title in mind to go along with a slightly different subject, albeit, closely related. But my desires changed swiftly thanks to the Lord showing up at the most unexpected time! For whatever reason, I just couldn't find the words nor the correct direction that the Lord needed me to go in so I just didn't write anything at all. Easy solution. As always, if I get into that brick wall scenario, I know not to push it because I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that either it's from my flesh or the Lord wants to take me in a new and different direction. So I wait. Then it happened the other day. Out of the blue and into my spirit it was received. I had went to the store after meeting for lunch with a previous co-worker I hadn't seen since the lockdown/quarantine started. I got to the parking lot of the store I intended to shop at and when I arrived, I just sat there for a time looking, observing and taking in what all I was seeing. I was looking at a sea of faceless strangers hurrying to and fro who were masked up in 92* weather, agitated and who were clearly behaviorally judgmental in opposition to those who weren't wearing masks. Now I'm a proponent for masks in certain circumstances and for certain people. I also believe in choice. I feel if you want to wear a mask, that's fine. If you don't, that's fine too. I feel we all, as human beings, have the right to make our own health care decisions. With that said, I am not, however, a proponent of other people bullying or shaming or becoming confrontational towards those who's choices are different. So sitting there in my car watching the sneers, agitation and behavioral judgment going on all around, made me very sad. Very hopeless. Very conflicted. Very much heartbroken over the disconnect of humanity. All sorts of emotions welled up inside of me, some bordering on anger. I lost all desire to shop and started my car and drove home. "There's always tomorrow." I thought to myself....but I knew it would only be worse with each passing day.....

As I watched the sea of faceless strangers, it hit me! It was a true "mask-uerade" in the direct sense of the word. It was exactly the moment this post was born and I then understood why I had been redirected while I patiently waited. I saw the proverbial "mask." Then I swiftly connected it to the "mask-uerade." So let me explain this a little further and let's explore this a little deeper. What is the definition of a mask? Let's start with several definitions because it is actually fairly lengthy but leading all in the same direction. 1) A facial covering worn for ritual. 2) A mold of a person's face, often made after death. 3) An often grotesque representation of a head and face, used for ornamentation. 4) A face having a blank, fixed, or enigmatic expression. 5) To cover in order to conceal, protect, or disguise. 6) To conceal one's real personality, emotion, or intention. 7) to hinder, as an army, from conducting an operation. 8) a form of disguise or concealment usually worn over or in front of the face to hide the identity of a person and by its own features to establish another being. 9) medical use (which came much much later) Those are just but a few of the definitions that can be found and attributed to a mask. It makes it easy for one to see there's not really any good intentions behind a mask. Now let's take it one step further and look at the possible origins of the word itself. The etymology begins around the 1530s, from Middle French masque "covering to hide or guard the face" and "a cover for the face a false face," from Italian maschera, from Medieval Latin masca "mask, specter, nightmare." This is a word of uncertain origin but it's likely from the Arabic maskharah "buffoon, mockery," from sakhira "be mocked, ridiculed." There are some who also believe it's possibly derived via Provençal mascarar, (or its related Catalan mascarar, Old French mascurer) "to blacken or darken (the face)," which is perhaps from a Germanic source akin to English mesh. It's been said that one German author claimed the word "mask" is originally derived from the Spanish más que la cara (literally, "more than one face" or "added face"), which then evolved to "máscara."  Compare Occitan mascara "to blacken, darken," that's derived from mask- "black," which is held to be from a pre-Indo-European language, and Old Occitan masco "witch," surviving in dialects; in Beziers it means "dark cloud before the rain comes." [See Walther von Wartburg, "Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch: Eine Darstellung galloromanischen sprachschatzes"]. Figurative meaning "anything used or practiced for disguise or concealment" is by 1570s. And finally, in Hebrew the word "masecha" written as "מַסֵּכָה" means, "mask, disguise or idols." In biblical Hebrew, interestingly enough, it means idols.

That's just a little background history of the mask and it's intentions. I inform you of that background as a way for you to see that it's never been used in any certain terms for the "good" or the "light" or for the glory of our Lord and Savior! All kinds of thoughts started racing through my mind about the mask and the intentions of its use, how it is used to conceal and hide and disguise and deceive. It's not something the Lord requires nor is it something He desires because He didn't create us to be concealed. So it is fitting for it to be linked to a masquerade, which by definition alone, means, "to disguise oneself: to go about disguised: to take part in a masquerade: to assume the appearance of something one is not: a way of appearing or behaving that is not true or real: to pretend to be someone or something else." I believe this is an appropriate depiction of our times right now and what is happening to our societies, our towns, our countries and our world. But more importantly, to our people. People are being forced into a worldwide masquerade and nobody is even questioning it. When I began to fully comprehend the meaning of the mask and the origins, I sensed it was very much ritualistic in nature. It felt dark. Deceived. Simply by me sitting in the car watching what I was observing and realizing there is more to a "mask" than what our world leaders were claiming and would like us to believe, I felt such an overwhelming urgency to put all of my thoughts together and connect it to the knowledge that the Lord gave me and put it all into words the best that I can. As I was struggling for a fitting title, the play on words suddenly hit me just as quickly as the theme did in the parking lot that would change my direction of this writing. I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, this was exactly what I was being led to write and speak about on a grand scale. You see, it is conjectured that the very first masks may have actually been generally used by a primitive people in association to the wearer with some kind of unimpeachable authority, such as "the gods" or to otherwise lend some kind of credence to the person's claim on a given social role. Masks have never been used for anything good or pure and definitely not for the glory of God! Let that sink in.....

This all led me to have thoughts upon thoughts upon thoughts about the TYPES of masks there are in our lives. Not the physical masks that are being "mandated" across the world in the name of "safety and security." Not the ritualistic masks. Not the masks that were forced upon the slaves to control them and silence them. Not the medieval masks of torture. But emotional masks. Social masks. Masks to hide and conceal emotions, emotional pains, emotional trauma and social anxieties. Masks to disguise what they don't want you to know or see. People wear masks to hide shame. Masks to hide guilt. Masks to hide sadness. Masks to hide grief. Masks to hide fear. Masks to hide anxiety. Masks to hide depression. Masks to hide pain. Mask to hide abuse. Masks o hide addictions. Masks to hide trauma. Masks to hide sin. Masks to hide "ill perceived" unworthiness. Masks to hide low self-esteem. Mask to hide failures. I could go on and name several more but the point is, even a mask for emotional significance still is not of God our Father! It still conceals who we are, what we feel, how we behave. I still disguises us to the world around us and to the people we come in contact with. It still "hides" us in a place that we feel secure, safe and in some cases, untouchable, instead of us running for cover and into the loving arms of Jesus! He is the one that covers our shame, guilt, pain, etc. He is the one that His blood washed away all of those issues. Not some invisible "mask" that Satan wants us to use to make us feel "less than." If you think about it, the physical masks mentioned above are really no different than the emotional masks we wear and both are given to us by none other than Satan himself. Both types serve the same purposes just in different ways and in different situations. You see, the enemy knows our weaknesses so he offers up some spiritually deadly solutions to those weaknesses to draw us away from the Lord's solutions. He knows the Lord's solutions are healing, kind, loving, tender and protective! As I've mentioned before, but will repeat for the benefit of the new Christians or those who need a reminder, Satan CANNOT do ANYTHING NEW. He CANNOT create ANYTHING. He CANNOT read our minds, know our thoughts or know our hearts. He's not God but that's who he wanted to BE and that arrogance, that prideful sin, is what caused his fall! Since his fall, he has spent all those years studying and perfecting his "game." He knows alot, granted, but is not omnipresent, omnipotent nor omniscient. ONLY GOD IS!!! Satan is in one place at a time. That's why he has his demons roaming around doing his bidding and assignments. Satan wants the unbelievers to think he's like God as part of his deception and he wants the believers to be fooled into believing God has abandoned them. Remember, Satan is a liar! You see, he can ONLY bring up our past, he can ONLY know what works by what worked in the PAST, by our reactions or what we have spoken out loud. He can ONLY use those tools, shoot those arrows, use those attacks to weaken and beat us up. He is still under the authority OF God and many of us Christians forget that. Remember, however, that Satan CANNOT snatch the believer away from God but he is still very much hard at work to cause division among believers, to render them ineffective in their testimony, to cause them to stumble and doubt our Lord God and damage their relationship with God. 1 John 5:18, "We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not."

So all of the emotional masks that the enemy throws our way for us to put on, are for evil intent. Period. It's a struggle for all of us to take off our emotional masks and be vulnerable. That's hard to be "exposed" and show raw emotions. Especially for those who feel they have to keep piling on the masks because for those, it becomes extremely difficult to become who they were created to become so they stay "locked" inside their minds and hide behind their masks! Most of those people are paralyzed by fear to some degree. They are fearful of "discovery" and fear that they will be rejected by those around them. Sad really. The truth is none of us like to be rejected but we all face one or more emotional issues that we have worn masks over in order to conceal, to hide, to disguise for a false sense of security. I realized some time ago, my battle scars, my experiences and my own trauma has made me who I am today and has also shown me how I can be a vessel to others who have experienced some of the same things. The only way to be a vessel to others was to face the world without the masks, make myself vulnerable to others as I was led and I began to find my true identity slowly being "unmasked" and revealed to me right before my very eyes. You can too. Do I still struggle with peeling back a mask from time to time? Absolutely. I don't live behind any of them anymore though! That slow process, albeit painful, has helped me in my walk and in my testimony with others. It also helps me to know my battles, my scars, my trauma, my experiences are unique only to me but shared by others in this world. By that I mean, many others in this world has gone through some of the same things, experienced some of the same things, had to overcome some of the same things. A commonality among a people. While that is true, we each have been affected differently, making each experience, each battle, each scar and each trauma unique to us as an individual. It's the way God designed it to be because we each have our own purpose through His perfect Will for our lives! That's pretty powerful when you step back and realize that much in the same way that we all can experience the same thing, it will affect us differently. God chose all of us who are broken, who are cracked pots, to be HIS vessel of Light to be sent into the world to witness to other broken and cracked pots! Who better to witness and come alongside the broken than those who are broken and have been through those same struggles, right? Jesus fought and died on the Cross of Calvary for us to be able to take refuge in His Love through His shed blood! I wrote an article that might be a fitting companion post to this part called, "The Cracked Pots in God's Kingdom" and can be found here. We are all cracked pots and if we weren't, the light of our Lord couldn't shine through! 

We find in James 4:7 a command that is worthy of pointing you towards at this time. It says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Know that it is impossible to resist the devil and his schemes without first submitting to the Lord! To think otherwise, is arrogance on high. The act of submitting to God simply means that we are elevating His True Word above our own desires, yielding ourselves unto God’s revealed will in the Scriptures, and desperately, longingly calling to him in prayer to ask for "grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." The best example and illustration of what submission and resisting the devil looks like than the example set by Jesus Himself. You see, in the beginning of His earthly ministry, He ultimately had to resist the devil in the wilderness. We find this in Matthew 4 and also in Luke 4. Both chapters are highly recommended reading! Even though Jesus was God in flesh while on the earth in His ministry, He, too, resisted Satan by submitting to the will of the Father and quoting Scripture! We can't do it any other way. Trust me, I've tried and failed several times until that lesson was finally learned and seared into my soul! After James' command to his readers to resist the devil, James then commands his readers to "draw near to God and he will draw near to you." found in the verse right after, James 4:8, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." You can see how this command is indivisibly connected to the command to resist the devil. It shows that the ultimate goal is a restored relationship with God. The very reason we resist Satan isn't to make our lives easier, but to restore our walk with Jesus! Just as submission to God is an act of resistance to the devil, so, too, is our zealous pursuit of God. It's important to know that Satan can't dwell in the presence of God, so the one who desperately runs to the throne of grace can rest assured that the devil can't follow him there. James also includes the comforting assurance to this very important command: If we resist the devil, he will flee from us. The devil can't overpower a child of God who is humbly submitting to, and actively pursuing, Jesus. My dear readers, Jesus died on the Cross so that He might destroy the very one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who, through fear of death, were subject to lifelong slavery. Hebrews 2:14-15, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15) And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Remember, Jesus CONQUERED DEATH and it couldn't hold Him!!! That's POWERFUL! That's amazing news!! We have the ability to resist the devil only because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross of Calvary!

Satan is a Liar!

As mentioned already, masks are primarily used by Satan to make us stumble, to make us stagnant and afraid to move forward, to make us be something we're not. He actually wants us to be like him. In essence, to lie to ourselves and to others. Afterall, he is the father of lies. John 8:44, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it." Satan can only speak one language, his language, which is the language of lies. As a matter of fact, he's actually incapable of speaking the truth because, as Jesus said, "there is no truth in him." Everything about him, everything about his influence in this earth, is all about lying, deceiving, and seeking whom he can devour. All it takes is one swift look around the world right now and one can see who is the driving force behind all the darkness being unleashed and revealed. As many remember, it all started with Adam and Eve in the garden, and it continues now. Satan works quite effectively within the art of deception, it's his only skill besides music because he was the angel of music which is why the majority of today's secular music is demonically inspired and Satanic in nature. Do not be deceived. Anyway, he works especially hard to get you to believe something that's simply not true, and will continue trying until you do finally believe it. Sort of like wearing you down spiritually and emotionally. When people start to believe something to be true, they, oftentimes, will respond in like TO that truth by way of their words, attitudes and actions or behaviors. When you consider many of the cults, false teachings, false religious denominations and false belief systems that exist in our society all over the world today, they all flow out of Satanic deception. Every one of them. I tend to believe that this is one of his greatest works in the hearts of men because he wants to keep people completely, or partially, separated from the truth. As Jesus said in John 8:32, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." That brings us right back to 2 Corinthians 11:14, "And no wonder, since Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." Everything that our Creator God does, especially the work of The Holy Spirit, Satan tries to mimic. He's the great deceiver so it shouldn't surprise anyone that he mimics God's work. He's a great actor on a great, big stage and knows exactly how to play the part because he knows his audience, what they desire and what their weaknesses are. But you must always remember, his goal is always deception. He will continue to try and impersonate the Holy Spirit, or come as an angel of light in disguise, but within him, deeply embedded, is great darkness, great evil and great deception. That’s why discernment is so important, no, it's imperative, and why knowing the truth of God’s word is a must! For example, when people are taught how to spot counterfeit bills/money, they have to study the real bills first. Why? To become familiar with the real bill so that when they do come in contact with the counterfeit ones, they will be able to recognize it quickly. Same with us. We must become familiar with the truth of God’s word and the work of the Holy Spirit, that even if Satan himself comes, masquerading as an angel of light, we'll be able to spot the counterfeit.

Full circle, by Satan finding our weaknesses through our trauma, anxiety, depression, abuse, etc., he is able to make us put on a mask over whatever emotional issue we have, or several masks. That's him telling us a lie. That's him deceiving us. That's him controlling us. That's him making us like him, someone who masquerades in disguise! That hurt my spirit realizing that was what this was about. It was like my mind and spirit was suddenly getting this information downloaded for the first time because I saw this in a different way for the first time! It really is nothing more than us "disguising" who we are and who we are made to be! I've said before that once we believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, follow Him and are washed in the Blood of Jesus Christ to receive His free gift of Salvation, when God looks at us, He sees His Son! How is that, one might ask? Because God sees the Blood of His Son that covered all of our sins. We become one family through that one act! So you see, we are given a new identity when we are saved through Grace alone! Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God," GRACE ALONE! I want to pause here for just a moment and make a statement. Satan demands all kinds of things out of his followers, and from those who want riches and gold and mansions. Our God does not require anything of us for His free Gift of Salvation through GRACE. We must believe and receive. We don't need masks. We don't need to wear our shame, guilt, trauma, abuse masks around! God didn't intend for us to conceal who we are, who we are presenting ourselves to be to others around us, and He didn't intend for us to disguise ourselves on behalf of our adversary, the devil! Satan is a thief as we are told in John 10:10, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." How does that relate to masks though? Because when the devil lies to us, making us feel less than, and he deceives us by handing us our respective masks on a platter, he's STEALING our IDENTITY! Satan wants to steal your identity so that he can use the gifting, callings and purposes that are on your life from God for his own selfish purposes! You see, he wants you to be a defeated Christian, one who gets easily persuaded, and one who is easily discouraged. Once he steals your identity, (or gains control of your soul) he uses your soul to kill your spirit and destroy your destiny! Also to destroy everything that you have dominion over! But look at what Romans 11:29 tells us, clearly, "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." When we, as Christians, fully understand those words, those powerful words, we will become much stronger against the wiles of the enemy because we belong to royalty and with our royal heritage comes powers and protection through the shed blood of our Savior who died on the cross for all of our sins and who is ALIVE. Irrevocable means it can't be taken back, taken away, Satan has already been defeated! He's just trying to upset the apple cart with all of his lies and they increase with time because his time is limited.....Many genuine Christians are still tormented in their minds because a principality of darkness planted a lie deep within their minds sometime in their distant or recent past that they've nurtured, believed and allowed to take root by believing the lie because they kept rehearsing it repeatedly out of their own unregenerated soul or unrenewed mind. This is why it's so important to stay in His word, daily renewing your minds and sanctifying your souls.

You can now see, hopefully, that all those masks he gives us to wear and that we willingly accept through our pain, serve no purpose in the body of Christ! They serve nothing more than to deceive others just like Satan does himself. Who wants to imitate the devil, someone who HATES our very existence, when our wonderful God has given us our beautiful identity in His Only Begotten Son! As long as we are in this earthly body on this fallen earth, we will have struggles and it will be hard to peel off the masks we've worn for so long. Some may be harder to remove than others, but they can be removed! For the unbelievers who have not received Jesus Christ's free gift of Salvation, Satan doesn't want you to really know the truth of who Jesus is, he doesn't want you to find your freedom in Jesus' blood and instead wants you to turn to him for "salvation." Let me pause for a moment and explain something about Satan. He wants desperately to steal your vision, kill your faith, and destroy your purpose. He wants to keep you FROM salvation and if he can't keep you from Salvation, then he'll just take that as a loss. However, he will then work diligently to try to keep you from telling others about the gospel because he knows the Gospel is the power of God until Salvation and that Jesus is the ONLY way back to the Father!!! He doesn't want that message brought to the lost people of the world! He knows it's their only hope! By the way, and this is important to understand and to grasp, but when a person calls upon the name of the Lord for their Salvation, and they cry out to Jesus, Satan CAN'T stop that from happening!! That's the power of the Blood AND it's the power of Salvation through His death on the Cross because He defeated death! But Satan's true work is to keep people from getting to that point of crying out to Jesus for their Salvation. Remember, Satan is the "god" of this world and he doesn't care one iota about you. He doesn't "love" you because he in INCAPABLE of love. He HATES you. Hate = Death. He wants you to join him in eternal damnation in the lake of fire! Look what is said in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4) whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them." Satanic influence is everywhere, it's all around you, all orchestrated by the grand master Satan himself. Couple that with the natural sinful condition of man’s heart, and you have a toxic combination. It’s no wonder our world is in the state it’s in, swimming in the depravity that is unspeakable. Think of all the people who are harshly blinded by their unbelief, by their sins, by the lies. People are prisoners to their sin, to their minds and thoughts and to their bondage, yet they're actually able to be convinced by the enemy himself that they're really 'free.' Unfortunately, this is what happens when many have taken the lies that have been pushed into the world by Satan, the father of lies, and believed them to be true. He wants to keep people blinded, confused, trapped and held captive in their sinful condition and he wants to help them "mask" themselves in lies. Think about it, by handing over masks to wear, in turn helping us disguise and lie about who we are and who we belong to, it makes him think he's got a good grip on us because we APPEAR to be imitating him. 

By continuing to wear those masks, Satan is keeping you in bondage and is keeping you as a victim while assisting in making you believe the lie that you aren't worthy. A victim isn't free. But it's the victim mentality that Satan wants to pound into your spirits and into your thoughts because that keeps you down! It keeps you doubting. It keeps you believing the lie that freedom doesn't come to you and that you'll always remain a victim to whatever the mask is concealing! A victim held in the mindset of a victim mentality is held in bondage to whatever it originally was that caused one to become a victim in the first place. We ALL are a VICTIM of something in our lives! This is one thing none of us can escape no matter how much we try. Every single person in this fallen world has experience one or several of being hurt, oppressed, wronged, abused, used, sexually violated, abandoned, rejected, hated, battered, robbed, shunned, terrorized, and a number of other causes of victimization that labels us a victim. Some have been a victim to many things while others only a few but we ALL have been a victim. So then why do some people end up choosing to remain a victim? Why do some people end up victimizing others as a result of their own hardships and victimization's? Why do some people end up living their lives AS a VICTIM rather than breaking free from the chains that bind them? It's important to note that no one escapes becoming a victim to "something" or OF "something" but we ALL can escape the chains that bind us and keep us in that place. In John 5:6, Jesus says, "When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?" In the book of John chapter 5 it gives us a clear view about a place called Bethesda, a supernatural city where an angel would eventually come down and stir the waters. That has always fascinated my inquisitive mind to just imagine an angel coming down from heaven to literally stir up the waters is something of a beautiful picture that forever remains in my mind! This is where Jesus found a man laying by a pool, along with many others, sick and diseased in varying degrees and in various ways. When the angel would swoop down and touch the waters to stir them, the first person to jump in was healed of whatever disease or infirmity they had! Talk about an amazing opportunity for an instant healing!

Just a YES Will Do!

In this chapter and verse, it shows how Jesus walked up to a man who had been afflicted with an infirmity for thirty eight years. This disease gripped this man for most of his life. One thing Jesus knew is how easy it was, is and could be, for someone who has a disease for a long time to end up wrapping their whole identity around their disease. It happened then and it is still happening today. What comes against us, and something will, or has, can easily end up becoming a part of our identity, a part of who we believe we are, if we are not discerning enough. By that, I mean, simply put, we become comfortable with the very thing that holds us down or back from what God wants us. We BECOME what our bondage is, we become our own victim. As you can see, the question that Jesus asks confronts the victim mindset right from the start. When you read this account, it may seem like Jesus is being a little bit uncaring, or even indifferent to the plight of this man, or at least by our modern day standards with our modern day minds. He doesn't ask for the man’s story. No need for intake to be done regarding what kind of factors even got him to this place. His question hits to the core of the man’s heart and motivation, point blank. "Do you want to be made well?" He cuts right to the heart of the matter, Do you REALLY want to be healed? That, my dear readers, is the key question for ALL of us. Do we REALLY want to be healed of whatever is holding us captive in bondage and keeping us a victim? That takes a lot of soul searching, being brutally honest with yourself and digging deep into the recesses of our hearts for things that will answer that question. By always wearing a mask, by always concealing ourselves or disguising ourselves, we are showing God we are holding onto our victimhood given to us by the adversary and it doesn't really scream "FREE ME! HEAL ME!" Now from my point of view, when reading that one simple question that Jesus asked the man, "Do you want to be made well?" seemed like such a simple question to actually answer with an emphatic YES! YES! YES! I WANT TO BE MADE WELL! REMOVE THE MASK! But, reality hits and it's not so easy. Jesus asked a CLOSED ENDED question. Yes or No. But that's not what kind of answer He received from this man. Instead, the man replied, in John 5:7, "The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me." The sick man felt a need to EXPLAIN the "why" instead of just answering YES. This is what we all do from time to time. We explain instead of just answering. We justify instead of just answering. Now by not answering Jesus with a resounding yes, what we hear instead, is victimization telling Jesus a STORY.

You see, all that Jesus needed was a simple yes or a no. If He wanted an explanation, He would have asked for one. But He didn't ask for an explanation. He just asked a simple closed ended yes or no question. Victimization doesn't answer those kinds of questions, because it draws a thick line in the sand of what would be a requirement from this day moving forward. If he says yes, well, then he is personally responsible, and accountable, from now on. If he says no, he'd look like a fool to everyone. So instead of either of those possibilities, he gives Jesus a list of reasons WHY he hasn't been able to get into the pool. Sounds a lot like our society today, doesn't it? Instead of just answering a "yes" or "no" to help that was offered, a story was offered in it's place by the "victim." All of us, if we aren't careful, can carry within us a story that isn't the story God has given us. The story we carry could be sprinkled, or even littered, with soiled chapters of unhealed pain, unresolved brokenness, distorted perspectives and limited thinking. All of which have their own respective masks! We can carry that story with us into many different situations, into many different kinds of relationships and, ultimately, projecting it onto future encounters. That "baggage" is a heavy load for us to carry, let alone projecting onto the innocent people we come into contact with and we shouldn't expect them to carry theirs AND ours too! Hurt people ALWAYS hurt others. It's just human nature. The man had a chance to address his story and replace it with the story that Christ was bringing to him, a beautiful story of healing and wholeness instead of the illness and brokenness that he was carrying around with him most of his life. It's the same exact story that our God is bringing to all of us today, but we really have to ask ourselves the same question. Do I really want to be healed? It doesn't matter what the story is or how you got where you are today because we all have a story. What REALLY matters is if you WANT, if you DESIRE, to be HEALED.

So now you can also see how masks can prevent, or delay, healing as well as steal our identities. It's a vicious cycle, isn't it? Now let's look at some Scriptures surrounding disguises, masking and transforming. 

1) Proverbs 26:24-28, "He who hates, disguises it with his lips, And lays up deceit within himself;

25) When he speaks kindly, do not believe him, For there are seven abominations in his heart; 26) Though his hatred is covered by deceit, His wickedness will be revealed before the assembly. 27) Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him. 28) A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, And a flattering mouth works ruin." 

2) 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, "or such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14) And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15) Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works."

3) Luke 12:2, "For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known."

4) Matthew 7:15, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."

5) Colossians 2:8, "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."

Darkness hates the light!!! But the Light shines brightest IN the darkness. Jesus IS Light. Satan is darkness. Jesus IS TRUTH and Satan is LIES. Jesus IS LIFE. Satan is DEATH. See the connection there?! John 1:4-5, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5) And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." The evil that is prevailing in the world today is coming at us in every direction. It is overwhelming what I am seeing and witnessing in these days and just how fast it has all approached us all over the world. There are some things we can't comprehend. If truth be told, we are being protected from those darker, more evil things. Some things are out of our control and we can't do anything about them. Those that we CAN control, we MUST. We can control what we watch, what movies we spend God's money on, what music we listen to and what book/articles/papers we read! WE can control how we spend our time, what we research and what is done on social media. We can control our responses to the ever changing dynamics of the world and the incessant lies perpetrated from every direction. We can control our attitude towards others. We can control our actions while maneuvering through our unrecognizable society. As I've stated in a few past posts, it appears that God has had His Hand in removing the many entertainment distractions of the world we once knew. I feel strongly with conviction that He is making things so very uncomfortable for the Christians so they can return to their longing for Him and His return, while making everyone else who isn't a believer uncomfortable so they can find comfort IN Him, so they can turn and seek Him while there's still time. And make no mistake. Time is short. This world, the world of yesterday, will never return to the way it was and to the way everyone was used to living. It can't happen that way. Not if you believe the Word of our Living God. I do! Too many people think things will go back to normal and once there's some kind of a "jab" (purposely leaving the name out for obvious reasons!) then everyone returns to normal. It won't stop with the "mask" and it won't stop with the "jab." It will continue until prophecy is fulfilled as is happening currently. It's not going to be the normal once known. It's going to be a "new normal" because isn't that what the whole world's leaders are throwing around to their citizens? Absolutely. It's not the new normal because everything we are all experiencing is "abnormal." I pray more people continue to have the veil torn from their eyes during these times! It will be in a new world. In a new society. In a new order of things. Please understand that this all must come to pass as it was stated in Matthew 24:4-8, "And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. 5) For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 6) And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7) For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8) All these are the beginning of sorrows." 

You see, everything we allow IN, we will become a by-product OF! Satan is running rampant today! He knows his time is running out and he is upping his game. He is forcing much of his vile sins down our throats and taking away our choices. He is using the media to promote every sickness available and known to man to desensitize, condition, change and control. AS the entire world is being slowly locked down again, or still afraid of leaving, the media has become their go-to. By coincidence or design? Satan is at work and the media, main stream, is in everyone's faces. Some can't pull away and that's what Satan is counting on! We born-again Christians are God's representatives here on earth to shine as lights. In Philippians 2:15, it says, "that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world," We are living in that time and generation now more than ever! This wicked, wicked world is twisted spiritually and morally, following its own fading patterns while refusing to recognize, accept or receive God’s values, will and plan. Mankind will go to great lengths to evade the truth in order to follow their own darkened, self-centered and purely self-gratifying reasoning. The crookedness and perversity of the modern world is so pervasive and obvious that it doesn't warrant any further explanation nor examples. What is sad is just how many can't see this on their own because they've been so conditioned to accept it all as "normal" that they just are spiritually blinded. These are not the days to walk the earth, with what little time we have left to do so, with blinders on! Those with eyes can SEE! Those with ears, can HEAR!! A "perverse" and "crooked" generation that Paul was referring to in the above mentioned verse is referring to the unsaved. Paul used these words specifically and purposefully to describe the entire unbelieving world. We can see this same statement is found also in Deuteronomy 32:5, "They have corrupted themselves; They are not His children, Because of their blemish: A perverse and crooked generation." Paul borrowed this phrase from Deuteronomy, where Moses describes unfaithful & rebellious Israel as a people who had become "a perverse and crooked generation." Paul aptly applied that description of ancient Israel to the unsaved and corrupt humanity of even his own day. We, too, can apply this to our day as well! The long and short of it all is, the world was then, as it is now, under the control of an evil satanic system. (John 12:31; Acts 26:18; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2 and 6:12; 1 John 5:19)

Satan will do anything he can to keep us chained to our bondage, real or perceived. Chains are an obvious symbol of imprisonment. In spiritual terms, they restrict us, hold us down and back, add unnecessary weight in our walk and signify our captive state. None of us are by no means immune to the impact of spiritual chains which harm our spiritual growth, because as I stated above, we live in a fallen world and our trauma, abuse, addictions, shame, guilt, etc., become our chains while the mask becomes our hiding place instead of the Lord. These kinds of shackles are just as detrimental to our freedom because they affect our behavior, our outlook, our attitude, our trust and our faith on varying levels. Jesus is our freedom! He died on the Cross, shedding his Blood to pay our sin debt in full and completed it all with His last words, "It is finished." So let's look at a few scriptures on how to break those chains and get out of the bondage that Satan sneaked into our lives. These verses will enable and assist you in seeing that, regardless of the power that chains have, the Lord's power to break them is far greater! 

1) He had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him and his account is found in Mark 5:6-8. "When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me."

2) Acts 12:6-7, "And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. 7) Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, "Arise quickly!" And his chains fell off his hands."

3) Acts 16:25-26, "But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26) Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed."

4) Psalm 116:16, "O Lord, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds."

5) Psalm 107:13-16, "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. 14) He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And broke their chains in pieces. 15) Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! 16) For He has broken the gates of bronze, And cut the bars of iron in two."

You see my friends, brothers and sisters in Christ and my readers, Jesus FREED us! Don't let Satan bind you up and pull you down. Those verses should be encouraging to you to know just how His promises are always kept to those who are His and seek His face! In closing, I want to say that Jesus is the ONLY Light that can extinguish the darkness and His Truth is the ONLY way out of chains! The prophet Zacharias spoke of Jesus as the coming "Sunrise from on high," who, in Luke 1:78-79, "Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; 79) To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace." Jesus Christ's birth brings the Light of life into our darkness, into the darkened world! His Light is our WAY! All the New Testament writers agree in one way or another that in the coming of Jesus the Christ, the light of God's love has dawned in our darkness. Paul exclaims in 2 Corinthians 4:6, "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The light of His grace and truth shines in every darkness and in every dark place. His Light chases the dark away and the darkness hides! So in this current darkness that we are surrounded by in our lives, in our world, around every corner, on every street, through the media, tv, music and in some case, in our homes, we need to remember that we are His children who will become blameless and harmless to shine as lights in this darkened world. We need to remember that the ONLY hope we have is the Light of Jesus Christ shining in the dark, illuminating His love! Our ONLY HOPE in this world is Jesus Christ! John 8:12 says, "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." This is a life-altering, life-changing verse!! If you see it for what it is, and you see Him for WHO He IS, then it will change your life!

Jesus Is Your Only Hope!

Romans 15:13, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Let the Lord break your chains, free you from bondage so you can remove your masks for the world to see you as you were Created to be! May God Bless you all in His perfect will!

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