Zero Calories

Good morning and welcome in everybody.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story

Occasionally when people have a desire to lose weight, they will begin the process of counting calories. They might eat some low calorie foods like cucumbers, celery, or other vegetables. But a lot of times it’s nice to have your calories pre-counted for you. You might find a meal that’s already made in a can, that already has the calories marked on it. If you go to the gas station, rather than picking a sugary drink to quench your thirst you might reach out for a soda that has zero calories instead.

This reminds me of the Christian Life.

Just like a diet pop with no calories, a Christian must make sure that they have zero guile in them. Zero means having no measurable quantity, or nothing at all. If you want to be blessed by God and see good days, there cannot be a hint of falseness or duplicity in you. To become pleasing unto God, we must live the truth, obey the truth, and speak the truth! 

“For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:” 1 Peter 3:10

Unlike many of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day, the Apostle Paul was a man who truly loved God from the heart. The things that he did with his life were not motivated for any other reason than the furtherance of  the gospel of Christ, and a love for the Lord. He renounced the hidden things of dishonesty and there was no guile in him at all. 

1 Thessalonians 2 ³ For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: ⁴ But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

The same was true of Nathanael. 

“Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” John 1:47

Guile has been defined as duplicity, and when somebody is filled with duplicity, they try to attain a certain goal through deception. Remember that when Jesus was preaching the gospel, many people appeared to be religious, but deep inside of their hearts, they wanted to try to stop Jesus, and turn people away from Him. The devil has been doing that ever since the garden of Eden, when he turned Eve away from the will of God. Someone who is involved in duplicity will intentionally give a false impression for the purpose of misleading an individual for the deceiver’s benefit. For example, a woman might claim that they love you and want to marry you, but their real intentions are hidden from view. The truth of the matter is that they really desire your possessions and finances. When someone is filled with guile they are deliberately deceptive in both their behavior and their speech. An example of these types of people is found in the following passage.

Luke 20 ²⁰ And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. ²¹ And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: ²² Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? ²³ But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me?.²⁴ Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it?  They answered and said, Caesar’s. ²⁵ And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.

Imagine having somebody who is very dear to you, one whom you would consider a very close friend. On the exterior, everything appears fine in your relationship, but then one day you discover that they have been talking behind your back with people who hate you. Like a treacherous wife who prepares her departure from her husband in advance, they will do deceitful things behind your back and completely hidden from view. This is an act of a traitor and complete betrayal. Amazingly, these same people might claim to be a Christian, but these types of works are the handiwork of Satan, because he is a liar and the father of it.

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. John 8:44

Proverbs 6 ¹⁶ These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: ¹⁷ A proud look, a lying tongue,…….

Those who are filled with guile are very clever at deceiving people. They don’t like to make their movements known, creeping around like a quiet snake in the grass. They are insidious, cunning and filled with treachery. These were the qualities of Judas, who appeared to be a friend of the Lord Jesus, but behind the scenes was conspiring with others in secret. This was being done even when he had participated in Holy Communion. 

1 Corinthians 11 ²³ For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: ²⁴ And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

In the case of Judas, he appeared like a brother in the faith. He was educated in the teachings of scripture just like the other Apostles. He shared a very close relationship with all of them, a brotherhood of faith, but he was the one who was responsible for everything that came to pass afterwards. Guile is the appearance of one thing, but in all reality, the truth is suppressed and hidden completely from view. Judas was a complete fraud, and his true intentions were done in secret, no different than Ananias and Sapphira, who openly lied to Peter. 

Acts 5 ¹ But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,

² And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. ³ But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? ⁴ Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. ⁵ And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

Those who are sincere wear their heart on their sleeve, and I suppose that this is why it’s easy to walk all over them. But anybody who professes to be a Christian must remember that deceit is the handy-work of the devil. It must be completely renounced and forsaken to obtain eternal life. If you’re going to walk the Christian walk, then you will need to be on a strict diet without any guile, just like reaching out for a cold can of pop that has….

….. Zero Calories

Let’s think about these things for right now.  We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious goups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️

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