Devil's Disguises
Before I can explain the invisible truth that was kept hidden by the enemy, one must understand the concept of devil's disguises.
There are two types of devil's disguises.
One is voluntary and is used by individuals to make themselves better than what they really are, which is what my earthly father did. These are the people we refer to as hypocrites (which comes from the Greek word for actor). (These could be called "invisible" perpetrators.)
The other kind is involuntary; Satan places this disguise on someone to trick others into believing the individual is worse than what they really are. This is the type that I experienced in my own life: I was portrayed to be an unsafe person since my earthly father had a secret life. (These could be called "invisible" victims.)
You see, I was not a PK (preacher's kid) or an MK (missionary's kid), titles that a kid could be proud of, but I was at the bottom of the social hierarchy for the first time in my life, as a middle-aged wife and mom - a CK (criminal's kid). A hard label to live a contented life with. This is a devil's disguise shown in the popular cliche, The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. How could I get past misplaced beliefs and a very, popular public opinion?
God's Word gives His children truth tools to combat misplaced beliefs, thereby allowing me to transmute this bullseye on my back to be a reflector to point towards heaven, where my Heavenly Father resides. You see, the Bible shows us the truth concerning CK's. There is such a thing as good CK's and bad CK's, which counters the apple not falling far from the tree cliche. (This truth was kept hidden by the enemy as this has not been talked about in Christian circles.) Furthermore, the Bible gives an example of a good CK - Jonathan. So, I wanted to study his life which is found in chapters 13-20, 23, and 31 of I Samuel, and the 1st chapter of II Samuel. He was one of the sons of King Saul, the first king of Israel, and although I could not relate to certain aspects of his life, I found these to be very relatable...
Like me,
-He was so shocked to see the change in his dad. (His earthly father drastically changed from being Israel's Godly king to a serial killer. My earthly father drastically changed from being a Christian, conservative politician to a serial thief.)
-He was now under the heaviness of the dirty, physical label - CK (criminal's kid).
-He had to move past the impossible situation of shame and embarassment of his earthly father's destructive acts towards others.
-He would have to do the hard thing of choosing sides - Heavenly Father or earthly father.
Yes, my physical label was now "the biological daughter of the criminal Ron Wilson, a liar, a deceiver, and a serial thief." The person I looked up to when I was younger, but who is now so unrecognizable to me. His secret life was that of being a con artist who orchestrated the largest Ponzi scheme in South Carolina history. This 7-year-long (2012-2019) public, shame-based trauma of living under the devil's disguise was a very hopeless situation, until I started growing in my spiritual relationship with Jesus that I began as a third grade little girl.
When I began to follow Jesus as a little girl, I knew that He had paid my sin debt so that I can one day live with Him forever in heaven. As a middle-aged wife and mom, I have grown to realize that Jesus does not want us to wait to experience a forever life with Him (visible) in heaven, but He wants us to experience a contented life with Him (invisible) now! You see Isaiah 61:3 exemplifies how Jesus exchanged the spirit of heaviness (devil's disguise) for my personal, tailor-made Garment of Praise. We have to grow and nurture our relationship, that invisible community of two (Jesus & us), for us to be reminded of our Garment of Praise and what that personally means to us! This garment is a spiritual garment, a heavenly way of thinking. It is unconventional, unique, and reveals important invisible truths that dismantle a devil's disguise that may have been placed on us. Spending time in my community of two, allowed for me to discover this counterexample of Jonathan's life in the Bible; thereby giving me a specific example of how my identity in Christ is so powerful.
So how was Jonathan a good CK? Because he was the only son who saw his father for who he really was. Furthermore, he saw through the disguise that the devil (through King Saul) forced upon David that tricked Saul's constituents into believing David was a conniving traitor. Saul went so far as to place David on Israel's Most Wanted List, so David became a fugitive in hiding. Since he saw through the devil's disguise, Jonathan helped his community by helping David, his best friend/brother-in-law, stay alive. Hence, Jonathan was an important piece in the fulfillment of God's plan of David being the next king of Israel, a king who proved to be a phenomenal leader of his community.
So this example of Jonathan was a loving, "invisible" embrace shown to me by my Heavenly Father that I am not alone in this world. There is hope for CK's to live a contented life now and for their reputation to be restored. This is what bonding looks like with our Heavenly Father. Just as a mother bonds with her baby, our Heavenly Father wants us to learn how to bond with Him. When the invisible truths of life are hidden, we can rely on God's Word to reveal them to us and to change the conversations within our Christian circles; thereby allowing for us to be better discerners of situations.
So this is how our Heavenly Father restores reputations by giving us people that we can identify with in His Scriptures that reveal hidden truths in our situations of life and strengthens our spiritual bond. When we shift in this spiritual thinking mindset it leads us to new communities of people who see us the way God sees us. We not only keep receiving these loving "invisible" embraces but the visible, tangible expressions of the love of God that is being shown to us through others.
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Dark Brown Eyes
Black Hair
Born without a right hand
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