“AND THEY SHARED HER JOY”

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Among the assets any person can have in their skillset, one of the most useful is the grace to discern the hearts of men. Some schools of thought, particularly in the field of psychology, argue this skillset can be acquired through training and learning.

One suggested way then to discern patterns in a bid to identify, with a reasonable degree of accuracy, those who are truly for you, is what we read about after the birth of John. ‘And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.

These are the words of emphasis ‘they shared her joy’ or as other versions render it ‘they rejoiced with her’. It may be a harsh say, but “be wary of those who cannot genuinely rejoice with you and render thanks To God on your behalf in your seasons of abundance, because their voices would be loudest in your seasons of little”.

Even so, this is not set in stone for as the Prophet Jeremiah wrote “The heart is deceitful above all things. And it is extremely sick; Who can understand it fully and know its secret motives?”(17:9)

Beloved, such is the deceitful nature of the human heart that without external and supernatural enablement, you can very easily be deceived. Hence, the words that follow “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings”(17:10).

Any heart that has not been tempered by God, is in danger of serving as a conduit for deception

#sly