One of the big reasons that nothing is as it seems is because of deceit, because of bias. Many things seem right because they represent what a majority of people believe, but is it true? People accept the deceit because they like what is being taught, being said. The things that SEEM RIGHT may benefit us or we may just be too busy or uninterested to determine what is true. Indeed, there is a way that seems right to humankind. That way is the way of death, the spiritual death, the death that matters. This is because what people need is the truth and not living by what SEEMS right.

Some Things Are Just As They Seem

On the other hand, remove the deceit and self-interest and much more would actually be as it seems. You can easily see a creator in our world, our existence.

Nothing Is As It Seems,
Yet Everything Is As It Seems

It SEEMS that the title above is contradictory. The context and/or the sense is critically important in determining if either or both or none of these statements are true within the context. We will see there are cases (context) where both can be true. There is a casual attitude where people live comfortably in what SEEMS right and never care to know the truth. It is the most serious thing in your existence because the end of what SEEMS RIGHT is the way of death – spiritual death.
In politics, in the mass media, in higher education, in science, in religion it might be fair to say nothing is as it seems. On any one issue there are many different interpretations regarding what is being said. However, when it comes to a person viewing the world and its incredible complexity it seems there is something much beyond what we can see at work – or IT IS AS IT SEEMS.

Nothing Is As It Seems

Examples of Nothing Is As It Seems

In Politics – Nothing Is As It SEEMS

In politics nothing is as it seems, or more accurately nothing is as it is spoken, written, or promised. The words, the script are tilted to win the majority of voters. The truth, the things that need to be done to solve problems are not a priority, winning is the priority. Those who are either too young or too prejudiced in one direction accept the “story” and for these nothing is really is as it seems. However, for a far lesser number of people politics is as it seems because they know the game being played by politicians. Sadly, those saying what the people want to hear win the election over those saying things people need to hear.

In the Mass Media – Nothing Is As It SEEMS

There was a time when there was integrity in reporting. That time is long gone and the news is not as it seems. Just enough truth is mixed with the mass-media prejudice to convince people and a consistent, continual presentation of such convinces the masses. It is not just TV and Radio news reporting, but theatrical television and movies present a powerful picture and gradually the liberal philosophy is accepted. Nothing seems to work so well as creating the impression that a certain view is widely accepted, so much so it cannot be reasonably questioned. The things that seem right to many people are NOT the result of thoughtful consideration, but of being manipulated by the mass media.

In Higher Education – Nothing Is As It SEEMS

There is a very strong prejudice coming from those who teach in Universities. In these days those prejudices reach young minds long before University. On many subjects there is no door open for debate or discussion. One of those subjects is the existence of God and the origins of humankind. Instead, a theoretical version of the world is presented by highly prejudiced instructors and the associated manipulated instruction materials. Closely examined the scientific theories are “best guesses” based on many assumptions. Sound reasoning, scientific process, and common sense are thrown out the window. They are replaced by ever-changing philosophies that are common inasmuch as they remove God from the picture. The godless alternatives are appealing to people because they put humankind in charge. Your choices are not judged except by each other, that is by society and its rules. Those who instruct or support this belief system are ironically known as liberals. It is a strange name because a liberal philosophy should mean open-minded, investigative, but these liberals shut the door on any discussion of a Creator. They call those who believe in God, fools, stupid, ignorant.

Of course, such a belief system is destructive to society because over time more and more immorality is allowed and many suffer. The things that God calls sin are all acceptable in liberalism or in some cases not the fault of those practicing such things. The trail bringing the masses to liberalism has been the education of young people led by the teachers in higher education, and supported by the mass media and bad science. One creed of liberalism is: when you die you no longer exist. Life in effect has no deeper meaning, no accountability and thus you can act however you wish. This breeds all kinds of evil including lying, cheating, and hurting others to get what you want. This makes sense if the premise of going out of existence was true. So the world is ever becoming a more cruel and evil place. Yes, the world has always been full of evil people doing cruel and selfish things. At times, society moves slightly away from that universal selfish pride only to once again embrace it. Three of the characteristics of the current times are denying God’s existence, rejecting personal responsibility and accepting every form of depravity. These things are all being “sold” in the name of fairness and the right of every person to do whatever they want. It turns out God in the creation of intelligent beings already provided humankind the ability to make choices, to do whatever they want. A person can choose to abort the life of a baby, to marry a person of the same sex, to teach the theory of organic evolution, to indicate creation happened by natural processes, to murder, to steal, to lie and cheat, to commit every kind of immoral and indecent act and hundreds of other evils. You can choose to SUPPORT such things and thus participate (share the guilt) in those evils. Interestingly, the most serious outcome for accepting or practicing these things is the attitude it promotes in relation to the truth. Namely, those who follow the “No-God philosophy” never consider looking for the truth. Typically, they never even understand there is truth. Consequently, they lack the reason and motivation to determine the meaning of life and lose the one thing that has value in life, that is their eternal soul. The things that seem right to people create an almost impenetrable barrier of stubbornness where no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary, they will never reconsider their position.

Prejudice is the common characteristic of many in the “evolutionary” community. One of the great mysteries of life is how anyone can be so devoted to some idea, so convinced of its validity that they will lie UNTIL they have the evidence to prove their point. This has never been truer than in the case of the science of humankind’s existence. Few admit to their commitment to a doctrine that has compromised their integrity. However, here is one famed geneticist who was very blunt.

Professor Richard Lewontin, a geneticist, is certainly one of the world’s leaders in evolutionary biology. He wrote this very revealing comment. It illustrates the implicit philosophical bias against Genesis creation—regardless of whether or not the facts support it.

“We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism.
It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.”

Professor Lewontin is hardly alone, but much closer to the norm in attitude when it comes to things in relation to God’s existence. One of the pages at Heaven Coach is called common sense and it tells of Robert Jastrow a renowned scientist and widely acknowledged. Robert Jastrow (September 7, 1925 – February 8, 2008) was an American astronomer, physicist and cosmologist. He became the founding director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in 1961, and served until his retirement from NASA in 1981.

Jastrow was amazed to discover the all-consuming prejudice of his colleagues in relation to anything that would point to God as creator. The basics of scientific inquiry were replaced with the need to quickly put down some specific findings that pointed to God as the answer. This strong prejudice against God and God as the God of the bible is not unique to scientist’s, but permeates to various degrees all human endeavors. Scientists easily influence eager minds looking for support of what they WANT to believe.

Imagine the dangerous influence of this anti-God attitude from those who teach, from those who create the scientific curriculum. Eventually, you have a nation of people, who without question accept all sorts of godless doctrines. What is the problem with that? The problem is there is a God, one God, the God of the bible and He will decide YOUR eternity based on His word. The good news is that if you love the truth, you can find it, live it and be successful eternally.

In Science – Nothing Is As It SEEMS

“The success of Darwinism was accompanied by a decline in scientific integrity. This is already evident in the reckless statements of Haeckel and in the shifty, devious and histrionic argumentation of T. H. Huxley … To establish the continuity required by the theory, historical arguments are invoked even though historical evidence is lacking. Thus are engendered those fragile towers of hypotheses based on hypotheses, where fact and fiction intermingle in an inextricable confusion.” ~ W.R. Thompson – the late Canadian entomologist William R. Thompson, FRS (1887-1972).

There are literally hundreds of people, who have concluded the same things as Thompson. It was obvious to me for over thirty years. The mass-media used to report and not create the news, but that time as mentioned is long past. Religion has always been exceedingly corrupt except for short periods of time like when the church was being established in the first century. Hundreds of men and women with ideas about religion, about their version of God, about their private interpretation of life and the scriptures are ultimately just creating confusion. Thus, religion can be just as deceitful as science, mass-media and higher education in their prejudicial doctrines.
A few more people who reached similar conclusions regarding scientific pursuit include the following:

“In the acquisition of new knowledge, scientists are not guided by logic and objectivity alone, but also by such non-rational factors as rhetoric, propaganda, and personal prejudice. Scientists do not depend solely on rational thought, and have no monopoly on it.” ~ William Broad and Nicholas Wade

The statement above that scientists have no monopoly on rational thought was an attempt to encourage people to think for themselves. Unfortunately, in the present age the populous defaults to science and accepts at face value the popular scientific thinking.

“Evolution is a religion. This was true of evolution in the beginning, and it is true of evolution still today.” ~ Michael Ruse

Those who support evolution and those who support the many man-made religions share the same faults, namely deceit, pride in their beliefs, and a zeal to discredit the opposition.

“When dealing with people remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudice, and motivated by pride and vanity.” ~ Dale Carnegie

Dale Carnegie showed the importance of understanding the nature of people in order to convince them to make a purchase. If you could remove the prejudice and emotion and pick up the bible without those roadblocks to understanding you could understand life and your purpose. Dale Carnegie would say that moving people away from their current emotionally held beliefs would be extremely difficult. Additionally, moving people to live their life for the next life at the cost of sacrificing the things of this life would be almost impossible. Yet, this is what God requires. Moving from what SEEMS to be right to the truth is necessary to be successful in life.

Actually, the root difficulty for discerning the truth from lies is suggested by Malcolm Muggeridge.

“People do not believe lies because they have to, but because they want to.” ~ Malcolm Muggeridge

This thought by Malcolm Muggeridge is very accurate. We often think of people who have undergone serious indoctrination as victims of effective deceit, nonetheless they support the “teaching” because they “want to.” You have a choice albeit sometimes very painful, nonetheless you make choices and often the choice is to be complacent. Complacency in matters involving the soul is in effect rejecting the right thing and is a cousin to being lukewarm which God condemns.

It is interesting how the heretic of old was a religious heretic and often treated physically and emotionally with great cruelty and often murdered. Today, the heretic is the academic or student or anyone who opposes the standard set by the University, the mass-media. Questioning is no longer acceptable and the punishment for these heretics is similarly cruel, albeit more mentally cruel. Often, the punishment for modern heretics is isolation, separation, and damage to reputations more than being physically cruel.

Science has made up its mind about God and with the support of the mass media it amounts to extreme and devious indoctrination, such that what is presented SEEMS right. The terminology is strictly controlled and we see all the things “Nature” or “Mother Nature” or “Mother Earth” has wrought. Soon, you see a world mimicking the propaganda and there is just no doubt, it SEEMS right. Some scientist’s on the other hand believe in God (as many as 40%) despite the pressure to be atheist. Yet, few of these hold to the bible description for origins of the universe and humankind. One should avoid making decisions based on the numbers of people following a certain doctrine or belief. History shows people’s beliefs fall in line with the masses and frequently this was a exceedingly bad reason to follow someone or some doctrine.
There is a universal flaw typical of those who reject God and that is they do not have a love of the truth. They typically have a love of the their version of truth, that is, in what they currently believe. They never come to an understanding of God, His Purpose, His Test, and the seriousness of His word in relation to succeeding in life. Science should have a love of the truth and at one time this was more important, but not any longer. Science, in truth should frequently admit they do not know how or why anything exists – this would be truthful.

The Same Things Are Behind Bad Science
As Behind All Deceit

Of course, there is much good science and it is characterized with extensive proofs. Bad science is tainted by prejudice and promotes doctrines that have not been proven and cannot be proven. Much of science and what scientist’s proclaim to be true is tarnished by pride and selfishness and often a strong hope that there is no God. It is as though they believe if there are enough people and high quantities of pseudo evidence favoring their non-God system that they will bear no responsibility if they die and face God. God, they might think misled humankind, fooled humankind into believing there was a natural way behind the existence of everything. They want people to believe all we see and know, our very existence could have occurred from nothing. Yet, God makes it clear, “the fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” We can understand that God will send strong delusion to people who willfully reject Him and have pleasure in unrighteousness and thus there is a sense where God misleads those who disrespect the truth. Those deeply involved in the science of human origins know the weakness of the theories, but many who want to believe the deceit are easily mislead and for them it is a very strong delusion.
Interestingly, science offers nothing to people. You die and go out of existence. You were just a freak of “nature” just an accident billions of years in occurring. One hundred years from now there will be all new and different theories and people will embrace them. Don’t squander your very short life, but find out what life is all about. God’s test is difficult, but the rewards are beyond comprehension. Look at the verses below and see how God warns us and how He points to the reward. I do not know of a stronger warning than Matthew 7.13,14 because Jesus indicates FEW will find heaven and that would indicate that the way that seems right to humankind is indeed the way of spiritual death.

Matthew 7.13,14

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

On the other hand God gives humankind a peek at what awaits those who love God. It is a permanent home described as an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away.

1 Peter 1.3-5

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 
5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The following verse indicates our earthly life is a light affliction compared to the eternal weight of glory awaiting God’s children. We work so hard in this life to achieve the things of the world only to eventually die with nothing. This is not God’s plan for you, but most will make this short-sighted choice.

1 Corinthians 4.16-18

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 
18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

In a number of places in scripture, God tells humankind about the wonders of heaven, which have been prepared for those that love God.

1 Corinthians 2.9

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him

Difficulty and Motivation

You can be motivated by the DIFFICULTY of succeeding in life simply because you want heaven so badly and simultaneously realize the effort and sacrifice. On the other hand, the FEW and the difficulty Jesus mentions may cause you to believe it would be too hard to achieve success. Some, the FEW will realize they must take life seriously and considering the wonder of heaven will act in service to God. A wise person begins with, “fear God and keep His commandments.” You start there because the scriptures indicate that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Solomon concluded at the end of his life that the whole duty of man was to fear God and keep His commandments. If you study the life of Solomon it is a wonder of greatness and failure. In Ecclesiastes, His conclusion is the very best advice for a person who wants to find heaven. Paul carried the gospel message around the known world, especially to the Gentiles. Paul indicates in 2 Corinthians 5.10,11 one thing that motivated Him to continually put his life in danger for the sake of the gospel.

2 Corinthians 5.10,11

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;

Scripture consistently reveals, “fear God, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Paul understood the terror of the Lord and His love of God and desire (as is God’s) that none should perish kept him focused persuading men and women. This is not how the world (those that believe in God) typically portray God. To most people this would SEEM incorrect, too harsh. We allow our worldly ideas of justice, which is seldom just to decide how God must or should see justice. As you understand God, you see His justice is perfect and all tied up in certain Divine principles. Throughout the many pages of Heaven Coach as well as the book, “What Is Life All About?” you can come to a correct understanding of God. Of course, this will only be the case if the things written are aligned with what God revealed about Himself. One important conclusion would be that those who reject God’s Son will receive certain and highly undesirable justice – miss out on heaven. This you will understand because all of God’s mercy as He began to reveal in Genesis 3.5 is associated with Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection. There is no mercy, no reconciliation outside of the cross of Christ.

In the verses above, God reveals the difficult and narrow road and that FEW will find it. God tells us about heaven in a way that a person can understand that it is the prize of a successful life. These verses as with most scripture define things about God, His Purpose, His Plan and they are much different than people would perceive. That is, there is a way that SEEMS right to man, but the end is the way of death. In fact, God’s word is quite often the exact opposite of what a person might expect. The ways of God cannot be determined with human knowledge. I am not so much talking about the creation, although the creation is certainly something man cannot explain. The world philosophy begins with “no God” as the first and most obvious opposite of the truth. As they say, “from there everything is downhill” or more specifically everything is in support of that belief. The theory of organic evolution in conjunction with the “big bang” takes God out of the picture since humankind was an accident, created from nothing. God, on the other hand created humankind in His image by providing each person an eternal soul, an intellect and a unique personality. “Evolution” cannot support the idea of a spirit being, because all creation is physical, everything is explained by matter – although the first matter (and exceedingly more) cannot be explained rationally.

Some Examples Of What Seems Right Versus What Is Right.

People believe what SEEMS right to them, and although it may be comforting it certainly does not make it right. In many cases, it is simply what is right for them. There are many influences as suggested on this page that guide a person into accepting a belief system. Actually, there are only two groups of influences: Group 1 is what you want to believe or what you have been influenced by others to believe. Group 2 is singular and consists of the truth that comes from God, that is God’s word.
Typically, there is not just one thing that SEEMS right to a person, but many things. If you accept the premise of “No God” then there are associated teachings that will SEEM right – such as no existence after death, evolution, big bang, no heaven or hell and so-on. If you are a Catholic there are hundreds of things you accept and believe that are from faith in the Catholic church. They are often the exact opposite of the truth from God. Faith from God comes from hearing and hearing from the word of God, but the Catholic doctrines are not in the word of God. There are things that seem right to the atheist and to the person of religion, but being in one group or another will influence, but does not make something that seems right to be right.

Many people might say there was one SEEMINGLY important thing left of the list above, namely:
It would SEEM God could have been more clear in delivering His message. The truth is God delivered the message in a perfect way to suit HIS PURPOSE. Apparently, many people never consider that God’s plan has been designed to differentiate people and it is perfectly structured to accomplish HIS PURPOSE. The elements of scripture that keep people from seeking the truth are selfishness, pride and arrogance among other traits that God will not accept. Pride is always a factor in the downfall of people. The scriptures teach, pride comes before the fall. Typically, objections to the truth are the result of things not being the way YOU THINK THEY SHOULD BE – i.e. a PRIDEFUL attitude. There is great pride when humankind believes their way is better than God, that they have better answers to life than what God has carefully and accurately delivered in His word. Thus they reject God’s word, often ridicule it and as a result never come close to learning the truth. The willful choice to reject God in effect fulfills God’s purpose (eternal loss) for those who reject Him.

The Way To Escape Eternal Loss

What a terrible thing to believe that one must be a scientist, a learned person of science regarding all the things that surround us as though science plays a part in our success in life. The science associated with origins ends up being a stumbling block for many people and science/scientist’s will not be there as YOU face judgment. On the other hand, Jesus will be there (at the end of your life) as your advocate if you become through obedience a child of God and remain faithful until death.
What irony, what perfection in God’s plan to differentiate those who love Him from those who are proud, filled with self-interest. Much of the world wallows in the mire of their own importance, their own success and indeed these are not the ones with whom God seeks to spend eternity. The way to escape eternal loss is to obey the Author of eternal salvation – Jesus.

Hebrews 5.9

9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him

The world fools people inasmuch as it allows, encourages choices that distract people from the real meaning of life. In effect, the gospel is hidden, veiled from those who are going down the road to perdition.

2 Corinthians 4.3,4

3 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.

Once again, this description of God is not what people perceive. If you want to understand God, His Plan, His Purpose and how to achieve heaven it must come from God, from His revelation to humankind. Life is serious, much more serious than the world would have you believe.

In Religion – Nothing Is As It SEEMS

Strangely enough, religion is the MOST DEVASTATING place where “nothing is as it seems.” This is because religion directly misleads people in the thing that matters most, that is their eternity. The scriptures point out that, “There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death.” Of course, as mentioned this is spiritual death. Yes, religion is most devastating because people seeking God believe they are doing what God wants when in the vast majority of cases they are following after the doctrines of men and/or women.

Matthew 7.21

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Is it surprising to you that God will not accept just anything, that He will not accept good intentions, that He will not make exceptions for the difficulties that kept someone from the truth? Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms that he who does the will of the Father can enter the kingdom of heaven. There are no excuses, there are no other ways. Again, this does not SEEM right to the world. The “world” that Jesus refers to is in opposition to God and is not headed for heaven.

Now, lets be specific regarding some things that seem right:
> Accept Jesus as your personal savior and be saved. This is very appealing because it is easy, makes God out to be what people want Him to be and there are a number of verses easily perverted to convince people. The truth about salvation is in no way questionable, but is perfectly clear. The Protestant doctrine of “being saved” thrives because it is an attractive concept and an easy message that allows a person to live with one foot in the world and also with a guarantee of heaven.
> Catholicism certainly seems right to many people with all its powerful processes, pageantry and inventions. It can be overwhelming and yet it is the single most deceitful and easy to expose of all religious doctrines. Unfortunately, people love what seems right, what has earthly appeal more than they love the truth.
> Islam is widely accepted and apparently seems right to more than a billion people. Indoctrination, fear of separation and intolerance for all other religions closes the door to even considering another path.
> Atheism and Agnosticism seems right to a growing number of people around the world. Atheism and its shy cousin seem right oddly enough because of religion. They see correctly that religions have brought confusion, cruelty, wars, prejudice, and just about every evil thing. The mass-media and bad (but popular) science supports a godless society and thus atheism / agnosticism SEEM reasonable to many people.
>

All the other religions of the world maintain their followers because what they teach SEEMS right. Even the mild indoctrination from childhood of some groups is sufficient in the absence of opposing views or discussions to assure their faithfulness. The “Eastern Religions” represent large numbers of people that are typically the more gentle, less threatening, but nonetheless very effective in maintaining and growing their numbers.

Religious indoctrination comes in many forms and can apparently be effective, appealing despite the methods. There are may ways to make something appear to be the truth. This is why a person needs a love of the truth more than what they want to believe and more than something that SEEMS like it could be true.

So, within religion it is easy to conclude that “Nothing Is As It Seems.” God is desiring all humankind to be saved, but it must be on His terms. Religion only has value if there is truth, truth from God. People need that truth to understand God’s requirements so they can live a life that ends in heaven. God allows prideful, self-seeking people to be confident, comfortable in believing a lie. God allows this because they did not have a love of the truth. The word of God requires a great deal in terms sacrifice, in terms of humility and being a courageous person – standing up for good in the face of evil. The wisdom of the wise as God uses that phrase leads to complacency in seeking truth and God shuts the door on such people, albeit their choice.

2 Thessalonians 2.10-12

10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Some will fall into this category of believing what SEEMS to be true – actually believing a strong delusion sent by God because of their non-caring, self-centered attitude – not caring if something is true or false. Their cares are freedom to live how they please and as it says having pleasure in unrighteousness. Even though the answer to heaven is there for everyone only those with a certain attitude will find it – God’s test will be 100% perfect in revealing who is worthy. The religions mentioned above are full of people who do not love the truth. In each case the truth is discovered by those who care to know, by those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. So, is all religion a problem, standing in the way of people’s eternal success? No, but like the FEW talked about by Jesus who will follow the narrow road there are correspondingly FEW religious groups following God’s way. Absolutely anyone can be successful and be part of the FEW. Is there one true religion? Yes there is, it is the one that has the truth.
God has many ways of saying things, but they are always consistent and include things that are helpful in our understanding. 2 Thessalonians 2.10-12 points to the need to have a love of the truth. Jeremiah 29.13 points out the effort required and that is why the LOVE of the truth is so important.

Jeremiah 29:13

13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Search for God with all your heart! Those who do not believe in God of course will not search for Him and even for those who believe it will require their best effort. The idea that God will accept just anyone for eternity with Him is something that the scriptures oppose and since God cannot lie it should be a concern.

The World and Its Vision of God

Perhaps more than anything else for the vast majority of the world, God is not as they envision Him. The idea of being worldly is well defined in scripture when Jesus says His kingdom is not of this world and that the world is at enmity with God. There is a giant wall of separation between the physical world and the spiritual world. Sometimes the wall is referred to as sin which separates. There is on one hand the works of the flesh and on the other the works of the spirit. The world does not know God. The world is as God defines filled with the pride of life, the lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes. It should not be surprising that the world does not know God. In the scriptures and only in the scriptures can you understand God correctly. God will be as He SEEMS because it is as He revealed Himself. We assimilate ideas from the world such as God does not exist and yet blame God when things are very difficult. We portray God as forgiving the person who tries hard. We cannot imagine God bringing strong delusion that a lie may be believed as mentioned above in 2 Thessalonians 2.10-12. We see God as loving, but not to be feared – yet at the center of a successful life is fearing God and keeping His commandments. We envision God as providing second chances as though His test was not perfect. We are used to evil persons escaping punishment. There are many ways to escape justice while on earth. There are appeals, evidence wrongly collected, re-trails and a long list of ways to escape punishment. We might incorrectly envision many different ways to escape punishment after death. The world is a place of excuses and frequently accepted, this is not so in the next life. Indeed, it is appointed once for man to die and then the judgment (Hebrews 9.27).

Religion Is Typically Extreme Vanity

The degree to which people accept their religious beliefs is earth-shaking. As they say, “they know enough to cause a lot of trouble.”

Definition of VANITY: something that is vain, empty, or valueless
This word can be further understood looking at the meaning of vain, which is of course, the root word.
Definition of VAIN:
> having no real value : idle, worthless
> marked by futility or ineffectualness : unsuccessful, useless
> foolish, silly (an older usage)
> having or showing undue or excessive pride in one’s appearance or achievements, i.e. conceited

In our context, religious groups are proud of their belief and in some cases to the extent of dying in support of their “right” belief. It is their “pride running wild” that creates much of the problem.
The problem is pointed out by Jesus:

Matthew 15:9

9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

Unless, it is the truth, it is useless and therefore conceited and offensive.
After an amazing life, Solomon looks back when writing Ecclesiastes in reference to all he gained an his foolishness and in seeking to get everything he could and concludes:

Ecclesiastes 1.14

14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Solomon says we fill our life’s with the pursuit of “what we want.” In the end, it will not matter for we also learn in Ecclesiastes that our physical bodies will return to the earth, but our spirit to God.

Ecclesiastes 12.7

7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

The vast majority of the world will live a vain life and fail to achieve heaven. How do I know? It is the pattern of humankind from Adam and Eve, Cain, during the time of Noah and Abraham, through the time of the prophets and when Jesus lived on earth. Men and women do what they want, listen to and believe whom they wish. Jesus made it clear that FEW would succeed in Matthew 7.13,14.
Of course, any person can succeed, if they make the decision to give up their life.

Mark 8:35,36

35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

You give up your life, when you live first for God. Jesus as always is perfectly clear about this as He says in Matthew 6.33, “Seek First The Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Who cares to listen? – FEW. It is giving up what you want and indeed FEW will do that – This is my observation and supported by the history of humankind.

The religions of the world are based on the commandments of men and/or women and thus religion is extreme vanity. These religious inventors place themselves in the position of God. On the other hand, religion that is THE TRUTH is the opposite because it is from God and not men/women talking for God. We please God when we honor Him by doing HIS will. It is the basis for your salvation. Religion usually contains some form of worship and in this area, God makes it clear as He has throughout His revelation in many examples that:

John 4.24

24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Those that worship God MUST worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

Worship is not what SEEMS right to you, although men and women have been inventing their own way to worship God since the beginning of time. Thus the world is filled with all these religions! If you study the scriptures it would be difficult to come away without understanding that nothing is more offensive to God than worshiping God YOUR way. The history of religion is a history of humankind honoring God their way and that represents the exact opposite of what pleases God. Obedience to God is required in how you live and in how you worship. There is nothing you can give God, except of your free will to determine to obey God.

Everything Is As It Seems

At the beginning of the page, it is suggested that looking around the world without any “help” from the various worldly prejudices about God and our existence, that one can see that “Everything Is As It Seems.” You can observe God in creation. It takes some “help” from someone, some group to tell you there is no God. The thing that is apparent is that, “In the beginning God.” Does it seem life closely examined is short and death is certain? Yes, those things are as they appear. Does it seem there is considerable greed in the world and envy and selfishness and pride. Yes, that is as it seems.
It would seem that truth and understanding would have value. If you remove all the influences, which humankind has devised and allow “everything to be as it seems” you might arrive at the truth. This is exactly what God has purposed, namely individuals making decisions to follow after their own desires or the doctrines of others OR follow God. It would be wise to see that the doctrines of humankind have brought much trouble and yes who can determine which if any are true? A common conclusion is that all are right or all are wrong and that line of thinking brings some to conclude that each person is God. Now, we have each person being their own religion. There are currently too many religious organizations to number and we typically only know about several hundred. If religion seems to you to be confusing, yes that is as it SEEMS.
There is one thing that contains no flaws and is just what it seems – the truth! You know, the thing the world teaches no one can achieve. Can life independent of of all the “noise” from religion, from the mass-media be correctly understood? It turns out you can know with 100% certainty and you will find the truth is just as it seems. The truth is perfect, that is it completely answers every question to the satisfaction of humble, truth seeking people.

If You Live For Yourself
Many Things Will Seem Right Which Are Not
It Requires Faith To See Life Correctly
This Is Central To God’s Test

Many people reject creation and to them the truth regarding “origins” is different than the obvious. These people grab onto science and complicated theories of life and just about anything other than the obvious. Behind their rejection of God are a wide variety of reasons, such as their distaste for the concept of hell, or the benefit of not fretting about how they live. God designed the test to differentiate those who live for themselves from those who live by faith. The following two verses provide an excellent understanding of what seems to be obvious, i.e. the creation (Romans 1.20) and Faith’s part in understanding about creation (Hebrews 11.3).

Romans 1.20

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse

God says of the creation, that He is obvious and in fact there is no excuse for not seeing God in creation.
Hebrews 11. 3 (below) appears to be saying the same thing, but adds “By Faith” and that could be incorrectly interpreted as the creation is not obvious, but faith is required. Above God says it is obvious that there is a creator – a greater power, but below in Hebrews 11.3 it requires faith to understand the creator by indicating the worlds were framed by the word of God. God is the God of the bible. There is no way we could know this unless God revealed it.

Hebrews 11.3

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

We know nothing about God without faith. We might realize there was a creator, but the who, why and how requires faith. By faith we know the creator is the God of the bible. We can understand He most definitely had a purpose and it is revealed. The “how” is by the word of God. The word of God as seen below is the source of creating the heavens and the earth and also of preserving them.

1 Peter 3.5-7

5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Interestingly enough, it is by the word of God we are saved!

1 Peter 1.22-24

22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever

Not surprisingly, it is the word of God that will judge us.

John 12:48

48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

God has chosen to save people by preaching, preaching what? Of course, the word of God, the gospel.

1 Corinthians 1.21

21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

All these things in relation to the word of God are not as they seem, but are seen correctly through the eye of faith, that is the word of God. Thus as God indicates, “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” A person needs to move from what they think is right to the truth and this is done by faith. “Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God.” There is no way “to get it right” unless God reveals it and that is how God designed the test. The answer to avoiding the result of believing what seems right is God’s Son. In Genesis 3.15 God revealed His plan for reconciling humankind to Him. Everything from that point forward was done in preparation for Jesus. Then Jesus comes and fulfills the mission given to Him by the Father. Now everything from that point forward points to the end of the world, the end of God’s test and for humankind the final judgment.

Religion, Belief in God Alone Will Not Gain You Heaven

Many people who believe in God also follow after what seems to be true, but their doctrine is not from God, but from men/women. The problem: The scriptures are not taken seriously and men and women are more respected than God. In the Protestant world it seems that accepting Jesus as your personal savior is all that is needed. These people respect Luther, Calvin and others as well as possibly their family members, pastors and friends – more than God, specifically more than God’s word. It seems right, it seemed right to Luther, but is this what the scriptures teach in relation to salvation? It certainly is not! Catholics believe in their pope and their church and it seems right because there is all this history, all these people who believe, and all these impressive and elaborate ceremonies. Is this what the scriptures teach in relation to the church? It certainly is not!
The religions of the world obviously seem right to their adherents, but that clearly does not make them the truth. God allows people to make choices and those who love the truth will find it because the truth matters to them. Such people can differentiate between what seems right and what is indeed right.

Here Is What Is Being Missed

God is exceedingly wiser than humankind and so battling with unbelievers about questions of creation, evolution is fighting a losing battle. Those who know the truth realize the problem is not just scientific evidence, but prejudice. It is prejudice mixed with what people want to believe and generally battling against anything that might support the bible. “The bible believed” limits humankind’s freedom by its condemnation of sin (God defined sin) and then by providing the fearful consequences of sin. Assisting in the support of those AGAINST God has been religion. The failure of those strongly opposing God (Atheist) is often supported by the absurdity of religion. Unfortunately, those opposing God fail to see that those they look at as religious have nothing to do with God or should I say God has nothing to do with them. So those in opposition to God hold up those religious zealots, who distort and manipulate the scriptures as examples of the problematic nature of religion. As a result the atheists / agnostics will simply fail in life as will their “religious counterparts.”

Avoiding The Deceit

If you can grasp God’s purpose, His plan you can avoid all the traps or prejudices promoted by the mass-media, by religion, by science and so-on. Really, we are talking about UNDERSTANDING GOD. We can do this because He has revealed Himself to humankind, to those who love the truth, to those Jesus spoke of in Matthew 5.6 when He said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” People miss heaven by being caught up in what seems right to them. They never know God. God created all things seen and unseen and the creation even our own existence is magnificent and incomprehensible in its very existence. Here is what is missed and so obvious and so clearly revealed in the scriptures. That is, God’s creation, which is so unwisely questioned is only the stage for His purpose and really not important or is it possible to comprehend by our science. God can create everything from nothing, simply by saying or thinking it. Such is not within the realm of our scientific capabilities to understand. We have been limited by God to three physical dimensions and time. Now God is not limited, but could have infinite dimensions. Clearly, humankind’s desire to find scientific answers for our existence is understandable, but also futile. God’s purpose has to do with YOU and how you act on the stage He has provided.

Now consider, if God is this all powerful being capable of creating all things, the universe, the living creatures and living/intelligent beings all as the substance of His purpose – then how capable is He of having a perfect test to fulfill His purpose.

Life is about the test, not about the stage on which lifetimes are performed. That test is not as we might envision it. Consequently, what seems right to Humankind is the way of eternal demise. Why is this? If you study scripture you can understand God and then you will have the answer. The test God put in place can be summarized as success comes from following God’s ways and failure results from following our way, the ways of humankind. God requires obedience and those who love Him will keep His commands. Those who are lost will either fail to follow His commands or never even know what God requires. Those who love the truth will seek it, find it, obey it, live it and thus be successful in life.

Some Things That Might SEEM right to Humankind

It might SEEM to humankind:
> God would allow us to figure out HOW we came into being – the science of the existence of things
> God will accept our actions if they are in good conscience
> God is responsible for the good AND the bad that humankind causes or experiences
> That our liberality in relation to behaviors of others is something that pleases God
> That a person is not responsible for his/her actions if they were indoctrinated
> God should have used some better means to reveal Himself, to reveal the truth that is so essential to our eternity

These and hundreds of other things might seem right (NONE OF THE ABOVE ARE TRUE) to humankind, but therein lies the test. The perfect test from the perfect God. It is a test designed to achieve His purpose. You might think it is a wonderful thing that you gladly accept/support the behaviors of others despite their clear violation of God’s laws. You might think God would admire your liberality, your love of your fellow man. This seems right to you. It might align very well with your purpose in life to act fairly and live peaceably with all people. It might seem if there was a God that He would applaud your wonderful loving, caring attitude. God never gives such and idea, but throughout the scripture you can understand what Jesus clearly states in different ways, that He did not come to bring peace, but a sword. God will separate people along the lines of their obedience and it might be persons close to us like members of our family, or friends. The separation is made between those who follow God from those who do not. Another way of saying this is that God will divide people who die in their God-defined sins from those who have received forgiveness and continued faithful until death. It may not be as you would like, or what SEEMS right to you, but only by obedience can you choose God over the world. If you truly want to help others, you need to first align yourself with God through obedience. Then you can help others to succeed in life.

Many people move away from God, the God of the bible because of their strong willed belief in themselves and may express their justification as, “God is not fair.” Actually, this may translate as my way is better than God’s, my way is more considerate, and obviously the God of the bible is too harsh. However, humankind is not God, but the creation and when we act like we are God by saying how God should conduct Himself then we disrespect our Creator. We see things from OUR point of view, from the view of OUR purpose. God does all things from the point of view of His purpose and if we align with His purpose we can understand God much better. In fact as time passes and our devotion to God’s word increases we can understand God and the world quite well. The scriptures are filled with examples of people doing what seemed right to them. Beginning with Adam and Eve, who thought eating the apple would give them a good result. They did this in opposition to God’s command not to eat of the fruit of that tree. Cain decided his offering would be acceptable to God and became the first to substitute what seemed right in place of what God required. Solomon, at the end of his productive at times and destructive at times life concluded all was vanity and the whole duty of man was to fear God and keep His commandments. The life test is hard, but is truly what life is all about. You will either align yourself with God and His purpose or your life will be spent trying to follow YOUR philosophy and achieving YOUR goals. Aligning with God’s purpose provides eternal success whereas following your way no matter how noble, how successful is temporary and results in failure.
How little is man compared to God, the brightest person is not even a spec of dirt compared to God. Yet humankind admires human wisdom more than God, how foolish! God’s test succeeds because your choice fulfills His purpose. Thus God warns out of love that there is a way that SEEMS right to man, but it is the way of death. God points out that His ways are higher, as are His thoughts than humankind. We will either place ourselves in the position of the created or act in a way that we know better than God and are as the Creator.

Jeremiah 10.23

23 O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

Throughout scripture God points out that we are the created and in fact it is not in man to direct his own steps. Of course, God allows man to choose His own steps, but God is referring to man choosing to direct his own steps in a way that heaven is achieved.

If you want to achieve heaven, you need to see things God’s way. Your focus must be on heaven and living day to day with that goal. No one will accidentally stumble into or by good fortune achieve heaven. It might SEEM to you that when you die there will be a good chance of ending up in heaven. Jesus taught that few would take the narrow road that leads to heaven. That is, most will live their life for this earthly life and all it has to offer, which in the end is nothing, or nothing good.

Matthew 6.19-21

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The scriptures indicate that truth needs to be discerned spiritually. Discernment, clarity comes to those who love the truth, but often the truth SEEMS to be nonsense to others. Such is the case with the verse spoken by Jesus below:

Mark 8.35

35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

This verse was mentioned previously on this page, but do we understand what it means to lose your life to gain it? It is easy, you simply lay up treasures in heaven and not on the earth. Doesn’t it SEEM right to live for now and get all you can, to be selfish, to get the most out of your life? God’s children give up this life and what it has to offer looking forward to heaven. So, it is easy to understand, but few are willing to do what is required.

You see if you love the world, you will not love God and that may NOT SEEM as necessarily the case. It SEEMS you should be able to have both, but this is not God’s way. God indeed confounds those who reject Him and His Son. God chose the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. How many people believe themselves to be wise and scorn those who would believe in God. The world thinks if you reject the idea of man evolving from lower forms, you are dumb, foolish. God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty. The world is impressed by power, strength, but God emphasizes the poor in spirit, the humble, the ones who are unselfish even to suffering loss. In the end, all the things done in obtaining power and wealth will be a shame. The thing most despised by so many is the bible and it appears as foolishness to the world.

1 Corinthians 1.21-27

21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;
23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

Discerning The Truth

The world (man’s wisdom) looks at God and says He does not exist and believe it is foolish to see God in creation. They look at the bible and see many problems from their point of view. They say the bible is foolishness. They laugh at Jesus and mock Him and use His name in vain. You see, God wants no part of these people and has in His plan eliminated them by their own selfish, prideful choices – they never search for the truth because they convince themselves there is no truth. God’s test is perfect rejecting the proud, the selfish, the self-serving and as Jesus said unless you believe I am He you shall die in your sins. Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world – It is a spiritual kingdom. God’s kingdom consists of those whose sins have been forgiven, which is a spiritual thing since you cannot see it. God knows and the person knows their past sins have been forgiven because God’s word guarantees it as a result of their obedience. The natural man is opposite to the spiritual man and is not able to discern spiritual things because of the choices he/she makes. This is God’s way, His perfect plan to separate those who love Him from those who do not.

1 Corinthians 2.13,14

13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Spiritually discerned means something different than what SEEMS right to humankind, instead it is God’s word delivered by the Holy Spirit. The things from God, His word they are Spirit, they are truth.

John 6:63

63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

There is no profit in the flesh, that is in what humankind discerns about life. Only from God can you understand life, can you understand that life is about the soul and how to achieve heaven. Life can also be thought of as the battle between good and evil or more directly between you and sin.

John 17.17

17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

Jesus was very clear that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no man could come to the Father except through Him. When the scriptures refer to the Spirit of God(the Holy Spirit) it is referring to God’s message to humankind. That message has been brought by the Spirit in different ways and confirmed in different ways. The weapon now used by God’s children is the sword of the Spirit and not surprisingly it is the word of God.

Ephesians 6.17

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

So understand Proverbs 14.12 when it says there is a way that seems right to man, but it is the way of death ……. as mentioned, spiritual death. Do not go through your life living in a way that SEEMS right, but take care of your eternity and follow God’s way.