Hypocrites – Praying Pint

34.n. “But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His”

Matthew 24:50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25:12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Matthew 25:30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Psalms 1:6    for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

John 10:27   My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

2 Timothy 2:19   But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,”

How many people build their (false hope and trust) in being harmless to others? They may do no heavenly good but they do no earthly harm. To many, living in peace with others and the fact that they have not been charged with doing harm has made them think they are right before God. It is one of the basic lies of satan. Note that the complacent servant who buried what he was given was cast into outer darkness and eternal torment. He was not charged with an overt offense.

“Why, for this reason, for barely doing no harm, he is consigned to outer darkness. He is pronounced a wicked, because he was a slothful, an unprofitable servant. So mere harmlessness, on which many build their hope of salvation, was the cause of his damnation! Observe this well, reader; slothful servants, who do nothing with respect to the purpose of their being sent into the world, nothing to answer the end of their birth and baptism, who are no way serviceable to the glory of God, or the good of others, will be reckoned with as unprofitable servants. A slothful servant is a withered member in the body, a barren tree in the vineyard, an idle drone in the hive, that is good for nothing.” (Benson)

Eternity in heaven is not obtained by the merits of the right or wrong of what we do. Satan loves to convince people to this way of thinking – performing your way to be right in the eyes of God. If this had any merit there would be no reason for God to send His one and only Son to die as a sacrifice for our sin. Satan would have each, so-called good person, believe that it is the sacrifice that Jesus paid on the cross “PLUS” our good works that make a person right before God and entitles a person eternity in heaven. Nothing god be further from the truth. Listen carefully, Jesus Christ alone paid the price for our sin and any hope in our salvation that is placed on and in our own goodness denies what Jesus did was enough. Belief, faith, trust, and reliance on Him alone are the message of the Gospel. There is nothing more a person can do to make themselves right before God.

Why then should we be studying His Word, being obedient, and doing good works if they add nothing to our salvation, redemption, and forgiveness? We study His Word to know Him more and more. We study His Word to understand more and more of His grace, mercy, love, and holiness. We study His Word so we might continue to grow in how we can be used for His honor and glory. We study His Word so that we are continually being transformed in what we think, say, and do so that in all things we seek and desire to honor and glorify Him alone. Any “good works” that we do are for Him alone and they are wasted if we try to keep even a small portion for ourselves.

34.b. “Woe to you!”

Matthew 23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

The scribes and Pharisees were enemies to the gospel of Christ, and therefore to the salvation of the souls of men. It is bad to keep away from Christ ourselves, but worse also to keep others from him. Yet it is no new thing for the show and form of godliness to be made a cloak to the greatest enormities. But dissembled piety will be reckoned double iniquity. They were very busy to turn souls to be of their party. Not for the glory of God and the good of souls, but that they might have the credit and advantage of making converts. Gain being their godliness, by a thousand devices they made religion give way to their worldly interests. They were very strict and precise in smaller matters of the law, but careless and loose in weightier matters. It is not the scrupling a little sin that Christ here reproves; if it be a sin, though but a gnat, it must be strained out; but the doing that, and then swallowing a camel, or, committing a greater sin. While they would seem to be godly, they were neither sober nor righteous. We are really, what we are inwardly. Outward motives may keep the outside clean, while the inside is filthy; but if the heart and spirit be made new, there will be newness of life; here we must begin with ourselves. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was like the ornaments of a grave, or dressing up a dead body, only for show. The deceitfulness of sinners’ hearts appears in that they go down the streams of the sins of their own day, while they fancy that they should have opposed the sins of former days. We sometimes think, if we had lived when Christ was upon earth, that we should not have despised and rejected him, as men then did; yet Christ in his Spirit, in his word, in his ministers, is still no better treated. And it is just with God to give those up to their hearts’ lusts, who obstinately persist in gratifying them. Christ gives men their true characters. (Henry)

They were blind, and so very unfit to be guides of others; they were as they were born, ignorant of divine things, of God in Christ, of the true Messiah, of the true meaning of the Scriptures, of the spirituality of the law, and of the Gospel of Christ; and the way of salvation by him; and their minds were blinded by the god of this world (satan), and with a greedy, and insatiable covetousness after the things of it. (Gill)

We should never fall into the trap of being satisfied with a superficial cleansing and the appearance of righteousness. How foolish is it to be greatly concerned with our outward appearance of righteousness (doing and saying things for the praise of others), and be unconcerned with what is inside of our hearts and minds. (sin, greed, pride, self-worth, self-reliance, anger, hate, etc…)

God is never fooled by what we show on the outside. He sees what we actually are, not what we appear to be to other men. (Guzik)

Woe to you, blind guides. You blind fools! You blind men! “Woe to you hypocrites! You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

35.a. “For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”

Matthew 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

Luke 11:52   Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”

Isaiah 56:10-11   His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.  The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.

John 9:39-41  Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”  Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”  Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

The religious leaders kept people from the kingdom of heaven by making human traditions and human religious rules more important than God’s Word. This was clearly seen in the way that they opposed and rejected Jesus; if they had opened the kingdom of heaven to men, they would have welcomed and received Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. It is bad for someone not to enter into heaven themselves, but it is far worse to prevent another person from entering in.

Their zeal in evangelism did not prove they were right with God. These religious leaders went to great lengths to win others, but they brought people to darkness, not light. They may have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. Having a zeal for a false message does not make the message true. Leading a person down a path to hell with a false message has consequences for both the message giver and hearer. The blind proclaiming they can see and are able to lead other blind people to light does not make it true. Zeal, no matter how great it is, plus false doctrine, no matter how great the persuasion in their message, will never give rest for the blind soul seeking lasting light with purpose, hope, rest, joy, peace, and courage.

Anything apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ, or apart from bringing Him all the glory and honor, or adding to, or taking away from His complete atonement for sin, or by some means of self-reliance, will always lead to blindness to things of God and lead a person to become a tool for satan and his lies.

We do well to desire God to expose us to whatever is in our heart, mind, and soul that does not honor and glorify Jesus Christ and also be ever desiring to hear those quiet whispers for leading.

33.o. “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”

Matthew 16:1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

Luke 20:23    But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them,

Luke 12:54-56    You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Acts 2:40    And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”

Luke 11:29-30   When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

“It is an extraordinary phenomenon to find a combination of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They stood for both beliefs and policies which were diametrically opposed.” (Barclay) Yet for all these differences, Jesus brought them together. Not in a good way – they came together in opposition to Jesus, but they came together nonetheless.

Show us a sign was their request. They had heard of and seen the lame, deaf, mute, blind, and sick healed right before their eyes and still said, “show us a sign”. Asking for a sign indicates they knew who Jesus claimed himself to be and they rejected not only what He said but what they had witnessed Him doing.

Think about how God had done 8 wonders/signs in Egypt that rescued them from slavery. Think about how He had water come from a rock, manna from the sky, and birds for meat every day. The Israelites had witnessed God’s power, love, grace, and provision and yet they still did not trust Him to continue. The Bible gives repeated examples of those who saw remarkable signs, yet did not believe.

In Romans, it is also clear men reject God and have no excuse for their rejection. For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts

No person can claim ignorance. Faith does not require a sign, though many may be given. Faith – believes, trusts, obeys, follows, and relies on Jesus Christ.

31.f. “For with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain”

Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Luke 12:15    And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Ezekiel 33:31    And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.

Matthew 16:27  For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Hebrews 2:1  Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

Although Christians are to be seen doing good works, they must not do good works simply to be seen. The idea is when we do righteous deeds for the attention and applause of men, their attention and applause is our reward. It is much better to receive a reward from your Father in heaven. Some may say the important thing is to do the good deed regardless of the motive. There is some truth to this in that it is better to do a good thing with the wrong motive than to do wrong. However, Jesus is telling us that motive/reward can be either earthly or Godly. If our motive is to have earthly recognition, that will be our reward. If our motive is for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ, then our reward is His honor and glory for which our soul rejoices and our heart praises. It is out of the heart, soul, and mind of those who intentionally choose to live every moment of their life in such a way that all of their actions, words, and thoughts are built on the foundation of honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ.

30.u. “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Matthew 23:25-28    “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.  So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Psalms 15:2    He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;

Psalms 51:6   Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Ezekiel 36:25-27   I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

2 Corinthians 7:1  Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God

James 3:17    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

James 4:8   Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

1 Peter 1:22  Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

1 John 3:2-3  Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.  And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Purity, inner purity, the image of purity, ceremonial purity have been attempted by many religions in many different ways. Pure of heart in Scripture seems to define it as a single, undivided heart – those who are sincere and not divided in their devotion and commitment to God. It is an inner purity and has external manifestations of the Holy Spirit which is in them. There are pollutants (sin) that pollute the heart. Greed, pride, lust, power, anger, deception, hate, confusion, self-reliance, self-worth, self-deserving, etc….. When these are present and acted upon there is little to no intimacy or relationship with God. A pure at heart person has heard the voice of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and humbly surrendered all of this selfishness, repented, committed, believed, trusted, followed, and obeyed Jesus Christ. The purity of heart comes through this alone and not by external actions, though there certainly are external actions that can be clearly seen in those of a pure heart. Being sensitive to Godly, holy, and heavenly spiritual things requires a heart and soul that is pure to things of God and always voiding the worldly and fleshly desires. If you are not conscious of spiritual things then your heart is focused on something else. The greatest motivator of purity comes from a desire to know and understand the grace, mercy, and love of God so that in all we say, think, and do Jesus Christ is honored and glorified. They want to be pure for His honor and glory, not ours.

The sheep hear His voice

“They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

“They say, ‘Declares the LORD,’ when the LORD has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word.”

“hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”

“having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people”, “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”

John 10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Proverbs 19:27 Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.

2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies

1John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Colossians 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

1 John 4:5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Living for the single purpose to humbly serve, honor, follow, and obey Jesus Christ is driven by a deep heart desire, want and commitment. Knowledge, understanding, and ability to hear His whispers of guidance into our life has firm root in and through His word and is a reflection of this desire our time spent in it. How many days are spent complacently neglecting our purpose this side of eternity. These scriptures are directed toward those who have an appearance of walking with the direction, power, and light of Jesus Christ. Yet, in reality, they have none. Our purpose is to be more than an appearance. in Malachi it says :“They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. Walking with and serving God is not to be a self directed life but rather one that seeks to know, wants to know, and is ever listening for God’s direction. Do you want to find a place of comfort, refuge, hope, joy, love, courage, peace, and purpose? Set your heart, mind and soul on Him. Spend time in His word. This side of eternity is filled with cultural lies, false hope, and non-God seeking purpose. Each day we must fight off these lies with truth which is found in and through Jesus Christ. Think about the commitment David had in his heart, mind and soul – “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

1 Hearts far from Me

“Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man.”

“ I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts.”

“Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.”

Psalms 73:21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Psalms 92:5 How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep! The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this: that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;

Psalms 69:5 O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

Isaiah 29:13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,

Matthew 15:7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

I think about my heart and if I am just serving God with my lips. There are times when I can’t make sense of the purpose of my life. I know it is to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God, but what does that look like lived out. Am I understanding His word in a way that is intended? Are my ears open to hear His whispers of guiding me? Are my eyes open to see His handy work? Am I being filled anew each day with His Holy Spirit? Do I desire Him more than this world? Are my ears itching to hear something to confirm my lack of commitment is enough? Am I a fence rider and living for this world and yet speaking of heaven? Are my desires more for what this world has to offer? I look forward to the day this battle with sin is over and I am with Him forever. I trust in His grace, mercy and love through the redemptive work of Christ to usher me home with Him forever.

Model of Good Works

“Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned,”

” please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart”

Psalms 26:1 Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness. I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.

2 Corinthians 1:12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.

Titus 2:7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

Acts 20:33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

2 Kings 20:3 “Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Proverbs 20:7 The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children after him!

Proverbs 29:25 ……but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.

What would our lives look like if we showed integrity, dignity, sound speech, or did not covet another money or position, working hard, helped the weak, walked in faithfulness, trusted God fully, and did not waver in our purpose to humbly serve, honor and obey God? These all are aspects of growing in understanding and knowledge of God and choosing to apply them in our lives. There has to be commitment, sincerity, and desire that is more than a thought. It has to be a continually growing heart deep desire. The confusion in this life-walk is to often the food that fuels our actions and is derived from what our mind takes in. How much daily time is given to reading God’s word, meditating on it, praying, seeking Him and His purpose, listening to what His word is speaking to your heart, and discerning what is right? James says if we read it and do not have works aligned with what we have read it is like looking into a mirror and forgetting what you look like. Our lives should be a reflection of what we have read, God’s leading and our obedience to follow and apply/obey.

Live for God

Do we do a “pretend” church life of honoring and glorifying God? A life where we think honoring and glorifying God boils down to a single event of making sure we are in church on Sunday. The purpose of being in church is to corporately worship God. Somehow I think many miss this purpose and instead use Sunday as a means to be right before God. God wants our entire life’s desire to be Him and His plan/purpose in our life. This desire is 7 days per week not just one. Don’t water down the gospel in your life – keep it pure – live all seven days of the week for God.

Matthew 15:7
You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men

Matthew 23:15
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves

Colossians 2:20
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world,do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” ( referring to things that all perish as they are used) —according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self- made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh

Ezekiel 33:31
And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain