Matthew 6:5-7
When you pray, don't be like those show-offs who love to stand up and pray in the meeting places and on the street corners. They do this just to look good. I can assure you that they already have their reward.
When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private, and he will reward you.
When you pray, don't talk on and on as people do who don't know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Yesterday on my Facebook wall, I saw this quote by evangelist Joyce Meyer... “What you do in front of people is nothing if you are not living the same life at home behind closed doors.” She referenced Matthew 6:5-7 in this post. When I read this, I was working on a devotional about living with an authentic heart for God. This post showed up right on time!
As we think about our heart – the “hidden inner man” – let’s think about how we share our faith with others. Do we let ego get in the way? Do we feel we are only effective as Christians and disciples when we make a lot of noise and draw attention to ourselves or our cause? Do we think God loves us more when we are grandiose? Maybe this explains those who protest a funerals or outside clinics. It could be that those who want to scream and shout about this “Christian” cause or that one have bought into the concept that bigger and louder is better!
Do we speak kindly to everyone we meet in public, then go home and treat our family like dirt? Do we pretend to be something or someone we are not and try to “keep up with the Joneses” when in truth, we are physically, morally and spiritually bankrupt? The truth is that God cares about what is in our heart… how we truly feel… what we genuinely think about Him, and our honest needs and desires. He doesn’t care about trappings… grand gestures… big displays of devotion or service… or how long we pray a single prayer. He doesn’t want us to say and do all the right things in public and shed these behaviors like a giant mask when nobody is looking.
God wants real, sincere, heartfelt love and service. He wants us to operate completely from the depths of our heart and a desire to be completely His disciple… whether we are passing the collection plate in a worship service, visiting someone who is sick, working with someone we find difficult to love, offering up a prayer… or interacting with our own family behind closed doors.
We should strive to be genuine and operate from our heart every single day. If God wants us to shout from the rooftops, He will place that in our heart. If God wants you to be Mr./Miss Personality, He will gift you with a genuine exuberance. If He wants us to work in the background, we will sense that, as well. God will make it our heart’s desire to treat everyone with love, grace and mercy – even at home – if we listen and follow Him.
As long as we listen to our “hidden inner man,” we will glorify and honor God with our outward appearance and behavior. Have you checked your heart today?
©2012 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label authenticity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label authenticity. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for February 28, 2011
Mark 7:1-13
Some Pharisees and several teachers of the Law of Moses from Jerusalem came and gathered around Jesus. They noticed that some of his disciples ate without first washing their hands.
The Pharisees and many other Jewish people obey the teachings of their ancestors. They always wash their hands in the proper way before eating. None of them will eat anything they buy in the market until it is washed. They also follow a lot of other teachings, such as washing cups, pitchers, and bowls.
The Pharisees and teachers asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do? Why do they eat without washing their hands?"
Jesus replied: You are nothing but show-offs! The prophet Isaiah was right when he wrote that God had said, "All of you praise me with your words, but you never really think about me. It is useless for you to worship me, when you teach rules made up by humans."
You disobey God's commands in order to obey what humans have taught. You are good at rejecting God's commands so that you can follow your own teachings! Didn't Moses command you to respect your father and mother? Didn't he tell you to put to death all who curse their parents? But you let people get by without helping their parents when they should. You let them say that what they own has been offered to God. You won't let those people help their parents. And you ignore God's commands in order to follow your own teaching. You do a lot of other things that are just as bad.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Have you ever known someone who says they don’t go to church because our churches are full of hypocrites? The fact is… they are right! But that doesn’t mean that the person who is making this statement is any less hypocritical or above those who come together to worship. Clearly, we are all hypocrites. Very few of us do even a halfway decent job of “walking the walk” we like to claim.
But this doesn’t mean we can’t do better. We must closely examine everything we say and do. Before we label someone as “crazy” or an “idiot,” we must think about Jesus’ command to love others as we love ourselves. They may still be crazy or act in an idiotic manner, but it is not our place to call them out on it. Before we sit down at a restaurant in public and clasp the hands of fellow diners to offer a prayer, we must ask ourselves, “Are we truly thanking God for the blessing of this meal, or are we making a show for others in the restaurant?”
People get so stirred up about the removal of prayer from school and the posting of the Ten Commandments from public buildings. And I don’t mean to start a ruckus here… but let’s be honest, is this really such a huge deal? After all, we are told in Scripture to pray in the privacy of our closets. So can’t students and teachers pray silently in their hearts, even if a prayer over the loudspeaker is prohibited? Are the Ten Commandments null and void just because we don’t see a list of them in our courthouses?
What are our real motives? Do we have pure hearts and desire to model the teachings of Jesus Christ? Do we desire to serve Him and honor HIS work in our lives… or are we more interested in impressing those around us? Until we get our own priorities straight, we have no business judging anyone else. And believe me, this is a tall order… for all of us!
We must prayerfully consider our behavior… our rituals and actions – especially those we claim in the name of Jesus. Are we really serving as His disciples, or are we more concerned with looking like we do? My cousin JD said in a recent sermon, “I know a lot of people who look right. Anybody can look right. But I don’t want to look right – I want to be right with Jesus.” Looking right and being right with God are two distinctly different things. Do you know the difference?
©2011 Debbie Robus
Some Pharisees and several teachers of the Law of Moses from Jerusalem came and gathered around Jesus. They noticed that some of his disciples ate without first washing their hands.
The Pharisees and many other Jewish people obey the teachings of their ancestors. They always wash their hands in the proper way before eating. None of them will eat anything they buy in the market until it is washed. They also follow a lot of other teachings, such as washing cups, pitchers, and bowls.
The Pharisees and teachers asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do? Why do they eat without washing their hands?"
Jesus replied: You are nothing but show-offs! The prophet Isaiah was right when he wrote that God had said, "All of you praise me with your words, but you never really think about me. It is useless for you to worship me, when you teach rules made up by humans."
You disobey God's commands in order to obey what humans have taught. You are good at rejecting God's commands so that you can follow your own teachings! Didn't Moses command you to respect your father and mother? Didn't he tell you to put to death all who curse their parents? But you let people get by without helping their parents when they should. You let them say that what they own has been offered to God. You won't let those people help their parents. And you ignore God's commands in order to follow your own teaching. You do a lot of other things that are just as bad.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Have you ever known someone who says they don’t go to church because our churches are full of hypocrites? The fact is… they are right! But that doesn’t mean that the person who is making this statement is any less hypocritical or above those who come together to worship. Clearly, we are all hypocrites. Very few of us do even a halfway decent job of “walking the walk” we like to claim.
But this doesn’t mean we can’t do better. We must closely examine everything we say and do. Before we label someone as “crazy” or an “idiot,” we must think about Jesus’ command to love others as we love ourselves. They may still be crazy or act in an idiotic manner, but it is not our place to call them out on it. Before we sit down at a restaurant in public and clasp the hands of fellow diners to offer a prayer, we must ask ourselves, “Are we truly thanking God for the blessing of this meal, or are we making a show for others in the restaurant?”
People get so stirred up about the removal of prayer from school and the posting of the Ten Commandments from public buildings. And I don’t mean to start a ruckus here… but let’s be honest, is this really such a huge deal? After all, we are told in Scripture to pray in the privacy of our closets. So can’t students and teachers pray silently in their hearts, even if a prayer over the loudspeaker is prohibited? Are the Ten Commandments null and void just because we don’t see a list of them in our courthouses?
What are our real motives? Do we have pure hearts and desire to model the teachings of Jesus Christ? Do we desire to serve Him and honor HIS work in our lives… or are we more interested in impressing those around us? Until we get our own priorities straight, we have no business judging anyone else. And believe me, this is a tall order… for all of us!
We must prayerfully consider our behavior… our rituals and actions – especially those we claim in the name of Jesus. Are we really serving as His disciples, or are we more concerned with looking like we do? My cousin JD said in a recent sermon, “I know a lot of people who look right. Anybody can look right. But I don’t want to look right – I want to be right with Jesus.” Looking right and being right with God are two distinctly different things. Do you know the difference?
©2011 Debbie Robus
Daily Devotional for December 4, 2010
1 Peter 2:1
Stop being hateful! Quit trying to fool people, and start being sincere. Don't be jealous or say cruel things about others.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Your mom has probably told you at some point, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Good advice! People can usually spot a phony a mile away… especially if that person makes a habit of telling others what they want to hear. You know the type… “fitting in” by being critical or cruel toward others, spreading gossip, and cutting down others in order to make themselves look better. These same people can turn on the charm when they come face-to-face with the very people they have criticized or berated. They know how to “work a crowd”… but not in a good way. Hopefully you are not one of these people!
There is no room in the life of a Christian for such phoniness. We don’t have time and energy to expend on anything except the things of Jesus… sharing love, grace, mercy, kindness, understanding… GOOD NEWS!
I dare you to make a concerted effort to smile more and see what happens! I challenge you to speak only kindness toward others – and about them. I beg you to realize that you don’t have to be jealous of anyone else. YOU are a child of the Most High God… heir to His throne and all the glory and riches of heaven. You don’t have to compare yourself to anyone else for even one second. In God’s eyes, you are second to none!
Also recognize this… the very people that you may speak unkindly toward – or talk about – the very ones you dislike or treat hypocritically… the ones you “love to hate” are also God’s children. They are equal to you in God’s eyes. So when you mistreat them, you are in essence mistreating God! Think about this. Do you really want to be even remotely guilty of mistreating your Heavenly Father? Do you want Him to think for even a split second that you could be less than all He has called you to be?
Kick jealousy, gossip, unkind speech, hypocrisy, deceit, and all forms of evil behavior to the curb. Be the child of God you have been called to be... operate in His goodness and mercy… and be the real deal for Jesus Christ. Truly… nothing less is good enough.
©2010 Debbie Robus
Stop being hateful! Quit trying to fool people, and start being sincere. Don't be jealous or say cruel things about others.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Your mom has probably told you at some point, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Good advice! People can usually spot a phony a mile away… especially if that person makes a habit of telling others what they want to hear. You know the type… “fitting in” by being critical or cruel toward others, spreading gossip, and cutting down others in order to make themselves look better. These same people can turn on the charm when they come face-to-face with the very people they have criticized or berated. They know how to “work a crowd”… but not in a good way. Hopefully you are not one of these people!
There is no room in the life of a Christian for such phoniness. We don’t have time and energy to expend on anything except the things of Jesus… sharing love, grace, mercy, kindness, understanding… GOOD NEWS!
I dare you to make a concerted effort to smile more and see what happens! I challenge you to speak only kindness toward others – and about them. I beg you to realize that you don’t have to be jealous of anyone else. YOU are a child of the Most High God… heir to His throne and all the glory and riches of heaven. You don’t have to compare yourself to anyone else for even one second. In God’s eyes, you are second to none!
Also recognize this… the very people that you may speak unkindly toward – or talk about – the very ones you dislike or treat hypocritically… the ones you “love to hate” are also God’s children. They are equal to you in God’s eyes. So when you mistreat them, you are in essence mistreating God! Think about this. Do you really want to be even remotely guilty of mistreating your Heavenly Father? Do you want Him to think for even a split second that you could be less than all He has called you to be?
Kick jealousy, gossip, unkind speech, hypocrisy, deceit, and all forms of evil behavior to the curb. Be the child of God you have been called to be... operate in His goodness and mercy… and be the real deal for Jesus Christ. Truly… nothing less is good enough.
©2010 Debbie Robus
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