Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Where is Your Heart?

You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'" Matthew 15:7-9 

Jesus calls the Pharisees and scribes “hypocrites” because they did just what Isaiah said as recorded in Isaiah 29:13…Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote….Tradition—tradition. That is what the Pharisees based their lives on…tradition. Isaiah 29:15 goes on to say…Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, "Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?" Isaiah 29:15. We can’t hide from God. Psalm 139:7-10 tells us…
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
The Pharisees were indeed hypocrites saying one thing and doing another. Do we do the same? Do we honor God with our praises only on Sunday? On the rest of the week are our hearts far from Him? Be careful what you do and say—and what you teach your children by your actions. Don’t be a hypocrite like the Pharisees. God knows our hearts…thoughts and motives for our actions. 

RSVP: Jesus is calling us to be dedicated and truthful daily to Him—not to be hypocrites. How will you respond to Him today? 

Prayer ~ Jesus create in me, my family and friends a clean heart and renew a right spirit in us (Psalm 51:10) that we would follow you whole heartedly—and not be hypocrites in anything we do and say.

© 2014 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.

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