Hypocrisy : The Saints' Besetting Sin?
The Lord has been dealing rather harshly with me lately on the subject of hypocrisy, so I thought I'd relay a few of the lessons I'm learning on the subject. It's a fascinating study, for the simple reason that hypocrisy is so ingrained in our society we often don't even recognize it. (At least I didn't, although I'm learning to see it in my mirror when it rears its ugly head. Sigh! Oh wellll, He isn't finished with me yet, praise Him....)
What's Hypocrisy?
Well, for one thing, hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing another. Hypocrisy is telling others what a great Christian you are, then gossiping... or judging others... or losing your temper *big-time*... or ignoring the needs of those around you so you can indulge yourself. Hypocrisy is criticizing others for working on Sunday, but not reserving Sunday for the Lord yourself. Saying YOU wouldn't sell on Sunday, but going out for supper at a fancy restaurant on that holy day (or stopping for gas while you're out for a Sunday drive, for that matter). You're buying on Sunday, so how can you criticize those who sell, hmmmm? or those who work, either.
Hypocrisy is also saying how dedicated you are to building the best possible website for His service, and then spending your spare moments playing computer solitaire instead of digging in and doing some much-needed webmastering. Guilty, big-time, Lord! It's amazing how many other things come up to take priority over sitting at the keyboard these days... yet I know full well the time is short, the fields are white unto harvest, and the Lord's return is imminent. Shame on me!!!
And much more shameful is my recent compulsion to run ahead of Him, dashing off in all directions looking for ways to make money to sustain us, instead of waiting for Him to open the floodgates He's promised in His good time and in His own way. The fact that numerous other on-line ministries have fallen into this same trap doesn't excuse me from my failure to trust Him for ALL our needs. Nor does the fact that I've not asked your financial support for OHzone, except by buying books from OHzone's on-line Christian book stores, free me from guilt. In the final analysis, I'm hypocritical in saying, "The Lord is MY Shepherd, I shall not want" -- and then betting on a horse race or buying a lottery ticket. Forgive me, Lord, for not recognizing how far from the cross I've been straying!
See what I mean about hypocrisy being a sneaky sin that pervades our whole society? And it's we who call ourselves Christians who are most blatantly guilty, because we're the ones who are vocal about the sins of others. Aren't we? Think about it for a minute!
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
With whatsoever measure ye mete, it shall be meted unto you.
No wonder Christianity is such anathema to many young people! They detest hypocrisy in any form, and are quick to spot it in those of us who claim spiritual superiority, however worthy we fully believe ourselves to be. Face it, folks, there's no such thing as spiritual superiority. God doesn't operate an elitist resort in heaven, and we'd better not assume we're special here on earth because we're heading there. Our ticket to Heaven entitles us to love others, but it sure doesn't give us the right to criticize them or speak negatively. There is none good, not one, save God alone. Be ye perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.
This morning the Lord reminded me of the adultress who was brought before Him and cast at His feet by the crowd of goody-goodies who'd caught her in her sin. You remember the scene, surely - all of them standing around pointing their finger at her, just waiting His Word so they could start chucking rocks and kill her. Just like us today when somebody's flaws are exposed to public censure: STONE 'IM! STONE 'IM! LOCK 'IM UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY!!! Things haven't changed much, have they? Remember, the chaps pointing their fingers back then were civic-minded saints in their own eyes. It's the same today!
Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is fit for nothing but to be thrown out on the dung heap.
Jesus told the hypocrites in that infamous circle around the adultress, "Let him who is without fault cast the first stone." And one by one they left the group in sheepish admission of personal guilt. Ouch, huh? Well, He's saying the same to us today. SURE there's a lot of sin in the world - but standing around and killing the sinner isn't going to do anything but confirm our own assessment of ourselves as better than that particular individual. It isn't going to change the fact that we too have faults and need God's mercy.
"Go ye, and sin no more."
That's what Jesus told the adultress, and it's what He would tell each one of us today. Stop looking for somebody else to find fault with. Take a good look in the mirror and in your Bible, and throw yourSELF at His feet in shame and mortification. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory that is God."
May God have mercy on us all.
God bless you, every one.
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Keep on raining --- I won't drown;
My feet are planted on higher ground.
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That's the bad news. The good news is...
that without Him, we can do NOTHING - so instead of beating ourselves up for our shortcomings, we should simply take them to our wonderful Lord in prayer and ask Him for strength to carry on. Ask Him to live His life through us each day, and then accept circumstances as they come along. He has been able to utilize my efforts and direct my steps in the past; He never changes; and He will once again use me IN HIS GOOD TIME, as long as I remain willing and passively waiting for His bidding. Hallelujah!!!
But ohhhh, how hard a lesson it is to shut up and wait!
Be still, and know that I am God.
Yes, Lord. I know, and I believe. Help Thou mine unbelief! (We humans are such independent-minded creatures sometimes, have you noticed? Always gotta be DOing, instead of sitting at His feet in humble expectancy. Duh! Things haven't changed much from the days of Mary and Martha, have they? Dustballs and Butterballs are still taking precedence over His perfect will for our lives, and over giving glory to God. Ouch!!! Talk about scrambled priorities!)
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Keep on raining --- I won't drown;
My feet are planted on higher ground.
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"A Cup of Cold Water Only." - Matt. 10:42
What am I to do? I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good work, therefore, any kindness, or any service I can render to any soul of man or animal, let me do it now. Let me not neglect or defer it, for I shall not pass this way again. -- An Old Quaker Saying.
It isn't the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone,
Which gives you the bitter heartache
At the setting of the sun;
The tender work unspoken,
The letter you did not write,
The flower you might have sent, dear,
Are your haunting ghosts at night.
The stone you might have lifted
Out of your brother's way,
The bit of heartsome counsel
You were hurried too much to say;
The loving touch of the hand, dear,
The gentle and winsome tone,
That you had no time or thought for,
With troubles enough of your own.
These little acts of kindness,
So easily out of mind,
These chances to be angels,
Which even mortals find--
They come in the night and silence,
Each chill reproachful wraith,
When hope is faint and flagging,
And a blight has dropped on faith.
For life is all too short, dear,
And sorrow is all too great,
To suffer our slow compassion
That tarries until too late.
And it's not the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone,
Which gives you the bitter heartache,
At the setting of the sun.
--Adelaide Proctor.
Give what you have; to someone it may be better than you dare to think.--Longfellow.
The above is the reading for July 30th from Mrs. Charles E. Cowman's Streams in the Desert, my personal favourite book of inspirational daily readings. I trust it blesses you as it has me. :-)
Note: The link is to the modernized paperback version, so the reading may be somewhat different there. I have an old, old copy of the book, copyright 1925, which was given to us many years ago by dear friends.
Keep on raining --- I won't drown;
My feet are planted on higher ground.
FEATURED CHRISTIAN BOOKS:
Roaring Lambs by Bob Briner. Paperback. OUTSTANDING!!!
This book is a must-read for all of us, setting forth as it does a clear challenge to live as salt IN OUR CULTURE - not simply bemoaning the shortcomings of the world around us, but actually rolling up our sleeves and doing something ***POSITIVE*** to change our world for the better... in the arts, in entertainment, in the media... using our God-given talents to His glory. :-) Briner has concrete examples of areas in which our talents are needed - outside the church, IN the world, where Christ has always been.
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." Isn't that what He told those who criticized Him for fraternizing with sinners? C'mon, guys, it's time to come out of our closets and sing, dance, draw and WRITE, for Christ, right IN the main-stream world. Are you up for it? By the grace of God we can do anything, right? Let's go for it!!!
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Keep on raining --- I won't drown;
My feet are planted on higher ground.
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GUEST EDITORIAL
The End is Coming!
Burning Bush Devotional - July 25, 2002
"Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first
earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea." - Revelation 21:1.
Asteroid 2002 NT7 is projected to possibly hit the Earth on February 1, 2019
and it is massive being 1.2 miles (two km) wide apparently on a direct
course to collide with our planet. Dr. Benny Peiser, an asteroid expert at
the Liverpool John Moore's University said, "Objects of this size only hit
the Earth every one or two million years. In the worst case scenario, a
disaster of this size would be global in its extent, would create a meltdown
of our economic and social life, and would reduce us to Dark Age
conditions." However, a spokesman for the Royal Astronomical Society said,
"This thing is the highest threat that has been cataloged, but the scale in
terms of the threat keeps changing. If it did hit the Earth it would cause
a continental-size explosion but it is a fairly remote possibility."
The end is coming! The end is coming! The end is coming! But then we have
been told, warned that the end would occur at some point in history. In the
Book of Revelation we are told of several earth shaking events that are on
their way. One is recorded in Revelation 8:5, "Then the angel took the
censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And
there were noises, thundering, lightnings, and an earthquake."
Even before 1990 there had already been 59 or so failed end of the world
predictions. Others say there have been 200 or more failed predictions and
it may be there have been many more, which were not widely recorded. Would
it make any difference in the way we live if we had a date as to when the
end would occur? As Christians we will never know the precise date but we
do know the end is coming.
We know that our Lord is coming back and because we know that it should
affect the way we live our lives. In Hebrews 10:24-25, we are told, "And
let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some,
but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day
approaching." That "Day" is approaching and is nearer than it has ever been
in history. Paul tells us in Romans 13:11-13, "And do this, knowing the
time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation
is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is
at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on
the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and
drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy."
We know the end is coming but until it comes let us live as we know we
should and "so much the more as we (you) see the Day approaching."
Copyright © 2002. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the
devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited.
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Keep on raining --- I won't drown;
My feet are planted on higher ground.
OHzone UPdates...
AWARDS!! OHzone.net starts its sixth year with three beautiful awards, compliments of Deb Murray's God's Gift of Hope (http://godsgiftofhope.believer.ca) and Prayer Warriors for Christ websites. Thanks a million, Deb. I accept them on behalf of the Lord Who alone has enabled and empowered this site to be what it has grown to be. Thank You, Jesus!!!
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Keep on raining --- I won't drown;
My feet are planted on higher ground.
Great Links!
- GateKeeper for God - Beautiful!!
- In Search of a City Whose Builder and Maker is God - To those that have prayed, "Why God, is there
so much failure and defeat in that which is said to be the representation of you in
the earth? Why is your Church so divided, confused and defeated?" Those that
have dared to pray such prayers this site was constructed for you!
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Keep on raining --- I won't drown;
My feet are planted on higher ground.
Keep on reigning; You're my Lord!
Sharpen my mind by Your Spirit's sword.
Compliments of NicksHumor.net
That's about it for now, folks. God bless you and keep you, one and all!
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(((HUGS))) and blessings to you all,
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Editor, OHzone E-CLIPS
