Are you truly as you appear?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
(Matthew 23:27-28 (NIV))

Jesus never held back!

Since Jesus was and is able to look at the heart and also know what we are thinking, it is not a big stretch of the imagination to realize that He used this to truly size up the people that He met. Unlike everyone else, Jesus wasn’t fooled by the outward appearances. He could see beyond what someone presented as their public persona and see exactly what was in a person’s heart.

Everyone is guilty of putting up a facade. We want those around us to see us for something that we are not. We want to be seen as more than we truly are. With that aspect of human nature squarely out in the open, would you truly want to have Jesus look at you the way that He looked at the Pharisees? What would He say about you? I just realized that I am pointing the finger at everyone else. I should be asking what would He say about me?

That is a scary proposition!

Are you ready and willing to have Jesus truly tell you about yourself?

Are you willing to hear what He has to say about you?

Are you willing to accept rebuke if that is called for?

Are you willing to repent and seek after righteousness?

Think about that last question for a moment. Have you ever read anywhere in the Gospels where a Pharisee was willing to repent? Have you ever thought about the nature of repentance and how repentance and pride and ego just can’t seem to coexist? We saw that in the Pharisees and we still see it today. Jesus was able to see it.

What does Jesus see in you?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you try to keep things hidden from God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.
(Luke 12:2 (NIV))

Have you honestly stopped to let these words sink in to your inner most being?

Do they give you reason to shudder at the thought of some of your secrets being revealed?

If you are human, this is a very scary concept, for we all have things that we would rather no one ever find out about. Still, human nature in its sinful state has us do things that we would rather not do. No one is immune. Even Paul, the man whom Jesus called to preach the Gospel to the gentiles, faced the very same dilemma.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
(Romans 7:15 (NIV))

How do you think that Paul’s secrets will be treated when they are revealed? Do you think that he will be treated any different than anybody else who calls upon the name of Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior? What Paul has repented of will be forgiven. What you and I have repented of will be forgiven.

Take another deep look at the passage. Look for what is not said. The passage does not say that what is hidden will not be forgiven. It also does not say that it will be forgiven. Each person will be judged according to one simple truth – have they accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. If you can honestly answer “Yes” to that question, then you will be judged as Paul will be judged.

“Come now, let us reason together,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
(Isaiah 1:18 (NIV))

If you answer “No” to that question, you will be judged and found guilty.

Do you desire forgiveness, or do you want to face the punishment of the guilty?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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