The Problem of Religion.7

"False teachers! In your hypocrisy you are no better than whitewashed tombs, which might appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of death and decaying bones. You may impress people by your superficial demonstrations of virtue, but inside you are consumed with hypocrisy and have fallen short of the truth. How can you claim to serve God, who live only for your colleague's praise, never seeking the honor that comes from God alone?"  

--Jesus

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"The only triumph the truth can ever have is its recognition by the heart of the liar.

Its victory is in the man who, not content with saying, 'I was blind and now I see,' cries out,

'Lord God, just and true, let me perish, but endure thou! Let me live because thou livest, because thou savest me from the death in myself, the untruth I have nourished in me, and even called righteousness!

Hallowed be thy name, for thou only art true; thou only lovest; thou only art holy, for thou only art humble! Thou only art unselfish; thou only hast never sought thine own, but the things of thy children! Yea, O father, be thou true, and every man a liar!' 

MacDonald, George. Unspoken Sermons.  

The resurrection means Life conquered 

the death inside us! 

lying

envy

coveting

murder

torment

anxiety

addiction

lust

lewdness

resentment

revenge

bitterness

immorality

arrogance

ambition

pride

impurity

insolence

indolence

impertinence

indifference

rebellion

rage

selfishness

self-will

self-righteousness

self-worship

adultery

lasciviousness

concupiscence

hypocrisy

bigotry

prejudice

unmerciful

unforgiving

unkindness

ungratefulness

unloving

rudeness

impatience

partiality

cheating

stealing
antagonism
accusation
destruction
deviancy
carelessness
slothfulness
disobedience
insubordination
discontent
grumbling
gossip
slander
malice
intolerance
capriciousness
cruelty
indecency
indiscretion
foolishness
fickleness
deceitfulness
cowardice
idolatry
impunity
pugnaciousness
pornography
greediness
swindler
conceit
faithless
hostility
dishonor
desecration
dissembling
obfuscation
sneering

Years ago a friend asked me to prayerfully walk her through Neil Anderson's Steps To Freedom, a remarkable spiritual house cleaning encounter.  During an especially intense moment recounting the number of men she'd been immoral with, she tearfully exclaimed: "There were so many...how could God ever forgive me for all of that?"

Indeed. No soul is saved who would not prefer hell to sin.  Created for good, it is a fearful and dreadful thing what capacity for evil we carry in our moth eaten, worm burrowed hearts.  There is not a sin on the list that we have not conceived in thought or action. Only till we recognize the awful condition of our heart can Truth triumph.

But the real tragedy, as Jesus exposes, is rather than acknowledging our true condition we whitewash the lie.
Thwarting the Holy Spirit's attempt to speak truth to our inmost being, of lying to the Spirit, is the unforgivable sin, for God cannot and will not forgive those we will not let go.

What relentless, amazing love that He would die to make us good. O! What a Savior!

The Problem of Religion.6

"Your vision extends not one inch in front of your face. Piously you strain a gnat from your wine, and proceed to swallow a camel. Self-righteously you clean the outside of your cup, while inside remains the grime of extortion. How blind can you be! First take care of what is concealed within. Only then, will the outside be clean."

--Jesus

God's Difficulty in Creating Man:

• How to fashion a being that would satisfy God's glorious heart and will
• How to create a being that could be independent of Him yet need Him for its completion
• How far to separate the distance between Himself and His Creature 
• How to give Will & Independence that yet recognizes the need:

• To turn and regard Him
• To Choose Him and say, 'I will arise and go to my Father'
• To Desire the Divine Character, in which the Creature is capable of choosing Good against Evil
• To Will to be One with the Life from which it comes
• To Work the Perfection of Reunion
• To Live immediately, consciously and actively from its Source

(adapted from Life, George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons II)

To help man in his "vision" to perceive God's working and wooing the human race toward Righteousness and Oneness, God sent His Son. The Living Son, in turn, enlists, energizes, employs and examines those who would lead and influence His people toward the Father. His rebuke falls harshest on those least like him:

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• Self-absorbed leaders that succumb to the demonic allure of status and power
• Leadership that uses that status and power to cheat people out of their birthright: to be Like the Creator! 

Constructive Leadership vs Destructive Leadership

• Constructive Leadership sees the potential for God-likeness in individuals
• Destructive Leadership sees only the worst in others burdening them with excessive regulations
• Constructive Leadership encourages truth seeking
• Destructive Leadership stunts thought and free expression
• Constructive Leadership aspires to openness and transparency
• Destructive Leadership masks and hides insidious evil
• Constructive Leadership lives what they teach
• Destructive Leadership live comfortably with hypocrisy
• Constructive Leadership lives to give
• Destructive Leadership lives to take

...we all like sheep, need shepherds after God's heart. Let us with discernment recognize True Leaders.

The Problem of Religion.5

"You make ceremonial offerings of even the herbs that grow at your front door. 
All the while, 
   you have forgotten 
      the weighty matters 
         of the law: 
judgment, mercy, and faith." 

--Jesus

What gives anything weight?

"Gravity is the force that gives an object weight. Weight is merely a measure of the amount of force

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 gravity exerts upon an object. Weight is not the same as mass, although these two terms are frequently used interchangeably. Mass is a measure of how much matter an object contains. Weight is the gravitational force that acts upon that mass." -from answers.com

God's Perfecting Will is the force that gives our obedience weight!  The real question is: how can we enlarge our obedience (mass) to give greater weight to the work God intends in and through us?

Me and the Law: "I'm approaching forty years of marriage to the same woman.  I've never committed adultery! Hurrah."

Judgement of Jesus: "If a man looks at a woman to lust after her he has committed adultery in his heart."

Me: "(silence)"

Mercy of Jesus: "Blessed are the Pure in Heart, they will see God."

Me and Faith: "Lord Jesus, I want to see joy in Your Face, and hear Your Voice saying: 'Well done, good and faithful!' Consuming Fire, burn out the impurity in my heart!

He ain't heavy, He's my Brother!

O! What a Savior!