Being Real with God
Don't ever try to fool God. It never works. If you can't be real with God, don't bother to try to have a relationship with Him. He won't waste His time on hypocrites. Job knew that.(Job 13:15,16) Job would not stop trusting God, even if God killed him. That is real faith. Any believer should be able to make that statement sincerely. At the same time Job was going to defend his ways before the Lord, just like we do in any relationship. However, he knew his defense better be much more than just words. If his words did not match his heart and his actions, God would see through it immediately.
Hypocrisy is a serious problem. Jesus dealt with hypocrites in a very no nonsense way. He called them "white washed tombs." What a description! They were all spruced up on the outside to look good for other people, but inside there was nothing but dead bones. No words or outward appearances can ever make up for a heart relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is Lord. Anyone who approaches the sinless Lord must repent of sin first. If you don't decide that sin is wrong, and He is right, why would He talk with you? Anyone who comes to the Lord comes in submission to His authority. Any other way is not coming to who He is, the Lord. All He asks is faith, real trust in Him. Anyone can do that, but we must decide to trust Him, not ourselves or anything else. Then, we start a relationship with Him. We relate to Him minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. It is not just a one time prayer, and then, we go on our merry way. When we mess up and sin, we confess it to Him. When we have problems, and we don't know why, we ask Him to show us, and we defend our actions, until He shows us what is going on. He will show us, too, if we come sincerely, and we really want to be right. He just wants real faith and for us to be real before Him. Then, He will never leave us or forsake us, even when we are going through trials like Job.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 15-18.
Hypocrisy is a serious problem. Jesus dealt with hypocrites in a very no nonsense way. He called them "white washed tombs." What a description! They were all spruced up on the outside to look good for other people, but inside there was nothing but dead bones. No words or outward appearances can ever make up for a heart relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is Lord. Anyone who approaches the sinless Lord must repent of sin first. If you don't decide that sin is wrong, and He is right, why would He talk with you? Anyone who comes to the Lord comes in submission to His authority. Any other way is not coming to who He is, the Lord. All He asks is faith, real trust in Him. Anyone can do that, but we must decide to trust Him, not ourselves or anything else. Then, we start a relationship with Him. We relate to Him minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. It is not just a one time prayer, and then, we go on our merry way. When we mess up and sin, we confess it to Him. When we have problems, and we don't know why, we ask Him to show us, and we defend our actions, until He shows us what is going on. He will show us, too, if we come sincerely, and we really want to be right. He just wants real faith and for us to be real before Him. Then, He will never leave us or forsake us, even when we are going through trials like Job.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 15-18.