No Hidden Love!

 Matthew 23:25-26

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisees! First, clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean" 

The enemy has a tricky way of allowing us to think that because no one sees, it's okay. 

We feel that once the outside appearance is good enough, no one would dig deep enough to see how messed up we are on the inside. And, we're right. 

No one really digs deep below the surface level to know a person to understand what hides deep within their hearts or behind the fake face that they give us. 

However, there is God! 

We can beautify the outside as much as we can. 

We can fake. 

We can pretend and put on for everyone, but there He is searching deep within. 

He sees what we do when no one is looking. He sees when we sneak, when we hide, and when we play in the shadows. 

There's nothing wrong with messing up. First, let's get that out of the way. 

We all fall short of God's Glory from time to time. 

We are humans with a sinful nature. 

I am not saying that you should have a free pass to sin, but sometimes, it happens and due to the mercy of our Lord and Saviour, we are able to repent and be forgiven. 

What I am trying to shed light on is when we continue to intentionally sin while simultaneously ensuring that our outer appearance is squeaky clean. 

This is what the Pharisees were doing. 

They were painting this image to their followers as if they were more than holy, but on the inside doing sinful things. 

Living a lie. 

Luke 8:17 

"For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light."

Proverbs 27:5 

"Better an open rebuke than hidden love." 

Hiding and pretending will not last forever. The main scripture states that! 

It says only when we clean the inside will the outside be clean. 

Only then will the outside be true and real with honesty and righteousness. 

I encourage you today, even me, to look within us. See, what it is that is filthy and causing us to even pretend or fake our outer appearance. 

Because the minute we start to pretend on the outside that we are more than what we are is when we know that there is something on the inside that shouldn't be. 

The scripture says "It's not what goes into a man that defiles him, but it is what comes out of him" 

The more we sneak and hide the more sinful things we do. The more we do what we ought to do in secret, the greater the chance for it to soon come to the light. Eventually, we will begin to portray it on the outside. 

If we commit fornication, adultery, drink alcohol, lie, gossip, sexual immoralities, curse, lust, and so forth in secret eventually it's going to display itself in public. 

Whether we be exposed or it affects the way we hear from God, our Christian walk, and our relationships with our families and friends. It will affect our outside. 

We must clean our insides. 

We must be purged with hyssop and cleansed by the Holy Spirit until we are whiter than snow. 

We must have our hearts purified and hands clean. 

Garments of white on a dirty body will not hide the dirt on that person. That person will only make the garments dirty.

We must confess our sins. We must apply the Word to our life. 

We must not live life pretending or putting on a false image of Godliness. 

Remember that God does not look at the outward appearance but He searches the heart. 

He doesn't care how pristine our clothes are. He doesn't care that our nails and hair are always done. He doesn't care how much we praise and speak in tongues. He doesn't care that we have the freshest haircut. He doesn't care that we can run around the church and lead a splendid song. He doesn't care about anything that we can perfect physically, but He cares about how connected our hearts and spirits are to Him. 

He cares about the cleanliness of the environment that He has to dwell in. Romans 12: 1

He cares about the vessel that He could use. One with clean hands and a pure heart. Psalm 24:3-4

Confess your sins today. Tell God about the dishes and the cups that are unclean on the inside that you have. Let Him help you wash them. 

Tell Him about your addiction, your greed, and self-indulgence. Tell Him about the secrets, and admit to Him your flaws today.

Lord, we confess the things we do in the dark and what we think is away from Your eyes! We ask that You please help us! Search us and whatever You find that is not of You, please take it away! Purify our hearts and wash us. We present our hidden love today. We want to be real for You. In Jesus' Name Amen. 

~TheRay