THE LIPS OF THE HEART

“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;” (Matthew 15:8, ESV). It is easy to fool people with our lips by giving the false impression we are close to the Lord, when we are not. To do so, is to be a hypocrite. We are not honoring the Lord with our lips, when our heart is far from Him. It is the spiritual state of our heart in relation to God that determines whether we are close to him or not. We can even be self deceived into believing we are close to the Lord, when the fact is our hearts are far from Him. “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45, ESV). You cannot ‘fake it until you make it’ to be close to God. It is not a matter of saying all the right words until you get close to the Lord Jesus. Nor is it a matter of generating enough feeling until we get close to God. The truth is if there is unconfessed sin in our life, that will erect a wall between us and our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Repentance then is necessary to be in right relationship with Him again. It is not drawing near to God with our lips that determines closeness to Him, but likeness to Him is determined by the heart we have for the Lord. C. H. Spurgeon says it well: “Nearness to God brings likeness to God. The more you see God, the more of God will be seen in you.” So let it be the lips of our heart that draws near to God rather than the lips of our mouth, only then will our words stand in truth as opposed to falling to the ground in hypocrisy. If we want our lips to honor the Lord, then we need to draw near to God with our heart.

Lord, it is easy to spout off a word salad to You in prayer, but where is our heart in prayer? Too often our heart just isn’t in praying. Praying is hard work, but most necessary in our relationship with You. Lord Jesus, implant in us a real desire and passion for prayer. Grant unto us a heart like David who was known to be a man after your heart. In Christ’s name I pray, Amen.

FORGIVENESS AND CONSEQUENCES

Let’s face it, we all fall short in our relationships with family and friends. So there will be times when we will need others to forgive us of our wrongs. However, many people today expect to be forgiven by the offended person without any consequences for their actions. Suppose a friend stole money from you, but then later apologizes for the wrong he did against you. Sure, you may forgive him, but would you immediately trust him with your wallet? Of course not! He broke your trust and needs to earn it back. Let’s say your wife committed adultery against you with your best friend, they both seek your forgiveness, though hurt, you forgive them both, is this then grounds for them to assume you wholly trust them again, after they just broke that trust? No! Both your wife and best friend need to prove they can be trusted again. I’m sure more examples could be given, but you the reader get the point, there are consequences we suffer for the sins we commit against others. Since the Lord forgave us of our sins, it is only right to forgive our neighbor who sins against us. Keep in mind, just because someone forgives you, doesn’t mean you won’t suffer any consequences for your actions. Forgiveness requires our repentance, not just confessing the sin we committed. We need to show we are sorry by our action, because actions speak louder than our words.

Father, help us not to be so flippant about the sins we commit against others, especially those who are close to us. Help us to not only seek forgiveness from those we wrong, but be willing to prove we are sorry for the sin we committed against them. The trust others put in us ought to be always highly valued and kept at all cost. In Christ’s most precious name, Amen.

SAMSON AND HIS BROKEN NAZARITE VOW

“For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” 

(Judges 13:5, NASB).

Here we read of Samson’s call to be a Nazarite from the womb. To be a Nazirite means to be separated unto the Lord. The Nazirite vow is threefold: 1. No razor shall come upon his head speaks of Strength (13:5; 16:19); 2. No wine or strong drink speaks of Self control (13:7, 14, Gal. 5:23); 3. No eating from that which is unclean speaks of Separation (14:9; 15:15-16; 2 Cor. 6:17). Out of these three restrictions in the Nazirite vow Samson was guilty of breaking two of them. No where do we read of him breaking his vow of abstaining from wine or strong drink. We can at least give credit to Samson for that. Samson was the judge of Israel who failed to judge his own life. So the lesson we as believers can learn from Samson's life is to be sure we are living sanctified, set apart lives for God's glory. We need to guard against the world's razor that wants to cut away the power we have in Christ. We need to have control of ourselves by abstaining from the world's pleasures. Then finally we need to separate from feeding upon the husks of this world so we can feast upon the Bread of life.

DAVID ENCOURAGED HIMSELF IN THE LORD

“And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” 

(1 Samuel 30:6, KJV).

“But David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” These are strange words indeed, uttered by David in response to a harrowing situation he was in with his people wanting to kill him. Though in great distress David’s faith in the Lord did not fail him, for again we read, “but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” Imagine the gravity of David’s situation. The people wanted to murder him… He could have run away. A man of lesser faith would have. He could have also sought help from other people, just as Israel has been known to do in seeking aid from other nations against her enemies. Yet the phrase “but” in today’s text is profound. For despite his situation, that word “but” is followed by these words of faith, “…David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” He did not rely in his own strength, nor in the vain strength of his fellow man, no, he relied upon, or drew his strength from the Lord in prayer. Other Bible translations render the phrase, “encouraged himself” as “strengthened himself.” Same meaning, just different wording for the same truth. 

BUYING THE TRUTH

“Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.” 

(Proverbs 23:23, NASB). 

The term “buy” here reminds us that there is a cost involved in owning the truth. We live in times where there is a plethora of theological opinions that are popular, but the truth is not. Every theological camp proclaims they have the truth, even if it doesn’t fully square with the Scriptures. Every man is comfortable in his or her theological opinion, but is not willing to test it with Scripture. When we discover the theological view we hold to does not line up with what the Bible teaches, are we willing to “buy” the truth? Changing our view is hard, but necessary to be in the truth. The phrase, “do not sell it” speaks of the infinite value of God’s truth. Do we value God’s truth so much that we will not part from it? The truth brings wisdom, instruction, and understanding. "Wisdom" is the experience gained by the truth; "instruction" is the knowledge gained from the truth; while "understanding" is what you comprehend of the truth. The truth where one gains insight from comes from any topic or issue. For instance, the truth in regards to eternal security we have in Christ’s salvation or can a believer lose his salvation? The truth always gives an answer that is always sure, whereas opinions don’t. So don’t part from the truth and the truth will not depart from you. Love the truth and sell it not, nor rent it.

Heavenly Father, You are the embodiment of truth; while the Lord Jesus Christ is the truth come in the flesh, undefiled and divine truth that frees us from the lies that ensnare us. Lord, you have instructed us in your truth, and we have gained wisdom and understanding from it. Lord, give us such conviction to never depart from your precious truth from your Word. In Christ we pray, Amen.

WORRY OR CONCERN?

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”  

(Matthew 6:31, KJV). 

Often Christians mistake their worry for concern. They get the two mixed up by believing if they worry about something or someone, like a loved one, then they are showing concern. So in a sense they believe they are caring about someone by worrying. However, worry is sin, because it is not trusting God, or taking Him at His Word (see 1 Pet. 5:7; Psalm 55:22); whereas, concern for someone is showing empathy and care for that person.  The phrase “take no thought” in our text would be better translated, “be not anxious.” Noted commentator H. A. Ironside from a past generation wrote:

“When Jesus said, “Take no thought,” He did not mean that His disciples should be careless or improvident. But they are forbidden to be anxious, to become distressed and perplexed as they face the future. He who has saved and cared for us thus far can be depended upon to undertake and provide for us to the end.”

Like Mr. Ironside said, God can be trusted to take care of the details in our lives. However, the Lord is not obligated to do it according to the way we want to see things done. This passage in Matthew 6:25-34 is Jesus answer to the Christian who struggles with worry. To worry is akin to doubting God’s goodness and ability to take care of us and those we love. Since we trusted in Christ for our salvation, can we not trust Him to take care of our needs as well as those we care about? I’m sure we both know the answer to that question. If we know this, why is it we still live with the full weight of worry, fear, and distress on our shoulders? The Lord Jesus’ words are clear, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matt. 11:28-30, NASB). Rest is not possible if our hearts are restless in the grip of doubt. The Lord Jesus even uses examples from nature to illustrate His point. 

FALSE HUMILITY

“False humility…” (Colossians 2:23, NIV).

Humility is one of those virtues that are very elusive and difficult to cultivate in one’s life. It is very elusive when we most think we are humble, we are not, and when we least think we are humble, we actually are. It is in human nature to put forward our best face to the world. We like to pretend and try to convince people we are humble, when we are not. This is false humility when we claim to have this virtue we do not practice. False humility is nothing more than pride masquerading as humility. Some commentators say humility is “being forgetful of oneself,” still others say humility is “putting others before yourself.” Perhaps Fred Smith is correct when he said the best definition he ever heard was this: "Humility is not denying the power you have but admitting that the power comes through you and not from you."  I believe Paul states it best in these words: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Phil. 2:3, ESV). 

Below is a diagram on "True Humility," "False Humility," and "Pride." Trust this diagram will shed a bit of light on the subject at hand: