A couple Sunday ago, one of the preachers made note that he wrestles with the spirit of sadness and continues to wrestle with the "why are you cast down oh my soul" depicted in psalm 42. He also highlighted the provision the Lord has made in providing him with a solid wife and family of believers. This type of self disclosure is precisely what is needed in the life of believers and occasionally on the pulpit. Too often in our efforts to appear "all together and top tip form", we fail to acknowledge and center the area of our hearts truly in need of healing and touching from the Lord. If it is true that the Lord came for those in need of a physician and not those who consider themselves well; then as a body we have to begin to acknowledge and understand the state of our individual brokenness and the ongoing need for regeneration.
At the core of all brokenness is an unregenerate and
unyielding heart. While the Lord does not promise us eternal healing
until his glorious return, he does promise and guarantee a comforter and
counselor in the interim. By failing to acknowledge and continuing to ignore
and/or masked the true state of our hearts, we hold a respectable reputation as
"men or women of God" in the eyes of the church communities while
deceiving ourselves and highly upholding the "Pharisee" banner that
Jesus repeatedly warns us about. This "performance/appearance
oriented theology" where appearance before man is held supremely above God
has plagued men since the fall—the bottom line: men's heart is wretched and
desperately wicked (Jer 17v9). It's always seeking its own.
The most inconspicuous way to kill a target is by deceiving
and convincing it that there is no imminent threat. There is no reason to
pursue a safe haven or tower of refuge if no threat is perceived. The lion often
pretend to ignore its prey from a distance giving it a false sense of shelter
before drawing closer for a kill. I believe the bible is intentional in previewing
us to Moses' anger management issues, Abraham's lying ways, King David's
ruthless ways, John the Baptist attitude problem (Luke 7v19) and many other
great men of faith in the bible. I believe the ultimate reason is to
elevate God's name and remind us of how he is able to use foolish things of
this world to put the wise to shame. Nevertheless, I also view this as
God's loving reminder and calling that we need to be constantly seeking a safe
haven/ tower of refuge for our hearts lest we drown in the deep sea of self
deception and rend the gospel ineffective.
Jesus' repeated gripe with the Pharisees and the state of their
heart is not without cause. He knows the bent of our heart. He knows that all
of us have to deal with a type of hypocrisy and wretchedness when it comes to
our hearts. He has provided the mirror (James 1v23); namely his word. One
can choose to acknowledge the crust around the eyes of his/her heart and daily
devote it to the Lord for cleansing and reshaping OR one can simply walk away
from the mirror pretending and ignoring the vivid crusts around his/her heart.
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