Facing Ourselves, Growing in Christ

Have you ever heard someone say they do not attend church
because too many hypocrites go there? Over the years
I have heard many say it. At first when I was much younger,
I thought they must have been through some terrible experience
that made them stay away from church.

But as I grew in the wisdom of God’s word and life experience
I recognized that people who say this are using it as a excuse
to keep themselves in their chosen lifestyle. They want to
do what they want to do, and it is easier to blame someone else
than take responsibility for themselves and their actions.

The truth is, we don't go to church to see if people are perfect,
we go to church to worship God, get good Bible teaching, pray as
a community and reach outwards as a community. Church is a place
for spiritual growth.. and everyone there needs it.. we all do!

We see it everywhere now. People think they are not accountable
for what they do. A lot of it has to do with secular humanism,
that we are like little gods to ourselves, we can do what we want
anytime we want. It is our life, we don’t have to live up to
anyone’s standards.

Then we hear the school of thinking that God loves everyone
and surely He would not cast away anyone. That God is within
us all, and no one will go to hell. Ultimately, they say, God
will just accept everyone.

Let me tell you what this is all about. It is about people never
opening God’s word and reading it FOR THEMSELVES.
They hear people teach it from time to time but they do not
have depth to their spiritual life. They lack discipline. They
cannot seem to get a schedule that includes time for God.

All of these things bring us back to the main point. We are all
flawed, we all have shortcomings, we have all sinned, it is only
through the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God we can be changed.

Paul talked about how he struggled with hypocrisy in his own life.

He said in Romans 7: For I know that nothing good dwells within me,
that is, in my flesh. I can will whatever is right, but I cannot perform it,
I have the intention and urge to do what is right but no power to carry
it out. For I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but
the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am doing!

You see even Paul recognized daily we all struggle with the flesh. We
do that which we do not want to do, and do not do that which we should.
That is hypocrisy in a form. We are saying we are one thing and doing
another. So you see, in a way, we all battle with this. Hence, pointing
fingers at so-called hypocrites is silly. We all need forgiveness, we
are all sinners, that IS WHY JESUS CAME!

So how can we change? Lets look what else Paul had to say in Romans
7:24-25. O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release
and deliver me from the shackles of this body of death?
O thank God! He will! Through Jesus Christ, the Anointed One,
our Lord! So then indeed I of myself with the mind and heart serve
the Law of God but with the flesh the law of sin.

You see Paul recognized in and of himself he sinned. That it was
with Christ DWELLING IN HIM, he overcame sin and lived
right before God.

If we cannot take the time to pour God’s word into our heart
and spirit we will not receive the conviction in our hearts about
the accountability of our wretched sins and flaws before God.
We all need to grow in Christ. We cannot just say that is the way
I am, and there is no changing it.

If this is so, we are not taking up our cross daily and following Him.
We must start at the cross daily on our knees, confessing our sins,
pleading our case before God, talking to Him, receiving His great
comfort, and merciful forgiveness. Then as we open His precious
word and plant it in our spirits, this word takes root and brings
conviction, and truth and the cleanliness that God wants within.

It empowers us through Christ being in us, to be overcomers
and to move forward and to accomplish something. We do not
give up and say I cannot change, we do not dwell in the same
place we grow, we overcome, we become strong in the power
of the Lord and HIS might.

My friend, if you are not feeling this today… you can. It is
not just for preachers or for people you admire spiritually.
It is for us all. God loves us all, but we must come to Him
with a heart of repentance, a mind open to regeneration in
Christ, and a will to go forth in God’s name with His Word
and Will leading us into all truth so that we may make
a difference in the world and lead people to Christ.

That is what He wants most of all. If you cannot overcome
you cannot teach others to do it. Yet it is a simple process
starting at the cross daily.

Oh Lord God, teach us to let go of that which does not profit.
Teach us Lord how to walk righteously before you, and to
surrender all areas of our lives so that we may be free
from the bondage of sin and go forth in your strength,
your wisdom, with your conviction pricking our heart
that we may know that we are accountable, and that people
are depending upon us to be a witness not only in words
but in deed. That all may be brought to you, by You in Us,
speaking forth Your Word to a lost and dying world. Let
us not live unto ourselves but unto you. We surrender all
today and lay our burdens and sin at your feet, and ask
you to renew us and help us be disciplined in our Bible reading
and devotional life, so that we may be pleasing to you in
all we say and do.

In Jesus Precious Name,
Amen

Remember
Only one life, will soon be Past
Only what is done, for Christ will last