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www.truthworks.com 14 FEB 05 devotion archive |
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I tell you the Truth, Sorry for the extra long holiday break. Now that I’ve gotten past some technical problems, it’s time to get back to God’s business. I’ve missed hanging out with you and I pray you all had a joyful Christmas and are enjoying the New Year! <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< There’s no doubt that reality TV is the hottest thing on American television. If you’ve noticed, the hottest reality shows are the extreme makeovers. Whether it’s making over someone’s personal appearance, someone’s house or someone’s family life, makeovers are all the current rage. And to be quite honest, I enjoy some of the makeover shows. To watch people have their lives transformed can be a pretty touching experience. As touching as an extreme make over can be, I can’t help but think what the person or home will look like ten or twenty years after the make over. Will the transformation last? Will the new nose or face lift still “look good” ten years from now? I’m not sure what the answers to those questions are, but I think the more important question is: Will the person still be changed for the better in the years to come? Changing the outward appearance is fine. Perhaps someone’s self esteem can be raised or a new confidence found. But according to God’s word, there is another extreme makeover that needs to take place before we ever consider our outer appearance.
Matthew 23: 27“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. The Pharisees lived a confusing life. They focused so much on the outward that they forgot all about the inward. They were more concerned about impressing other people than they were about God’s view of their hearts. Jesus gave them a very simple cure – clean the inside of the cup and the outside will take care of itself. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked by young Christians about what I thought concerning how they dressed, whether it was ok to wear certain clothes, wear your hair certain ways or if God is really concerned with our looks. And I usually tell them that it’s really not an issue with me, however, the condition of their heart is. Until the heart is right with God, we live confusing lives and we wonder what God thinks about a lot of things. The answer to the confusion is to get intimate and personal with the Creator, to allow God to “have His way” with our hearts. We can try to fix all the external things, but it’s usually futile if the internal things are not in order.
Ephesians 4:22-24 God expects change to occur within us. As adopted children of God, we no longer belong to the world and our old self needs an extreme makeover. We need new attitudes in heart and mind in order to become more like God, or Christ like. The change comes from the touch of the Spirit of God. And the way we are touched is through fellowship with the Spirit in prayer, in bible study and in obedience. So before you think you need an extreme makeover in your Christian appearance, allow God to extremely makeover the inside. And then the outside will take care of itself.
<*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< Copyright © 2005 Truth Works Publishing. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise specified, all scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV.
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Randy & Aaron
