Matthew 15:8
These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
II Timothy 3:5
Having a form of godliness but rejecting the power......
We use to have a saying at Rapha...
"You don't think your way into a new way of acting....you act your way into a new way of thinking."
In other words, do the right thing whether your mind tells you to or not.
The one flaw in this is that the heart should follow your actions...In other words, your beliefs should change and match your behavior. Well, it doesn't always do that, especially if you have no intention of changing, and your just acting in order to appease someone..
Bottom line in all of this....
Change comes from a POWER greater than myself. That Power has a name, and that name is Jesus. When we come to the sobering thought that we all are powerless to save ourselves, that should give us pause to think on this.
This week, as I watched Olympic coverage from Rio, the one message in every commercial is that "You are powerful...you can rise above your situation or circumstance"...of course this thought is also tied to "If you buy our product". I've been eating at McDonald's for years, yet I still can't master the parallel bars. Bummer. We, as a society, celebrate the human spirit and will, but we've taken it to the point that has exalted it above our creator. That's not such a good thing.And yet isn't this the original problem that started when Eve ate the fruit and then, like a good Olympic relay runner, passed it to Adam? The idea of self-exultation. Here was the first trap set by the devil that humanity stepped into. Genesis 3:5- "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it (the fruit), and you WILL BE LIKE GOD!!!" Now in my mind.....if I am like God.......I have no need for God. I will run the show. And even If I do become religious, go to church, or even attempt to work a program of recovery....I'm still going to run the show. I will take on the trapping and outward appearance of someone who is doing well...making progress...but deep inside "SELF" is the ruler.
Such a thought can only be put down when we humble ourselves to God.
Our actions are pulled in line with the character God wants to develop in us.
I don't go to Vineyard ReCovery because I have to.
I go because I want to....
I don't read my Bible because I have to, thinking that it looks good to others to see me doing such....
I do it because I want to.
I don't pray because I have to keep up an appearance.
I do because I love God and I want to.
I don't want a form of godliness....
I want God.
I don't want form of recovery...
I want the life that only God can give me.
I don't want to just say the right things in worshiping God...
I want Him to live in me, changing me everyday.
How about you?
What do you want?
God on you....
mbb
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