HYPOCRITCAL HONOR, LET ME COUNT MY WAYS – Mar. 21

“You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”   Matthew 15:7-9

Hypocritical honor is inexorably linked with authority in a world that seeks favor.

I receive authority through the position that my municipal clients hire me to fulfill.  I have been complemented and praised by those with pending applications.  My opinions have been sought as a wise advisor by those to whom want my favor.  My friendship has been elicited by those under my authority.

I understand that much of the honor that I have received while residing in even limited authority is not genuine.

Much of the honor lavished upon those in positions of authority comes only by lips.  I know what it is like to hear words of praise and then observe actions that reveal a contrary heart.  Hypocritical honor is merely an acceptable form of bribery offered in hopes of receiving favor.  There is an astonishing variety of insincere honor that can be observed in our daily lives:

Children learn early to honor their parents in order to manipulate favor.

In hope of obtaining better grades, students heap adoration upon teachers and professors.

Incompetent officials are rarely challenged for want of a favorable future decision.

The camaraderie of managers is regularly fostered for job security.

In hope of getting out of a ticket, traffic violators will pile upon the officer layers of polite respect.

Politicians are often honored solely due to their elected position and not for anything they have done (or despite what they have done).

Most of us have succumbed to hypocritical honor.  It is how we get through many of the ubiquitous layers of authority in our daily lives.  Hypocritical honor is a danger whenever authority is present in an association.  We all want favor and we can slide into insincere honor of those in authority without even being aware of what we are doing.

There is no higher authority than God.

and

We all want God’s favor and blessings in our lives.

God the Father 04 (Photo credit: Waiting For The Word)

This combination of authority and desire for favor is ripe for hypocritical honor.  Everyone is in danger of sliding into an insincere attitude toward God without even realizing what we are doing.  The religious, those who have grown up in the Church, and those adept with Christian culture, are the most susceptible.  This was Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees.  The Pharisees lavished words of praise and esteem to God but they did not love God.

But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.  (Luke 11:42)

God is like no other.  He has established a relationship with those who are His that is not based upon authority and favor.  God showed His love (favor) to this world by sending His only Son, Jesus Christ, into world so that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ will not perish but have eternal life.  For those who are in Christ, the relationship with God has fundamentally changed.

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.  (John 15:15)

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.  (John 1:12-13)

So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.  (Galatians 4:7)

In our new relationship with God, we are to relate to Him as our loving Father.  We are to seek Christ as our friend.

We should never come to our Father, heaping words of adoration in hopes that He will not whack us – that is hypocritical honor and He hates it.

We should never be obedient in hopes of obligating favor from God’s authority – that is what a slave does and it is hated by God.

Our actions should originate out of love for our heavenly Father; it should be demonstrated by a friendship with Christ.  It is why Christ said:

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)

We can know our honor is sincere when it is demonstrated through obedient actions willingly given from a heart motivated only by love.  May we examine our hearts so that what comes out of our lips reflects a heart that is living in the favor of a new relationship as a child of God.

PRAYER: Father, thank you for sending us your Son to give us a new relationship with you.  Forgive me for reverting to my old slave mentality of seeking your favor through heartless words and actions.  Forgive me for not treating you as my friend and Father.  Forgive me for being a hypocrite.  Help me to live in your love.  Help me to respond to you in love in all my words and deeds. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

“SEEING JESUS” – Nov 16

“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw several golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.  The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow.  His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.   In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”  Revelation 1: 12-16

Christopher JL / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

I know that my eyes do not work the same as others.  I perceive a world unseen by those who have stumbled against the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When I became a new creation, my vision became inverted to my previous awareness.

I do not see the same man hanging on a Roman cross, thousand years ago, as many.  Many see a good man; tortured and beaten.  They see a teacher of a unique philosophy that was brutalized by a cruel system.  They see a revolutionary crushed by an empire.  They see a philosopher with ideas that transformed the world.

mareeshastar / Foter.com / CC BY-SA

That is not who I see on that cross.

I see a King.  I see the most powerful warrior to have ever walked this earth, following His orders.  I see the Divine, who could vanquish the world with a word, allowing the created to abuse Him.  I see the most glorious act of love that this world will ever know.  I see the savior of the world.  I see my Savior.

I hear the call of my Father when I have wandered too far, like that of a Dad drawing his child from the danger of playing in the street.  I hear a beacon drawing me home through fog covered water.

The principalities that wedge themselves between me and my God feel the roar like that of a hapless victim who wandered between a grizzly bear and her cub.

pipitdapo / Foter.com / CC BY

I see my loving Father running to me with arms wide open, ready to embrace, when I repent and return to Him.  (When God Ran, Phillips, Craig & Dean)

The spiritual world sees the Commander of God’s army, standing triumphantly over a vanquished field of battle, sword drawn with lighting in His eyes.

I feel my Lord graciously removing all the desires that entangle my heart and cause me to stumble.  I perceive his everlasting presence clearing the path before me, leading me to righteousness.

Phil Romans / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

The thorn-filled vine of my flesh and the evil that ensnares me feels the crushing weight of His mercy.  His grace to me is a tearing hurricane that scours my path clear, bending all that might cling too closely from beyond my passageway. (How He Loves Us, David Crowder Band)

I know the loving embrace of my Father when the world seems too much.  I feel the comfort of a lullaby when fear grasps my heart and I struggle to see beyond my emotions.  (My Child, Plumb)

The powers of this world see the King of kings standing in the gap, holding back the hordes of hell, with the authority to command, “You shall not pass!  This one is mine and he is greatly loved.”

I long for the day when all of creation will worship the Lord of lords.  Every word that I pen, every action that I take, every conversation that glorifies God, increases my hope and longing for the day of my Savior’s return.  I feel the Lord opening my mind to a hope that is beyond this world.  I see the seed of faith that He planned in my heart blooming into yearnings for that which cannot be satisfied by anything in this world. (Lord of lords, Hillsong)

The powers of this world see only defeat and punishment of a conquering, irresistible, power.  They see the terror of chains, fire, and outer darkness.  Their inability to stop the work of the Spirit through God’s children is a reminder of their impending powerlessness.  The praise of the redeemed curses them to the abyss.

I have been blinded by the love of God.
I cannot see the world from outside His love.

By God’s amazing grace and fathomless mercy, I have been adopted by my heavenly Father.  I know His refuge.  I know the nourishment that comes only from His table. I know the tender correction that flows from His love.  My soul has flourished from my time in His holy courts.  I know just a hint of all the evil that He has spared me from.  I know a hope beyond my understanding.

I know that neither life nor death will ever sever me from my God.
His grace is sufficient.
He will never leave me nor forsake me.
His love will always preserve me.
(Children of the Heavenly Father, Plumb)

ecstaticist / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

I know that there are two worlds out there.  I know by the love of God I cannot truly see from the perspective of that other world and I don’t want to.  I am grateful that I will only know Jesus Christ as my friend, teacher, advocate, propitiation, redeemer, Lord and Savior.

I am thankful that I will never know Him as condemning judge.  I am thankful that I will never have to look into His eyes, flaming like fire, feel the weight of His burnished bronze like foot, or hear the roar His voice in condemning me to everlasting punishment.

All of mankind will one day see Jesus Christ.
By what eyes will you see Him? 

PRAYER: O Lord, thank you for making the way  for me to know your love.  Thank you for giving me new eyes to see you as my loving Father, Redeemer, and Savior.  Thank you for taking care of me, shepherding me, nourishing me.  Thank you for keeping me safe in your arms; for being my refuge.  I love you Jesus.   I give you my life for your glory and for your pleasure.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son,  Jesus Christ.   Amen.