Thursday, August 11, 2011

Are You Masquerading?

Do you ever wonder how someone can claim to be a believer but, then live a life consistently contrary to what they profess? In essence, masquerading...(whether consciously or not)
The scriptures speak to the root of that behavior. It is a hard word but, relevant and very much applicable to each of us.
Basic deception and unbelief are at the center and a lack of true, heart revelation - the understanding which leads to a life full of righteousness that is evidenced through, not just words, but life and deed...

It is not uncommon in the day and age in which we live to see this pattern of behavior (both in and out of the church) that the scripture addresses... does any of this sound familiar:

"People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power..." ~ Timothy 3:2-5

It is easy to see how the people described in the first part of the verse would set themselves up as separate from God but, the part that got me in this verse was the "having a form of godliness but denying its power" what is that talking about and more importantly whom?

I believe this one phrase is suggesting to us that there are those who claim to know God -have a form of piety/religiousness- but, are not walking in such a way that His power is truly being accessed or displayed in and through their lives -they are making a lot of noise but, true Holy Spirit life is not present within them. They in essentially fulfill what the scripture was speaking of in the following verse:

“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."~ Matthew 15:8

and again when Paul says,

" Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live." ~Titus 1:15-16a

The minds and hearts of such people are corrupt and full of unbelief. Their eyes have been blinded and are veiled from the truth -they are deceived!

I believe Father God is truly saddened by this reality. He longs that all would come into right relationship with Him through Jesus Christ and He desires that none would perish!

The dark reality is that there are those who will chose to remain in their sin and spend eternity apart from God... and even more disheartening is the fact that some of those will be ones who have had knowledge of Him - even called themselves believers - but never truly pursued Him with their whole hearts!

The question is:
Are you masquerading?

It's time to take action and humbly examine our hearts to see if there is any wicked way in us and cry out to the Father in repentance lest we be one of those of whom he speaks these things!

Father would you come in your kindness and turn our hearts towards you -that we could be made right in our thinking and pursuit of you - that we would know the depths and heights of your love and passion for us and truly experience you in our lives in a real and impacting way.

Forever Changed! AMEN!

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