Monday, July 15, 2013

Burned and Crispy--or Soft and Tender?

The danger of self-deceit...and its common appearance in people of God is on my heart this morning.  Both Israel and Judah allowed self-deception to penetrate, and we all do too.  The results captivate us to catastrophe.  Horrible things have been done in the name of God because of deception.  Ephraim is called a cake unturned.  Exposing only part of our hearts to God bakes us to crispy uselessness. 

The Light and Fire of the Holy Spirit is to penetrate deep within our beings.  In the passage I read, Hosea said the leaders made choices for rewards, the priests simply did a job and the prophets were after profit.  So let's dig into our own hearts. 

What rewards are we chasing?  Personal fulfillment?  Recognition?  Honor?  
 
Or are we just doing a job?  Staying business, getting our bases covered is not what God is looking for?
 
Perhaps profit from our work that will let us 'do' what we really want to do...a self-indulgent pursuit with a veneer of goodness?

God's Word is meant to change us...to illumine where we are wasting our time.  God wants a full and abundant life for everyone of us.  He is not angry when we are mistaken or falling short; He's simply saying, 'Come here.  This is better.'  God isn't an accusatory God. He judges sin because He loves us!   Embrace His Word and Be transformed.


Oh, one final piece...the arrow that always reveals my deceptions?  Judging someone else.  When I see something in someone else that I think is 'less than God desires'....it is only because that very thing is in me. 

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