Pruning Me
  • Home
    • Personal Pruning Intro
  • Articles By Title
  • Bible Studies
    • MATTHEW >
      • Matthew 1
      • Matthew 2
      • Matthew 3
      • Matthew 4
      • Matthew 5
      • Matthew 6
      • Matthew 7
      • Matthew 8
      • Matthew 9
      • Matthew 10
      • Matthew 11
      • Matthew 12
      • Matthew 13
      • Matthew 14
      • Matthew 15
      • Matthew 16
      • Matthew 17
      • Matthew 18
      • Matthew 19
      • Matthew 20
      • Matthew 21
      • Matthew 22
      • Matthew 23
      • Matthew 24
      • Matthew 25
      • Matthew 26
      • Matthew 27
      • Matthew 28
    • MARK >
      • Mark 1
      • Mark 2
      • Mark 3
      • Mark 4
      • Mark 5
      • Mark 6
      • Mark 7
      • Mark 8
      • Mark 9
      • Mark 10
      • Mark 11
      • Mark 12
      • Mark 13
      • Mark 14
      • Mark 15
      • Mark 16
    • LUKE >
      • Luke 1
      • Luke 2
      • Luke 3
      • Luke 4
      • Luke 5
      • Luke 6
      • Luke 7
      • Luke 8
      • Luke 9
      • Luke 10
      • Luke 11
      • Luke 12
      • Luke 13
      • Luke 15
      • Luke 16
      • Luke 17
      • Luke 14
      • Luke 18
      • Luke 19
      • Luke 20
      • Luke 21
      • Luke 22
      • Luke 23
      • Luke 24
    • JOHN >
      • John 1
      • John 2
      • John 3
    • ROMANS >
      • Romans 1
      • Romans 2
      • Romans 3
      • Romans 4
      • Romans 5
      • Romans 6
      • Romans 7
      • Romans 8
      • Romans 9
      • Romans 10
      • Romans 11
      • Romans 12
      • Romans 13
      • Romans 14
      • Romans 15
      • Romans 16
    • 1 CORINTHIANS >
      • 1 Corinthians 1
      • 1 Corinthians 2
      • 1 Corinthians 3
      • 1 Corinthians 4
      • 1 Corinthians 5
      • 1 Corinthians 6
      • 1 Corinthians 7
      • 1 Corinthians 8
      • 1 Corinthians 9
      • 1 Corinthians 10
      • 1 Corinthians 11
      • 1 Corinthians 12
      • 1 Corinthians 13
      • 1 Corinthians 14
      • 1 Corinthians 15
      • 1 Corinthians 16
    • 2 CORINTHIANS >
      • 2 Corinthians 1
      • 2 Corinthians 2
      • 2 Corinthians 3
      • 2 Corinthians 4
      • 2 Corinthians 5
      • 2 Corinthians 6
      • 2 Corinthians 7
      • 2 Corinthians 8
      • 2 Corinthians 9
      • 2 Corinthians 10
      • 2 Corinthians 11
      • 2 Corinthians 12
      • 2 Corinthians 13
    • GALATIANS >
      • Galatians 1
      • Galatians 2
      • Galatians 3
      • Galatians 4
      • Galatians 5
      • Galatians 6
    • EPHESIANS >
      • Ephesians 1
      • Ephesians 2
      • Ephesians 3
      • Ephesians 4
      • Ephesians 5
      • Ephesians 6
    • PHILIPPIANS >
      • Philippians 1
      • Philippians 2
      • Philippians 3
      • Philippians 4
    • COLOSSIANS >
      • Colossians 1
      • Colossians 2
      • Colossians 3
      • Colossians 4
    • 1 THESSALONIANS >
      • 1 Thessalonians 1 & 2
      • 1 Thessalonians 3 & 4
      • 1 Thessalonians 5
    • 2 THESSALONIANS >
      • 2 Thessalonians 1
      • 2 Thessalonians 2
      • 2 Thessalonians 3
    • 1 TIMOTHY >
      • 1 Timothy 1
      • 1 Timothy 2
      • 1 Timothy 3
      • 1 Timothy 4
      • 1 Timothy 5
      • 1 Timothy 6
    • 2 TIMOTHY >
      • 2 Timothy 1
      • 2 Timothy 2
      • 2 Timothy 3
      • 2 Timothy 4
    • TITUS >
      • Titus 1
      • Titus 2
      • Titus 3
    • PHILEMON >
      • Philemon 1
    • HEBREWS >
      • Hebrews 1
      • Hebrews 2
      • Hebrews 3
      • Hebrews 4
      • Hebrews 5
      • Hebrews 6
      • Hebrews 7
      • Hebrews 8
      • Hebrews 9
      • Hebrews 10
      • Hebrews 11
      • Hebrews 12
      • Hebrews 13
    • JAMES >
      • James 1
      • James 2
      • James 3
      • James 4
      • James 5
    • 1 PETER >
      • 1 Peter 1
      • 1 Peter 2
      • 1 Peter 3
      • 1 Peter 4
      • 1 Peter 5
    • 2 PETER >
      • 2 Peter 1
      • 2 Peter 2
      • 2 Peter 3
    • 1 JOHN >
      • 1 John 1
      • 1 John 2
      • 1 John 3
      • 1 John 4
      • 1 John 5
    • 2 JOHN >
      • 2 John 1
    • 3 JOHN >
      • 3 John 1
    • JUDE >
      • Jude 1
    • REVELATION >
      • Revelation 1
      • Revelation 2
      • Revelation 3
      • Revelation 4
      • Revelation 5
      • Revelation 6
      • Revelation 7
      • Revelation 8
      • Revelation 9
      • Revelation 10
      • Revelation 11
      • Revelation 12
      • Revelation 13
      • Revelation 14
      • Revelation 15
      • Revelation 16
      • Revelation 17
      • Revelation 18
      • Revelation 19
      • Revelation 20
      • Revelation 21
      • Revelation 22
  • About Me
  • Receiving Christ
  • Contact Me

"Hypocrites!"

10/31/2012

0 Comments

 
matthew 23 study
Six times Jesus calls the Pharisees and scribes hypocrites.  I hope Jesus doesn't think the same of me!   Why were they considered dishonorable to Jesus?  A few things I want to touch on:

  • They didn't practice as they preached.
  • They loved to be exalted.
  • They were more concerned about what they looked like and did on the outside that their hearts were filthy.
 
    Let's talk about these three items, because I know that all of us in some way resemble a Pharisee in these areas.  They didn't practice what they preached.  How do we do the same?  For me, when a friend faces difficulty, I encourage them to continue to trust God and His plan.  But then what about when times get tough for me?  Oh, I know the thing to do is surrender to Christ and His ways, but you think I do it right away?  Sometimes I question God as to why He allows certain things or I try to pry out of Him another part of His plan. Honestly though, I am glad He keeps the whole plan quiet until the perfect time, otherwise it would be a lot harder to trust Him with the big picture rather than one step at a time.   In what areas do you not act in your life that you encourage others to act in theirs?

    They love to be exalted.  I think the desire to be exalted is a very natural, human thought.  Jesus asks to be different, He asks us to be humble.  The way that I struggle with this, is pointing out something I did, instead of waiting for someone to notice, if they do at all.  My purposes of doing something should not be to receive praise, but rather to glorify God in all I do.  If I do something to bring glory upon myself, it is sin.   How do you exalt yourself?  The one thing I have noticed is when I do exalt myself, Jesus does humble me, just as He says in verse 12.  Being humbled is not a great feeling, but a necessary part of maturing in your walk with Him.  If we don't learn humility, then our pride is too big to let God be in control. 

    They were more concerned about what they looked like and did on the outside that their hearts were filthy.  Just like the Pharisees, we try to clean up our act, without changing our hearts.   We can tidy up the act, but if our hearts aren't cleaned, then our hearts will overflow with some other filth that we will try to clean up.  Our life will continue in a circle of cleaning up the outside, over and over again, while the heart remains unclean.  God would rather us be a mess on the outside, and honestly surrender our hearts to God so He can wash them clean, then us to pretend we are clean and really be a mess.  Remember, God will get glory for hearts being cleaned, and once the hearts are cleaned, the outside becomes cleaner too.  We can make it look like our hearts are in order by tidying up the outside, but it doesn't matter what it looks like.  A person can look clean on the outside, but if they're filthy on the inside, like the Pharisees, then their eternal home will not be heaven.   For me, this is when I had a secret porn addiction.  I was leading worship, on a leadership committee and in a leadership role at a church and I was watching pornography.  Sure, I looked really clean on the outside, but I was a disaster on the inside.  If any of you know me personally, I am not typically a person to work on tidying up the outside while keeping the inside a mess.  I really do try my best at giving Jesus my all- and allowing Him to clean my heart up.  I do as He asks even when it's humbling and uncomfortable, and even though I may be a mess on the outside, I know that my outward appearance will change once my inside is properly cleaned.   How does your heart look?  How do you appear?  Transparency is a great testimony to what God is doing in you. People see the mess, but they also see God clean it up.  I encourage you to be different than the Pharisees. 


~Leanne~
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Enter your Email

    Preview | Powered by FeedBlitz
    Picture
    Lover of Jesus, wife to a great husband, mother of 3 young children. I love to write, cook, and make greeting cards! Read more about me and my family here.

    RSS Feed


    articles by title


    Archives

    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    January 2011

    Books of the Bible

    All
    1 Corinthians
    1 John
    1 Peter
    1 Thessalonians
    1 Timothy
    2 Corinthians
    2 John
    2 Peter
    2 Thessalonians
    2 Timothy
    3 John
    Colossians
    Ephesians
    Galatians
    Hebrews
    James
    John
    Jude
    Luke
    Mark
    Matthew
    Philemon
    Philippians
    Revelation
    Romans
    Titus

      Email me with Questions or Comments:

    Submit
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.