From Within

April 9, 2021

And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

~Mark 7:20‭-‬23~

Jesus speaking in parables; A wonderful example of how mysterious God is. He longs for us to dive deeper into the meaning and ask for the Spirit to give us understanding. If we truely love someone we will long to understand them as much as we can. Many a times the Pharisees thought they had God all figured out. They spent their time pointing fingers at others and considered themselves "worthy" or "acceptable by Gods standards." They lived according to the law of Moses, which was all good and dandy, however Jesus came to bring a new law into effect. The law of faith. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

(Romans 3:23)

As the Pharisees lived according to God's law; they considered themselves undefiled. Their traditions became their form of worship. Their feasts and their holy days became their rite of passage. The routine of such caused themselves to get distracted from true purity within. Jesus' parable explains the concept of following routine in such a legalistic way that one truely believes and is unaware of the state of their actual inner man. We can focus on what not to take in our bodies and minds to become the "holy man or woman God accepts," but Jesus tells us it is what comes out of our bodies which defiles us. It is from within. The examples of such are listed in this verse;

evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. These come from within our own hearts and these are what we can be filled with causing harm to our purity. "For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (Romans 8:13)

What we need to do to die to our flesh is have the ability to start from within; asking the Lord to reveal to us the defilement that is deep within our own heart. If we are being strict about our outer man/woman and how we may appear to others we will be fooling ourselves to what we truely are and what needs to die. The flesh is our own enemy. It wars each day with the spirit. "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." (Galatians 5:17)

When we allow ourselves to release a type of response according to our own way of thinking verses the way Jesus may respond, we will cause ourselves to become defiled in the flesh. The Lord called Pharisees hypocrites in a way that explained His very purpose for this parable. They spent all of their time making the outside of themselves, their cups and utensils and their hands washed clean yet they harbored bitterness, jealousy, anger and pride all at the same time. The inside is what caused the Pharisees to become hypocrites without ever realizing it. They believed all they did ceremonially was making them holy and pure without defilement. Jesus explained how important it is for us to search deep within ourselves to be pure from within. Our heart holds the key to pure undefilement as we take on Christ's image. "But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

(I Samuel 16:7)

God sees our heart. He sees when we are filled with ungodly thoughts and He gives us time to dig within and let them go for Him to take the spots where they used to be stuck.

We can do as the Pharisees did and point fingers to everyone around us as we play judge, we can keep holy days, feasts, and rituals we believe are what makes us know the Lord. We can continue to respond to our own flesh, lashing out at others as we claim the Name of Jesus; it will come out one way or another and it will cause such discourse within ourselves. Jesus sighs as He watches His children give into anger, bitterness, condemnation, pride, control and just plain foolishness. How patient is our King?

"You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."

(James 5:8)

The Lord is calling us to stop looking at our outward christian self and thinking we are being holy children of God. He wants us to look at how we are within. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." (James 4:8)

When we act as a religious man or woman to show others we believe, yet we are vile on the inside with our intents, our thoughts and the words we speak; Jesus is saying we need to draw closer to Him and purify our hearts so that what we do on the outside matches how we are on the inside. Even though others can't see it, God surely can.

Prayer:

Father God, thank you for you patience with my reactions that may not be godly. Please lead me to rid myself of these things, I wish to purify my heart for You Lord. I do not wish to be as a Pharisee, I do not care if people remember me; only Jesus within me. I give praises to You for Your parables which shows me what exactly You are looking for within me. Thank you for teaching me and guiding me in the right direction. Help me to renew myself to be truely holy inside and then out. I receive Your love and presence today as I go into the world. May everything I say not defile me. I want to represent You in all that I am. In the Name of my precious King I pray, Jesus Christ. Amen.