“…This people draweth near unto Me with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me….” Matthew 15:8 AKJV
“…But I the Lord, search the heart, I test the conscience…” Jeremiah 17:10 AKJV
As has been said, by others, Father…we are prone to do selfless things for selfish motives with respect to obedience to Your Word.
Father… it seems to some degree, greater or smaller, we all do this to satisfy a desire for greatness of some sort in the eyes of others. After all who can know our actual motives?
Where is the good?
And Father, what is the outcome…
that we actually become comfortable…and satisfied… with a false front as long as we can fool everyone around us?
Don’t we then, live in some degree of guardedness, of fear against being found out?
And for some Father… is there not a degree of shame and guilt for knowing better, yet an unwillingness to pursue a genuine reprioritizing?
As much as we are greedy for glory for ourselves, in our heart of hearts we know our motives should be to glorify You. We have knowledge and there is a Voice at every point of utterance, and of decision making…reminding and warning us.
We are not the focus.
You are.
Our thoughts and actions are for Your glory…not our own.
And You do know our motives.
And try as we may, that thought that “Oh, this will make me look good”, is hovering there-about and we think: “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be.
When will thoughts and behavior like this ever disappear and a selfless act not be tainted by even a small, tiny temptation that has an attractiveness to it?
When will my thoughts and actions be motivated purely to glorify You, Father?”
We are a new creature, born anew from above.
That is Your
doing Father.
Now Father…we labor unto glory… Your glory… through trials that are real, even tiny thoughts that can lead us astray.
But You are the discerner of the heart and mind.
To our eyes, and minds, everything is not what it seems.
And You are not deceived.
As we labor unto glory…Yours and that which You give us… the only glory we seek…
we are comforted and encouraged…
and will not be downcast.
Father, we are in Your hands to be shaped and formed…
through every moment of living…
to know You, have and demonstrate love for You…become like You.
Glory Father, to You in the highest…
Peace on earth…
Goodwill towards men…
Glo-o-ry!!! We shout to You…
praying in Yeshua’s name.
Amen.
A lovely song to contemplate.
“We Labor Unto Glory” written Craig Harris & Isaac Wardell from “Work Songs” by “The Porter’s Gate Worship Project”
