Wednesday Words of Encouragement

Hebrews 4:12-13 ~ "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

I hate housekeeping! I might as well be honest about it. It has never been my strong point and it is not something that I find enjoyable. Yet I've learned over the years how to make the house presentable. To anyone coming in for a visit things look pretty good. The clutter is picked up, the living room is dusted, and vacuumed and things seem fairly clean.

However, if you look behind the closed bedroom door you may find a few piles of papers that were removed from the living room or kitchen before guests arrive. The closets are stuffed to the gills and things aren't as good as they appear on the outside.

So many of us have lives that look pretty good on the outside. We say the right things and we do fairly charitable acts of kindness. Yet, if you could look on the inside where God sees, things may not be so clean.

God sees the motives behind our actions. He knows what we are really thinking about something. He can discern those dark places that we try to hide from others. It's so important that we don't just work on our outside appearance but that we work on our hearts. We will have to stand before the Lord one day and give an account for our lives and for every word and deed we say and do.

One way to see how we measure up is to constantly turn to God's word. It is the measuring line for our lives. It provides encouragement, but also it reveals sin and things that need to be changed. Sometimes those things are hard to hear, but if we obey and make the change all those dark recesses get clean.

My encouragement to you today is to spend time reading the Bible and praying each day. Ask the Lord to reveal those hidden things in your lives that need to be cleaned up. Don't keep your closet stuffed with junk!

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