Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces. “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”  One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.” Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. Luke 11:43-46 (NIV)

Jesus was having dinner at a Pharisee’s house, and He uncovered several issues that challenged the status quo. Why was Jesus concerned about the most important seats and the greetings in the marketplaces? How are those things religious? One can sit in an important seat and be greeted respectfully and still love God! 

According to Strong’s Concordance: Definition of love ( Agapeo):

1. of persons

   1. to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly

2. of things

   1. to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing

The word “love” in the above scripture has the same meaning as the one Jesus used when He gave the two greatest commandments to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The Pharisees “loved” the most important seats and the respect they received in the marketplace. If they really loved God and their neighbor, they could not equally love the best seats and the respect they enjoyed in the marketplace.

This is a reminder of Jesus’ declaration in (Matthew 6:19-24) that we cannot have two masters. He also stated that where our treasure is, that is where our heart is as well. We either are captured by loving God and others, or we are focused on self-exaltation. Based on the above definition of “love”, the Pharisees received their contentment and satisfaction from the important seats and being respected in the marketplace. 

Those things that are not spiritual matters yet they capture our hearts cause us to become religious. For some it could be loving the most important seats. For others it could be the need for admiration by others. For another group, it could be the desire to be important and significant. We can even use our so called spirituality to get our way in life. Anything that captures our imagination and fills our hearts apart from the love of God and His desire for our lives can turn into idolatry. The idols that look spiritual make us religious. What are the things that give you satisfaction, contentment, and importance? Would their absence make you feel empty or insignificant? 

It’s interesting that one of the lawyers was honest enough to admit that he was insulted by Jesus’ statements. Jesus always had a way of rocking the religious’ boats and observing how people reacted to it. Maybe all of His statements did not apply to every Pharisee, but most likely, one or more of them applied to all of them. Therefore, before getting insulted with Jesus’ statements, it would be best to allow His words to examine our hearts. If we are going in a wrong direction, the sooner we find out, the easier it is to get redirected. 

Lord examine our hearts according to Psalm 51 and expose anything that is offensive to you! We desire truth in our inner parts. 

I shared in the last devotional that Jesus was very compassionate towards the poor and the needy, but he spoke sternly to the religious people who thought they had it all together. I wonder if the Pharisee who invited Jesus to his house thought that he would have the opportunity to correct Jesus on His teaching and set Him straight!

And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you. “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Luke 11:37-42

Jesus not only spoke of the Pharisee’s internal condition,  He also challenged his giving. Jesus told the Pharisee that he had accuracy about his tithing, but he was not diligent in showing appropriate love and justice to others.

This is one of those verses that can step on many toes. Mature Christians may be very happy and proud of the fact that they faithfully tithe of their money and resources, but how many of us can confidently say that we have acted justly and lovingly towards others? How many of us can say that we have been impartial in our treatment of others regardless of who they are? 

When we first accept Jesus, we love everyone and are very appreciative of anyone who tried to help us out or lend us a hand. However, over time, we develop a mental hierarchy of those who have a permission to speak into our lives or pray for us. In addition, in our relationships, we begin to see people as those who belong to the inner core or outer core. We also have a category of those who help us and those whom we can help. The ones that don’t fit either of those two categories, don’t have a benefit to us and subsequently are mostly ignored with our indifference.

Indifference and apathy are not measurable things, and neither are love and justice. It is easier to spot something that occurs rather than the absence of something that does not occur.  We have a tendency to focus on those things that are measurable and tangible such as money or time. We are proud of our roles in various ministries, the number of times we go to a prayer meeting, or have provided holiday meals. However, love and justice are not tangible items, and it’s easier to get sloppy with them. 

The absence of love and justice may not be noticed right away or raise an eyebrow from those watching. We may have ignored that unction of the Holy Spirit to respond in love or justice. We may also have overruled the Holy Spirit with our own preferences and provided love and favor only to those whom we love or we like. This results in our love and justice to be motivated by our carnality not spirituality.

In addition, sometimes we are concerned about being judged by those in power for our compassion and justice, so we are cautious and reluctant to do the good works of love and justice. I doubt every Pharisee saw Jesus’ teaching as a wrong teaching, but they were a part of a system that did not condone Him. Therefore, they did not want to be judged by the established system, incur the wrath of others, or experience loss.

The issues that Jesus addressed are not just church issues; they can happen in every sphere of society such as workplace, schools, families, and government. As the people of God, we need to courageous enough to examine ourselves in the light of scripture and avoid groupthink.  Then as the Lord leads us, we take a stand for truth and righteousness by operating in love and justice. This is what is going to bring about the transformation in our spheres of influence.

Jesus had much compassion for the poor and the needy, and He was always available to heal the sick and cast demons out of people. However, He had a different attitude towards the religious crowd. They had a form of spirituality but had no desire to be right with God. Over time the Pharisees had placed themselves on the throne that only belonged to God. Their opinion of people’s spirituality took precedence over God’s view of their spirituality.

A religious spirit tries to sneak into the hearts and minds of God’s people, and we can all fall into it. Walking with God for years, can cause us to lose sensitivity to those who struggle with sin. We can quickly prescribe a method for being delivered rather than pointing them to the Man who can restore and deliver them. 

When we are needy, it easier to be humble before the Lord and have greater compassion for those who are suffering. However, as soon as the intensity of our problems subsides, pride rises up! We begin thinking of all of our successes with God and secretly look down upon those who are struggling. We can have solutions for people’s problems and claim that we are motivated by our leadership role and maturity to help others. We think that the world and the people around us cannot function apart from our wisdom, so we share it liberally whether it is solicited or not.

And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you. “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Luke 11:37-42

Jesus was invited to a Pharisee’s house, but He was not shy about talking to the man about his true condition. The Pharisee was concerned about the fact that Jesus did not wash before sitting down to dinner, but Jesus cared more about the cleanliness of the Pharisee’s heart.

In our American way of life, many of us have the resources to look perfect on the outside and appear as if we have all together, but this could be the furthest from the truth. Sometimes, we act so well, that we believe our own report and try to neglect the fact that our heart condition isn’t right. Issues such as selfishness, envy, competition, bitterness, deceit, and hurt still need to deal with.

The problem is that if we are used to people looking up to us, we have a hard time showing vulnerability because we fear people will think less of us. If we want to remain authentic and genuine before God, we have to be more concerned our internal condition before our Savior than how we appear before people. 

Jesus knew everything, and He was not impressed with most of the Pharisees. Have you noticed he never commended them for what they did, but He always focused on their motives and their heart condition? What if many people are impressed with us? Does this mean that God is pleased with us? Do we know how God feels about our internal world?

Everyone needs encouragement and sometimes we are in situations where we cannot get encouragement from others. This was David’s situation. He was a man on the run as Saul was trying to chase him and kill him. Many times, he found himself alone and did not receive the encouragement or support from those around him.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” 1 Samuel 30:6-8 (KJV)

David was pressured from all sides in the above scripture.  The Amalekites had invaded Ziklag and had burned it with fire. They also had kidnapped women and children. David’s two wives were part of this captivity. People’s lives were destroyed in every possible way, and they all mourned their losses. Out of their anger and pain, people turned against David and sought to stone him because of the atrocities committed by their enemies.

The privilege and the responsibility of leadership is that people are not going to always be happy with our leadership. The very people who would fight for David, now sought to kill him. Jesus was also faced with those difficulties, and He was betrayed by Judas and denied by Peter. 

In the midst of all the anguish and weeping, David was able to encourage himself in the Lord. This was critical for his own sanity as well as the well-being of the people who needed his leadership. The book of Psalms shows us how David encouraged himself in the Lord. David looked to the Lord for his security and safety, and he reminded himself that God was on his side. 

How do we encourage ourselves in God?

1. We need to remind ourselves of God’s character and that He is unchanging. In Psalm 23, David reminds himself that the goodness and the mercy of God will follow him all the days of his life. There was nothing for David to fear (See Psalm 27). These declarations build security in our hearts, give us courage, and remind us that the Lord is with us on this journey.

2. Having a heart full of gratitude towards God, strengthens our spirit man and encourages us. David always praised God and did not forget the many benefits of his relationship with the Lord (See Psalm 103). We also need to praise God and recount His involvement in our lives.  This does not mean that we deny the present issues, but we come with an open heart to receive God’s grace in our time of need. The Lord has something to say about the situation. 

3. David reminded himself of what God had done in the past (See Psalm 66). We also need to remind ourselves of God’s awesome works. The Lord has come through for us in the past, and He has an answer and a way through the current situation.

While the people were trying to stone David, he was not only able to encourage himself in the Lord, but he also inquired of the Lord about whether or not he should pursue the perpetrators. Encouraging ourselves in the Lord allows us to settle our hearts and be open to God’s leading rather than taking the matters in our own hands.  

We have a tendency to wait for favorable circumstances to encourage us in life, but we also need to learn to encourage ourselves when the circumstances don’t appear favorable and no one is there to strengthen us. This week, make a commitment to yourself that you will encourage yourself. 

There are times that we need God’s encouragement, and He speaks to us through His word or His spirit to give us the courage to move into an unknown territory. The below scriptures show how the Lord encouraged Joshua before he embarked upon his new role as the leader of the Israelites.

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying:  “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel.  Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.  From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:1-9

Following the death of Moses, the Lord began speaking directly to Joshua. Now he was the leader of Israel, and he was accountable to the Lord for guiding His people. The Lord promised Joshua that he would never leave him nor forsake him. What a beautiful assurance as he was walking into a unknown and hostile territory! The Lord also promised Joshua that Israel was going to get the land of their own. In addition, he specified the territories that they were going to get. 

Then the Lord encouraged Joshua by telling him to not be afraid nor be dismayed. Fear is the opposite of courage. Fear has a tendency to pull someone back from God’s plan for their lives. It can also make someone stay stuck in their situation because they are too afraid to seek a change. In addition, being dismayed causes someone to get weak in their resolve because they are discouraged by the circumstances. This leads them to shy away from moving forward.

It is interesting that when Moses sent the twelve spies years earlier to the Promised Land, Joshua was one of only two people who had the courage to believe that they could defeat the giants. Nevertheless, God knew that Joshua would be faced with people and circumstances that will cause him to be afraid and dismayed, so He prepared him for what was ahead.

All of us need encouragement when we take on a new task that we have never done before. It can be very unsettling when we move into new territories that we have never walked before and are not familiar with. In the new season, we can’t be hard on ourselves and expect that will have all the answers. It is important to call upon the Lord and ask Him to help us. It is also important to get around those who have walked that path before, and they can be a source of encouragement.  We need people who can remind us of God’s faithfulness and His word when we are stepping into new territory and can be a source of support and strength.

The Lord encouraged Joshua by telling him to be strong and courageous. Interestingly, the Lord repeated his encouragement three times, but the Lord also exhorted Joshua to follow His commandments. True encouragement is not empty platitudes. It is about understanding what is required to move forward and be strengthened to accomplish God’s purpose. Sometimes we may shy away from reminding people that following God’s instructions is still part and parcel of the courage and strength that God promises us. We still need to partner with the Lord, do our part, and allow God to do His part in giving us the supernatural power to move forward.

Are you in a new season? Do you feel overwhelmed by what is going on around you? Seek the Lord and let Him speak to you. Listen to His instructions. Then ask Him to show you those who can be a source of support for you in this season. 

Encouragement is something we all need more than we realize,  and at certain times in life we need it more desperately than other times.  When we take on a new task or responsibility, we need encouragement to fight our fears and insecurities. At times, we may be weary of a tough situation, and we need daily encouragement to get us through it. Encouragement gives us the extra push to move forward and helps us not to stay stuck. 

God uses the Holy spirit, His word, and His people to encourage us. He also trains our minds, and emotions to learn to encourage ourselves when there is no one to help us out. 

According to Strong’s Concordance, to encourage means (Hebrew H2388): to strengthen, prevail, harden, be strong, become strong, be courageous, be firm, grow firm, be resolute…

And the Lord heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying,  ‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers,  except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the Lord.’  The Lord was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you shall not go in there. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. Deuteronomy 1:34-38

God was angry with the Israelites for their unbelief and rebellion against Him. He was also angry with Moses for misrepresenting Him before His people for striking the rock to provide water to the Israelites (See Numbers 20:10-12). Consequently, God told Moses to encourage Joshua for he was going to lead the nation of Israel to inherit the Promised Land.

This could have been painful for Moses. Not only he was denied entrance to the Promised Land, but he was also directed by the Lord to encourage Joshua for taking on the task of leading God’s people to the Promised Land. Moses had to humbly sacrifice his own desires to lift up Joshua and encourage him for the task that Moses had hoped to do all those years. 

As for Joshua, he must have been completely blessed and honored by Moses’ encouragement. God allowed Joshua to have Moses’ encouragement before he died. Joshua would have to lead the people alone when he no longer had the voice of his mentor in his life. God prepared Joshua for success in his new task by helping him to be strong and courageous. The plan of deliverance was not about Moses or Joshua, but it was about God’s plan and purpose being fulfilled in the lives of the Israelites. 

God uses us to be a source of encouragement to others, and He uses others to be a source of encouragement to us. Encouragement is not flattery and is not meant to used to gain the favor of others. This is about partnering with the Lord to strengthen those who need to push forward in God’s purpose. Do you have words of life and encouragement for those around you? If you were Moses, would you be able to encourage the Joshua in your life? 

God uses every one of us to provide someone with that extra dose of strength and courage in difficult and uncertain times. This week, let’s be sensitive to the Holy Spirit for those who need our encouragement.

I shared in the last devotional that God invites us to ask Him for the things we need, and He tells us that we can approach His throne of grace and mercy with boldness. However, some believers struggle in this area and they wonder why their prayers don’t get answered.

God is sovereign and omniscient, and we do not know everything unless God reveals it to us. However, there are several scriptures that show us some of the reasons why people do not receive the answer to their prayers. 

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?  You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. James 4:1-3

The above scripture tells us that sometimes people don’t ask or if they ask, they are asking with wrong reasons. When people want something badly enough, they don’t necessarily pray about it, or if they pray, they are just looking for God to put His stamp of approval on they want to do. Sometimes, we are motivated to achieve significance through carnal means. The flesh lusts after what it wants and sometimes we leave no room for God to have say about what we want. 

When the worldly things consume our attention, we become carnal in our behavior. People can covet and compete for what others have. They make all kinds of effort to match or outdo others. The problem is that competition always distracts people from what they need and what God has for them. What if what you desire in others’ lives is not God’s purpose for you? In a twisted way, our purpose becomes about competing with others and getting our satisfaction and significance from it.

The Lord does not desire for us to get our joy from competition because that is a faulty value system. He knows that if we rely on competition to make us fulfilled and happy, we will never fully enter in God’s purposes for our lives. Therefore, He answers prayers that are beneficial. At times, He allows us to have what we want, so we can see its emptiness in meeting our needs. 

The greater our desire to remain in close relationship to the Lord, the more joy and satisfaction we receive from Him. The Lord settles our hearts, minds, and wills, and we are not compelled to make something happen. The nagging thoughts of inferiority and insignificance become replaced with security and simplicity of faith in Him. We don’t worry about what others think of us or what they have. We only pay attention to God’s thoughts about us. 

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 

One of the big issues in unanswered prayers is that God expects us to believe Him and have faith in Him. With a quiet and settled spirit, we ask God according to His will. Our faith in God is the recognition that God is trustworthy and He knows what we need and when we need it. We trust His integrity and His promises, and we know that He has the best intentions for our lives. We are not looking to spend the answer on our own pleasures, but we are after the glory of God in our midst. The scripture tells us through faith and patience we inherit the promises of God (See Hebrews 6:9-12). Praise God that He is our generous Father, and He knows how to give good gifts to His children!

Lord, today we pray that you would examine our hearts for those prayers that have stemmed from envy and and jealousy. Forgive us when our prayers have been about outdoing others rather than glorifying you. Settle our hearts and fill us with your love and acceptance. We do not want any form of counterfeit to fill our hearts. Change our prayers and make them be the prayers that Jesus would pray on our behalf to the Father. Thank you Lord. Amen!

In preparation for his departure, Jesus taught His disciples to ask the Father for what they need.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7

Definition of Abide (According to Strong’s Concordance): to remain, abide, not to depart, to continue to be present, to be held, kept, continually. 

The word abiding is about remaining present and staying in a close relationship. The above scripture comes from the same discourse where Jesus told His disciples that they were no longer his servants but his friends. Jesus was giving them the permission to ask for what they needed. He stated that the condition for asking had to do with abiding in their relationship to God.

When you have good friends, it’s not laborious to be close to them and to spend endless hours with them. After a while you find that you like similar clothes, shoes, or bags, and you watch similar shows. No one forced you to do it, but just the mutual love and admiration leads people to enjoy doing similar things.

Similarly, when we remain present in our relationship with the Lord, we are not doing it because we want something from Him, but because we desire His presence and the assurance of His love in our lives. This intimate relationship, helps us to see the world around us differently, and it changes our priorities. Those carnal issues are not as important as they used to be. We are more in tune with God’s desires, and they become our desires. 

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

When issues come up that we need God’s intervention, the scripture tells us that we have the assurance that God hears us and cares about our need. A close and abiding relationship with the Lord allows us to approach his throne of grace boldly. We have the confidence that we will receive mercy and grace in our time of need. Jesus said that God will respond to our prayers, and He gave us the permission and the invitation to ask! 

People wonder why some prayers don’t get answered. The scripture provides us with insight. I will share on this subject in the next devotional.

Lying is something that most Christians would find wrong and distasteful. However, in practice, lying happens more frequently than people would like to admit because it takes on many shapes and forms. 

Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’  Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it,and that he may bless you before his death.”

And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” Genesis 27:5-13

Rebekah’s love and partiality for Jacob led her to conjure up a deceitful plan to ensure that Jacob would get the best blessing and inheritance from his father. In her mind, she must have convinced herself that she was partnering with God in fulfilling the word He spoke to her about the older serving the younger. She could have thought that time is running out and something has to be done. If we are  compelled by a certain outcome, we will compromise our values and will we justify our actions by  spiritualizing them. 

In the name of love or loyalty, people step into the realm of lying and cheating for the benefit of themselves or their loved ones. They may justify it by saying they are protecting their loved ones, or they may claim that this one time the issue is important enough that the truth needs “twisting” or “exaggeration.” 

When Rebekah opened the door to lies and deception, it caused her family to be torn apart for years. Jacob received what she wanted for him, but she and her entire family had to pay a high price for it. I doubt if she had understood and considered the consequence of her sin, she would have attempted to do what she did.

Lying is a short-cut to God’s purpose. If we really want something badly enough, when the opportune time comes, we would have a hard time saying “no” to the temptation of lying. Rebekah took the short-cut and received what she desired, but it wasn’t God’s way. God’s purpose comes with peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If we try to achieve God’s dreams through our carnal efforts, the outcome will not bring about joy. As a matter of fact, the outcome could be very bitter. 

How badly do you desire the promotion, higher income, best school,marriage , or acknowledgement? Do you find yourself manipulating the circumstances to ensure others won’t acknowledged or receive the credit they deserve? The only way we can ensure we won’t fall into lying is to trust God regardless of the outcome.

The Bible has many scriptures in regards to lying, but this issue does not appear to be a major moral concern to believers. 

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight. Proverbs 12:22

How many people think of lying as an abomination to God!? Generally, our ideas of  abominable actions might be alternative lifestyles or blaspheming the Holy Spirit, but we do not consider lying in that category!  

Many Christians uphold honesty as an important Christian value. However, in practice, believers fall into lying for variety of reasons such as fear of man, desire to impress others, or just out of habit. The problem gets worse when lying is justified by calling it  “white lies” or claiming that it does not hurt anybody else. Some might even self-righteously claim that they lied to protect a friend or a loved one.

Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue. Psalm 120:2