"Inside Out"

"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." (John 7:24 KJV)

  "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 KJV)

 Nothing can matter more than the condition of the heart: if the heart is not right, then we are not right with God. As that is the case, we must thank God for the grace He was measured out to use, because we all have something wrong in our hearts! If it were not so, then we would actually know it!  

 As for the message Jesus is making known to these Jew's, there are two sides to this meaning: one involves looking at the appearance of others, the other involves the appearance of Jesus, Himself. As Matthew Henry puts it: "We must not judge concerning any by their outward appearance, not be their titles, the figure they make in the world, and their fluttering show, but by their intrinsic worth, and the gifts and graces of God's Spirit in them." 

 Those that were looking for the Messiah, figured Him to be of a certain noble character, with the appearance of glory and might; yet Jesus came as pretty much the opposite, as shown in Issiah 53:2, "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he shall have no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." 

 Don't ask me why, but today my mind is totally and completely somewhere else! Please take some time to pray for those that you care about who have not yet made Jesus the Lord of their lives! Make it you passion to not only pray for them, but to share what you know, and why it is so important that they don't put it off any further. 

 Soon, and very soon, we are going to see THE KING...

"The LORD will not reject his people; he will not abandon his special possession. Judgment will again be founded on justice, and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it. Who will protect me from the wicked? Who will stand up for me against evildoers? Unless the LORD had helped me, I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out, "I am slipping!" but your unfailing love, O LORD, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, you comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer." (Psalm 94:14-19 NLT)