Heart and Mouth Aligned

Ever hear of a guy named Ferdinand Waldo Demara? His life was a fraud. He 'borrowed' credentials, stealing many identities. In his life, he pretended to be, among other things, a deputy sheriff, a counselor, an engineer, and a ship's surgeon! He was a smart man, able to learn quickly, and wily enough to avoid detection in many of his jobs until his pride would get the best of him. Then, he would seek publicity, which inevitably led to his exposure as a fake.

Some people who would be Christian are like Demara! They want to be a loving, whole person; full of joy, generous, pure, and holy. However, they are unwilling to embrace Christ as Lord, so they just copy the actions of some Christian. They learn to act and talk like someone who impresses them. But, their hearts are not really transformed by the Spirit of God. Pious words are just a veneer that covers a heart still in the grip of the sinful nature.

When how we act and what we say don’t line up, it creates pain – in us and for those around us. Eventually, James tells us, a ‘double-minded man becomes unstable in all his ways!’ He no longer knows where pretense ends and reality begins for his whole life becomes a lie. There is another way, the way of wholeness. The Bible says, "It is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." (Romans 10:10, NIV) In other words, a person right with God has heart and mouth aligned, belief and action unified. They will not be imposters, simply acting like a Christian, nor will they delude themselves with the lie that being a Christ-follower is just a matter of knowing a few right things about theology.

The Word teaches us that integrity is the key to becoming a whole person spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. When we believe God’s promises and act on them, we are ‘saved!’ We become Christians with a transformational experience that starts in the heart, that changes our most basic ways of thinking; and continues with our mouth, our external life, both words and actions brought under the Lord’s mastery. Jesus calls it being 'born again of the Spirit.' Paul calls it 'renewal.' "Jesus Christ," he writes, "saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3:5, NLT)

Are you attempting, by morality or discipline or even fakery, to be what and who only God, the Holy Spirit, can make you?
Are you putting on layer upon layer of morality and religion, in an attempt to be a Christian, a person who enjoys a relationship with God and who holds the promise of eternal life?
Are you filled with right beliefs that are not applied to your actions?
Are you able to do theology, but keep it disconnected from how you live?
Then, you're an imposter- perhaps a well-intentioned one, but a fake all the same. You are creating pain and problems for yourself and discrediting the Gospel of Christ.

If that describes you, do not stay there for another moment. Invite the Spirit to begin a truly transformational work and become authentic – no more than you are, no less than God purposes you to be. Your life will become a thing of true beauty. Your mind will be at peace. The world around you will be influenced by your real faith! “Believe and speak!”

Here is a word from the Word that points the way to wholeness. "Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!” (Romans 10:9-10, The Message)

Praise God! Amen.

________________

Give me one pure and holy passion,
Give me one magnificent obsession.
Jesus give me one glorious ambition for my life.
To know and follow hard after You.
To know and follow hard after You,
To grow as Your disciple in the truth.
This world is empty, pale, and poor,
Compared to knowing You my Lord.
Lead me on and I will run after You.

One Pure And Holy Passion

Altrogge, Mark

© 1988 PDI Praise (Admin. by Word Music Group, Inc.) / Dayspring Music, Inc. (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.)

CCLI License No. 810055