Would the Hypocrite please Rise?! :D

HYPOCRITE

Give to the needy,

Show love to the bad.

Pay your debts promptly,

In love and kindness, be clad.

Tell lies to none,

Neither God nor man.

Plant what is good,

Then reap joy from the land.

Forgiveness is a must,

Something you should gladly do.

Slander, malice and hate,

These MUST be far from you.

These are God’s instructions,

You’ll do well to live by the book.

When I am done doing the very opposite,

Perhaps I’ll turn and have a look.

Okwukwe Ifediora

3^rd March

________________________________________________

Hi people. :) I'm sorry i've been away so long...I have no excuses.

Up there is a piece i wrote in 2012. But i was just going through some of my old write-ups and it just occurred to me anew, how easy it is for us to get into hypocrisy - sometimes without even realizing it.

Here's a simple definition of the word from Wikipedia:

Hypocrisy is the claim or pretense of holding beliefs, feelings, standards, qualities, opinions, behaviors, virtues, motivations, or other characteristics that one does not actually hold. It is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another.^[1][2] In moral psychology, it is the failure to follow one’s own expressed moral rules and principles.[3]

We just tend to feel very good about being that guy or that babe who tells folks the proper things to do and the right ways to behave and the best thoughts to think and all that.

It does feel really really good doesn't it?

Funny enough, half the time we're probably saying the right things. I mean, the message is sound, the motives - on the surface - look pretty alright, the tone and approach could be on-point as well. But then, when our oh-so-perfect messages or rebukes are effectively passed across...does it make it easier for us to neglect to effect the changes we so passionately recommend to others in our very own lives?

I'm not just yarning off the top of my head - this used to be me. Way too often. (It still could quite easily be but now i attack this deadly habit like there's no tomorrow). :D

I'd feel so good after admonishing someone for some wrong behavior or attitude that's in all honesty detrimental to them, thinking what a 'good' person I really (can you smell the pride in my attitude former attitude? Sickening innit?). And then i'd walk away feeling like the counselor of the universe; thoroughly satisfied and proud of myself for getting the usual grateful or awed response i usually received from my audience. (lol, it wasn't all the time though).

I'd feel so good i'd forget to put the check on my own lifestyle or behavior concerning the very issue i was instructing others to be on their guards against. Rather dumb innit?

I know.

But what's amazing is that for awhile (a couple of days to weeks even) i could be walking around oblivious to the way i was damaging myself. I mean, you're going around trying to make the world a better place but eagerly trying to make yourself the only 'bad' that will be left in that same environment. How does that work? Really?

The answer is it doesn't. So eventually i'd catch myself slipping into hypocrisy at one point or the other, and then i'd feel appropriately remorseful and very much ashamed of myself. Sometimes i'd get thought bombs from the enemy that would sound something like:

* Some ambassador for Christ you are. You can't even get it right yourself! Who's going to bother listening to a fake? HA!"

#Eyeroll. The devil is such a nuisance.

Anyway, sometimes i actually listened to all that junk (thank the Lord for growth through His word though) and then i'd feel really sorry for myself and pathetic; then i'd cry and write a really touching 'I'm so sorry' poem to God and then I'd feel better. But you see, remorse and repentance can NEVER be the same just because they both start with the letter 'R' guys! The remorse thing would keep me sensitive for a couple days at most, and then i'd be right back at it.

However, I'm thankful my Father keeps teaching me how to love Him better. So these days when i catch myself ministering to or counselling some person and the Holy Spirit just brings to mind that I haven't been the best banner for Christ in that aspect, i don't stop counselling and go somewhere to sit and look morose. I repent in my heart, ask Him to help me out to be more sensitive and obedient to Him when I'm about to slip, and then I make a concerted, mega-violent and ruthless effort to kill the dominance of this here flesh in that area of my life.

It's been working just fine I must say. :)

Enjoy the rest of your week dear people.

xxx, Kwiksie.~

Clearly Hearing God's Voice.

Hi people! How's your month been? Mine's been pretty awesome to be honest. I'm sorry though, i haven't made out enough time to post here on a regular but i will put in more effort --- promise. :)
This is an old mail i got awhile ago from my Dad (the earthly one i mean, #wink) and i just thought, since truth never gets old, that it might prove useful for someone out there. So please read with an open heart and i pray it is as much of a blessing to you as it was (and is) to me.
^_^

The Five-Fold Secret To Clearly Hearing God's Voice One of the questions I consistently get from Believers whether they are newly born-again or have been in the Body of Christ for years, is, "How do you know God's voice?" There is a five-fold secret to clearly hearing God's voice. For the ministers and lay Christians who do not know this crucial secret, hearing the Lord's voice becomes a perpetual struggle. Let's go to the Word of God to learn this five-fold secret.. by Gillis Triplett Who Are You Really Listening To? Over the past sixteen years, I've watched Christians make decisions that have produced alarming self-inflicted wounds. In each case, they did what they did because they firmly believed God was the one who called, led or inspired them to do so. But in the end, they married the wrong person, bought a car that turned out to be a lemon, bought a house they could not afford and started ministries and businesses that were doomed for failure from the onset. I've watched people claim God told them to quit their jobs to do the work of the ministry. But it wasn't long before their cars were repossessed and they were begging for money to pay their bills, and finally had to file bankruptcy. Write this law down and don't ever forget: When You Follow The Lord's Voice - The Vision Always Comes To Pass! The Lord is never going to lead you to bankruptcy or divorce court, ministry or business failure, or into a bad consumer deal! Under no circumstances will He lead you into marital turmoil, financial shame or ministry embarrassment, (See Psalm 23). If you find yourself trapped in one of those traumatic moments in time, just know that the voice of the Holy Spirit DID NOT lead you there! You got there because you listened to or followed the wrong voice, or you made a bad decision. Do You Know The Five Voices? In every decision that you are called to make and in every situation that you are faced with, there is always going to be five different voices speaking to you. (1)   The voice of God  (2)   The voice of your conscience  (3)   The voice of your reasoning  (4)   The voice of your flesh, and  (5)   The voice of the devil In most cases, each voice is going to lead you in the opposite direction of the voice of God. The sincere Christians who consistently miss God's voice, either: (a) don't know about all of these five voices, or (b) they have not learned how to discern which voice is speaking. Each voice has a distinct sound and is easily discernable once you know what to listen for. I very rarely listen to the radio, but when I turn it on, there are certain voices that I detect immediately. Voices like: Smokey Robinson, Ron Kenoly and Stevie Wonder, to name a few. Each of their voices has a distinct sound pitch. In the realm of the spirit, the five voices I named are the same way! They each have a distinctive sound pitch. We're going to examine each of these five voices and get to know their sound pitch from the Written Word of God. After this teaching, you'll be on track to clearly hearing God's voice. We'll start at the bottom of the list and work our way to the top, saving the best for last! The Voice of The Devil - (Psalm 55:1-3) This is how the voice of the devil sounds. When he speaks, his voice comes to: Deceive you, (Revelation 20:7-8) Cause oppression, (Acts 10:38)  Discourage you, (Numbers 32:6-10)        Cause you to be bitter, (Colossians 3:19)    Cause confusion, (Acts 19:32)  Cause you to rationalize sin, (Isaiah 5:20)   Blind your mind, (II Corinthians 4:4)     Cause you to lie, (I John 2:4) Cause you to doubt God's Word, (Hebrews 3:12) Cause division in your family, church, business, (Mark 3:25) Cause you to disobey the Word of God, (Joshua 5:6) Inspire rage, anger and malice, (Ephesians 4:31) Bring you fear, (Mark 4:40) Torment you, (Matthew 8:6) Cause you to lose hope, (Job 7:1-15) Cause you to lose hope, (Job 7:1-15)   Cause you to be dismayed, (Joshua 1:9) Cause you to seek revenge, (Ezekiel 25:15) Cause you to curse God, (Job 2:9) Stir up unforgiveness, (Matthew 6:15) Cause you to be ashamed of the gospel, (Mark 8:38) Cause you not to hear God’s voice, (John 10:5) If you hear: fear, confusion, torment, doubt, justification of sin, etc., you don't have to pray about it or seek counseling. You are listening to the voice of the devil! The Voice of Your Flesh - (Galatians 5:16-21) Your flesh has a voice! It speaks to you in a commanding and authoritative sound pitch. It doesn't matter if you are an apostle, prophet, pastor, CEO, Governor, Police Chief or an average citizen. Your flesh speaks to you constantly. Any time you follow the voice of your flesh, the net result will always be negative. You can never follow the voice of your flesh and things turn out, "ok!" The fifth chapter of the book of Galatians reveals the sound pitch of your flesh. You know you are listening to and being led by the voice of your flesh when you engage in: (1)    Adultery - unlawful sexual relations between a man and a woman (2)    Fornication - pornography, harlotry, incest (3)    Uncleanness - homosexuality, lesbianism, pedophilia, sexual perversion (4)    Lasciviousness - undisciplined, lewd, overeater, lazy, shiftless (5)    Idolatry - worship sports stars, movie stars, music icons, preachers, money, etc. (6)    Witchcraft - includes drug use, spells, luck charms, horoscopes, zodiac signs (7)    Hatred - hold grudges and malice and be angry at someone (8)    Variance - to quarrel with words, stir up strife and incite debates (9)    Emulations - the spirit of jealousy, rivalry spirit (10)     Wrath - creating domestic and civic turmoil (11)     Strife - getting pay back for a wrong, angry contentions (12)     Seditions - stirring up strife in the church, government, home, etc. (13)     Heresies - causing discord, unrighteous indignation (14)     Envying - to wish ill will toward a person, organization or group of people (15)     Murder - to spoil or mar the happiness of others, to kill (16)     Drunkenness - public or private intoxication, alcoholic, addicted to (17)     Revellings - clubs, house parties, carousing, obscene music The voice of your flesh will never inspire you to do the will of God. It will only talk you into committing adultery, fornication, listening to obscene music and engaging in any of the other seventeen destructive behaviors you just read. You are to never listen to the voice of your flesh! What you do to the voice of your flesh is bring it into subjection to the Written Word of God, (See I Corinthians 9:27). The Voice of Your Reasoning - (Acts 28:1-6 and Mark 2:6-8) The Lord God has given us the ability to reason. We have that ability so that we may rationally consider all options, blessings and curses, obstacles, situations, consequences, advantages versus disadvantages and profits versus losses. You can always tell when you are listening to the voice of your reasoning because you will weigh the things you see and hear in the natural. You will deliberate and think things through, and afterwards, make your decision. Caution: if the answer of your mind contradicts the Written Word, or contradicts what God has said to you, then you must abandon the voice of your reasoning, (See Numbers 13:26-33). The Voice of Your Conscience  - (Acts 24:16 and Hebrews 10:22) Your conscience is the place where you recognize the difference between what is right versus what is wrong. It is the place where you establish morals and values, or where you reject good morals and values and become reprobate in your mind. Your conscience is going to fall into one of the four categories: (a)    A good conscience, (I Timothy 1:5 and Acts 24:16) (b)    A weak conscience, (I Corinthians 8:7) (c)     A seared conscience, (I Timothy 4:2) (d)    A evil conscience, (Hebrews 10:22) This next point should be obvious. The voice of your conscience is good to listen to as long as you have a good conscience, but when a person has a weak, seared or evil conscience, it would be unadvisable for them to follow the voice of their conscience. The Voice of God - (I Samuel 3:1-10 and John10:1-5) You know you are hearing the voice of God when you hear these sounds. ·Instruction in righteousness, (II Tim 3:16) ·Correction in righteousness, (II Timothy 3:16, Proverbs 3:11-12) ·Causes you to profit in Christ, (II Timothy 3:16, John 15:16) ·Brings to your remembrance the Word of God, (John 14:26) ·Guides you into Truth, (John 16:13) ·Exhorts you, (Jude 3, Romans 12:1) ·Comforts you, (John 14:16, Psalm 23:4) ·Rebukes and reproves you, (Titus 1:13, II Timothy 4:2) ·Convicts you of sin, (Romans 6:1-23) ·Leads you to salvation, (Romans 10:9-10, II Timothy 3:15) ·Assures you of the Heavenly Father's love toward you, (I John 3:1, Jeremiah 31:3) ·Admonishes and warns you, (Ephesians 6:4, Acts 21:4,10-14) ·Edifies you, (Ephesians 4:12) ·Increases our faith, (Romans 10:17) ·Cause you to triumph in life through Christ, (II Corinthians 2:14) The Seven Elements To Clearly Hearing God's Voice Now that you know the five voices, and how they sound, there are the seven elements that must be in place in your life, if you are going to properly discern which voice is speaking. You must study the Word of God for yourself, (See II Timothy 2:15) You must meditate (see dictionary meaning) on the Word of God day and night, (Joshua 1:8) You must spend time praying, (Mark 1:35) You must spend time communing with the Holy Spirit, (II Corinthians 13:14) You must be planted in a good church home, (See 92:13) You must rationally consider all options, (Luke 14:28-30) You must seek counsel from wise counselors, (See Proverbs 11:14) If you follow those instructions, you will come to the place, where you quickly recognize which voice is speaking to you. That is an awesome feeling to know that you know that you know -the voice of the Holy Spirit! _____________________________________________________________ This article really REALLY helped me put things into better perspective. I'm sure if we'd apply the truths here it'll go a pretty long way. :) P.s; i added the emphasis on meditate in #2 of the 'Elements to Clearly Hearing God's Voice' because many at times, folks misinterpret meditating on God's word as merely reading it and it sometimes misguides people. Well, hope you enjoyed it. See you all in February! ^_^ xxx, Kwiksie~