Every day, I get lots of emails. There are devotionals that really lift my thoughts to God. Then there are updates on websites I read frequently. Of course personal emails from friends are part of the mix. And then there's spam.
People I'll never meet share the details of their medical and financial condition. (Is everyone in Nigeria sick?) Others want to have me purchase the latest pharmaceuticals. (I rarely take aspirin, so fat chance.) Still more want me to refinance my home, take a trip, or meet new people. Thank you, but no.
But what about those spam emails you get with what seems like crazy prose or meaningless words put together out of any context? What are those about? Well, they have nothing to do with ethics - just the opposite. Those words are designed to overload your email programs spam filter with so many real words that it just gives up and lets anything through. It's a war of words.
Sometimes they use snippets from a dictionary. Other times they lift from fiction. But the idea is to so clog the spam filter with words that would be considered good - that the bad sneaks by.
Jesus was teaching His disciples one day when the Pharisees and some Sadducees walked up and asked for a sign from Him that he was real. By this point Jesus had done so many miracles which they had ignored that he told them no. Then He turned to His disciples and said:
6 "Watch out!" Jesus warned them. "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
It was a war of words. The yeast is the active ingredient in bread dough. Though there's a lot of other ingredients, and the quantity of those are far greater in volume than the yeast - if the yeast is bad, no matter how much other stuff you put in the mix - the result is bad bread.
At the "yeast" level, they did not believe that God's Word could change anyone. But if they threw out enough words - enough rules - then people would have to do right.
Friends, it's not about rules.
It's about relationship - about whether you are living in relationship with God through His Son. He's sinless - completely Holy. You're not. No amount of words, no amount of forced obedience, no amount of looking good - will change that. Only a heart yielded, a will surrendered, a life offered daily to Him in obedience... matters to Him.
Ask yourself how often you think about Jesus.
Are you losing the war of words?
Make your life a prayer, a running conversation with Him.
Grace!
David
People I'll never meet share the details of their medical and financial condition. (Is everyone in Nigeria sick?) Others want to have me purchase the latest pharmaceuticals. (I rarely take aspirin, so fat chance.) Still more want me to refinance my home, take a trip, or meet new people. Thank you, but no.
But what about those spam emails you get with what seems like crazy prose or meaningless words put together out of any context? What are those about? Well, they have nothing to do with ethics - just the opposite. Those words are designed to overload your email programs spam filter with so many real words that it just gives up and lets anything through. It's a war of words.
Sometimes they use snippets from a dictionary. Other times they lift from fiction. But the idea is to so clog the spam filter with words that would be considered good - that the bad sneaks by.
Jesus was teaching His disciples one day when the Pharisees and some Sadducees walked up and asked for a sign from Him that he was real. By this point Jesus had done so many miracles which they had ignored that he told them no. Then He turned to His disciples and said:
6 "Watch out!" Jesus warned them. "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
Matt 16:6 (NLT)
The disciples didn't understand.It was a war of words. The yeast is the active ingredient in bread dough. Though there's a lot of other ingredients, and the quantity of those are far greater in volume than the yeast - if the yeast is bad, no matter how much other stuff you put in the mix - the result is bad bread.
At the "yeast" level, they did not believe that God's Word could change anyone. But if they threw out enough words - enough rules - then people would have to do right.
Friends, it's not about rules.
It's about relationship - about whether you are living in relationship with God through His Son. He's sinless - completely Holy. You're not. No amount of words, no amount of forced obedience, no amount of looking good - will change that. Only a heart yielded, a will surrendered, a life offered daily to Him in obedience... matters to Him.
Ask yourself how often you think about Jesus.
Are you losing the war of words?
Make your life a prayer, a running conversation with Him.
Grace!
David
--
Visit with me at my blog:
http://davethepastor.livejourna
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/
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