Single-Faced
I also long in the tender mercies of Christ that among us there may be the following: . . . 6. A childlike candor. I love children because of their unbelievably beautiful candor. They look at you and say the most utterly simple things. If they were just a little older they would blush to the roots of their hair, but they are utterly and completely candid. I like to talk with them and have them come up and chat with me because they are bound to tell me things before they leave. If you do not want it told, do not tell the little ones because they just tell anything. They do not have anything to hide. I believe that with the limitations proper to our adult years we ought to be a place where spiritually we should be so candid there would be no duplicity, no dishonesty. A duplex is a house where there is more than one dwelling; there are two dwellings. Duplicity is the same thing—it means two. Judas Iscariot, for instance, was duplicity incarnated. He was so slick that even the disciples did not know which one was the traitor. They said, "Lord, is it I?" And Jesus said, "There's the man. When he dips into the dish you'll know him." He had to tell them. This son of perdition had lived with Jesus and His 11 disciples for three years and had fooled them so completely that they did not know which one was the traitor when the showdown came. They had to have a little sign to indicate. That was the slickest piece of duplicity I know about. He was two-faced, and he could change faces with the occasion. He was so slick in the change that nobody caught on. He showed one face to Jesus and His disciples and the other to the enemies of Jesus. Now that is duplicity. In Christian communion we ought to be a people without duplicity. Each one of us has only one face. I know that if you have more than one face to present to the public, something is desperately wrong. One of your faces is going to fall under an awful judgment of God. We must be without duplicity, dishonesty and hypocrisy. What is hypocrisy? Hypocrisy is an old Greek word used for an actor on stage, somebody who pretended to be what he or she was not. . . . A hypocrite is an actor, somebody who is playing a part.
Verse
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8
Thought
As believers it ought to be said of us, "What you see is what you get!" No duplicity; rather, naked honesty, even though at times painfully exposing.
Prayer
Lord, You know that in certain situations with certain people I find it so easy to pretend. Help me to throw aside the masks. In Jesus' name.
from A.W. Tozer's Rut, Rot, or Revival
Verse
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8
Thought
As believers it ought to be said of us, "What you see is what you get!" No duplicity; rather, naked honesty, even though at times painfully exposing.
Prayer
Lord, You know that in certain situations with certain people I find it so easy to pretend. Help me to throw aside the masks. In Jesus' name.
from A.W. Tozer's Rut, Rot, or Revival
Posted in Going Deeper
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Day 1: The Fruit of the SpiritDay 2: What It Is NotDay 3: The Trinity - JesusDay 4: The Trinity - FatherDay 5: The Trinity - The Holy SpiritDay 6: Assumptions and ExcusesDay 7: Sunday SermonDay 8: The GardenerDay 9: Bearing FruitDay 10: Submitting to the ProcessDay 11: Abide in His LoveDay 12: Loving Each OtherDay 13: Vine and the BranchesDay 14: Grace and Truth Sermon DevotionalDay 15: When I Don't See JesusDay 16: When Pain Leads to JoyDay 17: It's All About Who You KnowDay 18: Take HeartDay 19: Jesus’ Priestly PrayerDay 20: Jesus' Priestly PrayerDay 21: Unity as One
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Day 1: The Priestly BlessingDay 2: LeadershipDay 3: The Upper RoomDay 4: He knowsDay 5: Be StillDay 6: God's Presence In The Midst of TrialsDay 7: God Is In ControlDay 8: His WhisperDay 9: Our FatherDay 10: Wrestling with GodDay 11: God Is My ShieldDay 12: In His Presence Is JoyDay 13: The God of All ComfortDay 14: Sermon Reflections & ApplicationDay 15: Watch the WordDay 16: God is My Portion
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Psalm 1Psalm 2Psalm 3Psalm 4Sermon Reflections and ApplicationPsalm 5Psalm 6Psalm 7Psalm 8Psalm 9Psalm 10Psalm 11Sermon Reflections and ApplicationPsalm 12Psalm 13Psalm 14Psalm 15Psalm 16Psalm 17Psalm 18Sermon Reflections and ApplicationPsalm 19Psalm 20Psalm 21Psalm 22Psalm 23Psalm 24Psalm 25Sermon Reflections and ApplicationPsalm 27Psalm 28Psalm 29Psalm 30
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