Painting with cosmetic paint is not all that different to
what we try to do in our lives to cover up problems and issues in our life.
In our spiritual house we try to cover up the imperfections
in some cosmetic manner but this fact remains the same… unless those underlying
issues are dealt with, repaired and resolved they are bound to pop up and be exposed... again.
So what do people do to cosmetically to paint over the
deteriorating or problematic underlying conditions in their life?
Well each person is different so they deal with their
underlying problems differently but here are some general ones.
- Some avoid and deny there is a problem in their spiritual house.
- Others pick up other habits that avoid the issues in their spiritual house.
- Then there are others who prefer to numb their senses to the troubles.
- While there are others who see the issues in their life but place blame on everyone and everything else.
- Then we have those who like to rationalize things away... (Like everyone else does it.)
The cosmetic “cover ups” might be gambling, excessive
shopping, using antidepressants, engaging in risky behavior such as drinking,
drugs, and engaging in adulterous and premarital sex, getting lost in work or working in excess to
reach some financial pinnacle where they will feel secure and successful but
the fact is the things of this world will never make us feel secure, then
there are those who have “cosmetic surgery” done- they are not happy in the
image God created them in so they change it, then there those who start having eating disorders, some
withdraw, some hurt themselves, others bully, others lie and lie and lie, some become stubborn, … and we
could make a list that goes on and on. The fact is they are not dealing directly with the underlying issues in their life.
When we choose to cosmetically “cover up” something up in
our lives we deny God from working in our life. We are actually running from God or act like He doesn’t
even exist. We choose to sin
and we choose to keep sin in our lives.
This is the scripture God gave me for this section.
"This is the
judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness
rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the
Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested
as having been wrought in God." John 3:19-21
You know some even become religious to cover up their imperfections and we see this with Jesus talking to the Pharisees.
Jesus seeing right through them said, "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside
of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are
full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. "So you, too,
outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and
lawlessness.” Matthew 23:26-28
Isaiah
29:13 “Then the Lord said, ‘Because this people draw near with their words And
honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And
their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”
One might go to church to look good to others or to appease people but that is just cosmetic if you are going for those reasons. God wants you to be with God’s people and that you maybe continually be built up in Him. Don't go to church to get people off your back go to know what it means to be part of the body of Christ!
One might even go through the outward signs of giving their life
to Jesus Christ to “fit in” but God is not some club. He is an inward change and outward
expression of His love working in you and I.
Restoration.
I find in all matters of life nothing is too small or big
for God to fix. If there is
something wrong in our life that we want fixed, God can fix it, He knows every
square inch under the roof of our spiritual house.
How do we know this? Because those who have truly
surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ and continually do so have experienced
this first hand with dramatic results His unclogging and restoration efforts
in our life.
Ezekiel 11:19-20 says "And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within
them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a
heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances
and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.”
This means we may know the will of God that is good,
pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2) We can find the green refreshing pastures
that Jesus speaks about in John 10:9 in the mist of this “cosmetic fix” world. But you see we can’t have what is
truly good, pleasing and perfect without Jesus Christ being LORD of our life.
It seems impossible to experience such a reality but what is
impossible with us is possible with God. (Matthew 19:26)
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