Shopping for a good cantaloupe is a tough assignment. No matter how good it looks, it’s hard to tell what you’re really getting! It can look beautiful on the outside and still not be so good. So I tap it, thump it, smell it and, if no one is looking, I squeeze it—and then take it home, only to discover that it’s bad on the inside. I even gave up on buying cantaloupe for a while because of this outside in problem….Outside in is difficult, but if you buy the ones that are already cut, you can see what you’re getting from the inside out!
When it comes to beauty, most people judge beauty from the outside in, instead of the inside out… Inner beauty is more important (you’ve heard the saying “pretty is as pretty does’….When it comes to strength, we usually judge strength from the outside in, instead of the inside out.. Inner strength is more important (the little guy may not be outwardly strong, but he may still be standing when the pumped up guy has collapsed under pressure) When it comes to being smart, most people judge from the outside in, instead of the inside out..(a person may have a lot of knowledge but they may have no common sense)
In the story of Esther, she was chosen by the king for her beauty, so we know that she was a beautiful lady, she just hadn’t totally made a connection between her outer looks and the inner beauty which is really what God was interested in. However she came to the place in her life that she was willing to risk everything to have the kind of beauty God was impressed with, no matter what everyone else thought about it…. But I want to say that yes, God is looking for inner beauty, but we need to help the outer package which man sees, as best we can!!!
Man looks on the outer appearance but God looks on the heart!
Most people live their life from the OUTSIDE IN. What I mean is that most of the time our moods and actions are based on our external CIRCUMSTANCES. We let our physical Body and our Soul, which is the emotions and intellect, rule us and we are fueled by what is happening in the world around us, and the Spirit just tags along…. The tail is wagging the dog! If things go your way, you have a good day --- If things go wrong, you have a bad day --- If it’s Friday, it’s all good. If it’s Monday, pity everyone who has to be around you….it’s all bad.
Even though Christians are not supposed to live from the OUTSIDE IN … too often, we do it consistently. We even base our faith on our outside CIRCUMSTANCES. I don’t feel that God answered my prayer…(feelings and emotions are ruling here) I can’t see that God healed my sickness…(short sightedness is ruling here )… I don’t think God made sure I got that job (the intellect is ruling here) God didn’t save my marriage…(blaming othersand fault finding) God didn’t make that person stop annoying me…(that’s lack of personal accountability)….I have no joy in my life (the wrong source of joy)…. If we can’t see, feel, think, that God is at work in our circumstances, our faith gets weak and we wonder if God is working, or we think something is wrong with us…..(well that last part is right)… we’re living from the outside in….
It’s amazing how many who call themselves Christian, would answer the question… “How are you doing”.. by saying “Pretty good, under the circumstances”…. What are they doing down there “under the circumstances”…
A student walked into the office of a Nobel prize winning scientist to get some input with his class assignment and he was surprised to see a scripture on the wall behind his desk. The student had come to conclude that the bible is a contradiction to scientific reasoning… the scripture was from…
Matthew 19:26 “With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible”. The student who was an agnostic, said, “Professor, surely you don't believe in such nonsense..” The scientist answered, “Sir, it is my understanding that God will do what God will do whether I believe it or not”
Romans 8:4 says that Christians “don’t live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” In other words, God can do what God can do regardless of what my feelings, sight or intellect conclude about it….
I am amazed at how many times in the bible and in my own life, when God did amazing things at times when folks or myself, had no faith at all, or we were at a place when we didn’t have a clue what to believe for…. If that is the case then how much more powerful can He work when we come into agreement with Him…..
Saint Augustine said “Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand."
I believe there is such a place as England. I could not prove by feelings, or personal experience, that there is such a place. I believe it because reliable, trustworthy people have told me so. The ordinary person believes in the solar system, atoms, and the working of their own brain, based on what doctors and physiologist—tell us. Every historical statement is believed on the basis of someone’s authority. None of us were at Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, but we believe it simply because people who were there and did see historical events have left writings that tell us about them. A person who balked at the authenticity of other things, as some people do in religion, would have to be content to accept nothing as truth except what they saw, felt and experienced for themselves.
Someone has said that we would do better at doing things right if we would do better at doing the right things!
A certain fisherman always came to the dock with a boat load of fish, when others were catching nothing. One morning a stranger showed up with his fishing tackle and said, "Mind if I go fishing with you this morning?" "No," said the fisherman. "Just hop in and we'll go over to a little cove where I always have good luck." The man hopped in the boat and off they headed across the lake until they came to a small cove. The fisherman stopped the boat and cut off the motor. He reached over in his tackle box and took out a red stick of dynamite. He lit the fuse and held it for a moment as the fuse burned down.
Then at the last moment he tossed it in the water and there was a tremendous explosion. Fish were everywhere on the water. He picked up his net and began scooping up the fish. After watching this for a moment the stranger reached in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He showed his badge and said, "I'm a game warden and you are under arrest." Without blinking an eye, the fisherman simply reached over into his box and pulled out another stick of dynamite. He lit it and held it as the fuse burned down. Then, he tossed it to the game warden and said,
"Now, are you going to just sit there or are you going to fish?" There comes a time when we all have to decide - who we're going to be and what we're going to do!
Most folks really began to believe in the ark, once the rains started to fall and they were swimming in water where there had never been water before….
In 1963...65 percent of Americans said they believed in the absolute truth of the Bible. The current figure of 32 percent represents a new low in literal belief in the Bible. That’s a drop of 33% of the population…. (we have our task cut out for us….) Our challenge is to live inside out, not outside in!!
The way we live our lives will never rise any higher than the level of our inner belief systems…. Our actions will never surpass our core values and we will not exceed the limits of what we allow to rule our hearts….If fear rules our heart, then fear establishes our limit. The same is true with unbelief, unforgiveness and anger…No matter what God intends for us, what we allow and choose will usually be the outcome we live with… and the key factor is living life on the outside in or on the inside out! Now, we can do it right and we may still be a mess, but we will be a Holy mess with hope of improving, instead of an unholy one charging full speed towards a 1000 foot cliff !
Jesus loved sinners, even religious ones, and He loved setting up the Pharisees and letting them fall into theirown religious pits that they had dug for Him. In Luke 11:37 He was invited to dinner at a Pharisees house, and He deliberately did not wash His hands. When they confronted Him because He broke their rules for religious purification, He said, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also”? In other words, stop living from the outside in and start living from the inside out! We can look mighty fine and holy on the outside but on the inside be an unholy mess. YOU CAN’T GIVE WHAT YOU DON’T HAVE!
It’s important to give importance to what’s important… We need to pay attention to what is going on in our own hearts. We need to pay attention to what is going on in our prayer life and bible study. We need to pay attention to what is going on in our relationships. We need to pay attention to our position in Christ more than our goodworks. If It only took good works, Jesus would not have needed to come to overcome the sin that separated us from God….
Some folks have 20x20 vision and some folks have 2x4 vision….Jesus illustrated the inside/out approach, when He told the religious folks that if they removed the 2 x4 from their own eyes, they could see to remove the speck from the eye of others… You see, the outside/in folks see everyone else with a 2x4, but see themselves with a speck. But the inside/out folks, who have humble and repentant hearts before God, see the need to remove the 2x4 from their own eyes so they can help others with their speck!
Jonathan Whitfield was preaching to coal miners in England. He asked one man, "What do you believe?" "Well, I believe the same as the church." He said, "And what does the church believe?" "Well, they believe the same as me." Seeing he was getting nowhere, at finding out what it was that this man actually believed personally, Whitfield said, "And what is it that you both believe?" The miner thought about it and said "Well, I suppose that means we believe the same thing." It isn’t important that you believe, but it’s important HOW YOU BELIEVE, WHAT YOU DO BELIEVE… Jesus said “Demons believe and tremble”….
You can memorize scripture, and religious quotes all you want, but is it on the inside at the core of you? You can know about the doctrines, and the principles of the kingdom, but is it on the inside? You can tell about great things that you have seen God do, but is it on the inside of you? To know a thing and to know about a thing can be two totally different things…. None of the therapy or programs will make any difference to a person who has an addiction problem, until at some point it begins to come from the inside out….
Once a father walked into the kitchen and found his son climbing up into the refrigerator. He told his child who was, to get down. The child refused. Again the father told his child to get down, and again the child stubbornly refused. Finally, the father said, “If you don’t get down I’m going to give you a spanking.” The child got down and said, “I’m getting down on the outside, but I’m still up there on the inside!”
A hypocrite is a great pretender…The word hypocrite comes from a word meaning actor. A hypocrite is an actor, or a pretender. He professes some value or belief with his words, but his private life does not match it. He’s not pure in heart and to be pure in heart means our words match our actions. That means our outer life matches our inner life. When God saves us, He gives us new hearts, from the inside out….It’s not an act anymore, it has become our inner reality….We are the same in secret where no one sees, as we are in public because the heart is pure…
Folks who live as the victims of life, leave a trail of victims behind them…it’s always someone else’s fault… What would happen beginning today, if we began to talk and act like the person we dream of being deep inside of ourselves… Truth is that transformed people don’t just experience amazing change personally, but they will leave a trail of transformed lives everywhere they go, that will change the world from the inside out…...
Ezekiel 36:26-27 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the (stubborn, insensitive, self-willed) heart of stone and give you a pure heart. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my desires for you and be careful to obey my values and principles”.
The Hebrew word “YHADA” means to have a personal, intimate, interactive experience… Let me use that wordfor you…
Exodus 8:10 “And he said, Be it according to your word, that you may know (YHADA… have a personal, intimate, interactive experience) that there is none like unto the LORD our God”.
My faith is an ongoing conversation I am having with God each day and He is constantly putting an exclamation point at the end of each conversation…
When God introduced Himself as “I AM”, He was moving from an outside/in God, to an inside/out, up close, intimate, personal God…. “I AM your provider…. “I AM” your healer…. “I AM” your righteousness…. “I AM” your peace…. “I AM your deliverer…. The perfect, holy, all knowing, ever-present, the beginning and end of all things, the same, yesterday, today, and forever, God.While neither He nor His love ever has or ever will change, His love changes us from the inside out.
Though the outward man is perishing, God can and will greatly use the inner man….
2 Corinthians 4:15 “For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound (be excessive, in abundance) to the glory of God. v16 For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. v17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory v18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporary but the things which are not seen are eternal”…
The outer man or physical person that you see in the mirror, is not saved, it is kept, sustained and rescued because of the redemption of the inner man… it is created to be the earth vehicle for your soul and spirit. Feed it, wash it, take good care of it, but the outer man will be laid aside like a garment one day, no longer of any use, but the inner man may take a licking but it keeps on ticking… it is eternal!
For every believer in Christ, The inner man is a new creation…The inner man is being renewed day by day. The inner man is born again by the Spirit of God. The inner man has eternal life that shall never perish. The inner man is reborn by the seed of the Word of God…The inner man is who you are becoming and will beforever…The inner man is not subject to the curse. The inner man has the capacity to hear and obey the voice of God. It is sanctified and (set apart unto God) The inner man is justified. The inner man is a treasure which dwells in the vessel of the body. (tell someone, “You sure are a treasure”)… The inner man is anointed and empowered by the "resurrection power" of God. The inner man is gifted by God to fulfill His intentions and purposes! The inner man is where God’s kingdom is located in the earth and He is to be the ruling King there!
A pastor was on the church roof patching a leak. He looked down and noticed one of the neighborhood boys watching very intently. The pastor figured he would eventually go away, but he didn’t. Finally the pastor asked, "Well, son, are you trying to pick up some pointers on patching a roof?" "Oh No Sir," he replied, "My daddy showed me that, but I'm just waiting to hear what a preacher says when he hits his thumb with a hammer."
YES…..God’s process is to change us from the inside out. Remember that Moses came down from the Mountain, after being in the glory of God with his face glowing so brightly, they had to put a bag over his head. The energy of the Glory of God was absorbed by Moses’ inner man and it was so strong it was shining on the outside. As we intentionally spend time in the presence of God, we are energized with His power on the inside, and it should be seen radiating on the outside in our words and our actions.
As we grow in our knowledge of God’s will and His ways, as our faces are unmasked to Him, we will see God’s glory and be transformed more and more into His glorious likeness. In this transformative place, we will touch the world around us through His power and Spirit at work in us. It is our high calling, to be in the world but not of the world…
Ephesians 3:16 “May He grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, v17 (now catch this, it’s so good) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, so that you, being rooted and grounded in love, v18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, v19 And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, (Your inner man knows more than you give him credit for) that you might be filled with all the fulness of God. v20 Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us (in the inner man)”…
Oh do you hear it…. TO BE ENDUED WITH POWER AND MIGHT AND STRENGTH IN THE INNER MAN…..
Prayer…..
Father, I make myself available to you so that my life can continue to be transformed through faith in Christ and the power of Your Word, that renews of my mind. Give me knowledge in my inner being that will cause me to truly be alive in You. Lord, I know transformation will not happen instantly, so give me the patience and strength to wait upon You, as You continue this process within me. You have clearly stated, that as I behold Your glory, I am being changed into Your image from glory to glory, even as by Your Spirit, Lord Jesus. I declare that transformation in my life has begun. Your love, peace, patience, and power will shine through me so that others will see You within me, wherever I go. I worship You and lift You high as You flow through me and empower me to live the life I was intended to live for Your glory. Lord I open my spirit to you to do Your supernatural work in me. Let my heart be changed as You make me new, and mold me into who I am truly meant to be… In Jesus Name, amen…
