Matthew 6
Summing up today’s verses: Be real. Don’t do stuff to show off for others, or you have no real reward, just the praise of others here who are easily impressed by your show. Don’t worry about impressing people here, do what is right because it is right. God knows your heart. He will reward you, and that is what really counts. My guess is that God is not rewarding you for your secresy, but for your motivation. He will reward a heart that is correctly motivated: love for God and others. Self-serving motives may fool other men and women, but do not fool God at all. He is too wise to be decieved by our pretenses. Others may not see through the false self but He does. And be warned … God loves us too much to allow us to continue to hide behind this false self. Most times the end of the facade is painful if we hang on and make God rip it off. If we willingly remove it, the reward far outweighs the pain. If God must force us to let go, the reward is still greater, but the pain is more than we should have had to face, and more than God intends. But we dare not blame God for our self-imposed pain. If we simply listened to His voice calling us to end the charade, life would be so much richer and freer. There is no act to maintain, face to save, or story to remember if we live in truth. As Christ tells us … the truth will set us free. May we live in the freedom of this Truth!

Lord, help me to be the honest, truthful person You call me to be. May I not hide behind a show for others. Show me who I really am, and enable me to simply be that person who You made me to be. Give me Your Spirit to dwell within me and open my eyes to the imposter who would try to put on an impressive show to gain reward here and now from other men and women. Give me the strength to slay this imposter, and live whole and authentically out of who You made me to be! Amen!!