Paul Email -20July2013- Mark 7

How you doin? Stacey and I have a painful desire to encounter God... to follow Jesus. This morning we read Mark 7. Still being impacted by the sermon we heard on Thurs. night, this mornings devotions were great.

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
           but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
           their teachings are merely human rules.’
You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! (Mark 7:5-9) These verses describe religion to me.
“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? (Mark 7:18) My lack of understanding makes me dull. I feel as though I'm in full out battle with my mind.

He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7:20-23) At 1st the words, "out of a person’s heart", confused me. Then Mark 2:8 came to mind, "Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?" The trouble is the mind. I've always agreed with what I learned in AA, "the most dangerous neighborhood is between my ears". Follow Jesus. "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9) COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I commit sin in my mind 1st. Lord please transform my mind. Think about Jesus today!