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A Morning View By the Wood Stove

I like clothes. I like shoes. I like to make the outside look good. It feels good to look good, at least for awhile.

I recently realized something as I walk the road I am walking, a false outside appearance does not take away the truth of the hidden struggle on the inside. We deal with the symptoms of the inside pain and turmoil by trying to make the outside look perfect and all together. Friends, in reality you cannot hide what is on the inside, it can be masked and covered up with nice "clothes," but it really isn't hidden. 

The scripture I am led to today is pretty straight forward. 

Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)


And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” - Mark 7:17-23 NLT


I still like my shoes and clothes, but not just to look good. Take ownership of the inside and the beauty of the outside will blossom for the world to see the Jesus Christ within you.


Peace,

PB

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