Today’s Devotional – May 5th (The Proper Way To Wash Dishes)
By admin On January 18th, 2021.
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Today’s Devotional – May 5th
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The Proper Way To Wash Dishes
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It seems that our culture has become almost obsessed with outward cleanliness!
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And of course, cleanliness is good!
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Much of the advertising on TV has to do with cleaning products: soaps, cleaning tools, and other new products designed to enhance the appearance of the home.
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Kitchen 1937 – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Lic.
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CLEAN THE INSIDE FIRST!
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And speaking of cleaning, several of the Gospels tell the story of when Jesus and His Disciples attended a dinner “in their honor”.
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Well, when it came time to sit down, some of the Pharisees took note and complained to Jesus, that the disciples did not first wash their hands.
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And Jesus used this incident as an occasion to reprimand these Pharisees for, not only their rudeness, but also about their outward cleanliness.
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Listen… “ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups:
and many other such like things ye do….
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter,
but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter,
that the outside of them may be clean also.”
Mark 7:28 & Matthew 23:25, 26.
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And so, Jesus used this metaphor of “first clean the inside of the cup” to reveal the undone condition of their hearts!
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Brooklyn Museum – The Pharisees Question Jesus – James Tissot – US Public Domain – Wikimedia
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CLEANLINESS IS OFTEN NEXT TO PHARISEEISM!
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John Wesley is purported to have coined the phrase, “Cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness”. 
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Well, John Wesley was a great man of God, to be sure. But he really should have used the phrase, “Cleanliness is quite often next to Pharisaism”.
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Because, outward cleanliness is actually next to worthless, unless it is combined with INWARD cleanliness of the heart!
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ABOVE PAINTING:Hamilton Portrait of John Wesley-1703-1791
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FIRST CLEAN THE INSIDE
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No doubt, if you have a chance to visit those proud Pharisees, you would have found their houses “swept, clean, and put in order”. Luke 11:25 NIV
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But God “looks upon the heart” of Man. 1st Samuel 16:7.
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And Jesus proclaims what was in the heart of those Pharisees…
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“And He (Jesus) saith unto them…
That which cometh out of the man, that defiles the man.
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
Mark 7:18-23
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This Pharisee in the forefront of this above picture to the right, has cleaned up himself outwardly.
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And yet, inwardly he remains in his sins.
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Tissot The Pharisee and publican – Brooklyn Museum & Wikimedia – US public domain
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JUST ANOTHER SIN
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While it is very commendable to be neat and clean and moral and hard-working, these virtues must be accompanied by the other Christ-like virtues, as well, to be of any true value!
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Otherwise, all we end up with is proud pharisaism.
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Just listen… “An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” Proverbs 21:4.
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This verse not only declares that a high look and a proud heart are sin.
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But also, it declares that even “the plowing (the labor) of the wicked is sin“.
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REGARDS HIS LIFE AS THE STANDARD
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You see, the Pharisee has set himself up as the standard of excellence, instead of Christ.
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The Pharisee never ever judges others who have his own particular weaknesses!
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But in the areas where he’s strong, these are the traits he judges the world by.
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After all, it’s no fun to scorn others who share “my own” sins!
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It’s only fun to scorn the sins which are not so noticeable in “my own” life!
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drunk Panhandler – Wikipedia – public domain
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BIBLE IS THE TRUE STANDARD
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But if only this Pharisee would take his eye off others, and begin to look at his own self, in the mirror of the Bible, he might start to see that, in spite of his good qualities, he doesn’t measure up to the true standard, which is Jesus Christ.
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This is because, along with that good work ethic, and so on, he has some other qualities which are not so Christ-like.
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Besides being a hard worker, and neat and moral, Jesus was also patient, non-aggressive, kind, slow-to-wrath, gentle, humble, sympathetic to the needs and even the desires of others; qualities which those proud moralists simply do not possess!
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Quite the contrary, Pharisaism is often subject to foolish-pride, fits of anger, judgmental-finger-pointing, impatience, selfish-opportunism, greed, sarcasm, lacking-in-sympathy, rudeness, and a host of other qualities which are normally associated with Satan’s character, and never with Christ’s.
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Mirror globe – by Arpingstone for Wikipedia – Public Domain
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cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.”
Mark 7:28 & Matthew 23:25, 26.
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And so, O sorely tried and tempted soul, if my life is out of control in this area, or other areas, it may just be that God is humbling us, to drive out that “the Old Man” of sin, who is a proud Pharisee.
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Yes, God has to humble His children outwardly, in hopes that they will begin to cleanse the inside of the cup first, their own heart and soul.
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And then, after a while, He can help them to begin to clean up their outward life.
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ABOVE PICTURE: Most Holy Place within the heart – Signs Of Heaven
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Help me to fully engage in the daily purification of my heart. Remove all proud Pharisaism from my heart…
Woman Praying – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read…“July 8th (Go Ye Into All Your Heart! Part 2)“…
…or you can also read…“NOVEMBER 8th (REVELATION OF THE HEART)“
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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“THE SCORNER (THE PHARISEE)”
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Please tilt your head slightly to the left. Do you see a man with a very long pointed nose? 
(Obviously, the sketch to the right is just an exaggeration in order to help you find the face in the photo to the left.)
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Do you see an angry look? His right eyebrow is raised as if he is judging.
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This second face in the Moon appears to be that of a combination of a man as well as a fox.
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Or maybe a wolf.
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Doesn’t he have a long narrow nose like a wolf or fox?
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Maybe even a dog.
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Nevertheless, the expression on his face, as he appears to look down upon the Earth, is that of scorn.
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Unlike the first Moon-man’s sad shock and awe; this ‘man/fox/wolf/dog’ appears to be that of anger and scorn.
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As if he is disgusted at the sinful planet below.
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He is very moral, you see!
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READ MORE…
Moon Into Blood Trilogy: 2nd Face: The Evil-Eyed Pharisee Scorner
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TOMORROW…
“May 6th (Who Are The Sons Of Levi?)”
High-Priest – www.thebiblerevival.com – Public-Domain
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20+ MINUTE AUDIO STUDY IN JEREMIAH 
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ALL‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.
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THIS STUDY #123 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING, FORMER CEO OF FAMILY RADIO…
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above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain
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Those who are interested in using photos on this page may click on provided link below each photo, to get to Wikimedia Commons for various licensing details & tags, and all other necessary information on any particular photo.