I could write somthing that everyone would agree on. Like food, or money, or cars, music.. But what about Jesus? I would not be naive and think that my own insecurity, (or sin) is not at the root of this but, there seems to be a slight twinge of irritation that nags at the forefront of peoples minds when His name arises, even among Christians. But for Gods sake, let's be extra biblical today... "Woe to you , scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" I will admit that I fall waaaaay short of the glory of God. Therefore I am a sinful man. Sin....... Thats another word that tends to make people feel uncomfortable. It must be offensive.... Anyways, the reason Jesus used language like that against the Pharisees was because they were vile on the inside but made their outward apperance all nice, waxed, and shiney to gain self righteous gratification. "You brood of vipers" Jesus called them out, rightly so considering their corrupt hearts toward God. Now to the main point; if this is true with the scribes and the Pharisees then it must be that I am just as corrupt as they are.

Isaiah 64:5 says " You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned- In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved.

64:6 "But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags, we all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away."

I am in need of repentance, Simply put. I cannot say much more than the obvious. I am a scribe and a Pharisee. Vain attempts to gain Gods trust, (thinking me and God were "cool" with each other), all while doing deeds that soothed my own self righteous vigor, etc... It's not about us, it's about God.

Mathew 23:13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: (this hits home for me) for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." He is saying that this self righteousness gets you nowhere and it also drags people down with you. "Religion".. Anything added to the price that Jesus paid for (in full) for sinners on the cross is false and askew, because we have already been bought. Like trying to attain your own salvation by the things that you do instead of trusting in what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. If you trust him and love him you will "work" accordingly to His will.

Think.... (assuming you see the world the way I do). Let me ask you this.. Does our perception into and of the world proceed, or rule over our conscience that God gave us? (In other words should we ignore our guilty conscience of doing bad things and just go on wordly perception and thriving in that instead of being humbled before God through the Holy Spirit covicting our conscience). Of course the answer is no, but for the sake of broadening my point i'll continue... This conscience, is to reveal natural flaws.. For example; feeling the need to lie our way out of somthing.... It feels right to our situation, but our conscience says other wise, (even if we ignore it). Our conscience is the result of Gods grace. In stark contrast, our perception; lacking, is a felt sinfull emotion (see post: Woe to You) and hardly trustworthy. I would say Gods grace grants us "esteemed perception" or sincere emotions for and into a lost world. Since sin has totally corrupted mankind (Gen 6:5), our conscience or heart has been totally corrupted, (except God draw you back, John 6:44) and as the lack of conscience proceeds, worldly desires will thrive. Rightfully so... Considering it's lack of conscience and persuit of sin. Conscience proceeds perception, with Gods objective truth of scripture in mind. So much for putting our faith in supposed things..... That would actually depreciate the Gospel of Christ, which makes no sense at all.. I, am guitly of this, and I have seen the world. With God drawing me back to himself, this is my hearts view for the world and my own self (my perception). A deep, unsettled, desolate, sunken ship. So sad and inconvienient as the holy spirit hangs me over the edge looking into a lost world. A sheath of sorrow has covered my heart with delicacy. A simple metaphor to gain the bridle......... The world: so lost, and headed for a true demise. Where has this land gone? Fathers taken, mothers lost, daughters broken, what am I to see, a son.. Slain at the moment of her loss (sin entering into the world), she (the world) says "I have no conscience". She has gained perception......

This is really deep and I have a concern that people will not understand it but for the sake of being the writer that I want to be, I don't think that watering down metaphors will make anything better.. It's very easy for me to think this way and I hope that people may take the time to examine, first of all, Scripture in deep, exciting and intriguing ways and then also my own writings. I truly think that God intended for His people to really ponder on his Glory... I am captivated by thinking deeply on the Truths of God. I hope you will join me! Thank you for reading.

If I could so saturate my mind with this truth; my folly, would diminish. I would be subdued by grace, which esteems through the sin that covers my guilt laden heart. These doctrines of grace drive me to scripture, wherein Christ reveals himself. What Christian could object this? Someone who has actually had their heart turned toward God could not deny that Scripture is the foundation for their faith. I don't believe anyone would actually confess this but, passiveness in regards to reading Gods word, and thriving in it is the same as denying it. Just less noticible. We're all guilty of this to an extent. Some have desires for Gods word, others do not. Put simply; if I call myself a doctor but do not know the in's and out's of the human body, would I be a doctor? Potentially, but a true doc would be honest with him self and at least learn about what he was telling people, or assuming in his own mind. I guess the whole point of this for me is being true with yourself. I believe that the reason for this disconnect between a professing believer in Christ and scripture is the lack of teaching from their churches. When churches are basing all their efforts toward numbers and expierence, and lacking in teaching biblical doctrine, people are naturally not going to be inclined, or feel the responsibility to read Gods word. In effect we have professing Christians who know very little about what scripture says about the God their worshiping. Thus being passive, there is no urgency for clear vision into the Gospel of Christ revealed in scripture. If a flower dosn't get water or sunlight it will wither. The same principle applies to a Christian; Believe in Christ but not be fed by his Word, The result is the same. A flower withering. A confused and potentially perishing professing believer.