A Hypocritical Christian by the Name of Jeremy...

 It's not often that you will hear someone say this, but in regards to myself, I can say it only because I find myself at ends with such a complex thought.

 Hear I sit and try to encourage people in the things of God, chase after Him like there is no tomorrow, get into your prayer closet and do the things that God has called us to do. But unfortunately, I don't follow through on these things myself. I claim and say that I am a man of God, who loves nothing more than to witness to the body of Christ and to the lost. But in some respect, I don't always talk or act like a man of God. I still have issues with cussing, acting un-Godly, speaking of worldly things and dealing with fleshly issues. I give into the temptations on most ocassions and tell people that I have overcome them. I don't walk the talk that I preach. Therefore, I am a hypocrite.

 Some people have their own ideas of what a hypocrite is. But simply in what I believe, it means to simply walk in the opposite direction of God's Word or the path that He has laid for me. Some people say that it's acting one way on the outside, but secretly do another behind closed doors. Now, this may sound like that I am beating myself up. But honestly, I don't think that this is farther from the truth when it comes to most Christians.

 "What? Jeremy, you have just passed judgement amongst an entire faith!"

 Honestly, Christians happen to be the biggest hypocrites in the world today. Christianity has become more of an idea versus a lifestyle. If you are a good person that simply loves Jesus, confesses him as your Lord and Savior, and not fulfilling the call that He has placed on your life and chose to live your own, in some idea, that is hypocritical. It is a direct contrast of what God has called you to do with your life.

 My Pastor made a statement the other night that I was thinking about. When the Rapture occures, not every Christian that has confessed Jesus is Lord, will be taken. Jesus said it is better to be "hot or cold than to be lukewarm." In my eyes and thinking, He is saying, "you people had a chance to believe and you didn't. You who said that you believed, you were the hypocrites who confessed me before men, but did not walk as I had called you." That almost makes me cry for myself. Only because I have not really done what I have been called to do. He said that we will be "mocked" as an individual if we are the ones left behind. Here I was claiming to be a man of God, and I didn't do everything that I said that I was doing. That, in my eyes, is a hypocrite.  

  I have lied, cheated, murdered and lusted after the things of the world. Now, this may sound like that I am beating myself up, but I want people to know at the same time that the best example for people to look at as far as being a man of God was the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

 Jesus was the example of a Christian. "Well He was the Son of God, Jeremy!" Yes, he was, but He was so much more than that. Jesus pointed and called out the hypocrites back in the day. But when He did it, He did it with love and encouragement. He rebuked, corrected and encouraged them to change their ways and how they lived. Now we have the love, grace and mercy of the Heavenly Father, but we can't use those things as a crutch to get us through this life until Jesus returns. Repentance is a way of beating those old issues out of ourselves and not condemning others for the way they live when we are doing the same thing. Repentance is simply having a change of heart. Do I want to continue living the "hypocritical life" or the "God kind of life" that He has promised me.

 I am a liar, a thief, a murderer. I am an adulterer and a child of the Most High God. The fact that God himself said that there will be none of those things in the Kingdom of Heaven brings great concern to myself and my walk with God. I strive only to overcome the things of this world by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of my Testimony. Now with all of this being said, this doesn't change the fact that I love God and that I am constantly walking like this. This for me simply encourages me and hopefully others in recognizing some of the wrongs in our lives. And this may even sound judgemental, but I hope that some people see this simply for what it is. That living in such a way is only going to bring harm and destruction to yourself, your family and friends and ultimately, your relationship with God. There is a verse that always comes to mind when I think about the my "hypocrisy."

 Numbers 32:23... But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.

 This was a command given by Moses to his people so that they might reach the inherited Promiseland. But if they don't follow the way and the command that they were given, then they would only bring harm upon themselves. They would not reach their inheritance. That is the same thing today. Not following the commandments that God has placed in and on your heart and saying that you will, that makes us hypocritical.

 I'm not trying to sit here and start beating people up for their lives. I can only speak for mine. But I can continue to strive. Ask God to change my heart. Ask God, through the Holy Spirit, to show me how I can change these things through His Word. People cannot see Jesus Christ in me if I am not doing it at home. Most of all, it only hinders what God can do inside of me.

 My name is Jeremy. I am a child of the Most High God. I am deeply loved and highly favored. I am blessed and annointed from our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. I am Blood washed and Spirit-Filled.

 This is who God says that I am...

 This is not who I am if I am not accepting those things that He says about me...