It is almost Halloween and most folks are already thinking about costumes. I have mine – it is a simple mask.  I tried it on one night and Joy and the girls laughed and laughed, so I bought it.  It is fun to put on a mask at Halloween and pretend to be someone or something that we are really not.

Most of us have a very serious problem of wearing a mask or masks even when it is not Halloween. We wear a mask and pretend to be something that we are not.  Many of us have been wearing a mask for so long, that we even fool ourselves!  We need to get real if we are going to get free!

I want a pure heart! I really do want my heart to be pure, because Jesus promises that those with a pure heart will see God.  I want to see God.  I need to see God.  I sometimes convince myself that my heart is pure because I do the right things.  But a pure heart requires more than just doing the right things.  A pure heart requires doing the right things for the right reasons.

A pure heart is a heart that is clean, uncontaminated and without corruption. If my heart is going to be pure, then I have got to take off my mask and/or masks of pretend and let Jesus deal with the real me.  My heart is not always clean and it cannot become clean, if I am unwilling to admit that it is unclean.  As I live in this world it is very easy for me to allow my heart to become contaminated with the stuff of the world.  Pretending that there is no contamination in my heart does not make it true.  Living with the contamination leads to corruption and before long my heart is in a desperate  and very serious place.

My heart is me, it is who I am! It represents the inner me, the me that I have to allow others to see.  When I get the inside of me right – the outside will follow!   This is where most of us mess this up, because we start on the outside.  It is the inside that matters!  God looks at the heart!

Take a good, honest look at your heart! What kind of work do you need to do?  What kind of work do you need to allow God to do?  Take off the mask or masks, get honest, be real and experience the freedom that only Jesus can bring.

What do you think about the words of Jesus? When you read from the teachings of Jesus, what do they mean to you?  Does the teaching of Jesus challenge you to live different from the world that we so often get caught up in?

The words of Jesus will challenge your life! When I take the time to actually read and think through the teachings of Jesus, I cannot argue, because while what he teaches is not always easy, it is always right.  I cannot think of one teaching of Jesus that I have ever found any valid basis to have an argument with.

The words of Jesus will change your life! When we read them and begin to live by them, then the words of Jesus will challenge and change our lives!  I need challenge and I need change, so I am going to spend some extra time this week listening to and learning from the words of Jesus.  I challenge you to do the same.

A really good place to start is with the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12. Enjoy the journey, appreciate the challenge and share the growth!

There is a phrase that I hear over and over. I guess as a pastor, I can’t help but hear it.  The phrase is:  “Will you pray for me?”  How many times have you had someone to ask you to pray for them?  A more important question is what do you do when someone ask you to pray for them?  A lot of times we tell people we will pray for them and then never actually get around to doing it.  Is intention really enough?  When I ask someone to pray for me, then I want them to pray for me and as soon as possible!  And when someone ask me to pray for them, then I do my best to get to it as soon as possible.  (I know that if I don’t do it while it is fresh on my mind and heart, then I will forget it!)

This is how you move past intention and into action. When you tell someone you will pray for them – do it as soon as possible.  The sooner you do it, the sooner it will be done!  Many times when a person will ask for my prayers, I will do it right then and there – on the spot.  If I can’t do it then and there, then I will get to it as soon as possible by stepping into a corner or even as I walk along to where ever it is that I am off to next.

Remember this:  Prayer is simply communicating with God. Good communication requires talking and listening.  Will you pray for me?  Thank you – now don’t wait do it right now.  And if I can pray for you just email me or comment and let me know how.