what to do when revealing the Pharisee within

[looking4joy]

I don't know what has happened to me. I've been reading some more of the threads already on here, and one person asked, "Can I make myself have faith?" That sounds like me.

I feel like I have gone down this path too. Although, I always have felt a twinge of what is acceptable behavior and what is not to this "Higher power", or God. I didn't understand Jesus and his teachings right away, although I resonated with Him and had a spot in my heart that ached for His apparent suffering on the cross. And so I have "tried hard" to obey, almost super religious about it all, but still had sin deep rooted in my heart. Now the overwhelming message to me is that I am caught in the sin of hypocrisy, Phariseeism, and sin and addiction.

I've also been afraid to let it all out and have fun, which would include being who I really am, a sinner who loves to lust and sin. I've chosen not to, even though I've wanted to, because I'm afraid I would forget God and He would forget me; my life has been depressing because I'm not finding joy in Christ like I thought I should be.

All I can do as a hypocrite is to start to be my real self. Take off the mask. But if taking off the mask involves revealing how much I want to follow my lusts, won't that draw me away from God too? Deep inside I want to find a friend in Jesus who understands why I love sin so much, how broken I am, and that He wouldn't condemn me for being myself, until I find grace to discipline myself.

 

[brinny]

Bless yer heart, we all have a propensity to love sin. We ask for forgiveness and ask God to change our hearts and minds to not love sin so much. He already KNOWS that we do, and what our weaknesses are. Wer just keep talking to Him, and yes, we take our masks off. He already knows who we are behind the masks.

Reminds me of this quote that helped me tremendously to understand that we can talk to God about EVERYTHING and in doing so, He ministers to us.

“Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart, it's pleasures, and it's pains, to a dear friend.

Tell him your troubles, that he may comfort you; tell him your joys, that he may sober them; tell him your longings, that he may purify them; tell him your dislikes, that he may help you coquer them; talk to him of your temptations, that he may shield you from them; show him the wounds of your heart, that he may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself and others.

If you thus pour out your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subject of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back, neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of their heart, without consideration they say just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intimacy with God.” ~Francois Fenelon

 

[ToBeLoved]

Your issue is not so uncommon.

What happens is people "try" to be religious, "try" not to sin and "try" to be a good Christian. But many times they find themselves feeling empty.

That is because we were never meant to walk the Christian walk alone. Jesus died so that He could walk with us, in faith as our best friend. If your best friend knew that you were trying to change and trying to not sin, wouldn't they be proud of you for your progress? They would not be down on you that you are not perfect, but give you love and support. That is Jesus. He should be your best friend. He is the only one that will never leave you or forsake you and always love you. No one (man/woman) can give you that but God.

Walk "with" God, not "for" God.

 

[paul1149]

And so I have "tried hard" to obey, almost super religious about it all, but still had sin deep rooted in my heart. Now the overwhelming message to me is that I am caught in the sin of hypocrisy, Phariseeism, and sin and addiction.

I've also been afraid to let it all out and have fun, which would include being who I really am, a sinner who loves to lust and sin. I've chosen not to, even though I've wanted to, because I'm afraid I would forget God and He would forget me; my life has been depressing because I'm not finding joy in Christ like I thought I should be.

Well you're being honest about it here, and that's not hypocritical.

The first quote reflects the reality of law. Performance-based salvation always ends up a joyless, doomed enterprise. Romans 7 relates this reality graphically. Or it creates obnoxious deluded religious hypocrites. We are not a sound or stable base for our own salvation. Otherwise Jesus would not have had to come and offer His life on our behalf.

I think we all go through the stage the second quote describes. Many come to Christ out of fear of punishment. And that is fine. Better to come to Christ on any grounds than not. But we are not to stay there. The Gospel is clear that love is the superior motivator to fear. 1Jn says perfect love casts out fear... Fear has to do with punishment. In Christ we have escaped the wrath of God, because of the completed work. There will be no punishment for us!

It's a process to replace the fear with love. It's the process of moving from Romans 7 to Romans 8. Until love is perfected, it's better to have the fear, lest we do something that really hurts ourselves and others. This is not a malignant fear, it's the kind of healthy fear you get when you go too close to the edge of a cliff, But the more we learn of Jesus, and how He loves us, the more His love replaces the fear. We begin doing the things we did out of fear, now out of love. We don't sin, not because of punishment, but because we don't want to offend, and we want to please, the precious Holy Spirit within us. As we remain in His word, the truth sets us free, and we are transformed into His image (2Cor 3).

 

[TheyCallMeDave]

I don't know what has happened to me. I've been reading some more of the threads already on here, and one person asked, "Can I make myself have faith?" That sounds like me.

I feel like I have gone down this path too. Although, I always have felt a twinge of what is acceptable behavior and what is not to this "Higher power", or God. I didn't understand Jesus and his teachings right away, although I resonated with Him and had a spot in my heart that ached for His apparent suffering on the cross. And so I have "tried hard" to obey, almost super religious about it all, but still had sin deep rooted in my heart. Now the overwhelming message to me is that I am caught in the sin of hypocrisy, Phariseeism, and sin and addiction.

I've also been afraid to let it all out and have fun, which would include being who I really am, a sinner who loves to lust and sin. I've chosen not to, even though I've wanted to, because I'm afraid I would forget God and He would forget me; my life has been depressing because I'm not finding joy in Christ like I thought I should be.

All I can do as a hypocrite is to start to be my real self. Take off the mask. But if taking off the mask involves revealing how much I want to follow my lusts, won't that draw me away from God too? Deep inside I want to find a friend in Jesus who understands why I love sin so much, how broken I am, and that He wouldn't condemn me for being myself, until I find grace to discipline myself.

Faith in God and Jesus come from God himself. He draws you to himself, he makes scripture penetrate your soul that it is truth, it causes you to look deep within, faith develops within you once you start to walk with God daily , and he promises it to all to love him and want to know God more. God wants us to have deep faith that it takes a very thick veneer to refuse it ... a stronger desire to be ones own authority unto himself. For the person who receives it, it is a life changing experience . It is based on pure, deep truth , that is well reasoned and rational because God wants us to use our Minds in the process.

 

[orangeness365]

I grew up as a hypocrite. I like to think that I have changed. I used to point the finger at everyone's else's sins except my own. I had an excuse for every one of my own sins, instead of a repentant heart. I thought God talked to me in a dream once and that kind of made me realize that I need to repent for my sins instead of focusing on everyone else's sins. I thought i was righteous and would think that some people were good and some people were bad, but after reading the bible I realize that only God is good, Romans 3:11, and that there is no way for me to know who is going to heaven and who isn't. You can pray for God to change your heart. If you don't want to be like a Pharisee, then don't judge other people. I still struggle with judging, but I try to stop when it happens. Although we sin, we are encouraged to follow the law, Romans 3:31, and the law being to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Even though we are under grace, we are to try to not sin, Romans 6:1-4, Romans 6:15-16. As the previous passage states, that you are a slave to either obedience or to sin, and you want to be a slave to obedience. It would be good to read the whole passage about Slaves to Righteousness, because it is about what you are talking about, Romans 6:15-23. You say you want to let it out and be who you really are, but we are to die to our old selves, Ephesians 4:22, Luke 9:23, Romans 6:11-14, 1 Peter 4:1-2, Galatians 5:24, Romans 8:12-13, Titus 2:12, Romans 6:6-8. Jesus was known as a friend of sinners, and he died for us while we were still in sin, Romans 5:8. God is full of grace, but we shouldn't willfully go on sinning if we can help it Hebrew 10:26, James 4:17, but failing is inevitable sometimes, because only God is perfect. Even Paul had a thorn in his side, referring to the sin he still carried 2 Corinthians 12:7. God is filled with grace, but we aren't to sin so that grace may abound.

 

[ToBeLoved]

I grew up as a hypocrite. I like to think that I have changed. I used to point the finger at everyone's else's sins except my own. I had an excuse for every one of my own sins, instead of a repentant heart. I thought God talked to me in a dream once and that kind of made me realize that I need to repent for my sins instead of focusing on everyone else's sins. I thought i was righteous and would think that some people were good and some people were bad, but after reading the bible I realize that only God is good, Romans 3:11, and that there is no way for me to know who is going to heaven and who isn't. You can pray for God to change your heart. If you don't want to be like a Pharisee, then don't judge other people. I still struggle with judging, but I try to stop when it happens. Although we sin, we are encouraged to follow the law, Romans 3:31, and the law being to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Even though we are under grace, we are to try to not sin, Romans 6:1-4, Romans 6:15-16. As the previous passage states, that you are a slave to either obedience or to sin, and you want to be a slave to obedience. It would be good to read the whole passage about Slaves to Righteousness, because it is about what you are talking about, Romans 6:15-23. You say you want to let it out and be who you really are, but we are to die to our old selves, Ephesians 4:22, Luke 9:23, Romans 6:11-14, 1 Peter 4:1-2, Galatians 5:24, Romans 8:12-13, Titus 2:12, Romans 6:6-8. Jesus was known as a friend of sinners, and he died for us while we were still in sin, Romans 5:8. God is full of grace, but we shouldn't willfully go on sinning if we can help it Hebrew 10:26, James 4:17, but failing is inevitable sometimes, because only God is perfect. Even Paul had a thorn in his side, referring to the sin he still carried 2 Corinthians 12:7. God is filled with grace, but we aren't to sin so that grace may abound.

This is a great post. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ken Reetz]

You have received some good replies so I will just add this one: Learn to trust in God no matter how you "feel."

God made all of us a promise in Philippians 1:6 -- "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." It is God's promise that makes this a reality; it is not conditional upon whether or not you are having a good or bad day or how close you feel to God at the time. The promise is meant for you if you will trust in it and not doubt it.

Remember, your enemy, the Devil, hates the fact that you are seeking Christ, but he has no power to stop you. He can only press you with doubt and temptations, which you are going to feel in a strong way. Take all your failures and feelings to God in prayer (a thousand time is necessary) and He has promised the victory over self and the temptations that come to us through the flesh.

I relate to you a lot - also being subject to intense feelings. When I don't "feel" close to God it bothers me. When focusing upon the temptations that are haunting me I don't "feel" very spiritual and begin to doubt my sincerity. After willingly submitting to temptation I don't "feel" that God even wants me back. All of that "feeling" is because I am focusing on me and not the One who promised that He loves me and will save me from myself. My salvation is based upon the promise of God, nothing else, not even my best behavior.

Keep your focus on God and not yourself. God leads you to victory, there is nothing in self that will help or deliver you. I will pray for you, and you will need to pray also - fasting and prayer together will work miracles in your life. Fasting helps you deny self, which gives prayer more power. Read about it in scripture.

 

[terryjohn]

As long as we resist in our own strength we will have very little sucess for while we try to justify ourselves our pride will be our undoing. Humility only comes from dependance on God. If I am to be truely free to be me God must do it for if i could do it i would not need God.

 

[ToBeLoved]

You have received some good replies so I will just add this one: Learn to trust in God no matter how you "feel."

God made all of us a promise in Philippians 1:6 -- "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." It is God's promise that makes this a reality; it is not conditional upon whether or not you are having a good or bad day or how close you feel to God at the time. The promise is meant for you if you will trust in it and not doubt it.

Remember, your enemy, the Devil, hates the fact that you are seeking Christ, but he has no power to stop you. He can only press you with doubt and temptations, which you are going to feel in a strong way. Take all your failures and feelings to God in prayer (a thousand time is necessary) and He has promised the victory over self and the temptations that come to us through the flesh.

I relate to you a lot - also being subject to intense feelings. When I don't "feel" close to God it bothers me. When focusing upon the temptations that are haunting me I don't "feel" very spiritual and begin to doubt my sincerity. After willingly submitting to temptation I don't "feel" that God even wants me back. All of that "feeling" is because I am focusing on me and not the One who promised that He loves me and will save me from myself. My salvation is based upon the promise of God, nothing else, not even my best behavior.

Keep your focus on God and not yourself. God leads you to victory, there is nothing in self that will help or deliver you. I will pray for you, and you will need to pray also - fasting and prayer together will work miracles in your life. Fasting helps you deny self, which gives prayer more power. Read about it in scripture.

I agree. Our 'feelings' change depending on our lives, but God's Word and His promises to us do not change.

I will always believe in God's promises because He is holy and not able to tell an untruth. My feelings often betray me depending on the day.

 

[Steven Wood]

I don't know what has happened to me. I've been reading some more of the threads already on here, and one person asked, "Can I make myself have faith?" That sounds like me.

I feel like I have gone down this path too. Although, I always have felt a twinge of what is acceptable behavior and what is not to this "Higher power", or God. I didn't understand Jesus and his teachings right away, although I resonated with Him and had a spot in my heart that ached for His apparent suffering on the cross. And so I have "tried hard" to obey, almost super religious about it all, but still had sin deep rooted in my heart. Now the overwhelming message to me is that I am caught in the sin of hypocrisy, Phariseeism, and sin and addiction.

I've also been afraid to let it all out and have fun, which would include being who I really am, a sinner who loves to lust and sin. I've chosen not to, even though I've wanted to, because I'm afraid I would forget God and He would forget me; my life has been depressing because I'm not finding joy in Christ like I thought I should be.

All I can do as a hypocrite is to start to be my real self. Take off the mask. But if taking off the mask involves revealing how much I want to follow my lusts, won't that draw me away from God too? Deep inside I want to find a friend in Jesus who understands why I love sin so much, how broken I am, and that He wouldn't condemn me for being myself, until I find grace to discipline myself.

Dear friend I pray for you. I have no answers for you. I can tell you where I am in my life and that's about it. Though I'm still young I feel old and broken. I started life very very early. At 16 I had my first child and was married and had 3 children at 20 and without telling my entire life's story I did very well and had so much, went to church, owned a lot of land, and had more at 21 than I ever had since. Now in my mid 30's I have been stripped of all pride, been broken, and have nothing including my family. I am a modern day Job but Lucifer did not leave the nagging wife, She past away a few years ago. I have transgressed and failed in my life and still do and have no good advice to share with you but what I have learned is this. When people think of Psalm 23 they think of yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death but I don't, I think of the Lord is my Shephard I shall not want. I struggled when I was losing everything going through my battles with sinning extensively, trying to separate myself from reality and what I was losing and just wanting to feel good again but finally I realised that nothing in or from this world could ever make me feel good or give me peace. It was only God that could.When I came to that realization and accepted it is when I started to find joy. I got closer to God, I started to understand what he wanted from me and things started to turn around. I don't want for anything now. My needs are met. I have complete peace. I can't tell you I'm happy all the time because that's just not true but I can tell you that I'm a lot happier than what I was and I know That Jesus is in my heart and loves me and that's my greatest hope for everyone becuse it's the best feeling. I'll pray for you and if you ever want to talk feel free to message me.

 

[Brianlear]

Why does "letting it all out and having fun" = lusting and sin?

I think letting out your real self, who you really are, would be letting God shine through you, cutting through all that and being child-like, joyful, who you actually are deep down. Sounds like you are afraid to do this, because you don't know what will happen. But what if it's really good? What if by having faith, you can let go and be secure in the fact that whatever comes out will be good? It takes faith. You won't be able to pray away your damaging thoughts and ideas.

 

[cryptic1]

When we receive Jesus into our hearts, our spirits at once come into right standing with God, through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Unfortunately, our body and soul (mind, will and emotions) are still the same as before we were saved and it is here where the real battle for our soul takes place.

In truth, nothing we do will ever satisfy the debt of our sins, only by walking with Jesus can we overcome the desires of the flesh and the world. So, consider moving away from trying to do things on your own willpower to just following Jesus. It's that simple.

For Jesus, God's son, did everything that was ever needed to be done on the cross. All we have to do is reach out and ask for the grace to overcome the temptation, for the faith to keep on moving forward even though there doesn't seem to be a way out and for the revelation of how much God truly loves us that He gave us His only begotten son. We are the 'pearl of great price', we just need to have a revelation of that.

 

[SeventyTimes7]

I don't know what has happened to me. I've been reading some more of the threads already on here, and one person asked, "Can I make myself have faith?" That sounds like me.

I feel like I have gone down this path too. Although, I always have felt a twinge of what is acceptable behavior and what is not to this "Higher power", or God. I didn't understand Jesus and his teachings right away, although I resonated with Him and had a spot in my heart that ached for His apparent suffering on the cross. And so I have "tried hard" to obey, almost super religious about it all, but still had sin deep rooted in my heart. Now the overwhelming message to me is that I am caught in the sin of hypocrisy, Phariseeism, and sin and addiction.

I've also been afraid to let it all out and have fun, which would include being who I really am, a sinner who loves to lust and sin. I've chosen not to, even though I've wanted to, because I'm afraid I would forget God and He would forget me; my life has been depressing because I'm not finding joy in Christ like I thought I should be.

All I can do as a hypocrite is to start to be my real self. Take off the mask. But if taking off the mask involves revealing how much I want to follow my lusts, won't that draw me away from God too? Deep inside I want to find a friend in Jesus who understands why I love sin so much, how broken I am, and that He wouldn't condemn me for being myself, until I find grace to discipline myself.

Lol but man, to be impenitent will not solve your problem, if you like to sin and you love to do so you cannot expect which God will like you doing it, and you cannot find someone who agrees with you, cause who agrees with the sins of other people is also considered sinner, cause the Bible define sinners also those who simply have agreement in those who commit the sin.
The first step is to fear God, and for to do it you should get conscious of the plan of salvation and if you are interested in it but if you are not then keep your way but be aware of the final salary.
Proverbs 8:13 "The fear of God is to hate the sin".
For to know what is the sin you should read Exodus 20 for to discern what is sin and what is not.
And you must stop to sin cause knowledge comes by observing God commandments and by observing them you love God and you love people. If you want to ignore all this then that's your own problem, don't expect to take away with you other souls to sin and have fun sinning.

 

[ToBeLoved]

There comes a time when each of us needs to stop asking others for answers and find out for ourselves.

No one will be standing with you on Judgement Day but Jesus Christ. Surely not anyone that gave their opinion about your faith.

 

[Mikhaela]

You have received some good replies so I will just add this one: Learn to trust in God no matter how you "feel."

God made all of us a promise in Philippians 1:6 -- "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." It is God's promise that makes this a reality; it is not conditional upon whether or not you are having a good or bad day or how close you feel to God at the time. The promise is meant for you if you will trust in it and not doubt it.

Remember, your enemy, the Devil, hates the fact that you are seeking Christ, but he has no power to stop you. He can only press you with doubt and temptations, which you are going to feel in a strong way. Take all your failures and feelings to God in prayer (a thousand time is necessary) and He has promised the victory over self and the temptations that come to us through the flesh.

I relate to you a lot - also being subject to intense feelings. When I don't "feel" close to God it bothers me. When focusing upon the temptations that are haunting me I don't "feel" very spiritual and begin to doubt my sincerity. After willingly submitting to temptation I don't "feel" that God even wants me back. All of that "feeling" is because I am focusing on me and not the One who promised that He loves me and will save me from myself. My salvation is based upon the promise of God, nothing else, not even my best behavior.

Keep your focus on God and not yourself. God leads you to victory, there is nothing in self that will help or deliver you. I will pray for you, and you will need to pray also - fasting and prayer together will work miracles in your life. Fasting helps you deny self, which gives prayer more power. Read about it in scripture.

Ken is right about the feelings thing.I have come to realize with the grace of God.That I have let my feelings lead me astray and should not put my trust in them explicitly.Oh such anguish and confusion arises from allowing my feelings to led me instead of being led By the Spirit of Truth. Truth isn't a feeling. The truth just is and always will be truth. It is important to read the Scripture and see what The Lord has to say instead of leaning on our own understanding, (which I let my feeling be my understanding) my soul was in distress simply because I allowed my feelings to get in the way instead of keeping my mind on the truth of what God says. And one can take comfort in the fact that God is not a liar. He Himself is the ultimate truth.
I also use to struggle with the word faith and wondered what it really means. To put it simply faith is trust. When we say we have faith in The Lord Jesus we are expressing we have trust in the Lord.Maybe you already know that.but for the longest time I was confused about the word.When you trust someone you believe in that someone and that someone who can be trusted is out Lord Jesus Christ.
As for the liking of sin.Well the sin nature in in all of us.So it comes naturally to human beings to love sin. The Lord knows what is in the heart of mankind in Jeremiah 17:9 it says about the heart “The heart is more deceitful than anything else
and mortally sick. Who can fathom it?" -CJB Interestingly enough two translations (NET and GWT) have mind where heart is. Strongs concordance gives this definition for heart in jeramiah 17:9 as follows :
Word: AL

Pronounce: labe

Strong: H3820

Orig: a form of 3824; the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything:--+ care for, comfortably, consent, X considered, courag(-eous), friend(-ly), ((broken-), (hard-), (merry-), (stiff-), (stout-), double) heart((-ed)), X heed, X I, kindly, midst, mind(-ed), X regard((-ed)), X themselves, X unawares, understanding, X well, willingly, wisdom. H3824

Use: TWOT-1071a Noun Masculine

Grk Strong: G1271 G2588 G3563 G4738 G5424 G5428 G5590

1. 
   1) inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding
   1a) inner part, midst
   1a1) midst (of things)
   1a2) heart (of man)
   1a3) soul, heart (of man)
   1a4) mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory
   1a5) inclination, resolution, determination (of will)
   1a6) conscience
   1a7) heart (of moral character)
   1a8) as seat of appetites
   1a9) as seat of emotions and passions 1a10) as seat of courage
   

 

[Mikhaela]

And The Lord Jesus says this about the heart :
For out of the heart come forth wicked thoughts, murder, adultery and other kinds of sexual immorality, theft, lies,
slanders" Matthew 15:19
We humans are born this way. When we are drawn to Messiah and believe in Him and give our lives to Him, He will strengthen us to over come sin by the Power of the Holy Spirit. The flesh and the Spirit are at enmity with one another. Galatians 5:17 says about this:"For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions." CJB

So it is a full blown spiritual battle. It is vital to read the Word of God.We eat three meals a day so we need to feed our spirit with the Word of God. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. I hope this helps some.

 

[SeventyTimes7]

And The Lord Jesus says this about the heart :
For out of the heart come forth wicked thoughts, murder, adultery and other kinds of sexual immorality, theft, lies,
slanders" Matthew 15:19
We humans are born this way. When we are drawn to Messiah and believe in Him and give our lives to Him, He will strengthen us to over come sin by the Power of the Holy Spirit. The flesh and the Spirit are at enmity with one another. Galatians 5:17 says about this:"For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions." CJB

So it is a full blown spiritual battle. It is vital to read the Word of God.We eat three meals a day so we need to feed our spirit with the Word of God. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. I hope this helps some.

And I would add which as James stated in his letter, the tongue is a big issue, cause the tongue speaks out of the things that fill our hearts.
If we think this, with the tongue we can break 6 of the 10 commandments, so that's why James states that the tongue has the power to send us to the sceol.
But the Bible states which the knowledge can make the difference:
(Proverbs 15:28) (Proverbs 15:28) (Proverbs 16:23)

And the knowledge comes from fearing God by observing His commandments:
***(Psalms 111:10)*** (Psalms 119:98-100) (Psalms 119:104)

But we cannot be able to do everything alone, cause the Bible states that we must pray for to not fall in temptation and we must pray for to ask knowledge.
So the prayer it's extremely important too.

If you guys read Proverbs chapter 2, you will be fascinated (Proverbs 2)