"They are going to throw you to the wolves and kill you, everyone hating you because you carry my name. And then, going from bad to worse, it will be dog-eat-dog, everyone at each other's throat, everyone hating each other.
"In the confusion, lying preachers will come forward and deceive a lot of people. For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in—nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes.
"Staying with it—that's what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry, and you'll be saved. All during this time, the good news—the Message of the kingdom—will be preached all over the world, a witness staked out in every country. And then the end will come.
"If anyone tries to flag you down, calling out, 'Here's the Messiah!' or points, 'There he is!' don't fall for it. Fake Messiahs and lying preachers are going to pop up everywhere. Their impressive credentials and dazzling performances will pull the wool over the eyes of even those who ought to know better. But I've given you fair warning.” Matthew 24:4-14, 23-25 Message Bible
Man-pleasers are not concerned with what is in their hearts. They speak and act upon the reality that is within; in other words, ‘we say what we say and do what we do,’ because we want to look good to others.
Man-pleasers live for the outward show. It is nearly impossible to get them to admit they are wrong because that would destroy their good appearance.
A man-pleaser is someone whose life and actions are determined by what others will see and think.
We are called to be God-pleasers. We are to live for what God will see in us. Even if it means that we will not look good to others, we must live to please God.
We are to be concerned that in our hearts God sees that we are true and faithful and that we are repentant.
God looks upon our heart. He is not moved by outward appearance. He is NOT impressed by the “show” we put on for others.
Take for example the shell of an egg; God sees right through the shell to what is on the inside. That is why we must be concerned about our heart, and not the show we put on to impress others.
We must seek to live our lives according to the Word of God, not for popularity or to be man-pleasers.
If we say we are Christians but live like the world and are ungodly, where is our conviction?
This determines the condition of our heart. No conviction= NO CHANGE!
If we continue to live like the world, without conviction, we will not make a difference.
We only prove then to be hypocrites. We talk a lot, but we do not really believe what we say. If we did have conviction, it would show up in our lives.
Sadly, instead of conviction to be a God-pleaser, we want to be popular, liked, lifted up and recognized. We want to be the most popular of our friends and family. The attention must be on us, or we are not happy. We allow man to control our emotions and self esteem.
We want to boast, brag and receive praise, glory and honor from man. We not only want to please man, we want to look good and be honored.
“It's news I'm most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God's powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else!
God's way of putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: "The person in right standing before God by trusting him really lives."” Romans 1:16-17 Message Bible
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