You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also. Matthew 23:24–26 WEB.

We were once brought into a healing conference to be the praise and worship team for a visiting speaker. I was excited to see him but grew disappointed after he spoke for forty minutes on giving instead. At the end of the meeting, he took an offering and told everyone he had to pay this praise band. He said: "Whatever you were going to give, just double it. I have a lot of expenses to cover here," and he pointed back over his shoulder at us.

All of us in the band were surprised because we didn't usually get paid. Yet, I knew one of the singers was about to lose his home and could sure use the money, so the long speech got his hopes up. Instead, that chubby preacher took the offering basket and sprinted for the elevator like a jackrabbit. He bounced down the hallway.

We were busy packing up our music equipment for the night, and given the length of his speech about the band, we assumed he planned to settle up with us later. That would have been a blessing, but instead, it was a hoax. Once that preacher made it to the elevator, he never mentioned it again. That was really hard for us to get past. We felt exploited. Tarnished. He had used us and our praise and worship as an excuse to double his own offering.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:10 WEB).

Jesus really emphasized what was going on inside of you. People can wear the right clothes, say the right things, and have the right position, but their inside can be full of all types of hidden sins. Like "whitewashed tombs" (Matthew 23:27), we can be beautiful on the outside, while the inside is full of dead bones.

God wants to clean the inside of you first, then the outside will naturally become beautiful. There are things in my life He is still cleaning. It's an ongoing process, and an attractive person's behavior can make them ugly. Also, once clean doesn't mean forever clean. If you get weak and yield to it again, it will come back with friends. "The dog turns to his own vomit again, and the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire" (2 Peter 2:22).

Let God point these things out to you and deal with them as He brings them to the surface. We each have our struggles in this life, but He is faithful to deliver us from them all when we work with Him. The way to swallow a camel is to nit-pick over the smallest religious detail in others while ignoring the glaring billboard God is flashing before you.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You for waking me up today. Please cleanse me from the inside out. Remove the things from my life that need to go, and fill me with Your presence. Help me see the world through Your eyes. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

Note: For those who would like to join us, today we will be hosting our RHM Live Online church service. This is a special time of interactive worship, prayer, fellowship and an inspiring message. All are welcome! The service starts at 10am EST. Here is the link to join: RHM Live. As always, if you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page: RHM Prayer Network.