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[Little Joe]

Hi everybody,

Well, here is my meditation for the day.  I was thinking about these verses in Matthew on my way  home from work, and how hard it was to follow them when I was in Babylon, and how much easier it is now.   There was always this temptation to say, "Hey, look what I've done" - of course, always sounding spiritual, "The Lord led me to do this, so He gets all the glory".  But Scripture says, "let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing", meaning no one has to know about it except you and the Lord, and you don't even need to think about it anymore.  How many ministries out there flaunt their good works?  How can they not when they are in the public eye?  I am happy to know that no one on this forum or anywhere needs to know anything I may or may not do and I can dwindle into obscurity just fine.  Jesus taught about prayer the same way.  I can go into my prayer closet and no one knows except me and the Lord, I don't have to worry about going to some prayer meeting somewhere and making a show of a long winded prayer, just so somehow I can participate so I don't feel inferior.  It's exciting to not feel those pressures anymore.  When you think about the commandments of Christ, the organized church is just plain incompatible.

Little Joe

Matthew 6

 1Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

 2Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

 3But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

 4That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

 5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

 6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

[Ray-Ray]

amen to that bro. I think that a lot of people go to church for the same reason, to be seen an heard.   peace ,Ray-Ray

[Jackie Lee]

Yes to see and be seen.

[gmik]

Thanks for that reminder Little Joe.  I love that passage.

[brandon h]

Amen, Little Joe. Amen.

God Bless

[Deborah-Leigh]

Hello Little Joe

It is refreshing to see witness of the BLESSINGS of Coming out of Her/Babylon! Thank you for your testimony.

I believe that the reason why we are to do things in "secret" is because this is how we learn to become like God who is INVISIBLE .

Peace be to you

Arcturus

[Phil3:10]

Little Joe,
What a testimony. Before I came out of Babylon I realized that GOD did not need my money and that deducting same from my income tax was not right. Any gift I made was in cash and no more deductions How wonderful it is to help someone in need and not seek recognition. How great is is that Ray does not merchandise his ministry and all the special people who support this ministry do it because of their love for HIM and each other.
Phil3:10

[dch1]

This is so true. I was always under pressure to be in church and be seen. I think it may also be the belief system. Many believe that you will backslide and go to the infamous "hellhole" if you don't beat the pastor to church. I to have experienced this freedom. Glory to God for the freedom he has given us.

[phazel]

Hey, that would make an awesome T-shirt.


Believers
Do it
in Secret



LOL   

[ellie77]

 Thank you for that testimony. I was with someone yesterday who was full of all that hype. I was sort of struck dumb with it. There was nothing secret there. Then your post just put it all in order for me. It is so wonderful to continually grow here with these great truths. Very uplifting. ellie.

[Little Joe]

Thanks everyone for their kind reponses.  I'm finding that God is bringing little things my way at times that often just bless my whole day.  Its fun having those "little secrets" only He and you need to know about.  But sometimes its OK to share, if your motivation is lifting someone else up and not "sounding the trumpet".
ciao

[David]

Thank you little Joe for sharing this. This was probably the first issue I had a problem with in my Church, way before I came to Bible truths and Rays teachings. At prayer meetings in particular it always seemed to me like it was some sort of contest to see who could get the most Amens, people would throw themselves on the floor, fling their arms in the air etc, and occassionally you could catch them glancing round quickly to see if anyone had seen what they had done. I was as bad for sure for a time. Not the throwing myself down etc but if I prayed something and no one responded with Amens I got to feeling I had done or said something wrong, I was seeking the praise of men. Over time these verses from Matthew 6 were seared in my mind, and I just couldn't take these meetings seriously anymore.
Now I always pray privately, and get so much more out of it.
Fasting was another thing they would do, very publically and in some cases boastfully. This was something I didn't take part in, it just didn't seem right to me.

[LittleBear]

Ha! Many years ago I attended a prayer meeting, which was really a gossip meeting. Ever hear someone praying gossip? Of course the person praying this way veils the juicy info in very humble, caring, flowery terms. YUK!

[Samson]

Great Post Little Joe,

                              I don't spend as much time in this section of Bible truths, maybe I should. I remembe reading Matthew chapters 5-7 many times and thinking that their doesn't seem to be too many people in the Churches following whats' said there. Maybe they don't or didn't read Matthew chapter 6 or hoped their members didn't, many Love the Glory of Men, instead of Gods' Glory and to Blow a Trumpet, to be seen by Men. Anyway, I enjoyed your Post, glad I stopped in.

                                     Your Brother in Christ, Samson.

[Little Joe]

Ha! Many years ago I attended a prayer meeting, which was really a gossip meeting. Ever hear someone praying gossip? Of course the person praying this way veils the juicy info in very humble, caring, flowery terms. YUK!

Good one little bear! Though, I have to admit that I've gossiped with the best of 'em!  I never repeated gossip though, If they didn't stick around, they missed it the first time!