But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. Matthew 15:18.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
I have told you that those who are righteous live by faith but, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him. Habakkuk 2:4.
What puts your soul right? Your soul consists of your mind, your will and your emotions, and the part that will control is your mind, but what you are feeding your mind will determine whether your soul is right or not. If your flesh is controlling your mind, then your soul will not be right, it will be holding you captive in the works of the flesh.
What are the works of the flesh? I think you most likely already can figure that out. The works of the flesh, if you want to sum it up, destroy you. They rob you of peace, joy, and righteousness. They have nothing to do with pure love and shalom peace. Sin and lawlessness are the result of walking in the flesh and not in the spirit.
The works of the flesh are evident, which are: fear, worry, anxiety, depression, lying, cheating, stealing, immorality, impurity, sensuality, gluttony, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these that are not of love, and thus, not of or from Me. Galatians 5:19-21. These things, if indulged in, destroy you physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Adam sinned in the flesh. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, but you can walk in the spirit and not in the flesh, and it all depends on what you are permitting your mind to feed on. Is it spirit food or flesh food? My Words are Spirit and life. And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23. If your heart is right, the fruit of your lips will bring life that is life indeed. And you can feed on that with no torment. Perfect love casts out fear. When you live and abide in My love, fear and worry are things of the past. All the years of fears and tears are gone when you know what you have in Jesus. In Him, you have total forgiveness and unconditional love. I am for you, not against you. I am with you, I will never leave you or forsake you.
What are you listening to, pondering upon, and speaking about? And that is how you know very easily with what you are feeding your mind. And the good news is you can control the input and thus control the output, because the mouth speaks from what is controlling your mind. If your spirit is robust and will fed with My Word, your mind will have to line up with the primary input you are giving it.
If your spirit is controlling your mind then, then your soul will be right, for when you are walking in the truth, which is My Word, your soul prospers.
What puts you in your right mind?
The people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. Luke 8:35.
Jesus, My Word made flesh, will put your mind and your heart right. In Him, you become a new creation in Christ, born from above by My imperishable Word.
It all has do with your heart and that is why I search hearts. I am looking for hearts in which there is no guile.
“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:8-10.
And in today’s conversation with Jesus we will find the hearts of those who came to question Him were not right. They came to accuse Him and not to learn from Him.
What do your prayers sound like? Accusations and agitation or the fellowship of love and revelation? The proud one always knows better and is unteachable. But his heart is not right.
Jesus was teaching and healing in Galilee, and a group of Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem on a mission of accusation, they came to question Jesus and His disciples of violations of their laws and rules. They did not even greet Him with respect but immediately set in to question Him. They said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” Yes, they came all the way from Jerusalem to ask that.
But this went much deeper. There was an ongoing dispute between the Pharisees against Jesus as to whether He kept or broke the Mosaic Law, which the way they interpreted it and administered it was not even close to the way I meant it to be interpreted and administered. They failed to understand Scripture and My power. They read the Word and studied the Word academically but they missed the heart of the matter. It was not alive to them. Shabbat was no longer a sign of sanctification and oneness with Me, of the abiding life of the branch in the vine drawing up all that was needed for life and godliness from Me, the LORD who sanctifies you, but a restrictive set of rules on what you could not do on Shabbat even down to lighting a fire to cook, and today even goes so far as pushing elevator buttons.
But Jesus has an answer designed to make them evaluate their own conduct. He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? Matthew 15:3.
They were taken aback. They had come to accuse Him and He was questioning them. They had come to self righteously accuse Him from their superior place of knowledge but the standard with which they measured was being measured back to them. As they judged so they were being judged. Be careful about this. Blessed are those who show mercy, mercy shall be theirs.
And Jesus continued, “For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” Matthew 15:4-6.
Jesus went to the very core of the family and of honor and respect, which weighed in above washing hands before eating, which is not a law you will find in the Bible, especially not in the Ten Commandments. It was a manmade tradition and was not about hygiene but ritual that made men proud at how holy they were being. The practice involved a specific method of washing which was more than just regular handwashing for cleanliness. It required pouring water over the hands in a particular manner and was often accompanied by specific prayers or blessings.
Jesus then revealed their hearts to them and those that were being drawn in to their nullifying My Word for human traditions.
You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’” Matthew 15:7-9.
The handwashing ritual the Pharisees were enforcing was a tradition developed over time by religious leaders, not a command found in the Bible itself. Jesus’ was pressing the importance of distinguishing between human traditions and My actual commandments.
And Jesus took this as a teaching moment for all who were there getting dragged into the trap of defining holiness by manmade rules and not by Mine.
Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” Matthew 15:10-11.
Then the disciples, who were still very concerned with the praise of men and wanting those in authority to favor them, came and said to Jesus, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” Matthew 15:12.
Correction offended the proud, self-righteous Pharisees. Proud people who think they are above others do not take correction well, in fact they reject it in offense.
But Jesus answered with the truth of the matter, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” Matthew 15:13-14.
When people refuse instruction and correction, I have to let them go their own way. I try in every way to save all men, My Son died for ALL, but if you refuse to receive the gift I cannot force you. A gift is not legally completed until received and accepted by the donee.
Everything that is not of My Word, was not sown and grown by My Word, is not true and must be uprooted out of your mind and heart lest it take over and ensnare you. If you live your life under a lie, you will perish, for lies are perishable but the truth stands forever.
The righteous man can never be shaken. His heart is steadfast, trusting in My Word.
Peter knew My Son had the words of eternal life, so he said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” Matthew 15:15.
Again, Jesus went right to the heart of the matter and said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.” Matthew 15:16-20.
It all comes back again to your heart being right. My Son is meek and gentle, humble in heart so that your souls find rest in Him and He restores your soul. He did not come to judge the world but to save it. Remember that next time you begin criticizing just to appear wiser or holier than another.
For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:2-5.
And also I want to emphasize the importance I put, for hearing the Words of My Son you hear Me, on a pure heart. Blessed are the pure in heart for the shall see Me even now. When your eye is pure you see the world in the light of My love and My light shines into and out of your heart to a world veiled in darkness. Discern evil and stay away from it. Discern it but never know it, never live it, and never think on it except to cast it out with the light. Know only good in the sense of experiencing it and living in it. Taste and see My goodness and you will never again desire anything else.
How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your Word. With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your Word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You. Psalm 119:9-11.
I love you. My commandments are not burdensome, they are opportunities to live a beautiful life in the light that you will never be ashamed of. And My commandments are simply to believe in the Name of My Son and to love one another as He gave commandment. And that goes right to your heart.
And by the way, I have no problem with you washing your hands, it is a good idea, but that was not the issue here. The issue here was actually the question that the Pharisees were trying to define in manmade rituals and tradition, it was the question of what makes you holy and acceptable to Me. And Jesus let you know: a pure and humble heart filled with love and light who trusts in Me. Faith, true, unfeigned faith in My love for you as manifested in My Son and then living that love from your heart towards Me and others. Live pure of malice, envy and strife.