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God Works In You

God works

Dear Faith Family,

For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure, (Philippians 2:13).

Thankful for the opportunity, I met a friend at a restaurant for lunch.  Once inside, a waitress seated us in a booth.  On our way to the booth, we noticed that every other booth was closed.  The closed booths looked just like the opened booths except for the bright yellow tape.  Did I not tell you about the yellow tape?!

I got the message.  It was a bright yellow “X” over the entire closed booth.  Nobody sat in those booths.  They were empty.  Closed.  It was kind of eerie if you ask me.

In all of Jesus’ woes to the religious leaders of his day in Matthew 23 (go ahead and read that chapter), I can’t help but wonder if today He might include that they were like yellow “X”ed-out booths.  They looked like every other booth on the outside.  Just nothing good happening on the inside.  Empty.

Then what about Zacchaeus?  He might have looked a little rougher on the outside, but still a booth none the less, right?  But I want you to notice something that Luke records for us in Luke 19:3, “he was seeking to see who Jesus was.”  Now if you’ll read Luke 19:1-10, you’ll discover that there was something good happening on the inside.  In fact, the yellow “X” is conspicuously absent.

So what’s the point?  There is a difference between the religious leaders in Matthew 23 and the chief tax collector (otherwise known by some as “Scumball” with a capital “S”).  One was empty.  The other, not.


In these interesting times it is too easy to get lost in the externals.  I’m convinced that our God is up to something internally.  Is He removing your yellow “X”?  Are you open?  Empty?

God does some pretty incredible work on the inside.  What is He working in you?

By His grace no longer empty,
Pastor Karl