Dear Precious Child,
If you notice, all of My standards stand against something that the devil does in your world. For instance I warned against becoming a hypocrite, a hypocrite being a person who wants to be noticed for being religious and seemingly pious. The first standard against being a hypocrite is in giving alms. I said not to announce your gifts to the poor or your pledges in church or the time you spend serving meals to the elderly. Those are what the hypocrites do and they do it to be praised by people. I said you will receive no reward from Me because you have already received acclaim from people. The problem is in the motivation, whether the giving is to be seen by people or alone from a pure heart and given to those in need. My standard is that when you give money that you should not know how much you give because you have reached into your wallet and taken out an amount not even known to yourself to give to those in need. When you don't know how much you give, then you won't brag about the amount. I said to let your gifts to the poor be in secret and then I will reward you openly. (Matthew 6:1-4)
Another action that I taught you about in how to avoid becoming a hypocrite is in
praying. I told you that My standard is to pray in your home in a special place where no one else can see you. In doing that, you are furthering our one-on-one personal relationship. I said that when you pray as I instructed you to do, alone and in our intimate personal relationship, that I, who hears in secret, will reward you openly. The hypocrites pray in public in order to be seen by people and praised as being godly while all the time they are only religious and hypocritical. They want the acclaim of other people instead of My acclaim. I said not to pray in public but instead to go into your room, shut the door, and pray to Me. I said that I will see you in private and will reward you openly in answer to your prayers.
I warned against the kind of prayers that the hypocrites pray, going on and on and on with empty phrases that don't impress Me in the least because those prayers are meant to impress the listeners, again getting the acclaim of people who say that you pray the best prayers. (Matthew 6:5-8) Jesus said that if you pray with the motivation to impress the listeners, then you have the reward that you wanted, the praise of people and you will receive no reward from Me.
Jesus gave the standard about fasting also. He said when you fast, do not look sad and falsely humble like the hypocrites who disfigure their faces so that people will know that they are fasting and praise their loyalty to Me. The hypocrites have no loyalty to Me or they would not be fasting publicly to prove they are religious. Jesus said when you fast to wash your face and put on a happy face to people and do not announce you are fasting. He said that I will see you in secret and will reward you openly. (Matthew 6:15-18)
Our relationship is Father/child, with no other human being between us. It is one-on-one and that kind of relationship can only be furthered and fostered when you are alone with Me in true communion. I said to let your wants be made known to Me in our one-on-one prayer sessions without anyone else present and I will reward you openly. When you pray in public, the devil always impresses you to add flowery language so that you will be praised by the listeners. You might be a person who normally would not do such a thing, but the devil is always there with his temptations when your pray in public. Be safe and do what I instruct you to do, which is not to give the devil an inch so that he can bind you to his curses, heaping his destruction onto you! (Matthew 5:8-13; Matthew 24:13-14)
The demon of hypocrisy is around constantly to tempt you into publicly praying, fasting, giving and ministering just to gain the praises of people. Ministers will even encourage them sometimes. Be cautious and be on alert to recognize the demon behind all hypocrisy. I love the hypocrites. I can't reward him or her if the motivation is to be praised by people. Hypocrites are rewarded by the devil for being attentive to his words, doing his will in the earth. His rewards are death and destruction. (Mark 7:6)
I warned you not to be like the hypocrites. They already have their meager rewards from other people who praise them for their seemingly pious motivations while all the time they are whited sepulchers, dirty on the inside but publicly clean on the outside. That is why My instructions are to have a one-on-one relationship with Me, where there is no audience for which you can perform. You reduce the chance of becoming hypocritical when your prayers, giving, fasting and ministering are in secret. (Matthew 23:27)
My standards are given to you to protect you from yielding to demonic spirits. Appreciate the teachings and obey them so that you can have My kingdom come into your life just like it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
Your Loving, Forgiving Father
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