Been circumcised recently?

^"27The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
 ²⁸A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. ²⁹No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God."
Romans 2:27-29

I was in church in Scotland a couple of weeks ago, a woman had asked to give her testimony; I love testimony time, next to prayer time, testimony time is my favourite.  I love to hear the stories that God is writing.  So this woman stood up, spoke her word and sat back down and I thought, "God, I love Your church!" 

It was almost immediately I realized that this was not so true, as I thought how if I had any kind of disagreement with anyone at the end of the service my tune would quickly change.  Why?  Because the love I felt for the church was a feeling I had in the moment, not a decision I had made as a result of my obedience.  We say all the time, "I love -fill in the blank-" but do we, do I?  What or who do we really love, and do we love through choice, or because we are feeling that way?The truth is, we love feeling good, whatever makes us feel good, that's what we love.  Feelings are so transient, we cannot rely on them as a thermostat for how our life is going; our feelings are NOT reality.  This woman's testimony made me feel good, and so, life was good; what if she was talking non-sense?  Would my life then be non-sense? Would I have felt the same?  Well, no.  Would God have been any less real? Nope, nope, nope.

Sometimes when I'm having a smart day, I'll download teaching from iTunes instead of the recent Black Eyed Peas, the teaching will normally be from Beth Moore, (actually, only from Beth Moore) and then on even smarter days, I listen to it. On this particular teaching, (Esther,) Beth was saying that when we are validated through others, we have a greater need for it, and rely less on God, until it escalates where it's all about others validation and not about our identity in God.  Well, it wasn't genius, it was simple, something I had heard time and time again, and yet, it hit me between the eyes; it was the Word for the moment.

I think of that in light of social networking sites, media systems, etc; we are constantly being stimulated; how often do we check our e-mails, texts, facebook?  Daily?  Hourly?  Or worse...?  The whole being still and knowing He is God is often so far from our mind-set, and the worst lie of all that we tell ourselves and others in the midst of our being busy, "we are being productive for the sake of the Kingdom..."  NON-SENSE! Have you heard about the seventh day of creation recently?...

The Word says that circumcision is not merely physical, but spiritual, therefore our work should not all be justifiable for the sake of man, but for the sake of God; no physical evidence required, heart circumcised?  If  the answer is yes, then you're done; you cannot prove yourself to man, so give over trying!  It's not about how the world makes you feel, but how the Lord does.  Just 'cause you can own a pair of sneakers does not mean that you can run marathons!  I've busied myself with Kingdom business all day, and all day, ignored Him completely.  Talk about a loser!

The evidence of your circumcision will be in your testimony; what is your testimony?  Try telling Him first, before you even consider blogging it.  You don't have to prove your holiness when you are holy, it radiates, no matter how you feel.