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22/1/18 – Genesis 43, Genesis 44 Matthew 15:10-39 Psalm 13:1-6

Matt 15:17-20 – Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

When tradition misses the point: People became so concerned with tradition – with defilement from the external, that they had missed where true defilement comes from – inside. Jesus wasn’t concerned so much with the external, but with who a person is within.

He pinpoints the heart as the place where all of this bad things come from. It’s easy to try and blame something external for the way we are, but really it all comes down to the heart. Even what proceeds from the mouth comes from the heart.

We can look good to others on the outside – we can even say all the right things – but what does that matter if the heart is not right. O God, give me a clean heart…. we must guard our hearts – we must seek change in our hearts – for change there, is change everywhere.

Ps 13:5-6 – But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

It’s short psalm this one, but a lot changes throughout it. It starts desperate – “will you forget me forever?” and it ends with trust – “I will sing to the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with me”. He’s is praying for comfort and reassurance at the start… and by the end that’s exactly what he has. This psalm shows the wonder of honest prayer. When we feel lost and forgotten, we take it to God – we cry out and when we do so, God loving reassured us.

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