Webster defines guile as “Craft;
cunning; artifice; duplicity; deceit”. The context of our verse is the
blessedness of the individual who has been freed by the Lord from the charge
and guilt of his iniquity – that is the description of what God does. Our part
is to ensure we remain blessed because when God looks, He can see no duplicity
or hypocrisy in our hearts! The ‘new’ man has a new spirit! He no longer
attempts to hide his sin or colour his performance, through craftiness and
deceit. He is a new creature, forgiven and freed to bring glory and honour to
God. This is the blessedness of our life in Christ that we are delivered from
the sentence of death which was hanging over us, and that we now walk in the
purity of spirit, mind and heart, which glorify our Saviour! How incongruous
that while claiming salvation and newness of life, we can yet uncover ulterior
motives in our hearts, which align us with our past desires and works of the
flesh! Such things must not be found in us, yet often we mar our blessedness in
God, because they still exist, though hidden and under cover! What is worse is
that we attempt to hide them from God, as if there was really a way we could
keep any of our thoughts, words or actions from His scrutiny! If there is truly
no guile in us, then our primary concern will be with how God sees us. We will
not concern ourselves with the impression others may have of us. We will not
attempt to cast a larger than life image of ourselves, highlighting our
achievements and status. We will not mind admitting our faults and showing our
mistakes. We will have no desire to be seen as anything but a saved, born
again, cleansed and living holy, child of God! The idea here is not that we can
claim perfection and innocence before God, but that we may have the honesty to
confess our sins and faults to God without concealment. May we truly live as
the blessed people God intends us to be, that the world around us may see and
‘taste’ of the wonder and glory of God’s salvation and of righted, pure and
honest Christian lives!
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion
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