Hebrews 4:12-13, “What God has said isn’t only alive and active! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His Word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. NOTHING IS HIDDEN FROM GOD! HE SEES THROUGH EVERYTHING, AND WE WILL HAVE TO TELL HIM THE TRUTH.” (CEV)
I’m not a fan of Halloween, but I learned a lesson from it in a story a friend told. His story goes like this, “I had to stop at a convenience store one Halloween night. I was not “trick or treating” however. I was actually just trying to pay for the gas I put in my car. But that’s when I saw this interesting sign they had posted; it was a sign I had never seen anywhere else before. It simply read, “PLEASE REMOVE YOUR MASK BEFORE YOU ENTER.” However, I wasn’t wearing one. But to be honest, for one brief unhappy moment, I did remember what they used to tell me in school long after Halloween was over, some mean kids would yell, “Hey, Halloween’s over, take off your mask!” I wasn’t wearing one then either (kids can be cruel even when in jest). But the sign in the store was no joke or laughing matter by far. Obviously, they didn’t want someone to try to pull off a Halloween heist, wearing a mask that would conceal their identity from the security cameras. Which is why they were so adamant about no one entering the store that night wearing a mask.”
Well, we both took away the same interesting thought from his experience. We wondered if God feels that very same way about us when we enter prayer. Truth is, I can almost imagine a sign like that one at the store, being displayed at the entrance to the Throne Room of our Almighty God which we enter when we pray: “PLEASE REMOVE YOUR MASK BEFORE YOU ENTER.”
And you know why? Because God is not impressed by our religious words or our religious image. He is not interested in seeing the masks that we sometimes wear around various groups of people. He does not want to hear a recitation of the same tired old prayer script that we often repeat without thinking. He insists that we come as we really are – completely unmasked. You see, YOUR REAL GOD can only help the REAL YOU!
The futility of pretending or masquerading before God is abundantly clear in Hebrews 4, beginning with verse 12. It says: “For the Word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [THE COMPLETENESS OF A PERSON], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, and revealed to the eyes of Him with whom we have to give account.”
In a nutshell, it’s useless to come before God pretending we feel how we’re “supposed” to feel instead of how we really do feel. It’s a waste of time to come with our rationalizations, our excuses and our cover-ups. We are all laid bare before Him! He sees the “COMPLETENESS OF A PERSON”, not a piece, not selected parts, but He sees all of us, our entirety, our complete and whole selves (good, bad, beautiful and ugly), not a piece of us is hidden or concealed from God. Instead we are exposed and revealed to Him! I mean after all, how can you hide any part of yourself from the God who made every part of you?
Psalm 139, “God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to You; even from a distance, You know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of Your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and You’re there, then up ahead and You’re there, too—Your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful—I can’t take it all in! Is there anyplace I can go to avoid Your Spirit? to be out of Your sight? If I climb to the sky, You’re there! If I go underground, You’re there! If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, You’d find me in a minute—You’re already there waiting! Then I said to myself, “Oh, He even sees me in the dark! At night I’m immersed in the light!” It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to You; night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to You. Oh yes, You shaped me first inside, then out; You formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank You, High God—You’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, You know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before You, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful! God, I’ll never comprehend them! I couldn’t even begin to count them—any more than I could count the sand of the sea. Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with You! And please, God, do away with wickedness for good! And you murderers—out of here!—all the men and women who belittle You, God, infatuated with cheap god-imitations. See how I hate those who hate You, God, see how I loathe all this godless arrogance; I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred. Your enemies are my enemies! Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for Yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—then guide me on the road to eternal life.” (MSG)
Who, in their right mind, would ever attempt to hide anything from a God who knows them this well? It’s absolutely pointless! And yet, we still come to God in prayer wearing fig leaves! We’re still trying to play cover-up! We’re still trying to hide behind flawed masks.
But, there’s no point in attempting to play dress up when you’re spiritually and emotionally naked before Him anyway! So stop trying! Don’t cover it, dress it, lie about it or attempt to mask it! He knows all, so go ahead and tell it all! Let it go, for good and for real! Be real with Him. He won’t love you any less. I’ve discovered that sometimes we treat God as if He’s like people, and He’s not! He’s not waiting to drop on your head all the sins you’ve ever committed that He’s been holding over your head! He’s not waiting to use the information you share with Him against you. He’s not waiting on stand-by for just the right moment to trip you up. God does not delight in watching His children stumble, fail and fall. He’s waiting with arms open wide for us to run to Daddy and tell Him all about it…so what are you waiting for?
He already knows what’s behind the mask you show everyone else. You can’t and you won’t shock Him, no matter what you have to tell Him. You won’t surprise Him! But you will insult Him by coming to Him as if you’ve got it altogether! Because, if it’s one thing God does not appreciate its Performance! Don’t believe me? Listen to His Word:
Isaiah 1:13-17, “Quit your worship CHARADES. I can’t stand your trivial RELIGIOUS GAMES: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings – meeting, meetings, meetings – I can’t stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn Me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next PRAYER-PERFORMANCE, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your ACT. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.” (MSG)
Now, does anything about that sound like God is interested in attending another Prayer Performance? Absolutely Not! He already knows we’ve got blood on our hands so why do we attempt to come to Him sounding like we’ve been spic-and-span clean all day long? And what’s worse is that He even tells us pray as long and as loud and as often as you like, I Will Not Be Listening! So what’s the point, I ask yet again, aren’t you tired of pretending with God in prayer? Because He’s clearly fed up with our pretense, so much so, that He’s even turned a deaf ear to us! Is that really the relationship you want with Him?
Listen, God desires to talk with us about absolutely anything, however, God operates on an invitation basis. He comes into your life when you open it up to Him. So He’s asking you to check your mask at the door of His Throne Room and come, as the hymn says, “Just as I am, without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me.” That’s the relationship God is looking for. One of sincerity, one that is authentic and real. One without hypocrisy and pretense and performance! And yet, the one He’s getting instead says this in the Bible:
Isaiah 65:1-7, “I’ve made myself available to those who haven’t bothered to ask. I’m here, ready to be found by those who haven’t bothered to look. I kept saying ‘I’m here, I’m right here’ to a nation that ignored Me. I reached out day after day to a people who turned their backs on Me, people who make wrong turns, who insist on doing things their own way. They get on My nerves, are rude to My face day after day, make up their own kitchen religion, a potluck religious stew. They spend the night in tombs to get messages from the dead, eat forbidden foods and drink a witch’s brew of potions and charms. They say, ‘keep Your distance. Don’t touch me. I’m holier than thou.’ These people gag Me. I can’t stand their stench. Look at this! Their sins are all written out – I have the list before Me. I’m not putting up with this any longer. I’ll pay them the wages they have coming for their sins. And for the sins of their parents lumped in, a bonus.” God says so. “Because they’ve practiced their blasphemous worship, mocking Me at their hillside shrines, I’ll let loose the consequence and pay them in full for their actions.” (MSG)
You see this is where we find ourselves when God is finally fed up! This is a people that either ignored God, or gave Him a religious performance, or sought after help from everyone and everything else but Him. And as the old saying goes, “even nice people have their limit.” Well, so does God! We love to talk about God’s love, mercy, grace and favor, but you do know He’s also Just? Think about it: If you were in a relationship with someone who never talked to you, shared anything with you and spent no time with you, how much longer would you actually stay in that relationship? How long before you have to say something…do something about it? Well, stop treating God any different. He’s screaming “I’m Right Here”, says the Word of God, and still we either go to the horoscopes, popular preachers, or we go to Him in pretense or we ignore Him altogether. Exactly how much longer do you think God will tolerate this kind of “relationship”, when if this was the treatment you received from a MAN/WOMAN relationship, you wouldn’t dare accept it!
We serve a God who is touchable, available, accessible, so why are we being distant or disguised? He’s waiting in the Throne Room for us to come and visit, what are we waiting for? After all, He only desires that you take off your mask before entering, is that really that hard?
Truth be told, He already knows about the affair, the habit, the addiction, the lie. He knows where you were, who you were with and what you did. So what exactly do you think you can hide from Him? How can you possibly think you can hide what can only be exposed and revealed before Him?
So why not go to Him, honestly, and tell Him that you were jealous, envious, coveting, malicious, angry, bitter, resentful? He knows already, He’s only trying to talk with you to make you better. He understands your failures, your stumbles, even your deliberate sin! And yet with knowing all of that the Scripture goes on to say:
“Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior]. For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [KNOWING EXACTLY HOW IT FEELS TO BE HUMAN] IN EVERY RESPECT AS WE ARE, yet without [committing any] sin. Therefore let us [WITH PRIVILEGE] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and WITHOUT FEAR, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].” (Hebrews 4:14-16 AMP)
He knows exactly how it feels to be human! How can you ask for anymore encouragement than that? He knows, He understands, so you can come to Him Honestly about Anything! You will not catch Him off guard, you will not shock Him, you will not disappoint Him, you will not (and cannot) make Him love you any less, no matter what you tell Him, and that’s Good News! He loves us unconditionally! He doesn’t have hidden agendas and secret motives. He simply loves us His children and wants to Father us. The problem? We won’t let Him!
I’ll tell you this, I entered this New Year a whole lot lighter and only because I got sick and tired of going to God covered up! I was exhausted always trying to find the right words without sharing all of my wrong. I was tip-toeing around the throne room hoping He wouldn’t notice all the detours my feet had made from the path He laid out for my life. I love talking to God, I just didn’t want to take my mask off to do it! I didn’t want Him to see all the mistakes, missteps, mess, and misery! But I determined that going into this New Year my relationship with my Father was going to be better by being real! And I can honestly say I love talking to God now more than I ever have in the past. I mean the real me. All of the real me. The things that scare me, the things that cause me to panic and get nervous and anxious. I tell Him all the things that make me walk in fear. I’ve shared with God all of my insecurities. It honestly amazed me that I was saved for so long, and yet didn’t have a Real relationship with God where I could be naked and not ashamed and tell Him everything! Big things, little things, silly things. It doesn’t matter what it is, the point is I’m His daughter and He’s my Dad and at any given moment He wants to hear from the real me! My prayer life has become more personal, real, and practical. I feel God’s love and see His guidance and hear His compassion. I dropped a lot of weight when I took off my mask before Him! I finally felt safe, protected, and lovingly carried.
Which reminded me of my niece. She got into trouble in school and she had to tell me what happened. I told her, go ahead, tell me (as she stood in front of me). She said, “okay, but can I sit on your lap where it’s safe to talk.” I thought it was funny and adorable. But it also reminds me of how I feel in my prayer life with God now. It’s not standing in the pulpit with the mic and proclaiming an awesome prolific, eloquent, heart-wrenching prayer. Nope, it’s me climbing into my Dad’s lap, where it’s safe to talk, so I can tell Him all that I’ve done wrong so He can help me get it right. If you don’t feel that way when you pray, let this be your admonishment to change that today.
Take your mask off and go to God for real! Pour it all out to Him, He won’t drown in your sorrows and woes I promise you. Nothing you say to Him will take Him under. He can carry it and you. So today, no mask, no cover-up, no disguise, no make-up, no pretense, no performance. Just you, the real you. The at home in pajamas, scarf, no make-up, lounging on the sofa watching television eating ice cream YOU! The one that’s not in hiding, but comfortable in their safe place. God is your safe place. You can take your ugly to Him, and you don’t even have to get pretty to do so! Tell Him the truth about how it and they made you feel; tell Him about the job (or lack thereof); tell Him about the kids, the marriage, the waiting, the loneliness, the money, the depression. Tell Him about the decisions you have to make; tell Him what happened at school, at church, at your friend’s house. Tell Him what happened last night. Tell Him about your hurts, even the ones from decades ago. Tell Him all about your fears and tears. Tell Him about the midnight worries; the overeating; the substance indulgences. Tell Him that you’ve lost your way; that your fire has dimmed to ashes; tell Him about your lukewarm feelings about church; tell Him that you have no idea what your gifts or purpose is.
Sons and Daughters, Your Dad wants you, the real you! So why walk around broken when He’s the mender of all things broken? Give Him your fragments; your pieces; all the chipped parts of your life that look like they’ve been over-due for a make-over long ago! Remove the mask and talk to your Father. No need for an eloquent speech; no need to try to be deep and spooky; no need to speak in ten thousand tongues of fire; no need crawl in fear into the Throne Room; no need to put your ‘church clothes’ on to meet with God; just take YOU, all of YOU, the real YOU to Him! Take Him all of your issues, problems, worries, struggles, complexities. All of it!
Take it to Him, Today, Unmasked, God is Waiting to See and Hear From the Real You!
Luke 12:1-3, “[CAN’T HIDE BEHIND A RELIGIOUS MASK] By this time the crowd, unwieldy and stepping on each other’s toes, numbered into the thousands. But Jesus’ primary concern was his disciples. He said to them, “Watch yourselves carefully so you don’t get contaminated with Pharisee yeast, Pharisee PHONINESS. YOU CAN’T KEEP YOUR TRUE SELF HIDDEN FOREVER; BEFORE LONG YOU’LL BE EXPOSED. YOU CAN’T HIDE BEHIND A RELIGIOUS MASK FOREVER; SOONER OR LATER THE MASK WILL SLIP AND YOUR TRUE FACE WILL BE KNOWN. YOU CAN’T WHISPER ONE THING IN PRIVATE AND PREACH THE OPPOSITE IN PUBLIC; THE DAY’S COMING WHEN THOSE WHISPERS WILL BE REPEATED ALL OVER TOWN.” (MSG)
Listen: No More Pharisee Phoniness, No More Religious Masks, No More Hidden You! Today is Your Day to be Unmasked and Real! No Act, No Roles, No Lines, No Script, No Performance, No Costumes, Just the Unmasked and Real You!
“Ever since the days of Adam, man has been hiding from God and saying, ‘God is hard to find.’” (Fulton J. Sheen)
“The parts of me I usually like to hide are the very parts where God is working through my life and my story.” (Bonnie Gray)
“Find God – He isn’t hiding from you, you’re hiding from Him.” (Paramahansa Yogananda)
“You can run with a lie but you can’t hide from the truth. It will catch you.” (Author Unknown)
“You can speak with spiritual eloquence, pray in public, and maintain a holy appearance, but it is your behavior that will reveal your true character.” (Dr. Steve Maraboli)
“You don’t bring glory or pleasure to God by hiding your abilities or by trying to be someone else. You only bring Him enjoyment by being you.” (Rick Warren)
“Our huffing and puffing to impress God, our scrambling for brownie points, our thrashing about trying to fix ourselves while hiding our pettiness and wallowing in guilt are nauseating to God and are a flat denial of the gospel of grace.” (Brennan Manning)
“In all your course, walk with God and follow Christ as a little, poor, helpless child, taking hold of Christ’s hand, keeping your eye on the mark of the wounds on His hands and side, whence came the blood that cleanses you from sin and hiding your nakedness under the skirt of the white shining robe of His righteousness.” (Jonathan Edwards)
“Christian, that sin which first came between you and God is bad, but that is not the last step in the progress of sin. The most guilty part in this quadruple sin is to hide it, deny it, ignore it, refuse to confess it, refuse to repent of it.” (John R. Rice)
“Don’t hide your scars, wear them as proof that God heals.” (Author Unknown)
Much Love, Dr. Shermaine #EnjoyTheRead #BeInspired #BeEncouraged #BeEmpowered #BeChallenged #ShareTheWord
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