Drop the Mask
Admit Your Need
Recently, we discussed Matthew 11:28–30, where Jesus calls those who are weary to find rest in Him.
Yet, if we are honest, few of us want to take Jesus up on that offer because we do not want to admit that we are tired, burdened, or needy. We would rather keep working than admit weakness.
This is where the good news of Jesus meets us: the first step is admitting our need.
We must learn to admit that we need help.
Jesus commends faith like that of a child. Children are not ashamed of needing help, nor are they embarrassed to ask for it.
Yet we are often ashamed and embarrassed to receive anything from anyone, including God. We spend our lives propping up an image of ourselves that communicates power, competence, and clarity. We seek prominence and positions that declare that we are good, great, and completely put together.
Early in His ministry, Jesus explained whom He came to save:
“And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’”
—Mark 2:17
While we seek to save face, Jesus calls us to come honestly to Him. His offer allows us to drop the charade, remove the mask, and admit our flaws, failures, insecurities, and inadequacies.
Jesus says, “I love you as you are. Quit trying to be who you are not.”
Will you embrace the rest offered to the sick rather than pretend to be well?
Will you admit your need, or will you try to conceal it all the more?
“Lord, make me childlike. Deliver me from the urge to compete with another for place or prestige or position. I would be simple and artless as a little child. Deliver me from pose and pretense. Forgive me for thinking of myself. Help me to forget myself and find my true peace in beholding Thee. That Thou mayest answer this prayer I humble myself before Thee. Lay upon me Thy easy yoke of self-forgetfulness that through it I may find rest. Amen.”
The Creator and the Creature
Psalm 51:1-2
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
If faith is continually setting our minds on God and believing Him, then what is salvation?
According to Tozer, “salvation is the restoration of a right relationship between man and his Creator, a bring back to normal of the Creator-creature relation.”
One thing we must remind ourselves of is this: The expectation is not perfection, but holy intention.
God is above us.
Where we are finite, He is infinite.
Where we are learning, He possesses all knowledge.
Where we are still trying, He has already completed His work.
Where we are growing, He remains the same—and He is perfect.
Think about this for a moment:
“Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.”
—Psalm 147:5
When we come to the place of salvation, we realize that we—the lesser—have broken our relationship with the Greater. Yet God is so gracious that He pays the price to restore that relationship with us!
The choice before us is this: Will we accept God’s offer of restoration by surrendering to His leading?
Will we give up self-rule in order to follow the God who has been pursuing us?
Are we willing to embrace the truth that nothing is better, greater, more valuable, or more lasting than our God and the salvation He offers us?
Today, may we be reminded that we are the creatures and He is the Creator. He holds the world in which we live.
As you consider that truth today, may it give you peace and confidence to trust the God who knows all things and can handle everything!
“O God, be thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth’s treasures shall seem dear unto me if only thou art glorified in my life. Be thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that thou shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth. Be thou exalted above my comforts. Though it mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses, I shall keep my vow made this day before thee. Be thou exalted over my reputation. Make me ambitious to please thee even if as a result I must sink into obscurity and my name be forgotten as a dream. Rise, O Lord, into thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, my health, and even my life itself. Let me decrease that thou mayest increase; let me sink that thou mayest rise above. Ride forth upon me as thou didst ride into Jerusalem mounted upon the humble little beast, a colt, the foal of an ass, and let me hear the children cry to thee, “Hosanna in the highest.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
What is Faith?
What is faith?
For as much as we talk about it in Christian circles, you would think we would all have a clear definition. The challenge is that the Bible only once gives us something close to a direct definition of faith, and even then, faith is largely described by how it acts.
Hebrews 11:1 says:
“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Rather than simply explaining faith in abstract terms, God, through His Word, defines faith through examples. Faith is actively living in response to the belief that God is good, His promises are sure, His way is right, and His forgiveness is real.
Faith is more than a word. It is a way of life.
Tozer speaks of faith in a simple way: placing our gaze upon God. This is not so much a literal act of looking as it is an inward turning toward God and His ways. It is choosing to make God the focus of our lives and allowing everything else to fall into place after that.
Faith is not a one-time action. We speak of being saved and placing our faith in Jesus, but faith is also the continual act of fixing our gaze on God.
The beauty of faith is that it does not require anything extra. No special tools, locations, or expenses are required. The rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, the old and the young can all turn their gaze and attention toward God.
Do you have faith?
Do you have assurance in the things of God?
Do you trust His promises and lean into His mercies?
Do you live out this faith by turning your gaze toward your gracious God?
Do you live with God as the focus, or is He on the periphery?
“O Lord, I have heard a good word inviting me to look away to Thee and be satisfied. My heart longs to respond, but sin has clouded my vision till I see Thee but dimly. Be pleased to cleanse me in Thine own precious blood, and make me inwardly pure, so that I may with unveiled eyes gaze upon Thee all the days of my earthly pilgrimage. Then shall I be prepared to behold Thee in full splendor in the day when Thou shalt appear to be glorified in Thy saints and admired in all them that believe. Amen.”
When God Speaks
In the beginning, God spoke, and everything came into being:
Light, stars, oceans, vegetation, flying birds, creeping reptiles, and warm-blooded mammals (Genesis 1).
“God spoke into the nothing and it became something. Chaos heard it and became order; darkness heard it and became light…. The said accounts for the so. The so is the said put into the continuous present.”
—A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, 71
This is our God—the One who speaks, and everything listens, obeys, and falls into order.
Except us.
God speaks, and we rebel.
God loves, and we reject.
God calls out, and we plug our ears.
The voice of God is the most powerful force known to humanity. Yet rather than worship Him for it, we often seek to understand and harness it for ourselves. Rather than being moved to awe and faith, we are moved to examine, investigate, and discover how He does it.
“Our thought habits are those of the scientist, not those of the worshiper.”
—A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, 73
We want to explain more than we want to adore.
How can we hear the voice of God today?
First, the Holy Spirit dwells within every believer, nudging, correcting, revealing, and teaching within the heart. We must not forget this great gift and Helper.
Second, the voice of God has been recorded in Scripture. We must continually look to the Word of God to teach us more about the person of God and to help us recognize His voice.
Do you open the Bible expecting God to speak to you through it?
Hebrews 4:12 states:
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
The Bible is not merely a classical relic to be studied in literature classes. It is the Word of God, and it calls for a response each day from those who have committed themselves to following God’s lead.
“Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, “Speak, for thy servant heareth.” Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of Thy Voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking Voice. Amen.”
Here, There, Everywhere
Here, There, Everywhere
Jacob is an interesting figure in the Old Testament. He is the second-born son of Isaac, and his name is associated with the idea of grasping the heel or supplanting another. Deception characterizes much of the first half of Jacob’s life as he takes both the birthright and the blessing that belonged to his brother.
Yet Jacob is later renamed “Israel,” a name connected with striving with God. Through Jacob, twelve sons are born who become the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. Through Jacob—now Israel—God builds His chosen nation to be a light to the surrounding nations.
I bring up Jacob today because, in Genesis 28:16, he declares what we often miss:
“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”
The Lord is in this place.
Or better yet, the Lord is in every place.
The Lord is where you are reading this right now, and He is also where a hundred other people may be reading it. The Lord is there. The Bible tells us over and over again that there is nowhere we can go where the Lord is not.
The universal presence of God is a fact; however, my awareness of it often wavers.
I live as though God is absent.
I pray as though God is unaware.
I worry as though God is not with me.
God is here. There. Everywhere.
There is no place where God is not.
Jesus speaks of having faith like a child, and I think this is one place where we can learn from children. A child may find it easier to accept the universal presence of God than adults who have become preoccupied with distance, commutes, and hiding places.
A child freely accepts what an adult may forcefully debate. This is not necessarily because of ignorance, but because of trust.
Why would God not be everywhere?
Why would I want to worship a God whom I could outsmart, hide from, or trick?
“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”
Today, I encourage you to ask God to make you more aware of His presence in the ordinary places you encounter. God is at your desk, in your kitchen, on your walk, and in your bedroom.
While we often try to hide in the bushes like Adam and Eve, God continues to call out to us while knowing exactly where we are.
God is here.
You are not alone.
You cannot hide.
God still desires you.
“O God and Father, I repent of my sinful preoccupation with visible things. The world has been too much with me. Thou hast been here and I knew it not. I have been blind to Thy Presence. Open my eyes that I may behold Thee in and around me. For Christ’s sake, Amen.”