Stripped down, bare to the bone, buck naked faith - this is what's coming. The Lord will reveal to us, His Body the current condition of our faith, so He can show us where we really stand. Indeed, He will strip away every false thing about it, every false security, every false crutch, every false belief, every false motive and intention, and every false bit of knowledge that has exalted itself against the true knowledge of the Living God.
Have we forgotten that He sees and knows all? I think to a degree we have.
God's grace is incredible, and as His sons and daughters, the recipients of His precious grace, we know just how true this is.
Why would He do such a thing?
He must do this to show us what we have allowed to take His rightful place.
It is true we all grow and mature progressively in our relationship with Him. Still, Jesus has every right to fully occupy His place in us when we give ourselves to Him; the pedestal doesn't belong to anyone or anything else.
So the time is coming when He will no longer tolerate any substitutes or surrogates in our lives. He is deeply patient and long-suffering with us, perhaps more than we even realize, but He loves us far too much to let this go on.
He is removing a veil from His people. He is shining His light into the dark, hidden places of our lives and our hearts (Jeremiah 17:9-10), and in doing this, He is revealing our need for healing; He is revealing truth.
Many have been hiding behind accomplishments, personal deeds, good works, and titles, i.e., what we're doing for the Kingdom, what we have done for God and other people, our positions in the Body of Christ, etc. However, this won't drive in what's coming because we will not be able to stand before the Lord and use these things as a supplement or bargaining tool with Him.
Have we forgotten that He sees and knows all? I think to a degree we have.
God's grace is incredible, and as His sons and daughters, the recipients of His precious grace, we know just how true this is.
Yet many of us have sorely abused it, meaning we have fallen back too many times on the merits of His grace, and His grace functioning through other believers, for things He has been directly pursuing us to get right with Him; things that are out of serious alignment in our lives, things we are truly accountable before the Lord for, things that require our genuine repentance and heart change.
To put it another way, we've not responded to Him; we’ve done nothing about it despite the long, gracious pursuit of the Holy Spirit. We've been negligent; we've not gotten real with Him or allowed Him to do the more in-depth work in us He wants and needs to do. Instead, we've continued on in our own way, immersing ourselves in everything under the sun except the very things He's been pursuing us about.
Frankly, some have flat out disregarded the instructions, warnings, and corrections of the Holy Spirit, and as a result, are now suffering in ways they cannot discern or even believe to be true.
Frankly, some have flat out disregarded the instructions, warnings, and corrections of the Holy Spirit, and as a result, are now suffering in ways they cannot discern or even believe to be true.
The Father wants to ready us for what lies ahead, but when we are so far out of alignment with Him and His order, we cannot properly do what He has called us to do, much less function in His will. You can believe this or not. Either way, it doesn't make it any less true.
We need a reality check, and that's precisely what the Father is about to do.
And He's doing it because He loves us.
We need a reality check, and that's precisely what the Father is about to do.
And He's doing it because He loves us.
The Holy Spirit wants to give us so much as God's people, but the Father must first remove the facade that is pervading parts of His Church.
We are only righteous through the righteousness of Jesus, nothing more and nothing less, but this is not to say the grace of Christ we receive is a covering or license to willfully sin or excuse it, nor to dismiss or reject correction from the Holy Spirit when He shows us there are changes we need to make. As Paul said, God forbid, or certainly not (Romans 6:1-2)!
We are only righteous through the righteousness of Jesus, nothing more and nothing less, but this is not to say the grace of Christ we receive is a covering or license to willfully sin or excuse it, nor to dismiss or reject correction from the Holy Spirit when He shows us there are changes we need to make. As Paul said, God forbid, or certainly not (Romans 6:1-2)!
We cannot be content in healthy, godly ways by filling the voids in our lives with food, sex, alcohol, drugs, work, money, shopping, video games, or social media. We cannot be satisfied with power, degrees, or authority, nor by blindly following other people who have them. We cannot be righteously satisfied with some form of higher consciousness, spirituality, or religion, and not even by good church services, activities, programs, or ministry. And we cannot be wholly satisfied within ourselves alone.
No, the deep hunger our souls are sincerely longing for is none other than Jesus himself. It is Him —"the bread of life" (John 6:35). It is His very Presence we need.
He is our Beloved, and we are His, so love is undoubtedly at the heart of His pursuit. Indeed, love is at the root of His laying bare the actual condition of our faith. Love is at the core of His stripping away every false thing that weighs us down, and it most certainly weighs us down. Love is the real root of His correction and discipline too. In fact, His correction proves His love for us. Hebrews 12 clearly tells us this.
He is our Beloved, and we are His, so love is undoubtedly at the heart of His pursuit. Indeed, love is at the root of His laying bare the actual condition of our faith. Love is at the core of His stripping away every false thing that weighs us down, and it most certainly weighs us down. Love is the real root of His correction and discipline too. In fact, His correction proves His love for us. Hebrews 12 clearly tells us this.
I don't think some of us even realize what we've been missing. We've been feeding ourselves with so many other things, so many imitations, that we've lost our real taste and desire for Him and His ways.
When He does reveal to each of us where we really are with Him - when He shows us what our faith really looks like - then we'll begin to see the truth of what we could not see before, and maybe even what we refused to see all along.
When He does reveal to each of us where we really are with Him - when He shows us what our faith really looks like - then we'll begin to see the truth of what we could not see before, and maybe even what we refused to see all along.
Ever since the time of Adam and Eve, ever since the fall in the Garden, we've always tried to hide our nakedness or the real state of our being from God. Perhaps some of us have never been too sure we can fully trust Him, but I'm here to tell you we can.
He is trustworthy, and He has our best interests at heart.
He is trustworthy, and He has our best interests at heart.
Dearly Beloved, the Father is calling for us to come back. He’s calling us to come and stand in total transparency before Him. He is calling for us to embrace this time so He can help us see the truth of where we are, and we'll not only find the God who truly loves us, we'll find out just how vital this revealing of our buck naked faith really is.
He's calling for us,
"Come back. Come back into My embrace and let Me love you as you've longed to be loved."
"Come back. Come back into My embrace and let Me love you as you've longed to be loved."
Michelle Holderman
Copyright © 2011
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won't become weary and give up. Hebrews 12:1-3 NLT
As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Whoever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn't discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn't we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits and live forever? Hebrews 12:7-9 NLT
You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we if we turn away from Him who warns us in Heaven? At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken, that is, created things - so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:24-29 NIV
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