laid bare

Hebrews 4

12 For the word of God is alive and powerful.

It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword,

     cutting between soul and spirit,

     between joint and marrow,

     into our innermost thoughts & desires.

It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires;

     it exposes us for what we really are.


13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God.

Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes.

    This is the God to whom we must explain everything we've done.



Been reading the Bible every morning, without fail, since mid January, 2003

Trust me on this:

     the Word of God is like a very VERY sharp knife.

     it cuts right through crap we've layered on to protect ourselves & hide from God.

     it will cut right through to the very bottom of our personhood.

     it leave butt naked who we REALLY are & what our motives REALLY are.

We don't like to be naked - physically, emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually.

We gotta be in control.

We have to preserve a carefully crafted image that we project to the world.

But the Words lays those parts of us completely bare.

It's a painful process,

    but in then end we have the rot gut of our lives cleaned away

    & God starts recreating the life He dreamed for us.





Hebrews 4

14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven,

        Jesus the Son of God,

let us hold firmly to what we believe.

15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses,

        for he faced all of the same testings we do,

        yet he did not sin.


16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.

There we will receive his mercy,

     and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.


Jesus understands EVERYTHING we think & feel, because He lived here among us for 33 years.

And add to that reality that He stands ready to help us, especially when we are at our weakest.