Word of the Day
Beloved, like a small child, who by covering their eyes believes others cannot see them, you sometimes feel as if you are not being seen…that you are hidden even though in the natural you are in plain view (Hebrews 4:13). It can seem at times as if life is behind you, passed you by or covered you up with its demands and circumstances. When this happens, even in small ways, you have a tendency to think I can’t see you or what is happening to you. For if I could really see or if you really mattered surely I would do something? You do matter and I do care. This type of thinking is not just related to the big crisis of life or to overwhelming situations. It can relate to any need or perceived need. Therefore it is important to know that I am aware of even the smallest detail of your life, both visible and invisible.
Little children cover their eyes to hide for many reasons such as: for fun, hide and seek, out of fear, excitement, or because they feel like they have done something wrong. When they hide their eyes because they feel like they have done something wrong, it is often because they are not sure what will happen to them. Life or people have taught them to be wary. Grace was absent on an experiential level. This is about to change for them and for you.
If they have had harsh treatment, been abused, ignored, or had their self-worth attacked by others, they grow up and use tools of denial in order to avoid shame and guilt at all cost. Many times they are afraid to confess their mistakes because the child in them wants what every child wants, to please their parents, to please others, and if raised in a Christian home, to please Me.
The bottom line when it comes to Me is this; if you are in Christ…if you are in Me…love abounds. I am in love with you for you have been made perfect in Me. Does this mean some of your behaviors and attitudes don’t need to change? No! Of course they do. To ever believe in anyway your behaviors or attitudes have the power to change My love for you is absolute nonsense. Pardon the word nonsense; but, I wanted to get My point across in an implicit but serious way. Simply put, I love you and that settles it. So, do not fear for My love for you will never fail.
Beloved, I am changing everything today…making everything new today. Time has come to forsake childish ways of seeing things, all the while embracing a child like heart full of faith and trust in the goodness I so freely give you.
I am in the process of showing you just how it really is from My perspective. I never want you to fear seeing anything I might show you about any deception or lie hiding in your heart. I don’t even want you to fear discovering what you consider the worst sin of all should it abide in you. Please don’t think just because you have overcome a plethora of things means there is nothing left to overcome. Don’t think just because something might cause you to cover your eyes just enough to make way for you to still have the courage to peek through your fingers it is enough. Only complete trust and freedom of heart is sufficient. I want to look on you face to face and not though cracks and crevices.
Many times I have reminded you how little foxes destroy the vine. I am doing so again because the removal of even the littlest of things can be the “one thing” which opens the way…which causes the enemy’s house of cards to fall.
Therefore, I do not want you to play hide and seek because of any wrong self-perception. I prefer and long for face to face (1 Chronicles 16:11). This is where I bathe you in Amazing Grace.
Seek the Lord and His strength; yearn for and seek His face and to be in His presence continually! (1 Chronicles 16:11 Amplified)
And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13 Amplified)
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside. (1 Corinthians 13:11 Amplified)
Prayer
Lord, I am fearfully and wonderfully made by Your own hands. I was knitted and fashioned in my mother’s womb to be a beautiful tapestry to display your image. Every detail of my life…every thread of my tapestry matters to You. In fact, you have numbered the hairs on my head and are aware of each and everyone. You have numbered my minutes, days and hours with great anticipation of all I am and will be. All that I am and do is fully exposed before You without condemnation or shame. I simply give my missteps to You. Forgiveness is my portion: past, present and future.
I am so thankful that you do not treat me harshly or in unkind ways for the world and its ways have no place in You. I am so thankful I do not have to hide my eyes and pretend you do not see or that I am hidden from you. I choose to not walk in denial but boldly before the throne of grace to receive mercy in my times of need no matter how small and insignificant they might seem to be. Simply put, You care about me; therefore, You care about all aspects and concerns in my life. Nothing, and I mean nothing, escapes Your care and willingness to act on my behalf except my refusal to receive what You give me.
Lord, You are making everything in my life new, starting with me as You work from the inside out. I choose to respond to the promptings of your voice by taking the blinders off…by removing my hands from eyes. I choose to see what You see regardless of what it looks like in the natural…regardless of whether the enemy wants me to fear…regardless of what others might say or think, and as a result I am free. I am free to love…free to minister…free to be without any repercussions.
Take my heart…my life…my very soul and search me out to see if there be any wicked way…any “one thing” I need to let go of. Show me the next block in the wall which needs to be removed in order for the wall to fall as Jericho did. There will be no more hide and seek…no more seeking You and then hiding when You come in ways I do not want you to or did not anticipate. I choose to trust in the goodness of who You are no matter what. No more hide and seek for me. I come and stand before You face to face in the place of Amazing Grace. Amen
Reflect and Journal
- Have you ever felt or do you feel that life has somehow passed you by or left you behind in general or in a specific way (big or small)? It could be related to something you have tried to overcome…some habit or thought pattern or something as large as your overall destiny.
- What do you have a tendency to hide from God through perhaps self-denial or fear of failure birthed out of not succeeding in your quest so many times before? Remember, it doesn’t have to be Mt. Everest. It can be as small as a grain of sand. Collect enough grains and you have a beach.
- The Lord exposes the lies of the enemy which we have believed so the manifest work of His death and resurrection can destroy them. We must remove our own self-protective covering in complete coorperation so He can expose the lies of the enemy in a meticulous and fast manner. Time is short and we must be prepared. What lie do you most believe about yourself in relation to whom the Word says we are in relation to our position and calling in Christ?
- What is the “one thing” you wish to overcome the most and what does God’s word say about it or who you are in Him? Find out. Don’t hide from His loving truth. Receive it, wear it and confess it until you become it in a visible, profound way.
- Take some time to soak…to rest in His abiding presence with all your faults and successes. As you do, contemplate His Amazing Grace. See it cloaking you with mercy and goodness. Let Him wrap His arms around you until you no longer want to hide anything from Him with which you have to do.