Daily Devotional: Wednesday, July 28

Speaker: Ben Sigman

Theme: Hiding

Weekend Music links on iTunes: God is with Us by Michael Olson; All Because of Jesus by Fee; Strong Tower by Kutless; Come Thou Fount arranged by Canvas.

Read:  Psalm 51:16-17; Gen. 3:10

Think:  No matter how confident we are, I think we’ve all experienced the feeling of wanting to hide our true self from other people. But what about this idea we have that we can somehow hide from God?  Ever since Adam and Eve tried that in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:10) people have been trying to hide from God.

Out of our own pride or shame and our mistaken ideas of who God is, we may try to fake who we are, even with this God who created us. On Sunday, Pastor Ben said “God would rather hear something authentic from a sinner than something fake from a saint”. It made me think of the song I’ve heard on the radio by Amy Grant called “Better than a Hallelujah”. The lyrics say, “the honest cries of a breaking heart are better than a hallelujah sometimes” and “silence when the words won’t come is better than a church bell ringing, better than a choir singing out”…in other words, God loves authenticity. He says this over and over in the Bible. In Psalm 51 the psalmist says, “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise”.

Do: Let the fact that God loves you sink deep into your spirit. Seek to be honest with him. If you are hiding any part of yourself, come to him with it and trust his love for you. Just as honesty between people can deepen a relationship, honesty with God will result in a deeper and more satisfying relationship with him. 

Pray: Dear God, I really desire an honest relationship with you. I am coming to you today trusting your love for me. As I am honest before you, I know that you will not despise me or turn me away. (Spend some time revealing some hidden places in your heart if necessary). Thank you for your incredible love. Amen

The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.

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