Naked and Exposed: God Sees Us, He Knows Us, He Understands Our Intentions

Heart of Stone

At One Solitary Voice from one week’s post to the next, the words remain as thoughts in my head and in my heart. I remain in conversation with God and in His Word. I spend time reading the words of my favorite authors, and I attend a women’s weekly Bible study as well. My day-to-day experiences influence my writing, but still, when it is time to write a post, I come to the computer empty, not knowing what words will come. This week was one of those weeks, but not because I had not written anything in preparation for what I would post, but because my words had disappeared into cyberspace or wherever those things go when we lose them on the computer.

I am not one of those techies. I do know the basics. Things like autosave have not gone unnoticed, just unused. I understand the simplest way to keep from losing one’s work is to save it, but my not doing that never seemed to be an issue until now. To have quick access to my writing, I leave documents open for days on end on my computer. When the machine takes over and closes something for what I feel is an unnecessary update, I find whatever I have written even if I must reach into the deeper places of my computer to locate it.

When I think about it, the past few weeks have not been normal writing weeks for me, so sitting down to put the final changes on my now-delayed post, nothing surprises me. Finding only these words remaining after searching my computer said something to me. “No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.” (Hebrews 4:13, CSB). The words I wrote now hidden from my sight, but as for me, I am certainly naked and exposed before God. We all are.

That has me thinking about what God desires of me and what He speaks to me personally about the world in which we currently live. He knows there are things disturbing my peace right now. Events happening in our world today trouble me, the agents of evil everywhere. One cannot help but wonder where this world is headed, but I am not naïve enough to think that God does not see all that I see and more. That happens for those of us choosing to walk in faith and live out our lives according to a biblical worldview. I need not worry, but still I do. I have children and grandchildren, great grandchildren too. I have family and friends. I love them all. I would like none of them to experience the trials and the painful circumstances of life, but I understand God holds us. He remains. He does not let go.

I turn myself then to what it is God asks of me. As naked and exposed creatures made in the image of God, our efforts to hide remain futile. God sees us. He knows us. He understands our intentions. Knowing this should lead us to live truthful and transparent lives before Him. That we should, however, does not mean we do. We are people pleasers, even when we disagree with those we attempt to please. We are happiness seekers moving from one moment to the next even though we all know happiness comes in waves, and it always fades. We search for the elusive pleasures of life. Our searching does not cease, and our emptiness remains until we choose the Author of lasting joy.

I fear there are those who have become so rooted in the world they cannot see God’s purpose for their lives as THE PLAN they should follow. That God sees us, that He knows us, that He understands our intentions should be the motivation each one of us needs to seek His will and to live in accordance with it. All those other incentives out there speak loudly these days. The attempt to discover oneself, to know oneself, and to live out one’s truth even has people telling themselves God’s plan is the one they are following, but I wonder, how often do they truly look upward? How often do any of us do that? Do we walk in faith, trusting God or are we merely telling ourselves that is what we are doing?

Make no mistake, the world is forever ready to consume us and consume us it will if we do not approach God in prayer and in humility, seeking His will for our lives and trusting Him with the details of it. We struggle because we are not honest with ourselves or with God. In reality we all know whether we are walking in faith or have instead chosen to live by the rules of the world. Hiding behind our masks, we put on whatever face works best for us doing whatever pleases us. God sees us. He knows us. He understands our intentions. Why then do we not approach Him with the honesty and openness that leads us to confess our sins, to seek His forgiveness, and to follow His guidance?

We are accountable to God. He ALWAYS delivers on His promises. That should be our motivation to surrender to Him. God gives us every opportunity to find Him in the chaos and the confusion, the deceit and the lies, the sin, and the darkness of the world. He is patient with us, not slow to act. His intentions for us are for good, not for evil. “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, emphasis mine), but we must choose Him, and we must seek to become like His Son and our Savior Jesus.

Most of us want all things to work together for good. We cannot, however, manipulate that good to fit some human design. God desires that we live by faith, that we stop submitting our lives to sin and that we walk in complete surrender to Him. True righteousness requires a heart transformation. “I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them” (Ezekiel 11:19, ESV). That heart of flesh is the one I want.

Not by our own power nor by our works will any of us change our own hearts or the heart of another. God gave us Jesus who took our disobedience upon himself. “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-7). A truthful pursuit of righteousness begins when we turn from sin and align ourselves with Jesus.

As we continue through this Lenten season, let us remember Jesus made us righteous by the blood he shed for us on the cross. Not one of us is more righteous than anyone else. Let us stop looking into the lives of others and seek to become the person God created us to be. We are all naked and exposed before Him. It does not matter what we see in others, what we think we know about them, what we believe their intentions to be. What matters is God—the One who sees us, the One who knows us, the One who understands our intentions. Let us then live in the world and not be of it—acting, thinking, and behaving as Christ did. Let us focus on our own hearts, and remember God sent His Son to die for the forgiveness of all sins. He gives us the Holy Spirit and His Holy Word to help us now. Let us walk in faith and in the righteousness and perfection of Jesus Christ.

All Grown Up: Recalling the Wisdom of the Ages, Holding Fast to God's Unchanging Word

God's Unchanging Word

In the trials of our lives, God walks with us. We make choices we should not, and yet, He loves us unconditionally—all of us—His sinful, willful, sometimes belligerent, confused, know-it-all children. We seem either unaware of that love, unaffected by that love, or we are fully enveloped in the essence of that love.

What causes some of us to fully accept that love and others to be impervious to it? Why do some find themselves in the in-between spaces of that love or denying it altogether and still others immerse themselves in the love of God, seek to do His will, and to follow His good purpose for their lives? I understand, no matter how young or old we are, we can from time to time be the same foot stomping, fit throwing children we were in our early years—not literally, but children, nonetheless, demanding our lives look exactly as the picture we see in our minds. Perhaps that is the key to why we do the things we do not only in our relationship with God but also in our relationship with others.

We want what we want when we want it and we will do whatever is necessary to have it.

The world and its societal and cultural norms tell us we can do exactly that. When the desires of our hearts lead us and when those desires are in conflict with God’s good purpose for our lives, we find ourselves standing in disobedience. But, we consider ourselves all grown up, so, of course, we know what is best not only for ourselves but also for all those around us. We give little thought to God’s will for our lives because we know who we are, and we know clearly the place God holds in our lives. Our path is clear. That is, until that time in our lives when we recall the only true wisdom of the ages and seek that truthful path for our lives or we learn of the reality of that truth for the first time.

The world, society, and culture remain loyal to us and devoted to our care as long as we agree with the subjective truth these false teachers introduce into our lives. Deviate from that path, and we find ourselves the pariah standing outside a selective circle that really is not so selective after all. They will take anyone who agrees with them. That circle embraces us until we turn from them and seek absolute truth. When the world and those of it walk out, God remains. He does not let go. He knows us. He loves us. No matter the circle from which we come to Him, God wants none of us to perish.

Satan is the cunning one. He likes to keep us thinking that we walk in truth. He gives us permission to be men and women of selfish ambition and vain conceit. His desire is that we value ourselves above others, look to our own interests, all the while telling ourselves we are men and women of faith doing God’s will and following His purpose for our lives. We act as though we are in relationship with God, that ours is the mindset of Christ Jesus, but in reality, we leverage God and use Him to our advantage. Let us not forget...sin does love company which only makes it easier for any one of us at any given time to rationalize our sin life.

God sees us. He knows our plans, the choice we make. He understands our purpose. What God wants for us does not come from a social justice platform or from our own self-will. None of that unites us with Christ nor do those things allow our lives to demonstrate the love of Christ within us. We might tell ourselves following certain societal and cultural norms make us more compassionate and tender people, but that assessment is wrong. God’s will for our lives is biblical and the things we do must be in alignment with His Word.

Biblical wisdom is lacking when the human will and human plans become the center of it all. Some with their save the world crusades turn hearts, minds, and souls away from God even though they proclaim the will of God and the heart of Jesus in all that they do. Looking deeply into those agendas, I see many who proclaim their intent to save the world, but where is the foundation of biblical truth in these? Your salvation and mine will not come from human will, from human plans, or from any human purpose.

Obedience to truth becomes a problem when we focus too much attention on ourselves and what we desire or when we follow what we see others doing or what we perceive them to be thinking. Whether we consider ourselves to be right or wrong is not the issue. In fact, our opinion or the opinions of others play no role in our salvation or the salvation of others.

Our understanding of what God asks us to do as citizens of His kingdom should be rooted in biblical truth. If we desire to know the truth that sets us free, comparisons must cease, compromise with God, too. Worrying about the intentions and expectations of others really is a waste of our time and our energy. We have work to do. Our thoughts should rise above the noise, the criticism, and the judgment, whether perceived or real, guiding us away from absolute truth. Looking up and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak into our lives, immersing ourselves in the Word of God and walking in complete surrender to God’s will for our lives, we no longer live a life of comparison and compromise, judgment and criticism.

In Philippians 2, Paul writes some clear direction for Timothy, and it follows that as the inspired word of God, those words guide us today. He says, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then you will be able to boast on the day of Christ that you did not run or labor in vain” (Philippians 2:12b-16, emphasis mine).

Biblical words like warped and crooked generation seem too harsh for some in this modern age, but anyone who looks around and cannot see the reality of the world in which we live either does not want to see it or is drowning in the hopelessness of it all. I have but one solitary voice in this world. I can change no one, but I can tell you hopelessness fades, confusion disappears, anxiety, anger, frustration, guilt, depression and all the rest find no home in the hearts of those whom God has transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. “But godliness with contentment is great gain....” (See 1 Timothy 6).

As people of all ages and backgrounds become more and more insistent that we follow the will of someone or something outside of God, the One, who some seem to think has disappeared, remains, and though I tire of the rhetoric swirling about and the darkness and deceit from which it comes, I know the God who works in me to will and to act to fulfill His good purpose. That truth may evade some, but others understand and call themselves children of God.

Children of God acknowledge sin loves company, but so, too, does misery. That seems one of Satan’s best defenses against those seeking to do the will of God. We often assign our miserable circumstances to God when, in reality, our choices create those conditions in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Humans are good at playing the blame game and especially good at bringing God into that part of the equation. “When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord” (Proverbs 19:3).

That sin lives in all of us is true. That we choose sin is also true. Neither God nor Satan are in the business of coercing us into sin. Satan enjoys a good temptation, and he does celebrate our sin. God, however, offers us a way out of our sin, for He “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). He “is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward [us], not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Our role is not to save the world, but neither are we charged with judging those who see the world differently than we. Anyone who knows how our story ends understands God took care of all of that long ago. So, what is it God wants us to do? We can do nothing to redeem mankind, but we can carry God’s Word to the world with love, grace, and mercy. “Our brother’s ways are not in our hands; we cannot hold together what is breaking; we cannot keep life in what is determined to die. BUT GOD binds elements together in the breaking, creates community in the separation, grants grace through judgment. He has put HIS WORD in our mouth. He wants it to be spoken through us. If we hinder HIS WORD, the blood of the sinning brother will be upon us. If we carry out HIS WORD, GOD will save our brother through us” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community, p. 108, emphasis mine).

God calls us to love, not to criticism, not to judgment, not to division, not to derision, but to the love of God in Christ Jesus. We must carry the true wisdom of the ages with us, the wisdom found in the truth of God’s unchanging Word, the wisdom that unites, and we must offer up Christ’s love to the world serving others in grace, in mercy, and in love. Accepting the light of truth, we live all grown up. "Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead [us]. Let them bring [us] to Your holy mountain and to the place where you dwell" (Psalm 43:3).

A Sniffle, A Sneeze, A Germ, A Sin: The Guests We Entertain

For several weeks now, we have had uninvited guests in our home. These guests radically transformed our ability to function as we normally do. They not only disrupted our sleep but also the time we spend together as a family. Attempting to escape was an impossibility. These guests, germs really, were quite persistent in their ability to do as they pleased. They were quite insistent we keep them entertained. I was the last, at least for now, to give into their germ warfare, but I, too, lost the battle in the end.

We are all vulnerable creatures, not always impervious to the germs and viruses that come in hot pursuit of us at the most inopportune moments in our lives. They take up residence in our homes and in our bodies disturbing the normal pace of our lives. No matter how diligent we believe ourselves to be with the handwashing, the hand sanitizing, the surface disinfecting, and all the rest those germs will find us even when we think ourselves diligent about taking care of ourselves. In my own case what began with a sneeze, a sniffle, and a scratchy throat progressed into a full-blown case of the flu right before my eyes. My denial of the situation early-on did nothing but prolong the battle. Had I, however, accepted that an immediate change was necessary things would have been markedly different.

Our sin life can be like that. It appears as a minor thing like a sniffle or a sneeze, but unlike germs and their accompanying illnesses which often attack us no matter how hard we try to prevent it, we invite sin in and allow it to become a part of our lives. As sin manifests itself in our hearts, our minds, and our souls, we often give into the idea that the worst parts of us are certainly not as bad as the sin life we see in others. We forget...sin is sin. It is contagious. It is everywhere. Hold onto it, and it ends in death. No matter our sin or our perception of it we would all do well to take immediate action against it in order that our own sins not become rooted in us or the cause for those among us to stumble.

When I think of sin, I remember the words of Paul when he said, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am not of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:15-25, ESV).

As believers, we understand that though sin lives in us and is all around us, we are not powerless against it. Evil has a plan to lead us to spiritual death; however, we are not passive victims in our battle with sin. Our fight remains constant against the evil desires of our flesh, the evil desires of man, and the evil desires of Satan. Follow Satan and you follow “the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Ephesians 2:2). Yes, sin spreads like an illness, and in our weakened state, Satan and the world stand ready when we become complacent and complicit in our acceptance of the sin that is within us and all around us.

Lately, there seems to be something in society and the cultural norms of today that says, “God wants you and me just as we are. There is nothing we need to do. No changes in our lives are necessary. Our salvation is guaranteed.” Yes, God loves each one of us unconditionally, and He calls us just as we are, but He values our obedience. He awaits it. Its role in our salvation seems clear. “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). Obedience or disobedience to God are both choices, but so, too, is choosing a life dominated by sin or a life that is an expression of our love and devotion to our Creator and our King.

Our obedience and our surrender to God matter. We will struggle with sin, but because we, as believers, have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, we have the power to resist sin in our lives. However, we cannot resist sin if we do not hate it and repent of it. To forsake sin requires that we turn to God in absolute surrender. Ours must then become a life of dramatic and radical transformation. “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by him…that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:21-24).

God is calling. He is waiting. Even in today’s sinful world where we meet chaos, confusion, conflict, anxiety, anger, hatred, and fear daily, He remains. He does not let go. We, however, need to understand it was God’s intention from the beginning that you and I live our lives according to His will, not ours. We do not determine what is right and what is wrong for ourselves or for anyone else. God made that determination long ago. His command that we turn from our sin and repent eliminates every human idea we have about the way we think we should live our lives or what we believe is okay with God. With God there is no compromise. His Word is clear.

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything. Rather, He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man He made all the nations that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’  Therefore, since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed” (Acts 17:24-31a, emphasis mine).

My recent encounter with the flu leaves me mindful of the words of Jesus when he said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32). Not one of us is completely healthy. We are all sinners, all spiritually ill, and all in need of the Great Physician. We must seek Him, reach for Him, and finding Him turn from our sin, repent and be healed. Our lives depend on it.