Being Raw with Jesus.

Francis Chan puts it in the best way possible: Being raw with God is like holding up a raw piece of steak and handing it to Jesus, saying, “Here’s all of me Lord, take me as I am!” It is not trying to marinate it by putting seasoning on it thinking that we can spice up our life to make it look better, no, Jesus already knows everything, what your feeling, your darkest sins and what you do behind closed doors. So why do we try to hide ourselves from Him? Why do we try to cover up how we truly feel from Jesus?

When we cover up things in our lives and try to make it seem better than it really is, we are not hiding it from Jesus, we are hiding it from ourselves. We are lying to ourselves trying to either justify things or suppress them and that’s not good. That brings unnecessary stress and anxiety.
 

So why do we carry around anxiety when Jesus died for them? He died so we don’t have to carry our burdens around any longer. Do we not have enough trust that He will take our anxieties away? Because that is what it means when we hold onto them, and it ultimately means that He died for nothing.
 
But He didn’t.
 
Jesus died so that we can be free from our baggage and free from any strongholds that the devil has grabbed a hold of. One analogy I saw at my college reminds me of this.  There was a buff, muscular guy who shook hands with a small, skinny kid. As the man reached for the kid’s hand, the kid grabbed his arm back. Inch by inch, the kid crept onto the man until he was on his back with his arms and legs curled and tucked underneath him. It was such a scary thing to see, but it is true. When you give the devil an inch, he will take a foot and, in an instant, the devil will be on your back and you won’t know how it even happened. It’s time to shake him off!
 

 
This song is probably not about Jesus, but it’s true! We keep so much of our past and fears inside, why not expose them?! Its time to release any stronghold that the devil has on you. SHAKE HIM OFF! The devil laughs when we keep things in secret because he knows that we’re in fear of exposing them. It is when we bring those secrets into the light that we’re bold enough to say, “Devil, I am struggling with this, but you will have no reign in my life, I will have victory over this because I am a conqueror and through Christ I can conquer anything!”

We all have different strongholds and different fears.
This was mine:
For some reason, I would go out of my way to get to know someone, but I subconsciously would avoid talking about myself. For example, if someone asked me a question I would always turn the answer back to him or her. I do it with everyone. Soon, they would get use to it and wouldn’t think twice to ask me about my personal life because that is how I made our friendship.
 
 
In the end I find myself thinking, “Am I worth getting to know? Would someone think of me when it’s my birthday? Would they think about me when buying gifts or sending letters? Am I worth having around or even being thought of? What does this person think about me? Does he or she see me as a good friend?” And as I was writing this down in my journal, God began speaking to me. Not in a harsh way, but I realized that it is not about me…at all! It is all, and always will be, about Jesus. If I am doing His will and I am compassionate about His people, then it doesn’t matter what people think of me. I am sorry if I am not explaining it more or switching topics, but I see it as this: When I finally laid out my fears to God, He gave me peace and joy. A peace that assures me that I have nothing to worry about and that I really am loved. Lies come from the devil and joy comes from the Lord because He delights in me. He is happy that I came to Him, even if it sounds dumb, pathetic or little, I was being raw with Him. I exposed all my fears and He filled me up with TRUTH.
 
Don’t ever let the devil make you think that your problems are too little for God to handle. Be raw with God in all that you do, He knows how you feel anyways. I guarantee that when you expose the lies hidden in the darkness with the Lord’s light, the anxieties will turn to a peace that passes all understanding. Continue to replace the devil’s lies with the Lord’s TRUTH!!!