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Be Real

“I know you.”
– John 5:42

There’s only 1 way to get 1on1 with Jesus: Be real.

“I know you,” says Jesus. And He does. He’s the One Who made you. He knows you inside out in a way you don’t even know yourself.

Have you ever seen someone pretending to be somebody they’re not? It makes you wince, doesn’t it?

That’s exactly how God feels when you try to pull that stunt on Him.

He’s God! You can’t strategize on Him. You can’t “take an approach” with Him. Look – you’ve got no choice: Unless you want to end up talking to yourself, you’ve got to drop all pretense and just be you – the real you – all the way down to the bone.

Is this scary? No, not at all. Just the opposite. Being “real” means you tell Him everything you’re feeling right now…exactly what you think – your hopes, dreams, desires – every single longing of your soul. You tell Him what scares you, too…what angers you…what frustrates you…what worries you. You lay it all out for Him. Because with Him you can dare to be – you have no choice but to be! – you. Just you.

But here’s the stunner: When you expose everything you are to Him…when you open up to Him the deepest secrets of your heart…when you confess to Him your dankest, darkest depravity…He doesn’t pull
back in shock. He doesn’t recoil in horror. He doesn’t withdraw. He draws…nearer.

Because when you dare to be yourself with Him, you’re finally on the road to becoming the person He made you to be – and He happens to like the job He did with you! As long as you’re trying to be somebody
else – as long as you hold back anything from Him – you give Him nothing to work with but shadows and mirrors. All that baloney is just your way of telling Him, “I’m not ready yet.”

Ah, but when you quit playing mind games…when you strip away all that phoniness and you’re just: “Here I am, Jesus. Now, what?”

Whoa. That’s 1on1. The best place on earth. The place you most want to enter. The place you most want to stay. The place it’s hardest to leave. The 1 place on earth that is absolutely, totally safe.

But when that happens, it’s not really earth, is it? It’s a taste of heaven.

I double‐dog dare you. Take off the mask.

Be real.

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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.