Authenticity

 

    You find authentic intimacy in your time with God.  You go to your  secret place to tell God your secrets.  He loves hearing from you in good, bad, stressful, peaceful, and all other times.  He values the intimacy that you allow.  

    Authenticity in your relationship with God is what He has always wanted.  True intimacy can't be rushed.  It needs times to grow and develop.  Your creator wants a real relationship with you.  Allow Him to be God and lead the way to the best relationship you will ever have.

    There are good secrets and bad secrets.  Band secrets can destroy lives.  They are put into place by Satan to destroy authenticity.  God wants only good secrets.  His secrets lead to authenticity , transparency, and intimacy.  When your life aligns like that the exterior matches the interior life.

    Bad secrets lead to sin, iniquity, and transgression.  They can be transformed into good secrets through the forgiveness of God.  He covers them with His forgiveness which is eternal, so they will never again be brought up by Him.  

    Find your secret place with God where you can sit and hear His voice, confess sins, and build intimacy.  Genuine confessions with true repentance is putting your sins on the altar.  They are destroyed and the barrier between you and God disappears.  This restores fellowship and joy with God.  You need Him.  You need the salvation that Jesus provided at His resurrection.  

Job 4:12-17, Psalm 32, James 1:22-25, & 1 John 3:18-20

God's Secrecy

 

    Not knowing where you stand with people can be difficult.  Not understanding where you stand with God is impossible.  Uncertainty in life can make everything feel unsure, unsafe, and insecure.  You may need to walk on eggshells with people, but you never do with God.  He gave us the Bible so that we can know where we stand with Him at all times.

    God's secrecy is to hide, conceal, or keep secretly.  He conceals things from the world that only true Christians can comprehend.  He keeps you hidden from the world at times to protect you.  He conceals some truths for when the time is right.

    A secret for you is that God treasures you.  He loves you.  He gave the world His son.  The world did not love Jesus in return.  God always has pursued people first.  He pursues you.  Will you turn to Jesus or be one of the people that still put Jesus on that cross?  

    A secret of God is that you can talk to Him through prayer.  You can ask Him directly what He wants from you.  Use scripture in prayer and you will find wisdom, strength, discernment, and more.  God created you to be thoughtful, creative, and curious.  Use your mind to find and get close to God.  He searches your mind.  Will He see someone following Jesus or someone putting Jesus on the cross?

    God has plans for you.  When you follow Jesus to your planned purpose, you bring God joy.  The plan is a secret from God to be shared with you alone.  You find the joy in seeking Him and fulfilling your purpose.  Find delight in wisdom.

Psalm 27:4-6, 51:1-6, Proverbs 25:2-3, Matthew 6:31-34, Acts 17:24-29

Biblical Secrecy

 

    One of God's secret ways is how He protects you.  It doesn't always feel like protection.  It may feel like rejection, loss, or painful.  When it comes to God rejection is just redirection.  Sometimes he does have to take things and people away to get you where you are safe.  Sometime the process is painful, but you are still alive.

    God sent His son to die for you.  He never promised that you would live forever in this body.  This body will die, but your soul is eternal.  That secret of protection is priceless.  Trust Him and pour your heart out to Him.  You will discover the peace He is trying to give you.  Ask Him for what you think you need, but be ready for His answer.  It could be no, you need something else.

    God loves you.  He wants you to be triumphant and undefeated, but it will only happen on His terms.  If you reject Him and go at life your way, then it will bring shame and stress.  What do you need to embrace and appreciate in life that you may be pushing away?  God is there in the small details.  He is showing you your secret path.  You just need to be paying attention.  

    What clutter in your life do you need to clean out to follow Jesus?  Clutter can be mental distractions, emotional discord, time wasted, or people being a stumbling block.  You have to clean out the problem to the root and kill the roots or it will never really go away.  It will keep returning like a bad infection getting worse every time.  Cleaning out gets you back to knowing God the way He knows you.

    Find your joy and comfort in having a relationship with God.  It goes beyond knowledge to real intimacy with your creator.  It can only be known by those who choose to follow Jesus.  It is a faith leap into the unknown and closed off to unbelievers.  As a Christian, you are in the inner circle.  It can't be earned.  You can only achieve it through faith and obedience.

    It is important to keep what you treasure a secret.  The truth is revealed at the right time.  No one can steal from you what they do not know you have.  Keep your inner peace by telling others about Jesus, but not every detail about your relationship with Him.  Not everyone has a right to your full story.  Some people would twist it or use it in the wrong way.  This is not a lie, but secrecy that is a gift from God.  Seek to understand and wisdom will come.

Psalm 25:11-15, 139:13-16, Isaiah 45:1-3, Matthew 13:1-9, Luke 2:51-52, & Colossians 1:3-6

Biblical Word Study

 

    When you are teaching yourself or the Holy Spirit is guiding you in the how to study the Bible I recommend using a concordance, several versions of the Bible, and look up Hebrew Words.  Find the origin and see how it evolved over the different languages until it got to your language.  Discover for yourself how it was originally used.  Then you are able to understand more clearly how to apply it today.  This type of study takes years, but it is worth it.

    The Hebrew word for Secret in the old testament is סֵתֶר.  It means secret, hiding place, secrecy, stealth, and to cover.  It is a secret place, to separate, or to set apart.  From Hebrew it is seen in Latin as secernere or secretus.  From there it was translated to old French as secret.  From there it evolved to middle English as secrette.  We now use the word secret in modern English.

    Secrets can be wonderful or a source of stress.  How do secrets make you feel?  Do you see how God's secrets are for your benefit?  Do you comprehend how overwhelming it would be if you had all the spiritual world revealed to you at one time would be overwhelming?  Secrecy can be a good thing.  It can help you survive in this world.

    Secrets manifest in the Bible.  God reveals them in a way that you can be absolutely certain that they are real.  You can be confident that He is working in and around your life for your benefit.  He reveals secrets to you about you.  If you ignore His warnings about sin, then He will expose your secrets like a good parent.  

    Secrets can affect you physically.  If they are bad secrets they can affect your heart, mind, and organs.  If it is a good secret then it can bring forth better health and protect you.  If it is a secret you can't tell, then go to God about it in prayer.  He will keep every secret unless it has to come out.  Then He will do it in His way.  It can take the pressure off of you.  It also means you never betrayed anyone's confidence, so you remain trustworthy.

Deuteronomy 27:14-15, Psalm 32:6-7, 91:1-8, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, Hebrews 4:12-13, 1 Peter 5:1-11, & 1 John 2:26-27

Theological Secrecy

 

    

    The Bible uses several descriptive terms for the one word we use: secret.  Some words can be translated as hiding place, shelter, friends, or treasure in reference to secret.  It can be overwhelming if you look at it as a whole.  This is why your journey with God and His Word is a daily step.  You learn more and get closer to Him every time you dig into the Bible.  It doesn't happen in a day.

    I write this blog daily to bring me closer to God and help other people in what He is teaching me.  Nothing I write will be more powerful than you getting into the Word personally.  You can use the scriptures I read at the bottom, go look up your own scriptures to support or refute my words, or find your own study.  The Bible holds a wealthy of wisdom, guidance, an value to life and eternity.

    God's secrets are about the spiritual world, eternity, life with Him, and truths blocked to you until you are ready to accept them.  Your relationship with Jesus is a type of secret because it is between the two of you.  You can share, but the intimacy is all your own.  Jesus is the lover of souls and until you have salvation you will never be able to understand that.

    A secret is not known to seen or not meant to be known or seen by others.  Secrecy is the action of keeping something secret or the state of being kept secret.  Does understanding what it is affect the way you see the Bible, salvation, and your life?  There are good and bad secrets.  Good secrets make you feel involved, important, and trusted.  Bad secrets steal your joy, peace, and health.  God only gives you good secrets.  

    The Gospel is the good news.  It is a secret that becomes clear upon salvation.  It gives your yearning to understand.  It is that yearning that makes you want salvation.  Theology is God's secrets manifested for people to be able to have. Prayer opens your heart and mind to understanding and being able to go deeper into those secrets of truth.

    The old testament secrets are heavy.  It shows us how flawed we all are and how God pursues us.  The Gospel is about Jesus' secrets and how he reveals them.  They are beautiful.  The rest of the new testament shows us how to live without Jesus with us.  The secret is the Holy Spirit and how He works.  

Psalm 51:1-6, Proverbs 11:13, 20:19, Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, Matthew 6:5-6, 18:15-17, & 1 Corinthians 4:5

Battling Desire

 

    Everyone battles their worldly desires.  It takes God, faith, and self-discipline to win that battle.  You can never give up because you are fighting for your relationship with God.  See your temptation for what it is, your sinful nature, and be ready to fight it with God's Word.  Pray for God's power to be in you and that you will have the wisdom to use it to overcome temptation.

    What are your triggers that cause you to sin?  How to you deal with your triggers, so that you do not sin?  When you are tired, bored, or complacent you are the most vulnerable to be triggered.  It is easy to see why, but it is no excuse.  You have to be prepared to live life in an unpredictable world.  

    When you resist your worldly desires, then the Holy Spirit is able to work in your life.  He will replace them with Godly desires that lead to life, beauty, and love.  The gifts that the Holy Spirit gives are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  These are worth fighting for.  They allow you to live free from heavy burdens and things that wear you down.  

    To win your battles is to choose obedience.  True obedience comes from love.  Focus on what is true, honest, right, pure, lovely, and admirable to live in peace in your heart and mind.  It will renew your life.  

    It comes down to what your heart belongs to.  What are you willing to let go of (sacrifice) to be able to follow Jesus? Are you willing to allow Him to lead and be your strength?  Your time is now.  Don't waste it.  

Psalm 119:33-40, Matthew 5:27-30, Romans 13:11-14, Galatians 5:16-23, Philippians 4:8-9, Colossians 3:1-4, James 1:12-15, 1 John 2:15-17

Walk with God Part 2

 

    Christians have to have self control to glorify God.  You have to be glorifying God every day to walk with Him.  That means that your thoughts and desires are no longer allowed to control how you behave.  Do you trust the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you?  Or do you try to take over and do things your way?

    Submitting to God is a struggle because of your human nature.  However, if you want to walk with Jesus, then the Holy Spirit has to lead.  Your body is His temple where the Holy Spirit abides and reigns.  Are you able to let go of your human desires to make room for self-control?

    When you walk in pace with the Holy Spirit your sinful nature is no longer in control. It does not mean that the spiritual battle has ended.  It means you choose obedience over selfishness.  The battle is what makes you tired.  The quicker you can submit, the better it is for you.  

    Human desire will corrupt and weaken you.  The more you pour yourself into God, the easier it will become to deny your sinful nature.  It will always be there until you get to resurrect with Jesus, but it doesn't have to control you.  Jesus freed you from those chains and gave you the Holy Spirit to walk with you upon salvation.   

    Life is easier when you give into human nature, but it is not nearly as fulfilling.  Walking with God requires more energy and effort, but it gives life meaning.  God knows what you need.  That is why He commanded you to nail your worldly passions and sinful nature to the cross with the blood of Jesus.  

    Walk away from your past sinful habits.  Do not go back to that bloody cross to rip them off chaining yourself to the sin you had been freed from.  Jesus will destroy them if you allow Him.  However, if you insist on putting yourself in chains again, then He will not stop you.  You will never find the freedom that you were meant to have in chains.  It is important to walk with God to be truly free.  Walk in faith and not by what your eyes alone see.

Psalm 119:105-112, Micah 6:6-8, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, Galatians 5:16-25, & 1 John 1:5-7