"that BEST policy"

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“Time to come clean”.

Whew!

Those are words we hate to hear but hear a lot huh?

Sometimes there is the defense attorney who is asking us to come clean. Maybe it is the counselor seeking full disclosure so they can be effective. Yet, often it is our loved ones or friends who have grown tired of our lying and press us to “just come clean”, fatigued from deception and the deceit.

And while we may all be able to recite that old adage that “honesty is the best policy”, being honest can be very scary. And it is that fear; fear of rejection, fear of embarrassment, or fear of consequence that drives so many us to reject the freedom of honesty and remain trapped in the bondage of our lies and deception even when the Bible speaks of the power and healing of honesty.

James 5:16 AMP

Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

See that? Honesty coincides with restoration. Honesty settles the mind and spirit. Honesty infuses the power of GOD into our very lives making our prayer life more effective and more dynamic.

Honesty and transparency are powerful weapons of recovery! But we don’t leverage them effectively do we?

Instead we will use lying and deflection to hide from the truth of a problem or sin in our life, and build a wall brick by brick. This wall protects us from the truth and provides a secret place for us to hide. Unfortunately, the wall also isolates us from people who can help us.

As long as we continue hiding the truth, no amount of willpower can free us from the issues that master us. Hiding can only lead to a downward spiral from cover-up to relapse and despair.

We must remember, God is our source of help, but He often chooses to help us through other people. The words in today's scripture make it clear that God wants us to share our problems—our faults, our slips, our false steps, our offenses, and our sins—with other believers so that we can pray together. This sharing will lead to healing and restoration.

But boy oh boy we sure don’t like sharing the “ugly stuff” with other folks do we?

But truth brings freedom.

John 8:32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

So today, if you've been hiding a problem, a sin, be encouraged to stop hiding and open your life to God. Stop isolating yourself—find a group of trusted folks who will love and care for you unconditionally. (maybe FREEDOM CHURCH J).

Be honest with them and ask them to pray with you. When the cycle of cover-up, relapse and despair is broken, the result will be spiritual freedom in Christ.

1 John 1:9

9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

Have a blessed and open day today!

I love you all.

Have a blessed day.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney