To Be You • Craig Smith • September 19, 2021

Can you truly be you before Him?

Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy? Will you torment a windblown leaf? Will you chase after dry chaff?… He tears me down on every side till I am gone; he uproots my hope like a tree. (Job 13:24-25; 19:10)

…for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought… (1 Chron. 28:9)

You have permission…

•To lose your

in order to

Reveal Answer

your

Reveal Answer

– “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:13)

•To

Reveal Answer

your heart without

Reveal Answer

it – “The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being.” (Prov. 20:27)

To ignore the reality of your heart is to ignore the work of the Spirit – “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” (Rom. 8:26-27)

•To acknowledge your spiritual

Reveal Answer

– “Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:24)

But by the grace of God I am what I am… (1 Cor. 15:10)

•To

Reveal Answer

the journey – “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me… It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love.” (Hosea 11:1-4a)

God gives us the space of our

so we can grasp the depth of His

Reveal Answer

…

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love… He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:8, 10-12)