Getting Real

Most of us that become Christians learn to behave in certain ways, what to believe, what to do and not to do, and what to think. We go to church, read our bibles, try to stop ourselves from sinning, or apologize to God or other humans if we do. But many times, we just seem to be fighting off this monster we call "sin", and depending on the amount that we are either sinning, or not sinning, we think that demonstrates how good or bad we are doing. But the reality is, we cannot change ourselves by ourselves, only the Holy Spirit and the truth can change us. Abstinence is not necessarily deliverance. God must show "us" the real "us", both the good and the bad, so that we will be willing to repent and change. The wilderness is about us getting to know ourselves and God as we both truly are.

We can get very religious and fake along the way of our Christian walk. We don't really mean to, we just don't know any better until God helps us to see the truth and to change. The Pharisees of Jesus day were like this where they looked really holy on the outside, but the reality was that they were still very corrupt, fake, and controlled by sin on the inside. The only thing that gets the Pharisee out of us, is the daily work of the Holy Spirit and God’s word. God sends us into the wilderness to show us the truth about ourselves so that we can live in the truth and be free from sin. You see, we have a new nature, which is Jesus Christ, but the old nature needs to let go of all the lies it has believed and accumulated over the years to let the new nature come out. The Devil sowed these lies (weeds) into our hearts, but the Holy Spirit helps us to pull them out by the roots by giving us a full understanding and revelation of His truth.

Whatever is buried in your heart is what you can expect to see coming up to the surface. Your heart is like a garden; when you look at it from the surface you may see edible fruit, but there is also some weeds there, which we seem to keep the tops pulled off of, but the roots keep them growing back. The roots are the lies that we have believed, the unhealed pain from the past, and all of the bitterness and unforgiveness we have held onto. So God just uses the Holy Spirit to dig it all up where you see the whole thing, both the good and the bad. You see all the buried garbage, you see all the bugs, and you see all the roots of sin. Also during this time of upheaval, there won't be a lot of fruit grown because it is a time to fix and clean up the garden, so that it can grow better, purer, and more healthy and delicious fruit to eat. You are shut down to be fixed up.

As Jesus throws out all of the junk, He first shows it to you in all its ugliness and tells you how it got there; then He asks if you are ready to throw it away. Some of these things look good but produce either no fruit, or bad fruit. As we see and understand how it has been poisoning and choking off the good fruit in our garden, we then become more willing to let it go. We thought some of it was good fertilizer, but we all know what they make fertilizer out of. You may miss the old thing you just gave up at first, but in time you will be glad you let it go. At first, this process may seem impossible and overwhelming, but with the more junk that is removed, the less you will have left to deal with, and the more strength you will have to devote to the remaining stuff. Plus, in time, your skill at weeding will improve because you learn to recognize the weeds better.

Don't feel bad as you are going through this difficult process. It may look like a big mess at first, but it will get much easier in time. Everyone and I do mean everyone has a garden just like yours, but just with different things growing in it. It may be easy for them to look good while your garden is getting all dug up, but nevertheless, all their stuff is still down under the surface until and unless the Lord helps them to dig it all up. Just be glad that you're getting your stuff dealt with here and now so that you don't need to do it later. As the Lord shows you the real you, you will learn to love and forgive yourself better. You will also be able to spot weeds in other peoples gardens that have been in yours, and lovingly help them to pull them out. You will lose the religious falseness you used to have and become more genuine and able to relax and live in peace.