Morning by Morning—Daily Prayer Journey with Tommy Hays: Behind the Masks

Tuesday, April 07, 2020

Behind the Masks - Morning by Morning, April 7, 2020

Morning by Morning, April 7 - Behind the Masks

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart to make me more like You today. ...

During that Holy Week on Your way to the cross, You didn't back down from speaking the truth. You didn't shy away from calling out the hypocrisy and self-righteousness You saw. It was like an infectious disease spreading its sickness to everything it touched.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matthew 23:25-26).

Those religious leaders and cultural influencers -- they wore their masks. On the outside, they looked beautiful and righteous, but on the inside they were full of death and filth, full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. You weren't fooled and You didn't fail to stand up and speak out, though it would cost You Your life.

But before we're so quick to judge, do we do the same thing? Do we put on our masks to fit it with the crowd, to cover up our sin, to bury what's inside like the bones of the dead? Do we excuse ourselves while judging others? Do we exalt ourselves in self-righteousness while cursing and controlling and condemning those around us who are not living up to the self-projected image we portray?

Father, forgive us. Convict us and lead us to true repentance. Give us courage to call it out in ourselves, to be willing to look and see behind our masks, to bring it out of the darkness and into Your light, to the foot of Your cross and under Your blood. Your heart is not to condemn us, but to forgive us and free us. Your passion is not to shame us, but to save us and cleanse us. "If we confess our sin, He who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

I went to the grocery store yesterday and I've never seen so many masks! Some were black and some white, some very colorful and some plain, some fancy and some home-made. But they all were covering up our faces and making it harder to breathe. While they were serving their purpose of self-protection and hopefully protecting others, they were also separating us (about 6 feet if you went by the red tape hash marks on the floor of the store in the checkout line).

But as it is in the physical realm, isn't it also true in the spiritual realm? Don't we wear our masks? Don't we self-protect? Don't we hide our faces of who we really are and bury inside what we're really like? At least to some degree and at least every now and then, if we're really honest with ourselves? Don't we even tend to save our harshest judgments for those we see who are exhibiting the very things down inside of us that we despise so much? Don't we act just a little hypocritical and self-righteous and try to hide from the truth of the Word of God that "none is righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10)?

And when we do, doesn't it make it a little harder to breathe? Don't our filters, no matter how fancy or plain, make it a little harder to take in the fresh air of Your Holy Spirit?

Come, Holy Spirit. Remove our masks. Let our faces shine with the Spirit of Truth -- not covering our sin and shame, not pretending to be something we're not, but humbly giving our hearts to You, completely surrendering our lives to You, repenting of all that remains in us that is not yet like You to fully embrace Your mercy and love. Then we can truly speak and share Your mercy and love from true hearts with true words, forgiven and free in You.

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill our lungs with fresh air. Fill us afresh with the holy Breath of God this Holy Week, as we follow Jesus to the cross, through death to the world, and to the empty tomb of resurrection life in Christ. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, may you be courageous in humility and surrender to let the Lord get behind the mask to forgive you and free from all that's not yet like Him, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. May we all be filled afresh with the fresh breath of God with faces shining like Jesus to a hurting and lost world around us! God bless you, my friend!