Josh was stunned when a professor declared that honesty was not an end in itself but a means to our own transformation. He began to be honest – honest with himself, with friends and with God. He began to see change.
He invited others to radical and unflinching honest...an invitation to be changed. His goal was to find the answer to the question: “When people are honest with God, can it really be a catalyst to life-alteration?” (11)
He began to see that the honesty of a willing heart can allow God to remove, replace, and restore. Being totally vulnerable before God may be painful, but it is transformational. He found that authenticity before God leads to greater intimacy with Him.
He shares his own journey to honesty. He felt the fear of being exposed. He saw people being honest – for attention.
He realized honesty must have the goal of transformation. “When you are truly honest to God, it is impossible to stay the same.” (25)
When you are honest, you don't have to hide. “The purpose of being honest with God: to be taken from our embarrassing nakedness and be clothed in Christ's perfection.” (34)
Are you afraid of God's reaction when you're honest with Him? You'll find His forgiveness.
Are you mad at God because you feel you have been wronged? Tell the truth about your anger to the only One who can do something about it.
Are you so ashamed you want to hide? Go to Jesus and let Him carry your load.
Josh knows there are roadblocks on the way to being honest with God and he suggests good ways to deal with them.
Josh knows it is so much easier to pretend we are something we are not. But God is already aware of everything about us. “...[W]e can rest assured our admissions and confessions do not surprise Him. Rather, it is by these very things that we experience true transformation in the areas we try to cover up the most.” (95).
Josh reminds us that there is nothing we can do to receive God's grace and nothing we can do to make Him take it back. “Grasping the totality of God's grace is an essential step in learning to be honest with Him.” (120)
“Honesty is the means by which you move out of hiding and become free to enter into deeper communion with your Creator than you ever though possible.” (130) Do you desire that? Are you willing to live honestly before God and man? Do you want to trust God completely, be open with Him and commit to never compromising your honesty?
Reading this book will be a great encouragement on your journey.
Moody Publishers, 164 pages.
I received an egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
No comments:
Post a Comment