We live in a time where being open and transparent is not what most people are. We live in a culture that is very guarded. We don't feel that we can be real, be who we are. We guard our identities and our hearts.
This is not a new thing. Moses felt that he had to veil his face.
Exodus 34:29-35
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hand, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterwards all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the Lord's presence to speak with Him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.
Because Moses had been in the presence of God, his face began to glow because the glory of God had transformed him. Moses hid his face because his face was scaring the Israelites.
When we submit our lives to Jesus and make Him the authority of our lives, we are transformed. We take on the image and character of Jesus.
When we become more like Jesus, we will offend or scare some people. We will then be tempted to tone it back so that we won't offend or scare others.
Some would say that if we tone back then people won't be so offended or scared. The problem with that idea is that they would not get to see the fullness of Jesus in us. We need to be a display case of God's glory and not allow anything to obstruct from seeing Jesus in us.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing the presence of Jesus to been seen in and through us.
Moses took the veil off when he went to speak with God.
In John 4:23-24 Jesus tells us that we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. When we come into the presence of God, we have to come in complete transparency. God knows us completely and He demands that we be open and honest as we come to Him.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is coming before God completely transparent, being open and honest with God.
The glory of God eventually faded from Moses' face. Moses' transformation was only temporary.
The transformation we undergo from Jesus in our lives is not temporary, it is eternal.
2 Corinthians 3:16-18
But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit if the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
The transformation that we undergo is:
with the veil permanently removed
done by the Spirit from the inside out
with the desire to bring us to total freedom
increasing more and more, day by day
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is an ongoing and permanent work of God's Spirit.
Moses kept the veil on after the glory had faded. He didn't want the Israelites to know that the glory had faded.
We should not fell the need to try to be more spiritual than we are.
Following Jesus is not a matter of impressing other people. Following Jesus is about pleasing Him and that is not something you can fake. We can, as Moses did, make our outward appearance look good. Jesus will know the truth.
We don't need to be afraid of letting others see our struggles or even our failures. I have found that when I talk about my struggles and how God is enabling me to overcome them, it really speaks to people and helps them to see hope in their struggle.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being honest and letting people see our struggles and how God is enabling us to overcome them.
In Matthew 27:51 we are told that at the moment that Jesus died, the curtain in the temple that separated the Holy of Holies, where God's presence was thought to dwell, and the Holy Place was torn in two from top to bottom.
God removed the barrier that separated Him from His people. That meant that through Jesus' death we have complete access to the Father.
Now that we have direct access to God, He wants direct access to us and to use us to show the world who He is.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is letting God use us to show the world who He is.
We are not expected by God to be perfect; He is in us perfecting us.
We are not expected by God to have it all together; He is transforming us to be like Jesus.
God simply wants us to allow Him to remove our veil and be who we were created in Him to be.
Without a Veil Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
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