A WORD WITH YOU By Ron Hutchcraft #4712 - "Remove Your Mask Before You Enter" Hebrews 4:13 Listen to the audio broadcast! http://www.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/ramhurl?p=pnm&f=/rhm/sounds/awwy/awwy4712.rm I had to stop at a convenience store one Halloween night. No, not to trick or treat, just to pay for the gas I had just put in my car. That's when I saw this interesting sign they had posted - a sign I had never seen anywhere else before. It simply said, "Please remove your mask before you enter." I wasn't wearing one. For one unhappy moment, I did remember what they used to tell me in school long after Halloween, "Hey, Halloween's over, Ron! Take off your mask." I wasn't wearing one then either. But this sign was no joke. Obviously, they didn't want someone to try to pull off a Halloween heist, wearing a mask that would conceal their identity from the security cameras. I didn't see anyone in the store that night with a mask. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Remove Your Mask Before You Enter." I can almost imagine a sign like that one at the store, displayed at the entrance to the Throne Room of Almighty God - which we enter when we pray. "Please remove your mask before you enter." God isn't impressed by our religious words or our religious image. He's not interested in seeing the masks that we sometimes wear around various groups of people. He does not want to hear a recitation of the same tired old prayer script that we often repeat without thinking. He insists that we come as we really are - completely unmasked. The real God can only help the real you. The futility of pretending or masquerading before God is abundantly clear in our word for today from the Word of God in Hebrews 4, beginning with verse 13. It says: "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." So it's useless to come before God pretending we feel how we're "supposed" to feel instead of how we really do feel. It's a waste of time to come with our rationalizations, our excuses and our cover-ups. We are laid bare before Him. There's no point in putting on a tie when you're spiritually and emotionally naked before Him. Tell it all. Let it go. Be real with Him. He won't love you less. He already knows what's behind the mask you show everyone else. You won't shock Him. You won't surprise Him, but God operates on an invitation basis. He comes into a part of your life when you open it up to Him. So He's asking you to check your mask at the door of His Throne Room and come, as the hymn says, "Just as I am, without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me." That passage goes on to tell us that "we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Come in with your burdens and leave with His grace - which is always greater than the burdens. But come honestly. It may be that you've prayed many times, acting as if you really belong to God, as if He's really your Father - when, in fact, you've never really put all your trust in His Son, Jesus, to be your personal Rescuer from the death penalty for your sins. You've never turned your back on the sin that killed Jesus and said, "Jesus, You're my only hope of having my sins forgiven." So while everyone around you may think you really know Jesus, even though you may have fooled them - and maybe even yourself, for years - you've never had your moment of personal surrender to Jesus. The longer you wait, the harder your heart is getting and the greater the danger that you will die without Christ in your heart. In your head maybe, but not in your heart. This very day, the only one you can be sure you'll have, you need to "remove your mask before entering." Park your religion at the door and let God know you're in desperate need of His Son as your Savior. If that's what you want, let me send you my little booklet about it called Yours For Life. When you come to God honestly, and when you admit your need and begin your relationship with Him, you'll enter His presence lost. But you'll leave found, knowing you finally belong to Him for real. If you're not sure you belong to Jesus, and you would like to make sure today, Ron would like to send to you a free copy of the booklet, "Yours for Life: How to Have Life's Most Important Relationship." To read it online, click here: http://www.yoursforlife.net/ OR, to request your free copy of "Yours for Life," click here: http://www.gospelcom.net/rhm/yours/yflorder.html -------------------------------------------------------------------- Discuss today's "A Word With You," post your comments, or encourage others in our discussion forum! http://forums.gospelcom.net/view/rhm/awwy How can I help support the work of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries? http://www.gospelcom.net/rhm/support/ To find out how you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, please visit YOURS FOR LIFE: HOW TO HAVE LIFE'S MOST IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP at: http://www.yoursforlife.net Or, call 1-888-NEED HIM. "A Word With You" by Ron Hutchcraft is a daily radio challenge, with slice-of-life illustrations and insights - providing practical help on the issues that matter most. If your local Christian radio station does not air "A Word With You," please let them know how much you value this program. Over six years of transcripts are available online, at http://www.gospelcom.net/rhm/awwy/ Ron Hutchcraft Ministries is a member of the Gospel Communications Network - http://www.gospelcom.net "A Word With You" is a production of: Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc. http://www.gospelcom.net/rhm/ Email: RHM@... Phone: 1-877-741-1200 Copyright (c) 2005, Ron Hutchcraft. Permission to distribute this material via email, or individual copies, is automatically granted on the condition it will be used for non-commercial purposes, and will not be sold. To reproduce "A Word With You" transcripts in any other format, including Internet websites, written permission is needed from Ron Hutchcraft. Copyright (c) 2005, Ron Hutchcraft. Reprinted with permission. "A Word With You" is a radio outreach of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc. You are receiving this recurring mailing because you signed up on our website, sent an email or signed up at an event requesting to be on the "A Word With You" list. 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