Exaggeration

People exaggerate. We magnify our fears and our virtues. Humor involves exaggeration and observation. Drama is created by exaggeration. Horror is the worst kind of exaggeration because it magnifies what we fear.

Humorous horror is the fun house mirror of our day. People pay to laugh at what they are afraid of.

People struggle to be more. They pad their resumes and hide their fears behind an exaggerated smile. We have a moral sense that things should be portrayed just as they are but but at times fight the urge to magnify or minimize. It's what people do to cope.

God doesn't exaggerate... He uncovers or reveals. Glory is no exaggeration. Glory is the reality of God's involvement. Glory is the glow of His person. Worship is not making God bigger. Worship is when we approach how God really is with our words and our hearts ignite because of our proximity to that which is magnificent.

Sin is the major barrier that separates us from God but I think this defense mechanism is a mental mindset that reinforces that barrier. God seems so straight laced and serious. How can we relate to Him?

"I said in my haste, All men are liars." - Psalm 116:11 KJV

"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." - 1 John 1:8-10 ESV

Simple agreement results in cleansing.

Jesus lived in reality when He went to the cross. He saw everything just as it was and not how He wanted it to be. Sin wasn't funny to Him. It still isn't.

Thank God it has been taken care of.

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." - Galatians 1:3-5 ESV

Peace is the result when we witness glory. Grace is God's honest unhindered initiation to us. It is God being who He Is and approaching us as we are. God desires an unembellished response. Faith is just that.

Faith leaves exaggeration behind and enters into a fresh kind of humor. Joy is the result. We laugh like a little child laughs. We are are fresh and free when we believe. The burden is gone. We don't have to pretend it is heavier or lighter. Faith makes us honest because we can dare to be honest. We are accepted either way.

There is great joy in being loved just as we are. There is joy in being who we are when the glow of God's smile is shining on us. We live in the magic hour of perception. The sun is in just the right position to make everything look wonderful and bathed in flattering colors.

Walking before God makes it effortless to be ourselves.

--