Morning Devotional 072625 Come As You Are

Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room

July 27, 2025

Psalm 139: 13-18

13 You are the one who created my innermost parts; you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb. 14 I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart. Your works are wonderful—I know that very well. 15 My bones weren’t hidden from you when I was being put together in a secret place, when I was being woven together in the deep parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my embryo, and on your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me, before any one of them had yet happened. 17 God, your plans are incomprehensible to me! Their total number is countless! 18 If I tried to count them—they outnumber grains of sand! If I came to the very end—I’d still be with you.

Good Morning! Lord, you know everything I do!

Nothing is hidden from the one who creates us! 

As humans, we often prefer to conceal certain aspects of ourselves from others. By this, I mean that we choose different ways to present ourselves depending on the group or situation we enter. Whether this is for our work setting or we are just hanging out with friends, we have a persona we’ve created through which we pick and choose which things are known. We do this because we don’t want to make ourselves vulnerable to the opinions or ridicule of others. 

We fear that if the group of sophisticated friends learn that we grew up in the “sticks,” we might be looked upon with disdain. We work desperately to live within the guidelines that society imposes upon us. This affects how we dress, style our hair, and even the words we speak. At the end of the day, we can’t wait to go home and just be who we are. We throw off the fancy, uncomfortable clothes and put on our worn ones that are soft and comfy, and likely out of style. 

The Good News this morning is that we don’t need to put on our persona for God. God knows everything about us and loves us for the vulnerable, insecure beings that we keep hidden away from others. Jesus invites us to come as we are because all are welcome to sit around God’s table and share the feast. It’s one never-ending table, and everyone has a seat waiting for them. You can wear your comfy clothes and come barefoot if that is what makes you happy. Set aside those earthly constraints and take a seat where all are equal and worthy in the eyes of the Lord.

Giving Lord, you bless us abundantly! We use earthly conventions to elevate our worth, but they always fall short of our expectations. You invite us to come as we are. Thank you. We love you, Lord! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

Thought for the day: God knows us from the inside out.

Get comfortable and stay as long as you like!  Pastor Liz