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I like to start with something funny. I heard about this mom. She was cooking breakfast for her two young sons.

Ryan was five and Kevin was three. They began to argue over who should get the first pancake.

She saw it as an opportunity to teach them a lesson. She said, boys, boys, if Jesus were here, he would say, let my brother have the first pancake.

Ryan turned to his little brother and said, okay, Kevin, you be Jesus.

Hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have.

I can do what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the Word of God. I boldly confess my mind is alert.

My heart is receptive. I will never be the same in Jesus' name. God bless you.

I want to talk to you today about being real. It is easy to go through life where in different masks.

Instead of dealing with the issues that we know are holding us back, too often we keep them covered up, pretending that everything is okay.

We are more concerned about the outside, what people are going to think, our image, than we are the inside.

It takes a lot of work to deal with the inner issues, our character, our motives, our attitude, our behaviors, things that we know are not right.

It is much easier to put on a mask and pretend. Some people have a mask for every situation. They are professional pretenders.

They have a mask for work, a mask for home, a mask for this friend, even a mask for church.

They come in on Sundays. They are not speaking to their spouse, mad at their neighbor, can't pay their bills, greet her ask how you doing.

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