In today's verse 15, we're continuing our focus on honesty by looking at how we can tear down the walls we've built up in God's presence every day.

There is true life in vulnerability. And if we can trust God to be our shield, living with openness and love towards

him, ourselves, and others, will experience a greater abundance of life than we thought was possible.

Let's come before God today with courage, trust, and humility. Welcome to the First 15 podcast. Our scripture for today comes from Acts 24 verse 16.

Scripture says, I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.

In order to protect our hearts from the pain and wounds of the world, we both consciously and subconsciously

build walls. These walls take all sorts of forms. Some walls are built for appearance, so that outward beauty covers up inward brokenness.

Some walls are built to be strong and tough so that pride and strength cover up inward vulnerability and self-consciousness.

Some walls are built in order to blend in

so that people pass us by all together

and never try to know us.

Whatever wall we choose to build,

one thing's for certain.

The walls might guard us from harm,

but they also keep us from ever experiencing true

life.

Abundant life comes from being both fully known and then fully loved.

We can't experience the love of God and others if we don't allow ourselves to be known.

We can't experience God's grace and affection for us if we shield ourselves from him out of fear that he will see us and reject us.

And whenever someone tries to love us fully, we will always reject their

love by saying, if you truly knew me, you wouldn't love me. Living with walls up isn't really

living. It's surviving. God knows our pains. He knows our wounds. Psalm 3418 says, the Lord is near to the

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