You can hate all you want but something in you will have to admit that I don't look too bad in this picture. I  took it on Sunday after I discovered that I was going to participate in a photo shoot in a few hours that may require me to take my shirt off. Despite several months of binge eating and inactivity, I immediately ran to the closet to get my weights and begin a rigorous training session. I started working out like I was on crack. (Do crackheads workout?) Anyway, you know what I mean. I was doing bicep curls, pushups, tricep isolation, shoulder sets, etc. I had ONE goal in mind: pump up my good qualities and focus the attention of the photographer to those regions.

I was so proud of my little muscles that I took a picture and tweeted it in hopes that SOMEBODY would say SOMETHING encouraging. Needless to say, not one of my 700+ followers made a comment! lol Somehow I was able to garner enough self esteem to travel on to the photo shoot. As ANTicipated, I had to disrobe and take photos without my shirt. Fortunately, I was able to convince the photographer to point the camera away from my man boobs, love handles, and round belly, and simply focus on my upper body. I was allowed to hide behind props and people throughout the event. I consider my arms and shoulders to be fairly decent but my core (abdominal region) is definitely INDECENT.

I haven't met a person yet that hasn't done what I did on Sunday. We constantly hide our flaws from others who are just as flawed and we tend to only display what we deem worthy and presentable. We may be able to fool people but we will never be able to fool God. We insult His infinite intelligence when we approach Him based on any other premise besides: Indecent Exposure! You can't crop and edit your conversations with God the way I cropped that photo to hide my core. We can't hide behind props and people in an attempt to explain away our behavior or pretend we don't hear His voice! We MUST expose our indecent parts in order to get help and real solutions for our issues. Keep it real! God knows when we are horny, pissed, hurt because we took ourselves too seriously, etc...

I know what it's like to look good on the outside, have lots of money, be surrounded by countless friends, but my core is so messed up that the moment I'm alone depression takes full control over my mind. You can exercise and strengthen your extremities (external) all day long but if your core (internal) is jacked up you are wasting energy. People are impressed by outward appearance but God looks at our heart (I Samuel 16:7). When I make requests of God I don't base it upon ANYTHING that I have done. You can't brag about your goodness to someone who has NO flaws. I make my requests in someone else's name who is perfect. Today, instead of hiding my weaknesses and hardships from God and people, I blog about them! When I am weak, HE is strong (II Corinthians 12:9)!

My hope and ANTicipation is that many will experience the same joy and freedom I've found in Indecent Exposure!