How To Find Yourself In The Bible

Believe it or not, you are written about in The Bible.  In Christ’s death, your old nature died with him; and likewise, in his resurrection, you were given new life.  Paul was infatuated with this new life and referred to it on numerous occasions throughout his letters to first century believers.  Some of the characteristics found throughout his writings, are so radical that one might assume us to be superheroes just by reading what our lives can entail.  And so to highlight many of Paul’s (and Jesus’) words in regards to our identity, here is a short glimpse at what the New Covenant life provides, as written personally to you:

 

You are a child of God.  You have been formed and fashioned in love.  This is the same love that eradicates your fears and grants purpose to your life.  You are loved by an inseparable force that not only believes in your life, but empowers it, daily.  The God that formed your bones and skin and mind, possessed you and has, Himself, become your very heartbeat.  You are the light of the world, and we all know what happens when light encounters darkness: we wouldn’t even label it a fight.  And you have no need to fight; you stand victorious in life, because God is for you and He has overcome the world. 

We empower darkness when we associate it as having any power at all.  But I assure you, hell’s weapons have been stripped away and its life-force is fleeting and coming to nothingness.  Demons hear God’s name and they tremble, and this is the same God that lives within you.  How should they respond, then, when you enter a room? The math is simple.  Your life has become a move of God. 

You are royalty, seated in Heaven, itself.  You are not loved for some promise you make or skill that you bring to the table.  You are loved, because you are you.  And He loves that about you!  Otherwise, grace would mean nothing more than performing adequately to earn an actor’s wages.  But your life is not measured by performance, as if God wanted you to go around trying to convince Him that you are someone else.  He already finds pleasure in you.  Believe what He says about your life and identity; because how you believe, is also how you live.        

I'm God's Favorite

“God is so in love with all of you,” I leaned forward in my chair as children sat Indian-style on the floor before me.  I had been in San Antonio, Texas once before to help at a children’s conference in this very church, in fact.  And so I knew the energy each boy and girl had the potential of displaying, but somehow, they graciously kept their composer.  Their eyes were fixated on me as I shared stories and tried to correlate each testimony to their lives.  But little did I know that the words I was soon to hear would carry more depth than I could ever hope to teach or fully comprehend.  And those words would come from the simple and curious heart of a child.        

I said it again, “God is so in love with each one of you!” A hand rose from the middle of this child-congregation and his fingers wiggled and waved as if he had not already been seen.  I pointed to the boy, “Yes?”

He dropped his hand and looked around at the eyes of the other children as they turned their gazes to him.  “I know that God loves EVERYONE, but when I pray, He makes me feel like I’m His favorite,”

I could not have been more impressed.  “You get it! You have experienced how personal God’s love is towards you!” I shouted proudly.  “It is not only that God loves the world as a whole, but He loves you, and you, and you…” As I spoke, I pointed to random children in the crowd and seized their eyes with my own.  My smile, which had already been beaming from the presence of young company, had now amplified at the pronouncing of this boy’s profound thought.  I had arrived that morning with the intent of teaching these children, but I realized in that moment that their understanding of God’s love could, very well, have put my own beliefs and ideas to shame. 

Never underestimate the mind of a child.  Too often, the concepts and beliefs that come naturally to them put years of our greatest studies, teachings and principles to shame.  Their simplicity ought to shine a light on what truly matters, because their love does not gleam from the traditions, moral values or expectations that society or religion have had any chance to place on them.  There is a love and curiosity in every child’s eyes; and I believe it to be Heaven-born.  

How To See Eternity In A Clock

Time can be an unsettling thing.  It ticks and tocks to remind you of its existence, but often moves faster than we wish it would.  We have all undergone those moments of anxiety; the same, in which, we always wish our clocks shared some amount of sympathy for our busy state of existence.  As you may have already discovered, "patience" does not exist in time’s vocabulary; it waits for no one! But I would like to take this moment to brag, in that I have found victory over time itself.  My success is that God exists in every moment, and I remind myself to recognize those instants with Him. 

Watch the nearest second-hand baring clock to you.  As the second hand slowly pivots its way around the face, how many of those moments does God not exist within? If you say “None”, then acknowledge Him with every second.   

You have heard the phrase “Live in the moment”, and I very much agree with these words.  But to live for the time that is at hand does not exclude preparation and acknowledgement for the future or past.  In fact, the present is life’s perfect median between the two.  To “live in the moment” is to appreciate where the past has brought you from, as you simultaneously make steps towards the unpredictable that is before you.  But your heart and mind never have to escape life’s current presentation, as long as they avoid the blinders of guilt and worry.  Guilt comes from a lack of seeing Christ in our past, just as anxiety and worry are conceived when we do not expect Christ for our future.  But to see the past and future without these blinding factors is to see life through its most promising and sober perspective.

And so, look back at the clock, once again.  Remind yourself that God is in every moment.  Now live your life from this perspective.  The moments that you share in a realization of God’s ceaseless presence are times already acknowledging and appreciating your incessant state.  You are at rest with God from now to everlasting.  To see God in every moment is to already see life through eternity’s lens.         

A Few Sobering Thoughts

     

It is important to take on life with an open mind and willingness to learn.  It can be easy to place ourselves in a different box than others because we understand our own lives and perspectives more than we do those around us.  The following are just a few sobering thoughts to remind us all of how related we all truly are and highlight the beauty of not always needing to have every answer.  Enjoy:

1)      God will move through your life despite all of your wrong theologies:

Take it as a relief or a disappointment, but God is not fixated and nit-picky about making sure that your ideas of who He is are in perfect order.  (41,000 Christian denominations will prove this point pretty fast.)  It can be a humbling realization when we discover that some ‘fact’ or concept we believed is not (entirely) true.  But do not become so worked up about the little things, as if the reason for our existence was to always be ‘right’.  Live with the open mind of a child, God is far too big for us to ever run short on new discoveries, and so why should we allow our stubbornness to blind our eyes and tie our feet?

God is far bigger and better than we have ever imagined.

2)      Every face came at the same inconceivable price:

In these blogs I focus a lot of my writings on the perspectives that we have regarding other people.  It is not about how ‘right’ you do against how ‘wrong’ someone else does.  We are not here to raise or lower the price tag on something that has already been purchased.  When Christ died for your freedom, Heaven proved your and all of humanity’s equal worth through the price that it paid to attain us.

3)      Jesus did not come to give the world a “right religion”:

Let’s give God the credit of having a little more creativity here.  Since the beginning of time, mankind has come up with countless systems, prices and steps that they instruct themselves and others to follow in an attempt to appease or discover God.  Jesus did not come to add his own arguments to the table; he came to finish the dispute altogether by paying the single price needed for reconciliation.  All humanity has left to do is realize (a.k.a believe) the friendship that has already been established.  And trust me, that realization changes everything for those that discover it.

4)      Your experiences do not determine or alter truth:

Truth should be expected to bear fruit in our experiences, but when they do not align as we expected, it is not a reason to say "all is wrong" and make an about-face and beeline the other way.  One of the most common reasons that I hear regarding God’s “unwillingness” to physically heal someone, is their own experience in not seeing a loved one, or even their own selves healed.  But thankfully, our experiences do not have to determine what we believe, and when we read, "lay hands on the sick and they will recover," we can feel comfortable leaving it at just that; without trying to explain our potentials away by something that we did or did not see.   It is the same with forgiveness.  Your mental ability to not feel forgiven in every moment does not justify the reasoning that your sins have not been completely wiped clean.  It is the same reasoning that exists in a child when he covers his eyes: his failure to see you is not equated to him being alone.  

Honorable Perspective

True honor, like love, is a choice of perspective.  You can say all of the right words in front of someone and then completely negate that same person behind their back and still have shown ‘fruits of honor’ without ever having presented any genuineness to that person at all.  But when our focus and intent is to highlight and appreciate someone for the belief that we have for their life, true honor and all of its fruits are naturally displayed.  It is the most selfless act we can engage ourselves in, because honor places other’s agendas, dreams, ideals and words as higher than our own and seeks to give of oneself to see the fruition of another’s dreams.  It is an utter submission. 

Common images that come to mind for honor may be acknowledgements and highlights from a stage, but it begins long before any such public accolades are considered.  Honor is simply believing in someone, whether they currently see themselves worthwhile or not.  It is looking past the personas, walls and hurts that so many eyes have stumbled over and realizing the immeasurable potential that that person carries, and then treating them as such. 

It does not take anyone special to read off life accomplishments from a person that has fulfilled their dreams, but true humility and selflessness is displayed when you believe in someone long before the world sees any reason to give them the time of day.  But when you highlight the goodness within someone, I inspire you to watch as everything about that person matures, is cultivated and eventually blossoms.  They live out their full potential because you saw and believed in it, even before they did.     

Take on every day with an appreciation for the lives that surround you.  Smile, laugh, and listen just to listen.  Show that you believe in someone; you will be surprised by how strongly honor will repay itself to those that are willing to give it. 

            

I Hear Voices

Every year I become increasingly amazed at the specific details that God will speak to us as we listen.  Since my return from 60 Days Walking, I have been very particular about the next steps that I take in life; trying not to jump too hastily into just any job that comes my way.  But the cost of patience in such careful decision making often calls for some amount of trust.  Several weeks ago, I found myself asking God where I was to receive money for my living expenses, as my unemployed state was quickly depleting my bank account.  Immediately, an old co-worker that I had not seen or spoken to in over six months came to mind.  “Joyce is going to call you with a painting job,” God spoke clearly to my heart.  And of course, the next day I received that very phone call.  My mind was blown, but somehow I had expected it to happen that way, because after all, He is my Father; why wouldn’t He speak to me?

It was only about four years ago that I discovered God’s love for speaking to his children, but not just about the ‘important stuff’.  Many would consider it obvious that God speaks to us about decisions and direction, but I am convinced that he is equally interested in the day to day occurrences that even we don’t care that much about.  Why? Because God is intimate.  When speaking ‘religiously’ most might assume God has little care or interest in grocery shopping, watching television, or cleaning the house; but I would beg to differ.  On several occasions, God has even told me the names of characters in movies before they were introduced.  And many might wonder or ask, “Why would God tell someone things like that?” or “What importance or purpose was behind those things? What did you learn?” And honestly, I believe many of the words that God speaks are meant to be nothing more than a reminder of his closeness and a fruit of simply being involved in our lives. 

I understand that this can seem extreme, bizarre, and some may even assume that one needs to be some sort of “highly favored” or “special Christian” to hear God’s voice this way, but everything in me prays that you tear down the superhero mentalities that come with these sorts of testimonies.  The same Spirit that is in me, the same spirit that was in Paul, and the same spirit that was in Jesus, is alive and filled with an equal potential inside of you! God lives in you by His own choice!  There is no superhero status (beyond the idea that we have ALL become super humans through Christ, that is).  Yes there are differing gifts, and yes, people have their own passions and focuses, but God’s voice is here for the hearing, no matter your self-perceived status.  We serve a savior that calls himself “The Word”; I think that makes it safe to conclude that he might be a bit of a “talker”. 

When you pray, listen as much as you speak.  Ask God about the specifics of each day, each decision and even about the lives of people around you.  I promise that God is not shy, and I know that a God as willing to give as much as he has for you will want to talk to you just as powerfully. 

You are His child. 

You are His love. 

What is He saying to you today? 

The Power of Words: Something to Talk About

Words are not only words, as so many of us often suppose.  They have the power to define who someone is, because they set a verbal or written standard by which people position or see themselves.  Example: Why do parents tell their children not to call another person ugly? Because when someone hears this word, the most common response of the hearer is to believe and associate one’s self to the identity of “ugly” to some extent or another.  The same can be true by way of assumption.  Have you ever heard phrases like, “Just be yourself,” or seen lists in blogs and magazines about “How to be beautiful/sexy/successful.”? Suddenly, your mind wonders “Why wouldn’t I be myself?” or you associate yourself as none of what the article is promoting because the context and wording immediately positions the reader as being none of those things.  Thus, as people hear, read and associate, so they live out!

This is not a new problem in the world; in fact, the opening book of the Bible shows the world’s first identity crisis only a few chapters in.  Eve’s actions clearly show that one’s understanding of their position with God is crucial to everything else that that person does, says and ultimately lives out in every way.  In seeing this, ‘belief’ or the act of ‘believing in God’ is no longer man’s one work towards his salvation, but rather, a fully convinced mind/heart that trusts that he is who God says that he is.

In multiple places throughout scripture, references to mankind being created in the likeness and image of God gives us an unmistakable position of which to associate Eve.  She was created in God’s image, BUT what does the serpent tempt her with? “The moment you eat from that tree… You’ll be just like God…” (Genesis 3:4,5 MSG).  Just as in the example of disassociation that a magazine entices its’ readers by, Satan used his words to indirectly say, “Eve, you are not like God,” And we all know where the story went from there.      

We are similar to Eve in that our identity is linked to the image and likeness that we have been created in.  The same lie that caused Eve to perform actions that were not within her nature is still tickling the ears of people today and convincing them of their separation from God.  I believe that from this mindset every religion in the world has been created: man tries to bridge the gap between themselves and a distant god; never realizing that the very God they are searching for has already bridged that same gap.    

Realize that God did not come to save a world of worthless people.  An important question to ask one’s self is this, “Who do I believe myself to be?” But an even greater question, and one that you will spend the rest of your life delving deeper and deeper into is, “Who does God say that I am?” You will be amazed by the answers that you find, and God’s response to this second question will completely rewrite the answer you come up with for the first as well.  Do not get caught up in naming yourself by the flimsy titles and associations that the world provides, but allow your identity to be defined by Truth itself.  In other words, believe what God believes to be true about you.