In case you forgot, this is who you really are
In case you thought your detours and mistakes disqualified you from God’s plan for your life, think again. Your identity wasn’t created by your own thoughts about yourself. Your true identity is and always will be, who God declares you to be.
The One who said, “Let there be light”, and there was light, has declared who you are. His thoughts towards you are kind and generous, beyond what you have imagined. Your true self is how God always relates to you, even if you are ignorants of who you truly are. Your true self is who God sees when He lovingly looks at you.
So who is this beautiful person reading this? What follows here are statements that are true. When your mind interrupts you, and says this is NOT who you are, dismiss the thought. You’ve entertained and fed the lies long enough. It’s a new day, and time for Truth to be your companion.
You are a fire carrier, who knows where to go and knows what to do, carrying revival fire wherever you go. You change atmospheres when you walk into a room. You are a living, breathing tabernacle of the Most High. You were created to house His presence in the earth.
Demons tremble when you wake up in the morning. They fear you actually believing all that God says about you. So, smile when you look in the mirror. It’s going to be a great day, except of course, for the demons.
You are a true worshipper, who worships the Father in spirit and truth. You are more and more empty of yourself, and more and more possessed by God. He has made Himself responsible for you. Your job is to yield, to surrender to love.
You are a steward of Holy Spirit wine, serving the household of God out of a pure servant heart, pouring out living water of joy and freedom wherever you go. What will your day be like today if you completely embrace this identity?
You are a life-carrier, and life-releaser, who is surrendered to God’s passionate love and life. You allow Him to manifest Himself through you to the world. People may not consciously understand they have encountered the living God when they interact with you. But they have. He is in pursuit of every human heart. You are His messenger, His ambassador, His secret agent spy in the land.
You are a yielded, surrendered child of the Living God, without reputation to protect or agenda to fulfil. You have entrusted your life into Christ and you live from your place seated with Him in heavenly places. You live with an overwhelming, insatiable hunger for more of Jesus. If this is not who you see right now, be assured, it is who you are more fully becoming. You may only see a shadow of who you are, but Christ in you holds the expectation that His glory will fill your life more and more.
Your ears hear not only the voice of God, but His very heartbeat, because He is the beating of your heart.
You are the mirror image of Jesus in this world, showing everyone how beautiful and wonderful He is through your life.
As a spirit being, you are engaged with the worship and light of heaven, and you are engaged with the affairs of earth. Each day your interaction with the heavenly realm increases, as does your awareness of your governmental authority in Christ.
Lastly, NEVER LET CIRCUMSTANCES, PEOPLE, OR EVEN YOUR OWN THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS DEFINE YOU. IN CASE YOU FORGOT, GOD SAYS WHO YOU REALLY ARE.
The Holy Waiting
We sing songs about waiting. So did the psalmist. ‘How long O Lord?” (Psalm 13:1). We struggle in the delay. We begin to doubt and lose vision as time passes and our cries seem unheard above.
But what about His waiting? His beautiful heart longs for our presence, our companionship with Him in the quiet place.
Jesus waits for our gaze to meet His. He gave all so there would be no hindrances between us, no delays in our response to His call to come and eat, and rest.
Perhaps He sings a song over us, “How long, my love?”
Thought for the Day
The Trinity does everything together. And they invite us into their fabulous party. You don’t have to dress up. They have beautiful garments you can wear. And you don’t have to know how to dance. They will show you everything.
Creation’s Liturgy
I pause, sometimes in the rust-colored evening light and join in creation’s liturgy of gratitude for what has been today, and I participate in their joyful hope for tomorrow.
Podcast 1
Kate
Life has been altered for our family by the death of our oldest child, Kate. I probably would have passed over a post like this a couple of years ago. But now, I am turning aside here and there, seeking wisdom others may have collected on this road called grief.
I’m not shooting for profound anymore. When your child dies, and your reality is rearranged, profound isn’t worth the effort. Instead, I find myself challenged by a statement my son made. He has faced his demons and is facing his sister’s death the way he is facing all of life these days: head-on. He encouraged me not to run away from things, not to try to escape the pain. Going through brings light. So, when I binge watch Netflix, I am escaping. But this sharp-edged piece of broken glass in my heart reminds me, almost hourly, that there is a loss.
I told 150+ people at the celebration of her life, that we should be identified by her life and not by her death. Wasn’t that noble of me? Wasn’t it positive thinking that pointed us all to her goodness and light? Except, the pain, the insistent and unrelenting pain seeps back into my awareness constantly. So, go ahead, everyone else and take my advice. But as for me, I will forever be identified by her death. I am a mother whose child died.
The unnatural way of things. I was supposed to die first. Three years ago, when she was diagnosed with BRCA2 gene breast cancer, I simply believed she would survive. She was 40. There was no doubt, in either of us. Oh, sure, she probably had her days when an ache here or there sent a shiver up her lovely spine and suggested maybe the cancer was back. And being so committed to wellness, organic everything, yoga, spirit life, and more, there seemed no doubt that with the help of Western medicine, this powerful woman would live, and outlive me.
Two weeks before Kate got her devastating diagnosis, my husband also got his. Colorectal cancer. We were just beginning to really have fun. We were not quite retired, but living part of the year in Ireland, and the rest back in the U.S. And then, within two weeks, our family had two cancer victims to deal with.
Then, in 2016, my husband’s brother died of tongue cancer. In 2018, my mother-in-law passed away, with a diagnosis of cancer. (She was in her 90’s, but still). This demonic horde has devoured my family. I feel helpless. And going forward in my life, I am examining this helplessness, this great weakness, as a way of life.
So, I think I will write more as the days go on. I have spiritual things I am exploring and want to share. Not sure who will listen, but they’ll be here in cyberspace for whosoever will.