Today’s Theme: The Mirror Image
Today’s Dare: Dare to Live int he Miracle of Who You Are
“By the grace of God I am what I am” 1 Cor 15:10
Today’s dare is very clear. I am not to view myself from any worldly standard, but see myself as His. Period. But, for me that period often gets erased! It is firm for a season and then a circumstance comes and erases it off the paper of my mind and I start squirming again emotionally stretching to “Be” someone.
- Truth says I am someone. Created by God and for God. Period.
- Truth says I am an new creation. Redeemed, Re-Created in Christ. Period.
- Wrong Belief Lies say that I must try to “be” someone. False
- Wrong Belief Lies say that I will never be “enough”. False
- Wrong Belief Lies have me living in a carnival mirror. False
- Wrong Belief Lies keep me running, running, running, to be better. Exhausting and Painful.
Here’s the deal. Jesus is a truth teller, a change maker, a restorer of all of us. But, as with every story the dark side of the story of life on earth is the evil one, the enemy, who is the father of lies and the accuser of the brethren. He is a liar and no truth is found in him. And he is relentless to steal, kill and rob anything truth from our little hearts.
What we believe that is not true comes from:
- the culture we live in, were raised in, and are influenced by
- the pain and dysfunction of our pasts
- the things we tell ourselves, and our negative thought spinning
- the things others have told us and we believed
- the enemy of our souls, who hates us and wants to defeat us
But, Jesus has overcome the world, it’s lies, our pasts and those hurts. Jesus can change our minds and our hearts, our beliefs and our mental picture frame.
Jesus is here and He loves us. Put that in your picture frame today.
What has erased the “period” of truth from your heart and mind? Or what threatens to erase it?
Living up and growing there,
Debbie
Negative view of me, lies, misunderstandings, listening to others who think they know what’s best for me have caused that “period” of truth to be erased from my heart. However, slowly but surely my life is turning around, my heart is changing as I fill my life with God’s love every morning. Like you say in your prayer on page 152 – “Lord, Life seems to be a constant back-and-forth struggle as I grow up in you” and yes it is a struggle, but so worth it. I look forward to growing up in Him. Thanks Debbie!
The truth is that God has a purpose for each one of His creations. He has no favorites. All people were created for His purpose and carry the miracle of God in them. I need to see my challenges, or the challenging people in my life, as God sees them. It is hard to be angry at someone that God for whom He has a purpose. It doesn’t matter if I can see the purpose or not. Can I thwart the plan of God? I think not.
Am I willing to trust God when I don’t understand God’s purpose for me or for those who are challenging to me?
God is asking me to think about my motivation for the things I say and do. Am I doing them to find significance in the person to whom my comments and behaviors are aimed?
My challenge today is to walk away from any lie, to not even allow them into my mind, if they do not line up with God’s direction or thoughts of me. If they blur the true reflection of God’s view of me, I am to walk away-every time. I also need to prepare for when the lies come.
I am singing Mercy Me’s song “Beautiful” today. That is how He sees me. That is what I am choosing to see, too.
Trying to find significance in what we can “do” is a trap. I can still remember years ago, depressed, divorced, unwanted, and stressed out….God spoke to me one morning with, ” You will never be more significant to me than you are this very moment.” That really spoke to my heart. It was hard to believe because I was a single mom, living in one room of a house with my 2 kids, all on 1 bed, belongings in boxes! Significant? Really? Yes, really. Our significance comes because His Signature is on Our Lives! Yay!