A precious friend recently gave me a book she bought at a second hand shop. She actually keeps them on hand to give to those she believes will be blessed by its message of truth. It's one of those little cardboard books you buy for very young children, and I'm telling you this because...
The LORD's been trying to teach me truth about my identity for quite some time now. Maybe all my life. For some unknown reason, I've always struggled with being valuable. Don't be confused. I knew I was loved and valuable to those who were significant to me; God, George, family, and close friends. The problem was my understanding of that love. It was shrouded in obligation. I believed they were obligated to love me because of who they were; because of their God-given role in my life.
Yes, I know how skewed that is, but there it is. It's an ugly un-truth that I actually held close and nurtured. I consoled myself with it when I didn't succeed at something, or I used it as a reason to never even try, or I even used it for the reason bad things happened...I deserved them after all.
It sounds ridiculous, right?!
But it didn't feel ridiculous.
It's been twenty years since the LORD's truth started penetrating those thought patterns and broke through the hold those beliefs held over me. He definitely had His work cut out for Him, but His love is persistent. It turns out His desire for me to experience His joy in the here and now was far greater than my desire to hold onto the familiar.
He beat back the weeds of deception and lies that were imbedded in every area of my life, and started replacing them with the truth of His love and delight in me, His daughter.
Jumping past a lot of letting go and grabbing grace, I'm now learning something new. The LORD's shifting my position and redirecting my line of vision. He's pressing me to stop identifying myself as who I am not, and to begin identifying myself as who I am.
Yes! God describes Himself as I AM. He is the great I AM, and He's teaching me that as His daughter, I am so much more than what I am not.
Just as my DNA identifies me as the daughter of my parents, my spiritual DNA identifies me as the daughter of my Heavenly Father; my ABBA (Daddy). I am who I am...not because of what I do but because of who I am.
Don't you just love how gently our Father leads and teaches us?!
I'm going to tell you the name of the book...not to promote the book but its message. The timing was perfect; coming just a week after George told me he liked the girl he married (you can read about that in my previous post). The book is YOU ARE SPECIAL by Max Lucado.
It is my prayer that we will all be dot and star free! No longer identifying ourselves by what we, or others, think of us. Believing the ONE who made us didn't mess up when He made us. Secure in Him and in His love and delight in who we are!!!
The LORD's been trying to teach me truth about my identity for quite some time now. Maybe all my life. For some unknown reason, I've always struggled with being valuable. Don't be confused. I knew I was loved and valuable to those who were significant to me; God, George, family, and close friends. The problem was my understanding of that love. It was shrouded in obligation. I believed they were obligated to love me because of who they were; because of their God-given role in my life.
Yes, I know how skewed that is, but there it is. It's an ugly un-truth that I actually held close and nurtured. I consoled myself with it when I didn't succeed at something, or I used it as a reason to never even try, or I even used it for the reason bad things happened...I deserved them after all.
It sounds ridiculous, right?!
But it didn't feel ridiculous.
It's been twenty years since the LORD's truth started penetrating those thought patterns and broke through the hold those beliefs held over me. He definitely had His work cut out for Him, but His love is persistent. It turns out His desire for me to experience His joy in the here and now was far greater than my desire to hold onto the familiar.
He beat back the weeds of deception and lies that were imbedded in every area of my life, and started replacing them with the truth of His love and delight in me, His daughter.
Jumping past a lot of letting go and grabbing grace, I'm now learning something new. The LORD's shifting my position and redirecting my line of vision. He's pressing me to stop identifying myself as who I am not, and to begin identifying myself as who I am.
Yes! God describes Himself as I AM. He is the great I AM, and He's teaching me that as His daughter, I am so much more than what I am not.
Just as my DNA identifies me as the daughter of my parents, my spiritual DNA identifies me as the daughter of my Heavenly Father; my ABBA (Daddy). I am who I am...not because of what I do but because of who I am.
Don't you just love how gently our Father leads and teaches us?!
I'm going to tell you the name of the book...not to promote the book but its message. The timing was perfect; coming just a week after George told me he liked the girl he married (you can read about that in my previous post). The book is YOU ARE SPECIAL by Max Lucado.
It is my prayer that we will all be dot and star free! No longer identifying ourselves by what we, or others, think of us. Believing the ONE who made us didn't mess up when He made us. Secure in Him and in His love and delight in who we are!!!
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