Identity - Classic Christianty

OK, so we are moving to a new house in a few weeks and I should probably be packing more boxes...but instead I've spent the past few hours chillaxing on the sofa with a good book. How completely indulgent! It IS a good book :) I confess, it has been a little hard to get into. I think that maybe I'm a bit of a book snob. There are no frills in this one...no bold text, no italics, no font changes at all, no indentations...no thoughts highlighted in a little box on the page. Nope. Just page after page of plain text. Kinda boring for a reader. Presentation matters, but content matters too and this one is big on content. (Oh dear, upon further inspection I have noticed a few indentations and occasional italics -just not quite enough for my taste...ha...I really had no idea I was such a book snob...my apologies!)



Anyway...I just finished the chapter called "Toward a Proper Self-Image". It was very interesting. The author, Bob George, suggests that we blame a lot of our human issues on "poor self-image" when perhaps what we are really looking at is a total preoccupation with self and a misplaced identity. Often we find our identity in relationships. I'm a mother, I'm an administrative assistant. What happens when relationships change? Whew! Sometimes our identity gets wrapped up in a label we've embraced. Hi, I'm Bobby, I'm ADD. I'm Sue, I'm an addict. Listen to this quote: "When someone accepts a label like one of these, it cements his identity in his own mind, as determined by his behavior. Therefore it is natural to assume that the behavior can never change." This week I was challenged to change. It was really hard. The kind of conversation that leaves you with a lump in your throat and puffy red eyes. I want to believe that I am capable of growth and change. It is way too easy to get stuck in a rut and just resign ourselves to the muck and mire. 2 Cor 5:17 is a familiar scripture "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone the new has come" The author points out that being made a new creation does not refer to our behaviour, it is a statement of identity. In Christ I am new creation. I am no longer identified by sin. Christ is my identity. I no longer walk in darkness...I am a child of the light! I am no longer ruled by fear, because His perfect love casts out fear. In Him I am completely loved and accepted whether I know it or not. So, what do I know about who I am? What do I say about who I am?

Try saying this.

I'm believing that if I can get this identity thing squared away in my heart and mind that my behavior will naturally fall into line with who I KNOW I am!

Between His Shoulders

Deuteronomy 33:12 And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

In this chapter Moses blesses the tribes of Israel before his death. This blessing to the tribe of Benjamin is so intimate:

First they are called the beloved of the Lord....beloved...how sweet to be beloved. AND the beloved "of the Lord" there is belonging there. Relationship. Union. I am...you are...the beloved of the Lord.

Shall dwell in safety by him...Benjamin inherited the land right next to the temple. . OK, so I don't live next door to my church, or any church for that matter...but thankfully....God came near to me! He came near to all. He is God With Us! There is safety in that place of nearness.

The Lord shall cover him all the day long...John Wesley said "Shall protect that tribe continually while they cleave to him" I think about a nice cozy quilt. I grew up sleeping in the basement bedroom of our home in North Dakota and it gets REALLY cold there. So, I love the feeling of being covered by layers of blankets. Fluffy comforters. Thick, heavy quilts. It feels so good to be covered! It feels secure...ha....a security blanket of covering....now that is something to cling to!

But, this is my favorite phrase in the passage -and he shall dwell between his shoulders. That's close! The NIV Bible puts it this way: "the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders". Picture that...resting between the shoulders of the Lord. Leaning against his breast. Now, to be totally honest, I'm not quite sure about the pronouns here, which "he" is Benjamin and which "he" is the Lord. Looking at different translations it seems to read both ways. The truth is, either way you look at it: The beloved resting between the shoulders of the Lord OR the Lord dwelling between the shoulders of the beloved...it's beautiful. Christ in me AND me in Christ. Close enough to hear, even feel a heartbeat. Loved. Safe. Warm. Mmmmmm

Open The Doors!

Tonight we have a special Shine On women's service. These are always so beautiful. The girls show up with a eager hearts to worship and connect with their God - You can sense the expectancy! We are singing a great song called No Sweeter Name.

My favorite lines are:
You are the light to the darkness around me
You are the hope to the hopeless, the broken

Jesus is Light. He is Hope. I've spent some time in a dark, hopeless place and I'd probably still be there if it wasn't for my Jesus shining his light into that darkness. I'm so grateful.

Reading Psalm 24 I am caught by verse 7


7 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.


I thought of how doors that haven't been opened for a while tend to get stuck, and how gates that stay closed can get rusted shut. We all have dark places inside that we keep behind closed doors. Hidden things. Maybe past mistakes that are still shrouded in shame. Or even bad habits that we keep under wraps. It is really hard to open those doors. But once they get lifted up, and a little light shines through the darkness, things begin to change. When the King of glory comes in...everything changes!


So that is my prayer for our service. That women will experience a new freedom to lift up their hands/their hearts in worship. That ancient doors will be jiggled open, and gates will swing wide. I'm asking God to come in....change circumstances...change lives! He is the only one who can do that. But then Father, if things around us don't change we welcome you to change our attitudes...change our perspectives. Help us see what you are doing on the INSIDE: Shine on!