False identities

Good Monday morning, my friends.

I discovered something amazing about myself yesterday.  

During the church service I attended yesterday, the band sang "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong.  The lyrics were projected onto a screen for us to sing along, and we got to one particular verse that goes:

So take me as You find me,

All my fears and failures,

Fill my life again.

As I sang that verse, something deep inside me said "if you surrender your fears and failures there will be nothing left of you - your identity will be gone".  I stopped singing in mid-sentence (if you have ever heard me sing you might be thinking that those around me would have been happy about that!).  But I was shocked - what was THAT?  And I realized that this voice was revealing a truth I have been suppressing.  I identify myself by my fears and failures - those things that I have such a hard time forgiving myself for.  My past failures, but also my fear of future failures.  That IS my identity.  What a lie.  

So what is the truth?  Will I lose my identity by surrendering my "fears and failures"?  Well, the answer is YES!  At least I will lose the way I identify myself.  But that is NOT the way Christ identifies me.  It is NOT the way the people closest to me, those that know and love me, identify me.  This is only the way I identify myself and THAT is what I will lose.  If I (and YOU) can lose that false identity we have of ourselves, and look at ourselves the way that Christ does, then we will really find real freedom and real peace.  We will be used by God in ways we could not have hoped or imagined.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

(Ephesians 2:10)

I have sent you this before, but take another look that the "God's Chisel" video by Skit Guys.  This is a dramatization of how God "chisels" away the things in our life that hold us back.  If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, skip to 4:55 in the timeline (I really encourage you to do this) and watch that segment.  God does not make junk.

Are you holding on to your fears and failures, identifying yourself by them?  Are you unable to forgive yourself for past sins?  Are you believing things that were said about you years ago?  Are you trying to live up to some "standard" set by someone else?  Are you trying to prove something to someone else or yourself that you are NOT what was said about you?  How is the way you identify yourself different from the way God identifies you?  

He loved YOU and ME enough to suffer and die in our place because He sees us as His righteousness.  Ravi Zacharias was asked once "What is truth?"  He answered that "Truth is God's perception of reality".  If God perceives us as a masterpiece - then that IS what WE ARE.  Are you willing to toss away that fake ID?

Grace and peace be yours in abundance!

Bruce

Heavenly Father,

Alone with You in this moment of meditation and prayer, I release any unresolved feelings of resentment or regret.

Help me through this process of healing.

I release to you any unresolved feelings that I have toward myself. I understand that not forgiving myself is disobedience toward you.

Forgive me for any pain that I have caused in the lives of others. Forgive me for not letting go of the past and moving forward in love.

I experience now the relief of forgiveness to the depths of my being.

Heavenly Father, I acknowledge and give thanks for Your love that strengthens me, comforts and soothes me emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually.

In the complete fullness of Your Love, I can and do forgive myself.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for healing my heart and bringing Joy and Meaning back into my life.

In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

(http://www.sistersofthefaith.com/christian-living/prayer/forgiveness-how-to-forgive-yourself/)

Bruce MacPherson  macpherson@celtic.ca / Blog: The Celtic Christian / Home: 613.489.4174 Cell: 613.720.0821 You are receiving this email because you have requested it or I felt you would be interested in this material. If you would like to be removed from this email list, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address.  Likewise, if you know of someone else who you believe would appreciate receiving these messages, please let me know.