the Truth shall set you free

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See what great love my heavenly Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Yes, we are children of God, and what we will be we don't know yet. But we do know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is. (1 John 3:1-3)




Truth is: we're crazy. 
"There is One who calls you the beloved. You must constantly go back to the truth of who you are and claim it for yourself. I'm not what I do. I'm not what people say about me. I'm not what I have. Although there is nothing wrong with success, there is nothing wrong with popularity, there is nothing wrong with being powerful, finally my spiritual identity is not rooted in the world, the things the world gives me. My life is rooted in my spiritual identity. Whatever you do, you have to go back regularly to that place of core identity. You will even hear voices saying, 'You are worthless, you have nothing to offer, you are unattractive, undesirable, unlovable.' But the more you sense God's call, the more you will discover in your own soul the cosmic battle between God and Satan. Don't be afraid. Keep deepening your conviction that God's love for you is enough, that you are in safe hands, and that you are being guided every step of the way, then you can face the enemy without fear when you know that you are held safe in the love of Jesus." - Nouwen


As we finished up at youth group tonight the ceiling fell from the sky and hit me on the head. Oh. My. Word. It was like my heart stopped, or maybe it just came back to life and could actually feel again. It was like I had just realized the Truth. The truth that I am alone. I am weak. Slow. Unable. Have nothing to offer. Nothing to give. And for the first time, my situation wasn't looking so bright, instead I could see the walls and ceiling caving in. But I like what Nouwen says, "You must CONSTANTLY go back to the truth of who you are and claim it for yourself." The truth says I am a child of God. He is enough!

Comments

  1. EMILY STARJanuary 12, 2012 at 11:00 PM

    Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmhm.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JanetJanuary 14, 2012 at 12:51 PM

    I loved your last paragraph. So honest about dark moments of growth. I read it to Ron...he could relate.
    And THEN I looked at the picture and was so excited. I know all THREE of those people. Pretthi, Tina, And Janet. It was a fun treat to see those 2 little friends...
    Keep on....You are so positive!!

    ReplyDelete

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