i was standing in my bathroom brushing my teeth............having just returned from an evening out with a few ladies from our fellowship, i was getting ready for bed..........there were words swirling around in my head, words which another woman had shared that night..........
"i've realised that it's ok to admit that i am crap........i can't do anything on my own, and that's ok!"
i stared into the basin unable to raise my head to look into the mirror above........
i.am.crap.
but *i* wasn't ok with it...........in fact i was so far from being ok with it that i couldn't raise my eyes to look into the mirror at the tears running down my face, to see the reflection of the person who would be looking back at me..........i didn't want to see her face, didn't want to admit that i didn't like what i saw there, i didn't like the person she was.......
and then there was a gentle whisper in my Spirit: look up, look into the Mirror, you may not love what you see, but I do..............
it's been a few years since that night and i think i finally get it!
when Jesus said He loved that person in the mirror, the one who felt she was messing up everything and totally unable to fix any of the mess i was creating, when He whispered that He loved me even if I didn't love myself, a door opened in my heart, a corner of the veil was lifted from my eyes and slowly He started to show me just how much He loves me.............
you see when i chose to become a christian i made it about a set of rules on how to behave..........and if i just got that right then i'd be a good mom, wife, person.........i had been trying so hard to fix myself from my past, to change how i behaved in the present that i had missed the point.........it was never about me choosing to follow Him, it had always been about Him choosing to love me first........when He revealed that truth to me, that was when i finally became a believer........
when i believed that truth, then He was given access into my temple and His Spirit, which was within me, was awakened when He called out: take off the grave clothes, arise and come out of the tomb...........come live this Life with me............
deep down inside what i was really struggling with was that i didn't really know who i was and what i was created for..........and i so desperately wanted to feel like i was good enough, like i was doing a good job, that i was accepted.......when He revealed that it was never because of my love for Him that i was accepted but it was always about His love for me that i am seen as perfected He whispered: if you want to know who you are, find out who I AM..........you are a perfect reflection of Me!
and so i looked into the Mirror of liberty and what i am discovering daily is: He really did come to set me free..........He really did come so that i could experience eternal life and He really wants me to live life abundantly!!!!
knowing that Jesus died for my sins is the tip of the ice-berg..........He didn't just come to die for me, He came to show me Life and what it means to live in a relationship with my Creator.........He came to share His life with me, to live in relationship with me daily...........He wants to be with me! He wants me to experience the Life that He experiences............and He expects nothing in return.....not.one.thing.
my sins are not always the things i do, in fact most of the time sin is what i believe...........so when He said: find out who I AM, He began to reveal Himself to me more, He began to show me what He really has done for me..........and more and more my thoughts about Him began to be renewed.........He hadn't just come to die for me so that I could be forgiven for all that i had ever done wrong, He had come to set me free from how i believed i had to live..........which resulted in me making unwise choices...........choices which stole my joy, my peace, my love and which meant that i couldn't truly experience the life He had destined for me to live..........a life with Him in me experiencing His life lived through me:unity.......we are one, i live and move and have my being in Him and Him in me.........
so this started a whole series of questions for me.........questions like this:if i am like You, because You died so that i could live the life that You live, then surely that means i should be experiencing all You experience? yes, My bride when we became one then you received all that I AM, now learn to walk with Me in you.........let me show you what My freedom really is...........it was never meant to be a burden to you, you were never meant to carry My load nor do My work for Me..........I came to serve You, receive what i have laid out for you.........come, sit down, rest, I have done all that needed to be done, My kingdom is established in you, let me show you how to live this life in Me...........ask and you will receive, just believe........you are seated at the right hand of the Father, like Me........you are a daughter in His kingdom, all that I have received you have too-this is your inheritance which has been given to you freely.........you don't need to prove you deserve it by sacrificing to Me, you have been completely forgiven.........you don't need to prove you earned it by doing for Me.........all that I want is to share my life with you........when I said it is finished it really was.......My kingdom does not need to be built by you, I have finished it all........come and enjoy it with Me.....
James 1 vs 23-25 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of man he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
i am learning that if i don't look into the face of Jesus when i am faced with the trials in this world, i can easily forget who the Father says i am.............. i may have heard the Word speaking of His love for me but if i let the thoughts in my mind drown out the truth that He says about me, i can easily forget who I am in Him...........when i look intently at the perfect law: all that i need to do is to believe in Jesus, then what i see in the mirror reflected back at me is the freedom to experience His life, fully blessed by the Father in all that i do...........
there are times when i feel that the Lord is teaching me something about Himself and i think: oh boy, if i told any one this they'd think i'm crazy..........but i'm definitely not the first to have these revelations : listen to this sermon........it will bless you.......and then maybe you'll agree i'm not the only crazy one ;-)
"i've realised that it's ok to admit that i am crap........i can't do anything on my own, and that's ok!"
i stared into the basin unable to raise my head to look into the mirror above........
i.am.crap.
but *i* wasn't ok with it...........in fact i was so far from being ok with it that i couldn't raise my eyes to look into the mirror at the tears running down my face, to see the reflection of the person who would be looking back at me..........i didn't want to see her face, didn't want to admit that i didn't like what i saw there, i didn't like the person she was.......
and then there was a gentle whisper in my Spirit: look up, look into the Mirror, you may not love what you see, but I do..............
it's been a few years since that night and i think i finally get it!
when Jesus said He loved that person in the mirror, the one who felt she was messing up everything and totally unable to fix any of the mess i was creating, when He whispered that He loved me even if I didn't love myself, a door opened in my heart, a corner of the veil was lifted from my eyes and slowly He started to show me just how much He loves me.............
you see when i chose to become a christian i made it about a set of rules on how to behave..........and if i just got that right then i'd be a good mom, wife, person.........i had been trying so hard to fix myself from my past, to change how i behaved in the present that i had missed the point.........it was never about me choosing to follow Him, it had always been about Him choosing to love me first........when He revealed that truth to me, that was when i finally became a believer........
when i believed that truth, then He was given access into my temple and His Spirit, which was within me, was awakened when He called out: take off the grave clothes, arise and come out of the tomb...........come live this Life with me............
deep down inside what i was really struggling with was that i didn't really know who i was and what i was created for..........and i so desperately wanted to feel like i was good enough, like i was doing a good job, that i was accepted.......when He revealed that it was never because of my love for Him that i was accepted but it was always about His love for me that i am seen as perfected He whispered: if you want to know who you are, find out who I AM..........you are a perfect reflection of Me!
and so i looked into the Mirror of liberty and what i am discovering daily is: He really did come to set me free..........He really did come so that i could experience eternal life and He really wants me to live life abundantly!!!!
knowing that Jesus died for my sins is the tip of the ice-berg..........He didn't just come to die for me, He came to show me Life and what it means to live in a relationship with my Creator.........He came to share His life with me, to live in relationship with me daily...........He wants to be with me! He wants me to experience the Life that He experiences............and He expects nothing in return.....not.one.thing.
my sins are not always the things i do, in fact most of the time sin is what i believe...........so when He said: find out who I AM, He began to reveal Himself to me more, He began to show me what He really has done for me..........and more and more my thoughts about Him began to be renewed.........He hadn't just come to die for me so that I could be forgiven for all that i had ever done wrong, He had come to set me free from how i believed i had to live..........which resulted in me making unwise choices...........choices which stole my joy, my peace, my love and which meant that i couldn't truly experience the life He had destined for me to live..........a life with Him in me experiencing His life lived through me:unity.......we are one, i live and move and have my being in Him and Him in me.........
so this started a whole series of questions for me.........questions like this:if i am like You, because You died so that i could live the life that You live, then surely that means i should be experiencing all You experience? yes, My bride when we became one then you received all that I AM, now learn to walk with Me in you.........let me show you what My freedom really is...........it was never meant to be a burden to you, you were never meant to carry My load nor do My work for Me..........I came to serve You, receive what i have laid out for you.........come, sit down, rest, I have done all that needed to be done, My kingdom is established in you, let me show you how to live this life in Me...........ask and you will receive, just believe........you are seated at the right hand of the Father, like Me........you are a daughter in His kingdom, all that I have received you have too-this is your inheritance which has been given to you freely.........you don't need to prove you deserve it by sacrificing to Me, you have been completely forgiven.........you don't need to prove you earned it by doing for Me.........all that I want is to share my life with you........when I said it is finished it really was.......My kingdom does not need to be built by you, I have finished it all........come and enjoy it with Me.....
James 1 vs 23-25 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of man he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
i am learning that if i don't look into the face of Jesus when i am faced with the trials in this world, i can easily forget who the Father says i am.............. i may have heard the Word speaking of His love for me but if i let the thoughts in my mind drown out the truth that He says about me, i can easily forget who I am in Him...........when i look intently at the perfect law: all that i need to do is to believe in Jesus, then what i see in the mirror reflected back at me is the freedom to experience His life, fully blessed by the Father in all that i do...........
there are times when i feel that the Lord is teaching me something about Himself and i think: oh boy, if i told any one this they'd think i'm crazy..........but i'm definitely not the first to have these revelations : listen to this sermon........it will bless you.......and then maybe you'll agree i'm not the only crazy one ;-)
