by Donya Dunlap | Aug 27, 2019 | Bible Study, The Spiritual Life
Several days ago I read Psalm 2 for my devotions and was struck by the invitation recorded in verses 7-9:
I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces lie a potter’s vessel.”
Our God is such a gentleman! He made a plan for His Son, to make the ends of the earth His possession, to bring all nations under His rule. But the Son has a choice. “Ask of me” and it will be done. Obviously the nature of the Trinity and their unified relationship makes this passage more complicated than those three words alone, but as I was reading this Psalm normally referred to when speaking of the judgment of God, I was surprised to have this kind exchange brought to my attention.
I considered this invitation, this relationship between God the Father and God the Son and realized we as His sons and daughters have the very same relationship. You and I are invited into the same fellowship that the Trinity enjoys! Isn’t that amazing?
- You’re invited into God’s family. The water of your new life has been paid by the blood of the Lamb. “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” – Revelation 22:17
- You’re invited into God’s presence and His kingdom purposes. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:4-5
- You’re invited into God’s plan for your life. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me an ego and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:11-13
- You’re invited into an intimate relationship with your Creator and Savior. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” – Revelation 3:20
- You’re invited into rest, leaving the worries of this world in His capable hands. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30
- You’re invited into healing. “Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.” – Hosea 6:1
- You’re invited into a behind-the-scenes look at His wisdom and the mysteries of His universe. “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” – Jeremiah 33:3
God invites us, but He never forces us or demands we comply. He offers a choice. Would you like life or death? Healing or brokenness? Purpose or wandering? Wisdom or foolishness?
The invitation has been extended to you, engraved by His hand and sealed by His blood, but it is up to you to accept, ask, open the door, and take His yoke. You are wanted, accepted, and welcome to join hands with the King of the Universe. The choice is yours.
by Donya Dunlap | Oct 12, 2018 | Bible Study, The Spiritual Life
Do you ever feel beaten down? Worn out? Weary from trying to gather enough hope to live another day?
I have. And I suspect you have too.
I’ve noticed when life gets difficult it seems problems pile upon problems. People get sick when there’s no extra time to rest. Appliances die when budgets are stretched to the max. Work becomes more demanding when your emotions are frayed and wearing thin.
Our Opponent
I fear this is no coincidence. Try as I might to ignore him, we truly do have an enemy who wanders about seeking to destroy us (1 Peter 5:8). He’s also very good at what he does. Primarily, he is a liar. In fact, Jesus calls him the “father of lies” in John 8:44. Yet even though we know his words cannot be trusted, we still find ourselves falling into his traps. Why? Because in many cases, his words match our feelings. We find ourselves in pain and this “evidence” seems to “prove” him right when he says things like,
“God doesn’t love you.”
and
“This is never going to end.”
When we receive a cancer diagnosis, when depression hits hard, when a news report triggers you, these poisonous darts shoot from the Enemy’s lips and lodge themselves in our hearts, spreading their death to our minds, thoughts, and actions. It is at this moment when Satan delivers his one-two punch.
- If God really loved you, He would have protected you. This should never have happened to you. How can you trust a God who allows bad things to happen to good people?
- This pain you feel right now is never going away. This is your new normal. You thought you were making progress, but you’re kidding yourself. You will never be happy. Every time you take a step forward God is going to push you right back down in the muck.
Sound familiar? And yet Scripture tells us the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Both good and bad things happen to both good and bad people. Of course, this wasn’t God’s original plan. It was Satan who mucked this up in the beginning.
Conveniently, this truth is left out of his narrative. He would rather you believe God is the father of lies, not himself. He wants you to believe God hates you. That God is punishing you for some unknown slight. He knows if he can keep you separated from God, you will never find healing to the point of usefulness. And there is little more powerful than a testimony of redemption to bring glory to God.
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. – Psalm 30:4-5 ESV
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. – Genesis 8:22 ESV
In these passages, we read God’s promise of balance. Tears and joy. Summer and winter. Seedtime and harvest. All of life is cyclical. So it is with pain and healing. You will have good days and bad days. But if you choose to cling to God through both, He will see you through the darkness into the joy of the morning. A new beginning. A fresh start.
It may seem you will never be happy again. It may feel like all past joys were a mirage. Please, don’t believe these lies. It may be black as midnight now, but God is with you. He will see you through.
Tools for the Fight
God has warned us that our Enemy is a fierce opponent, but He has not left us defenseless. Ephesians 6 details the armor of God we have at our disposal. Without these tools, we are prone to attack and grievous harm.
The first item on the list is the “belt of truth.” How do we “wear” this belt as a tool in our daily lives?
- Know what’s true – If you aren’t educated in truth, you will believe anything. Be in God’s Word so you can discern Satan’s lies from God’s still, small voice.
- Record what’s true – God knows we have faulty memories. That’s why He told the Israelites to build memorials. We must do the same.
- Keep a journal.
- Post meaningful Scripture on your walls.
- Celebrate what’s true – God also instructed the Israelites to hold feast days throughout the year to remember past victories and moments of deliverance. And so should we!
- Celebrate the anniversaries of important days or new steps of courage.
- Share victories with trusted people who will rejoice with you and remind you of good times when things look bleak.
Regardless of what the Enemy and your feelings may be telling you, you are not alone! You will overcome and God will receive glory in your triumph. Rest in His promises.
by Donya Dunlap | Jan 26, 2018 | Bible Study, The Spiritual Life
During a recent church service, the pastor read Romans 12:1-2. It’s a common passage. I’ve likely read it hundreds if not thousands of times in my lifetime. I’ve heard it discussed in dozens of sermons. But never before have I seen the secret to being my authentic, true self in these verses as I did this week.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service*. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. – Romans 12:1-2 KVJ
*ESV reads “spiritual worship”
If you’re like me and you read this with your “good girl” lenses on, you see this as something to be done. It’s a natural conclusion given the action words used. Present. Service. Conformed. Transformed. Renewing.
It’s likely this is how it was taught to you too. You need to do right and be right so God will find you acceptable. It wasn’t until this week I realized this interpretation is all wrong!
A Living Sacrifice
Before you send me a nasty email, let me explain. As with all things, the best way to interpret Scripture is through Scripture. So let’s consider what it means to be a living sacrifice.
Many believe the first sacrifice for sin ever performed was done by God in the Garden of Eden in order to clothe Adam and Eve after they had eaten the forbidden fruit and discovered they were naked. It is a picture of the sacrifice of Christ to come.
And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. – Genesis 3:21 ESV
In the following chapter, Adam and Eve have raised two sons, Cain and Abel. They each bring to the Lord an offering, the best of their work.
In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” – Genesis 4:3-7 ESV
Again, this passage can be confusing, because it says if you “do well” you will be accepted. Again with the doing! But if it is really about the doing, wouldn’t Cain’s sacrifice have been acceptable? After all, farming is hard work. Cain was giving the best of his labors. But what God was trying to show Cain is that our labor, our good works, is not enough to be acceptable in God’s eyes.
This is the point of the 10 Commandments as well. We can never do enough. Never. What makes us acceptable is not our work, but God’s work—the living sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Holy, Acceptable unto God
Going back to Romans 12:1, we don’t have to work hard at making our bodies holy and acceptable to God. Paul is describing our living sacrifices AS THEY ALREADY ARE. A few chapters before, in Romans 6, Paul explains the symbolism. When Jesus died on the cross it as if we died with Him. Because of His sacrifice, all who accept Jesus as Savior have been freed from the power of sin and death.
Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. – Romans 6:8-11 ESV
The blood of Jesus has washed us clean. My true self, your true self, is already holy, spotless, blameless, without shame. The condemnation we were born into, the shame we inherited in our DNA imprinted in that first moment of sin in the garden, that shame is no longer ours to carry. It is broken. We are free to walk in grace as honorable sons and daughters of the living God.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. – Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV
The Transformation
So if this is all true, if our true self is holy and blameless, why does God tell us to present our bodies to Him in this way? The key is in the second verse—we will change when we renew our minds.
There are people everywhere trying to be the best versions of themselves. Especially right now at the beginning of the year. Diet books are flying off the shelves, gyms are full of people trying to figure out what the pictures on all the weird machines are telling them to do. But as with every new endeavor, the resolution to do better will only take you so far. By February 15 the diet books are collecting dust and the half-off Valentines candy is all the rage.
I am currently one of many attempting to make life changes in the area of diet and exercise. (Read more about that here) I picked up a copy of The Daniel Plan and smiled to learn the key to success in losing weight is not what you eat or how you work out, but what you think. Of course, it is! Scripture tells us this.
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7 KJV
If we are to change what we do, we must change how we think. This is why Paul says we must transform our minds. If we don’t, we are going to be just like everyone else in the world who is trying to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. The key to holy living is holy thinking.
Yes, actions are important. Paul says it is by our actions that we will prove to others “what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” But trying to do this through willpower or a focus on obedience isn’t going to work. We must instead focus on who Jesus says we are in Him. We are holy. Blameless. Righteous. Our old man has died and our new man is alive through Him. Our chains are gone. We are free!
Present your True Self to the World
We are free to walk in newness of life. Released from the bondage of sin and death. But the only way we are going to experience the joy of this truth is if we BELIEVE it is true in our minds. First, we take God at His word, and then our actions follow.
Do you see the difference? Trying to present our bodies holy and blameless in our own efforts is a great burden. A weight God never intended for us to bear. Jesus says,
“My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:30 ESV
We will naturally and joyfully do the right things if we first swim around in and absorb the truth of God’s Word. We must fully grasp all He has given us in the inheritance of Jesus’ sacrifice. Your identity—your true self is a child of God.
So lift your head. You’re not a “weary sinner” anymore. You are holy and blameless. Don’t live like the world. Live like the royalty you are.
NOW AVAILABLE
Forgetting the Fairy Tale, 2nd Edition and the Forgetting the Fairy Tale Companion Guide are now available on Amazon! Get your copies today!
by Donya Dunlap | Jan 19, 2018 | Bible Study, The Spiritual Life
As with many areas in life, I find myself ebbing and flowing in my sense of acceptance before the Lord. This may sound strange to you. If our standing before God in Christ is secure, and it is, why should my feelings on the subject change? I have my theories. Whispers of the Enemy, an upbringing focused on appearance rather than relationship, and hormones top the list. Regardless of the source, there are times when my feelings get the best of me and discouragement settles in my heart. Thankfully, God likes to upset the settled.
When God Smiles at You
While in prayer for Trihope several months ago I got the distinct impression of God smiling at me. We were seeking His direction, hoping for answers to specific questions, and all I could think of was God’s face alight with affection for me. The image has remained in my mind and heart.
Several days ago I was struggling with something unrelated. I asked Jesus to sit with me as I opened my Bible before heading to bed. I turned to the Psalms and flipped to Psalms 43 and 44. As I read these words, I knew Jesus had lead me to this passage.
O God, we have heard with our ears,
our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old:
you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;
for not by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and the light of your face,
for you delighted in them.
Psalm 44:1-3
The verses touched my heart deeply. I think of the grumpy, complaining Israelites dragging their feet into the Promised Land and I assume God was frustrated with them. But what do these verses say? God “delighted in them.”
Delight Defined
According to Merriam-Webster.com, delight means,
1: a high degree of gratification or pleasure: joy; extreme satisfaction
2: something that gives great pleasure
Not only did God rescue the people of Israel from bondage, but He planted them in a place of prosperity, defeated their enemies, and set them free. And he did so with His might and by the light of His face. Why? Because He delighted in them. It brought joy to the heart of God to do good things for His children because His children brought Him joy—for no other reason than they were His.
This brings to mind my mom’s face when she would see me in the crowd of people at the airport. I’d be coming home for Christmas or for a special occasion and she would be there waiting for me to arrive, her face lit up like the sun to see me. I so love and miss her beautiful face!
This is how our relationship with the Lord should be. We should delight in each other. Each one finding joy in the love of the other. Smiles lighting up our faces. Yet even when we are grumpy and disgruntled, and ungrateful for all He has done for us, God smiles at us because He delights in us.
Light in the Darkness
Darkness is part of life. Summer gives way to winter. New babies grow into old men. Day gives way to night. It’s easy to wish we could always be relaxing in the sun, but without the night we wouldn’t enjoy the beauty of the sunset and sunrise, the breathtaking awe of a sky full of stars, or the dazzling display of aurora borealis. The darkness magnifies the light.
So when you find yourself discouraged in a season of darkness, remind yourself of the light of your Lord’s face as He smiles at you with kindness and love. Just tip your bowed head up and look at His face. He loves you. He delights in you. His face lights up in joy over you. And together you and He can face any darkness the Enemy can muster.
NOW AVAILABLE
Forgetting the Fairy Tale, 2nd Edition and the Forgetting the Fairy Tale Companion Guide are now available on Amazon! Get your copies today!
by Donya Dunlap | Dec 29, 2017 | Bible Study, The Spiritual Life
Over the course of the last year, I have tackled the project of developing a companion study guide to my book Forgetting the Fairy Tale. In doing so, I’ve come back to the discussion of having a relationship with Jesus and what that means in daily life. In summary, the book says, in order to have a fulfilled and meaningful life, we must reject the false idols of attraction, beauty, sex, popularity, success, marriage, motherhood, and more as paths to happiness and contentment. Instead, we must engage and develop our relationship with God knowing that only He can provide us with the worthiness we crave. But beyond the disciplines of prayer, Bible reading, and church attendance, how is this accomplished? The answer lies in the word, “vulnerability.”
Defining Vulnerability
In the book, Daring Greatly, Brené Brown defines “vulnerability” as “uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.” I cannot imagine a better way to describe what a real relationship with God feels like. William Paul Young in his book, Eve, describes it as being “face to face.” No pretense. No masks. No shame. Just pure love and connection.
I’ll be honest. This is terrifying. Especially for those of us who pride ourselves on being “good girls.” Never disappointing. Always proper. Always put-together. Carefully crafting the image we present to the world so as to not make the slightest frown appear on any matronly faces. The same applies to the “rebels” too. Not caring and caring too much are two sides of the same coin. Both costumes we put on in the morning to cover our true selves before walking onto the stage of the world.
To be vulnerable is to be as Adam and Eve were in the garden—naked and unashamed. This is how God desires us all to be. In fact, we all begin this way as children. Shame is a learned emotion. Guilt is a God-tool for correction. Shame is the tool of the Enemy meant to get us to hide from God. It’s one of his favorite weapons for he knows that only God has the ability to lift our heads and restore worth and wholeness.
Exchanging Vulnerability for the Fig Leaves of Shame
We learn shame when we are mocked by the neighbor kids. When our grades don’t measure up in school. When the popular kids tell us we aren’t cool enough, smart enough, pretty enough, or athletic enough to sit at their table. We learn shame when our parents tell us to “suck it up and be a man” or “don’t be a wuss” or “in this family girls don’t [insert thing that makes you happy and…well…you].”
It doesn’t take long before we believe being ourselves is somehow bad, so we pretend. We act like the sibling who gets the positive attention. Imitate the cool kids. Slip into perfectionism. Or we act like the rejection of our true selves doesn’t hurt. Throwing away the values of our parents to run in the opposite direction.
We carry these beliefs about ourselves and how we think we are supposed to be into our relationships with God as well. Thinking God is disappointed with us, judges us, rejects us, or doesn’t love us. Maybe even believe God doesn’t exist because to believe He does and we don’t measure up to His standard is simply too painful.
The Naked Truth
The truth is, God is not our parents. He’s not our elementary school teachers. Or the kid who mocked us from the bleachers while we stumbled through our role on the court. He’s our Creator, and there’s nothing we can do to make Him love us any more or any less. His love for us is complete, not a prize for which we have to compete.
What was God’s response to Adam and Eve in the garden after they sinned? “Who told you that you were naked?” (Genesis 3:11 ESV) In other words, who shamed you? Who said you weren’t good enough? Who made you feel small…less than…insignificant…broken? God was not the one that introduced these feelings to Adam and Eve. Satan was.
Satan will always tell us our good isn’t good enough. That our body isn’t thin enough. Our contribution isn’t worthy to be shared with the world. Satan convinces us we should hide our true selves behind fig leaves and religion. God doesn’t tell us these things. He gives us a way to escape shame—forgiveness. God exchanges our sinfulness for the righteousness of Jesus. He lifts our chin and makes us look in His eyes, not so we will feel small, but so we will connect with His heart. So we will feel valued and cherished. In this relationship, in this soul-nakedness, we are accepted as we are. We are celebrated. We are treasured as beloved sons and daughters.
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17, ESV
Choosing Vulnerability
Vulnerability in our Jesus-walk is something we must choose every day. We do this when we confess our sins, laying them at His nail-scarred feet and refusing to let the weight of them pull us down into negative self-talk and blame. Confession is step one. Accepting Jesus’ forgiveness, step two.
We choose vulnerability when we embrace grace. Grace for yourself and others. Grace is the foundation on which our relationship with Jesus rests. Religion supports self-flagellation. Sometimes that looks like the self-inflicted pain of whippings and climbing stairs on your knees. Sometimes it looks like a form of humility and self-abasement cherished by the religious elite. Occasionally it looks like picket lines and religious protests. Jesus rejects these “burnt offerings” and offers the cross instead. Our guilt dissolves in His blood. Shame and finger-pointing have no place in the life of the Christian. Only grace.
We choose vulnerability when we engage with others. It’s easy to mock someone’s sin in order to feel better about ourselves. It’s hard to mock someone when you truly see them—their hardships, their fears, what brought them to their place in life. Empathy and judgment are opposites. It’s hard to look your nose down at a stripper when you’re holding her hand in her dressing room, questioning whether she’s old enough to obtain a drivers license and praying for her. Jumping into the messy middle of people’s lives promotes compassion, kindness, understanding, and love. It’s what Jesus did for us and the least we can do for others.
Possibly the most important aspect of vulnerability is choosing to pursue Jesus. Wait…you say…doesn’t Jesus pursue us? Yes. He did and He does. But relationships go two ways. Being vulnerable means opening up our hearts, laying bare our desires, plans, fears, and pain before the Lord. This is frightening. What if Jesus doesn’t respond as we think He should? This takes courage. This is faith.
No More Fig Leaves
Walking in a relationship with Jesus feels raw. Like standing naked before someone hours after saying, “I do.” It’s just you and him and you desperately want to know you’re good enough to be loved completely. Thankfully, we already have Jesus’ assurance that we are perfect in His sight—fat rolls and all. He doesn’t want our “Sunday best.” He wants us in all our messy-haired, mascara-smeared, Monday morning glory.
The fig leaves are getting in the way. Let them go and let Him in.
by Donya Dunlap | Dec 22, 2017 | Bible Study, Forgetting the Fairy Tale
In celebration of Christmas and the soon-to-be-released Forgetting the Fairy Tale Companion Guide, I thought I would offer a sample. I hope the reminder sets a peaceful tone for your upcoming celebrations. Merry Christmas!
Session 7: To Have and To Hold & Love Has Come
Advent.
So much truth packed into six little letters. Waiting. Expectation. Season. Hope. Arrival. Imagination.
Elizabeth understood the waiting and waning of hope. The tears every month when her bleeding began. The stabbing pain of judgment from the women around her. It had been drilled into them—the good are blessed and the bad have God’s blessing removed from them. No baby, no blessing.
The Israelites understood Advent. For 400 years they waited on a word from God. For centuries a Messiah had been prophesied. Yet still, they waited. During this time the Medes, Persians, and Babylonians made way for the Greek Empire and then the Roman Empire. The Hebrew Scriptures were translated into the Greek Septuagint and easily accessible to everyone. The stage was set—and still, they waited.
Joseph understood Advent. Before he could take Mary as his wife, he had to prepare for her coming. A room had to be built for their sleeping quarters. A home had to be prepared. His finances must be in order and a wedding planned. Joseph was quite familiar with expectant hope for the future.
Mary had spent her life in Advent. Jewish women were trained early for marriage and motherhood. Learning how to care for a household. Managing time and resources when there never seemed to be enough of either. The end of Mary’s Advent season did not culminate in a wedding as she expected, but a birth announcement. A change of direction so abrupt and all-encompassing nothing on earth would ever be the same again—for anyone.
Advent finds its origin in Latin meaning, “arrival” from the combination of two words meaning “to” plus “come.”1 So much more was coming in this season than a pair of baby boy cousins. The end of 400 years of silence. A new covenant. A new dispensation. A new understanding of the law. An introduction to grace. A new prophet carrying the message of a new kingdom—and a new King. The Messiah.
We like to think of Elizabeth, Zachariah, Mary, and Joseph like characters in a play. They each have their parts to say, dressed in their bathrobes and stage makeup. When the baby is born and the shepherds go home, we do too. Packing up the gifts and decorations for another year. But the real focus of the story isn’t the angels, a straw-filled manger, and a newborn. It’s God.
God who existed before time and space. God who created the heavenly host and the heavens themselves. God who designed every petal on every flower and every spinning galaxy. He is the story. He is the author and the main character. And when He determined the time was right, He set aside His glory and became a growing mass of cells within a woman’s body.
Advent. I Am. The beginning and the end colliding into the now.
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.” (Isaiah 43:10-11, ESV)
Mary and Elizabeth had important roles to play, just as you and I do today. But our lives pale in comparison to the One who has always lived. While modern philosophies encourage “I Am” as a motto for improved self-image, losing ourselves in the endless depths of the true I AM is the only way to unfiltered, unshakeable identity. Mary and Elizabeth both understood this as they submitted to the life-altering tasks of preparing for and protection of the Messiah.
It is easy for us to forget the I Am in the midst of our To Do. He whispers while our circumstances shout. But taking time to be present with Him is vital. His coming should impact every moment of our lives, not just the month before Christmas.
For every cry, there is one answer: I need help. I AM. I need hope. I AM. Who could possibly be smart enough to figure this out? I AM. What works? I AM. What lasts? I AM. What’s the latest thing? I AM. What’s the hippest thing? I AM. I need a fresh start. I AM. I need a bigger story. I AM. My vision is bigger than my resources. I AM. Nothing’s real anymore. I AM. Who can I trust? I AM. I’m not sure who’s on my team. I AM. Nobody’s listening to me. I AM. I don’t have a prayer. I AM. My marriage is sinking and I don’t know where to turn. I AM. I can’t hold on. I AM. My kids deserve more. I AM. I’m pouring into others, who’s pouring into me? I AM. If we fail, who will get the job done? I AM. I’m not sure why I’m here. I AM. I’ve given all I can give and it’s not enough. I AM. I’m tired. I AM. I quit! I AM. I need a drink. I AM. I need a fix. I AM. I need a lover.
I AM. Somebody just hold me. I AM.2 – Louie Giglio
Just as Love came into the lives of poor teenagers in Nazareth, He is coming again. In a blaze of glory, He is coming to rid the world of sin and set creation right again.
Until then, we must wait in the same hopeful anticipation of Elizabeth and Mary. We must take every fear, every doubt and lay them in the hands of the great I Am. He was and He will be…but He also is…right now, holding you in the midst of your homework, heartbreak, and dinner dishes. He is asking you to believe in His plan for you. Inviting you to walk with Him as you wait—from this day forward.
