What drives and creates my identity?
Henry Nouwi states that “We get captured by three lies that the world tells us- I am what I have, I am what others say and think about me, I am what I do”.
In Dr. Debbie’s practice, she believes that “I am who I am in Christ Jesus and in God.”
Thus, when we are transformed, we are free to break:
Negative thinking.
Emotional patterns.
Responsive instead of reaction.
The inner being becomes honest, authentic, and real.
This hunger and hunt cannot be separated from God. God is the hunger. Sit with those thoughts and feelings. Then trust the spirit within. God is light, a good father and friend.
The gates of heaven are everywhere.
There is in every person an inward sea, and in that sea there is an island and on that island there is an altar and standing guard before that altar is the ”angel with the flaming sword.” Nothing can get by that angel to be placed upon that altar unless it has the mark of your inner authority. – Howard Thurman
Tony Evans explains that, “spiritual development is the growth of what is already there. Spiritual development is not the growth of something new. Everything has been predetermined in the spiritual code. Spiritual growth is the manifestation of the new nature that God the father bestows on his new children from God the father. It’s already there. It’s been coded in your nature. When you see a caterpillar, you are not impressed but when its converted and breaks forth from the cocoon, it becomes a beautiful butterfly. Caterpillars are grounded, butterflies take flight. Caterpillars eat from the ground; butterflies pollinate things to make things develop. But unless growth occurs, transformation is not visible. Your new life has been deposited in you. He has given you a nature replacement- not repair. You have to learn to walk, work it, and grow. Divine nature is waiting to break out of you. The old you was unrepairable so God had to replace it with a brand-new divine nature. Grow the new you, stop focusing on the old you.”
In the Christian community- we are all leaders at the point of our spiritual gifts, and we all are followers in the spiritual gifts of others. To recognize this care and yearning is to claim your fruitfulness and to help others claim theirs (Henri Nouwen).
Comments