Restoration: Deluxe Bible PlanMfano

Day 17: Come Thru Jesus

“I was busy

Tryna prove a point

And wasn’t winnin’ nothin’

I was losin’ points

Now I’m busy

Tryna love the people

Even though they wanna take away my voice

I love me 

Don’t let it bother you

All that bitterness will swallow you

Persecute me

Call me fake and stupid

But if Jesus love me you should follow suit”

This song is a boast in the freedom of Christ. I’m celebrating the freedom from ego and the perceived criticisms of others. Over the course of the last few years, I have grown confident again to do what God has called me to do, but this freedom only comes by delivery from Jesus. In this quick study, I want to share a little more on this concept and maybe you’ll end up having a little fun with this record because I definitely had fun making it. So let’s dive in.

Take a minute to imagine you’re sitting at a table and there’s an empty chair across from you. Now, imagine the last person that gave you a compliment comes in, sits down in the chair and tells you who you are. If you accept what they say, you’d likely feel great! Now, imagine that person leaving. Next, in walks the last person who made a negative comment toward you to take the seat to tell you about yourself. If you accept what they say, you’re probably going to feel terrible! 

As silly as this mental picture may seem, this is often the way we live our lives—leaving an open seat in our minds for the opinions of others to define who we are. If we’re honest about this, our eyes are open to see the damage this thought process can have in our lives. Depending on how many people we interact with on a given day, this musical chair of identity can get exhausting to keep up with. If it goes unchecked, this pattern can develop into a life of deep insecurity.  The problem is this: we’re leaving the seat reserved for a perfect and loving God open to imperfect humans who have no place defining our identity.

Instead of allowing people to fill this chair in my mind’s imagination, I have learned to pray and ask Jesus to come through, fill the chair and minister his words of affirmation, correction, and identity. With this song, I want to invite you to do the same. We have everything we need in Christ and if we allow him to make up our mind on this fact, we can stop inviting others into our lives to define us by their finite perspectives. If we leave this seat open for Christ alone, we let his words of truth and love guide us into the lives of purpose he has designed for us. When we find freedom from our own skewed perception of ourselves and the perception of others we find a life worth living. Lastly, we also learn to avoid trying to take up the seat of judgement in the lives of others.

Prayer: Take a minute and ask God to open your eyes to the truth of what he says about you. Ask the Lord to reveal any lies about self image you might be holding onto. Take some time also to ask God to show you who might be sitting in the judgement seat of your life and pray for the strength to remove them from this place in your mind's imagination. Finally, pray and ask Jesus to come through, take up the throne in your life and be the final authority when it comes to the matter of your identity. Pray this prayer and let Jesus be the off-ramp from the roller coaster of emotion that comes as a result of an insecure identity.