Behind the Masks

Who are you behind the mask you wear? Do you wear your feelings on your shoulder for other people to see who you really are? Do you try to act one way when you really feel another?

Or have you learned that it does not matter what other people think about you? Are you free from the tyranny of their opinions? Do you let your insides out?

Our fears and insecurities often define who we really are inside. We may have a strong spirit, but a very wounded soul. We appear strong, yet are feeble within.

When people reject us for our weaknesses, we feel like worthless damaged goods, which increases our fears and insecurities and compounds our problems.

Some people will actually disdain our inner self, many simply tolerate us and others dwell with us with understanding. The good news is that Jesus died for our inner self too.

His Spirit is transforming our inner self into a new creation through one stage of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18). He slowly peals away the bandages we apply to our wounds.

He exposes the raw emotion and anxiety and puts the salve of God's unconditional love on each one of them. The only opinion of us, which really matters is God's.

This revelation frees us from having to hide behind masks. Jesus encourages us to let our insides out and to receive His healing for our past and His strength for our future.

Prayer:

Father God, teach us not to value anyone else's opinion of us, but to gain our identity through Christ in us. We do not need to rely on any person, place, thing or accomplishment to feel good about our self. It is our personal relationship with You that makes us a child of the King.

Help us to make room for Jesus on the throne of our life where He belongs. He is our best friend and He actually sticks closer to us than any human being ever will (Proverbs 18:24). Your love is ours both now and throughout eternity and flows over us like a waterfall.

Thought for the Day:

Tolerance is not acceptance; only Jesus fully accepts us just the way we are, and then perfects us by His Spirit as He fills us with His joy and peace.

Freedom from the Tyranny of the Past

Our whole life consists of relationships with our loved ones, acquaintances, co-workers, neighbors, authority figures, friends, family members and even with our self.

We have a chance of receiving wounds and/or blessings from all of these associations; and our past, even our subconscious conflicts, influences each of these interactions as well.

Our relationship with our self includes our body, soul and spirit. Our body has internal and external influences, our soul includes our thoughts and feelings and choices, and our spirit is either dead in sin or free in Christ (Colossians 2:13).

Events in our life, involving this multiplex of individual influences, add flavor to or diminish our joy in life. The way people react to us helps to form our concept of our self. We learned to love or despise our self from their actions and opinions.

Subconscious memories of these interactions continue to create our self-concept and the way we relate to people as an adult. We may live with a wounded, defensive attitude or a carefree, happy outlook or an angry, combative defiance.

Trauma changes the way we see our self and our future. We can diffuse and disarm these subconscious memories and the way they affect our relationships today by surrendering our life to Jesus Christ.

We do not have to blame current issues on our self or anyone else. They usually occur from woundedness in one or both of us. Issues in adult relationships often stem from childhood suffering; but childhood wounds do not have to control our adult life.

We can learn a new way to set up boundaries, exercise discernment, stop victimization, redefine our attitudes, change our behavioral patterns and gain a new perspective on priorities and what is important to us by allowing God to expose Satan' lies and to renew a right spirit within us (Psalm 51:10). ( www.theophostic.com )

Prayer:

Father God, You want to create a clean, pure, simple heart within us; one not tainted by the world and painful experiences, but one of freedom in Christ (John 8:36). You delight in setting our soul free from the pain of the past and giving us a bright and promising future (Jeremiah 29:11). Teach us that when people are not trustworthy, we can still trust in You.

As children we were more vulnerable and had fewer choices in the actions perpetrated on us by others. As adults, we can take a more active role by surrendering our future to You and listening to Your Spirit each moment of the day. Thank You for giving us Your wisdom in place of our human reasoning and for teaching us to have boundaries and how to ensure that we have input into our daily experiences.

Thought for the Day:

Our past has power over us only if we give it permission to do so; coming to Christ for healing helps us to find freedom from the tyranny of the past.

Survival of the Fittest

 

We are able to survive in this world by no other means than the faithfulness of God pouring out His blessings on our life. Some people blindly careen through each day, never realizing that God blessed them (Romans 3:19-26).

The kindness, mercy and love of our God and Savior wash us with His Word, provide for us His new birth, and renew us by the fullest measure of His Spirit within us. He justifies us by His grace and makes us heirs with Jesus of His eternal Kingdom.

His greatest gift is that He is just and He justifies us, not by our own accomplishments but by His (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7). Yet, people usually fail to thank Him for His blessings and take credit for the good things that happen to them.

We eventually get weary, burdened and burn out. We long for a time of rest from the rat-race of life. The wise person will yoke up with Christ, learn from Him and gain rest for their soul (Matthew 11:28-30).

We trust that Jesus knows exactly what we need and how to attain that. We quit doing things our way, and follow the direction of God's Spirit each moment of the day.

We cease from our fruitless labors and enter God's rest (Hebrews 4:10). We stop attempting to please God by the works of our flesh and realize that we can only prove our love to Him through obedience to His Word (John 14:15).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You that there is no longer condemnation for those of us who love You and are the called according to Your purpose rather than our own goals and desires. Thank You for Your life-giving Spirit who achieves in us what the law never could. Thank you for sending Jesus as God with us in human form to fulfill the requirements of the law and setting us free from the power and purpose of sin, the world and the flesh (Romans 8:1-8).

Remind us that in the flesh, we can never please You; but Your Spirit in us gives us Your holiness and Your life (Romans 8:9-11). Help us to depend on You for everything we need during the day. Teach us not to worry about anything in life, but to pray instead; and to trust You just like the birds of the air and the lilies in the field (Matthew 6:25-33).

Thought for the Day:

Trusting in Jesus helps us to realize that only He can rescue us from the tyranny of this life. - Romans 7:15-25