Day 60 – The Power of Shining

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

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"When people encounter the “I” in life they get something less than what is possible when they encounter the “I AM” in life. “I,” if left to itself, always leads to self-centeredness."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 98.

I have always heard it said that “There is no ‘I’ in team.” This expression is typically used to help point out that focusing on self in a team environment greatly reduces the overall effectiveness of the team. Me being a bit of a smart allec I have always thought when I heard this that there may not be an ‘I’ in team but there sure is a me in the letters that make up this word.

Truth is that when you listen to the words of a person stuck in victim thinking there are a lot of “I’s” being used as they express their situation in life. It is when we are over focused on ourselves that self-centeredness can be a real challenge for those of us trying to live the victor’s life. For those people in the life of a person stuck on the word ‘I’, this simple one letter pronoun can signal trouble in ways that can cause relational issues when self-centeredness rears its ugly head in the victim thinker’s life.

God is in the habit of using a totally different description of himself rather than the pronoun ‘I’. He uses “I AM” when he speaks about himself. “I AM” sounds like a weird and incomplete name for God until you think about how versatile this description is. Knowing God to be the fullness of love, power, knowledge, and about a thousand other characteristics, it is a lot easier to say of God He is the “I AM” rather than saying about God, I am power, I am love, I am knowledge, etc. “I AM” covers all the bases in a condensed and descriptive way.

As my life progresses I am learning that people’s lives are more completely impacted when they encounter the “I AM” in my life rather than the “I” that so often comes out. People really don’t need any of the wisdom they may think I have. They need the power behind anything they may see as valuable in my life. That power is encompassed by the “I AM” that is God in us. Sure we all have life experiences that might help others in one way or another but lasting change doesn’t usually happen when people settle for more of the “I” in another person’s life. Finding ways to let the “I AM be seen in the life of a victor is the best way for us to live in the fullness of our identities.

Take a look at today’s reading and see what it says about letting the “I AM” shine through you.

No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a washtub or shoves it under the bed. No, you set it up on a lamp stand so those who enter the room can see their way. We’re not keeping secrets; we’re telling them. We’re not hiding things; we’re bringing everything out into the open. So be careful that you don’t become misers of what you hear. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes. Luke 16:16-18 (MSG)

When I want to be noticed the “I AM” that lives in me is hidden away – covered with a washtub and shoved under the bed. It is when I’m stuck in that victim thinking place where identity is so hard to hang onto that people get second best from me. My second best is letting my “I” shine in place of God’s “I AM”.

What I’m hoping happens to all who listen to these presentations is that we begin to understand what we are hearing about ourselves. The simple fact that God has spoken into reality that we are His children is what makes our identity something we can trust in and bank on for all eternity. Our reading says not to be stingy in what we hear. As we get more and more comfortable living in the freedom of our victor identity it is so much easier for is to trade the “I” in life for the “I AM” as we relate to others in our circles of influence.

It is when we forget who we are that “I AM” takes a back seat to the “I” in our lives. Letting the circumstances of this world shape our identity is the washtub and the underside of the bed that hides the “I AM” of life. Though “I” might be able to exude worldly power from time to time, that power is temporary and pales in comparison to the power of “I AM”.

There a force that people are starving to get from you. Those same starving people are so quick to settle for a temporary force that is exemplified by the “I’s” in your life. Why not let the “I AM” power shine out in your life today? As you interact with those around you today remember who you are and the “I AM” power can’t help but to shine through all you do and say.