Thursday, March 15, 2018

Day 261 - Being outdoes Doing

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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..."'being' out-does 'doing' when it comes to drawing near to this God."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 80.

When I think of doing, as it relates to who I am, it feels so slimy. It makes me think of the quote, "Fake it till you make it." That might be a good way to live out a role I'm playing at a given time, but the thought of what it takes to make an identity work just doesn't fit this kind of living as far as I'm concerned.

You see I had rather simply be who I am than work to make others, and myself, think I am a certain way. Believe me, that hasn't always been true in my life. Doing as a strategy to make identity work in my life has been a way of making me feel like I'm something more than I think for way too long. Now, that method of getting to who I am makes me feel so purposeless and lost. All the effort it takes to live a "Faking it till I make it" kind of life is exhausting to me. Unfortunately, with identity way too many of us never make it. That means all that faking it does nothing but confuse us and all those around us.

It is when our efforts "doing" to try and be what we think we need to be to be loved or valued or accepted fall short that victim thinking can really take hold in our lives. When it comes to identity, it is best to just be who God made us to be. Even that strategy of life can be so challenging in the world that we live in.

Satan has done such a good job of making us think that who we are will never be enough. Truth is, that in of ourselves, that is really true. It is when we view identity through the lens of eternity that things start to make some sense from the world's perspective.

That' what I mean when I said "being out does doing" when it comes to how we view our lives and God in our lives. We will never be able to do enough to become what we think we need to be in order to feel the fullness of what God wants to give us for free. All our effort to become something we think the world will admire and/or love are nothing more than time wasted. The world will never admire and love us like God does. Does that last statement shock you? It should! It is so true.

God does love us. He also admires us. His admiration isn't from a place where we have something He doesn't. No, that's not the kind of admiration He has for us. His admiration comes from a place of desiring relationship. He admires the fact that we have the ability to choose to be with Him. He doesn't seek relationships with us because we can do something for Him He can't do for Himself. His drive for relationship comes from a characteristic that we too carry in our lives. God, just like us, wants to be waned. He wants a people to choose to love Him.

I know that sounds a bit unstable. It sounds that way to us because we have seen unstable love in this world demonstrated in codependent ways that are truly sick. Our view of love has been tainted by the fact that what this world says is good when it comes to love make us doubt God's Love in our lives. God's love hasn't been tainted. Our view of His love has been warped by the this fallen world. He isn't codependent in the ways we have been victimized by in this world. God's love isn't a sick thing - It is a power house of fullness that victors need to tap into more in their lives. We tap into that powerhouse more by being than by doing.

Take a look at today's Bible reading with me now.

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV)

That beauty Peter is talking about here is more than just how we look. There is a beauty that is exuded when we stop trying to "do" to be beautiful and just "be" the beauty God sees us to be. That happens more when we are in position of knowing who God says we are and simply live in that belief rather than trying to make that identity come to fruition.

Sad thing is that we often can't see how effective we are in our being. We are way too concerned with making things happen that we can quantify and measure. Those are the things we look to as proof that our identity is working. That's such a failed and victim making strategy.

I know how hard it is not to see proof of who I am all the time. Want an action that guarantees proof when it comes to who we are? Get involved in the lives of others. My guarantee is that others will see who you are as you be what God made you to be. I also guarantee that you won't see the fullness of that identity as clearly as those you are in relationship with.

Why won't you see the fullness of your identity? I think God made it that way. I'm sure you are not this way, but if I saw the completeness of my identity in the lives of those I have relationship with as fully as those people see my identity, my ego would puff my head so large I couldn't fit in my car to go see these people. God is protecting me from myself in this strategy. But, know this, others see, appreciate and are being changed by the identity God has given you by you simply being that identity as you love on other people.

So, what are you going to do today. I hope it is just be. I don't mean that you are to stop all you have planned and sit staring at the wall. Although we do need more times like that in our lives, that might not be what God intends for you today. Go and do all you have planned, but let the fact that you are all God made you to be, be what makes your doing take on a power that is nothing short of amazing. Don't let you doing be what defines you. You are already defined. Let the knowledge that you are God's Child be all you need to "be" the fullness of your victor status today.


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