A chip off the old block, he's the image of his dad. She has her mothers, mouth, her father's nose, his mannerisms, definitely a Jones! Common to life this will either encourage or annoy you! I guess it depends on the relationships that you have with your own family.
How well do you know yourself? Does your identity change depending on who you are with? It's so easy to wear a mask to be socially acceptable and fit in.
When I was in my teens and early twenties I was still trying to fathom out who I was. I'd go out drinking with friends and 'practice' having a drink, but I didn't like alcohol despite the many varieties that I tried. I spent more time hugging the toilet than enjoying the evening, vowing never to do it again only to have a repeat performance! I smoked because it gave me something to do with my hands. I learnt to mask my body language and seemed to be continually on a diet!
Society hasn't changed much in that respect. Magazines, TV, social media, peer pressure mould us into what the world deems necessary to 'fit in'.
Thankfully new hero's are emerging, as footballers and sports personalities are openly sharing their stories of abuse they suffered at the hands of those who should have protected them. These heroes empower others to no longer be a victims, but to have a voice!
Social media especially is playing a major role in defining who you think you are, who you should and shouldn't be. Children seem to have lost their identity, introducing more anxiety and self-doubt. Then they grow up and become adults with no real sense of identity and worth.
Trends change with ever increasing regularity. It's easy to be caught up in a vicious cycle of following these trends because you don't want to be labelled as being dull and boring, unadventurous or nerdy!
No wonder mental health issues are increasing, yet the resources to help deal with this is sadly lacking.
Treating the symptoms is like putting a sticking plaster on a deep wound that needs stitches. The root cause has to be dealt with. A sticking plaster doesn't answer the fundamental cry of our hearts " Who am I?"
You cannot Photoshop real life!
I didn't know who I was until Jesus came into my life. My only 'religious' experiences of church were weddings, christenings and funerals and they were solemn, joyless and mostly silent; just like my local library where the sign said 'No Talking'. Everyone of those services were started and finished within 15 minutes, in and out and ready for the next arrival. It was a conveyor belt!
Such painful experiences for the Ministers and the rest of us! Many of them involved trying to get a family group to sing those 'specially chosen hymns' in a spirit of joy and gusto! The reality was the bubbling mutterings of those who once they have a drink will karaoke without inhibitions!
On more than one occasion I have attended the wrong funeral due to being ushered in by a total stranger!
There was one occasion when I was actually taking the funeral that fear gripped me when I read the sign on the lectern, ' Don't touch the green button,' then realising that if I did press it the coffin would descend. I had this overwhelming urge to press that button! There was a voice in my head that said 'Press it, I dare you' and the other voice saying 'DON'T TOUCH THE GREEN BUTTON!' I bet you're wondering which voice I listened to..........................
I was first introduced to Jesus when I was 15, my family weren't believers so I quickly fell through the church cracks. The seed that had been planted was quickly stolen. By the time I was 21 my mother had become a closet Christian and she invited me to church. Unfortunately on that day there was a visiting speaker whose message was delivered in an overbearing Scottish accent ( no offence to any Scot reading this) whose communication skills were of a bygone age. I walked out of there more disillusioned than when I walked in. I began to make some bad choices in my life and by the time I was 31 there was a cry in my heart that said,'There must be more to life than this!'
December of '83 my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and the prognosis wasn't good. I saw the fear in her eyes and felt it in my own heart. She had the operation to remove a breast and we were told that this would give her a little extra time. My mom didn't like to talk about her faith but she did like to go to church. When the people who normally drove her there couldn't do any longer I filled that role, twice on Sunday and once mid-week. I felt like a duck out of water, like I was in an alternative dimension, way out of my comfort zone -but somehow something was stirring, coming alive on the inside of me.
I watched the various visitors come and go; work colleagues, family, friends and the God squad! She would tire of constant chatter of family and friends but when the God squad came the atmosphere changed!A peace and calm would fill the room and I saw her visibly change in response to their conversation. They would ask to pray with her and always included me. Despite my embarrassment I was strongly drawn to these people who initially I considered weird. Something was changing in me as they prayed; I could feel something tangible, nice, real and it made me think!
I was married to a practicing Catholic and I'd attended enough Christmas midnight masses and watched the drunks throw up at the back of the church to know that attending church was about tradition and ritual; they had no relationship with God at all. He was certainly being undersold in the mainstream churches. Yet here was I in this pentecostal church being confronted by a god who was real and alive, who knew me by name and wanted a relationship with me!
I had been in every meeting for about 8 weeks, and in every meeting I thought someone had been telling the Minister all about me!How could he read my mail? Finally, the penny dropped; the scales came off my eyes and my ears were open to hear God speaking directly to my heart.Jesus is alive and his death and resurrection really happened, and he did it because God so loved the world. That's you and me! He did it so we can become the person that we were always created to be!The very best version of ourselves. All I had to do was surrender my life to him and ask him into my heart. I couldn't resist His love!
Maybe as you're reading this you're feeling angry, fearful, hopeful, thoughtful or maybe dismissive. For me I would rather hear truth and be challenged - my arguments were with God himself not the Minister. God's voice was soft and loving. 'Follow me,' I felt him say. I didn't respond by going forward and making a commitment that day, but that night I went to bed early and asked Jesus into my heart. I wept buckets but it felt so good and clean at the same time. I knew something had changed in me!
Now I can articulate it better, I was beginning my exciting journey of being born again! That week I went to Villa park where Billy Graham was preaching. I don't remember a word he spoke but I felt the presence of God all over that stadium. I walked onto that pitch that night with hundreds of others to make a public display of my new found faith and relationship with Jesus.
Purpose had entered my life! Purpose can enter your life too.
The Bible is a passionate love letter from a Father to his children.We have an identity and position, and he has given us the ability to think, feel and act just like him.
A chip off the old block!
" You don't decide what you are. You are what God has created you to be; a person fearfully and wonderfully made." Matthew Hagee.
Comments