But now, God’s Message,
the God who made you in the first place,
the One who got you started, Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
I’ve called you by your name. You are mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
Isaiah 43: 1-3
There exists a reality of God that is often submerged under a deluge of personal wants, personal preferences, failures, and a limited vision. “You are mine” is not an ownership phrase; it is a belonging phrase. The bible has many verses that try to point us to our “place of being”. Israel consistently misinterprets this message for their nation, as a unique “national possession” of God and misses the whole point. In the New Testament, the phrase describing us all being “in Him” or “in Christ” appears 180 times. That’s one hundred and eighty times! Paul alone uses the phrase 143 times in his letters.
Humanity has a common need: we all need to belong. It is in our spiritual DNA: Family, clan, group, town, city, and country, all the way to a fan of a particular sports team. It is where most get their identity, both positively and negatively.
Superseding all these human efforts is to belong. God from the beginning of time invites us:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
But who can come unless they seek? And why would anyone seek unless they desire another way? And how could someone long for something new unless what they have is not enough?
On the other hand, what if the one who seeks is also being sought for? What if God’s invitation to come, His call of our name, is more like a shepherd who looks for the ones that are lost? So the Love of the One not only invites but also draws us.
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” Matthew 18: 12-14
He calls our name. We are His. But we live in a world that claims to know us, that claims to have our best in mind. We have seen the empty religion of the masses, creating their own gods, claiming to be the only truth, judging and separating and acting like they have the answer for mankind.
“When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.” John 10: 4-5
Aren’t we also those who have stopped following strangers? Jesus goes on to explain that fake shepherds will continue to come, but he will always be calling everyone to Him because He has a bigger plan in mind:
“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.” John 10:14-16
There will be one flock and one shepherd. You see, we are called, invited, sought for, and found. But for what? That we would become what we were created to become. That we would manifest God’s Love and God’s Life in every way we live. That the drive and passion within us are a result of the Center of our life – a healing, good, joy-filled, honest existence that transcends our fears, our failures, our faults, and our past. That our integrity, our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength demonstrate a united One-ness.
Every year millions of people approach the New Year as a time to reflect and to wish for change. We make our resolutions, often with determination and resoluteness, only to later accept the inevitability that we have failed…again. We try to change our practice and it often doesn’t work.
What if instead of changing particular actions, we change our identity? Most of us have accumulated a list of traits about ourselves that tell what we lack, or what we can’t do. We try to mix into that list some positive traits and successes, but deep down we believe we are lacking or limited in some way.
We have heard the fairy tales of poor and despised children adopted into a noble and kingly family. They grow up in that setting never realizing their true background, and become the heroes and conquerors who vanquish the wrong in the world. Only later do they realize that they came from the most terrible upbringing. They took on a different identity, wholly believed in that identity, and acted from that identity.
Can you recognize that your identity is actually as a family member of the Creator of the Universe? Do you understand that, as a member of His Being-ness, you belong to Him? Can you let go of the lies and underlying beliefs that have convinced you, over many years, that you are a flawed person, prone to failure and to do stupid things that are such an embarrassment you hope that nobody else notices? Are you willing to turn away from all the lies that you have believed about yourself, and to take on your true identity as God’s child?
This New Year’s day, don’t make empty resolutions that try to change what you do. Make a decision about who you want to be. Make a decision based on the Truth – Truth about yourself and Truth about where you belong. Change your underlying beliefs. Then act like it. Lives all over this world remain limited by submission to a set of beliefs, in various forms, that are born in shame, hate, separation, and worthlessness. Come- be a part of the answer to these illusions by living out the Truth and Love that God is our Father. In short, we need healing from “the empty way of life handed down to us from our forefathers”.
Lord God, open my heart to the greatness of your Kingdom
To the unconditional and inextinguishable Love
That you pour out on me and on this earth
Lord God, open my eyes to your reality,
Your Truth,
Your Way
That I would no longer believe the illusions
And resist the calling of my name
To belong,
To BE
Jesus, I want to be a sheep in your flock
Who is not threatened by my identity in you,
As if I would become less.
But instead embrace my roots, my soul, my meaning, and my purpose
That you established and that I chose even before I was born.
Oh Holy Spirit, heal my brokenness,
Purge me of the lies and deception of my Ego, who accuses me day and night
Give me salve for my eyes that I may see myself as you see me
And that I may see others as you see them
Restore my soul and calm my spirit from all its senseless striving
Grant that I may awaken from my unconsciousness of my life
To see, feel, and most of all, to know your heart toward me and all of mankind
I pray that this coming year would teach me a new Way
A healing Way
A truthful Way
A forgiving Way
And an all-consuming Way of Love
That all death and darkness and emptiness leave me
So that I can give to others these Gifts of Hope and Life and Truth.
I am yours.
