Define Identity.....

I am doing a book study called Thin Within and have really struggled this week with fitting it in. Yesterday I realized that I was putting everything else before me. Taking more time to tend to others and not allowing time to tend to me. So I put on a worship song and laid out on the office floor with my face in the carpet and cried out to God. As I got still before Him, it wasn't pictures or words which is pretty much what I always get but instead just a feeling of, I got you. I got up from the floor and posted this status:

"How does He see you? We can talk all day about diet and exercise and getting healthy but true health and beauty start from within oneself. Deep within the heart and soul wherein lies your definition of who you believe you are. No matter what it looks like, have you taken that definition and held it up against who He says you are and how He sees you.

So take out a piece of paper fold it in half then making 2 columns number each side 1-5. Now without thinking twice about it write down the first 5 words that you would use to describe yourself. Now ask the Lord for 5 words He uses to describe you. How do the two list compare/relate to each other. You are more loved and beautiful and uniquely made than you know or perceive. #learntoloveyouexactlythewayyouwerecreatedanddreamptup "

A few days ago while doing the exercise I posted, I asked the Lord for the five ways that He would describe me. Each and everything He said was so key and either demolished misconceptions or aligned more properly other ideas that I had built on my own. There was some "memory lane" walking that happened in that moment and throughout the day as I continued to process. I just wanted to share what he showed me.

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Don't you know that you were created with forethought; that you are a "Good Work".

Then he has me open my Jesus Calling devotion, and this is what I read:

"There is no place so desolate that you cannot find me there. When Hagar fled from her mistress, Sarah, into the wilderness, she thought she was utterly alone and forsaken. But Hagar encountered Me in that desolate place. There she addressed Me as the Living One who sees me. Through that encounter with my presence , she gained courage to return to her mistress. 

No set of circumstances could ever isolate you from My loving Presence. Not only do I see you always; I see you as a redeemed saint, gloriously radiant in My righteousness. That is why I take great delight in you and rejoice over you with sining!" -Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

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1. Good Work: Work: (noun) Activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.
2. Seen: (verb) view, look, understand, perceive, behold, sight
3. Courageous: (adjective) brave, bold, valiant; not deterred by danger or pain.
4. Favorite: (adjective) beloved, darling; preferred before all others of the same kind.
5. Pleasant: (adjective) nice, aggreeable, sweet, pretty; giving a sense of happy satisfaction or enjoyment.
6. Radiant: (adjective) shining, bright, brilliant, luminous; sending out light, shining or glowing brightly.
7. Love: (noun) loving, adored, passion; An intense feeling of deep affection Used to express affection or approval for someone.

"i·den·ti·ty Noun /īˈdentitē/ 

Synonyms:
adjective: personal
noun: sameness, oneness

identities plural

1. The fact of being who or what a person or thing is"

Yes, I did get 2 bonus answers! What I loved about this whole exercise is how I only asked for 5 and He gave me those and kept on talking. I recorded 7 of His answers but saved the rest for just me. I love how He is always speaking and always ready to just pour into me, meeting even the simplest need that I may not even know is there. So do it, take the challenge....grab a sheet of paper and pen, get still and listen to Him pour His love on you.