CHRISTLife – Four: Inner Identity Album

Don’t you just love looking at photographs?  Me, too.  And, with all the advances in current technology, almost everyone can snap away on a whim!  So many of us enjoy capturing both the big events in our lives as well as every day occurrences with photographs. A photograph is an image.

im·age   /’imij/  n.

1. A reproduction of the form of a person or object.
2. Physics – An optically formed duplicate, counterpart, or other representative reproduction of an object, especially an optical reproduction formed by a lens or mirror.
3. One that closely or exactly resembles another; a double. He is the image of his uncle.
4. Semblance or likeness. We are made in the image of God.
5. A personification of something specified: That child is the image of good health.
6. A mental picture of something not real or present.
7. A vivid description or representation.

The way in which we ‘picture’ ourselves in our own minds and hearts is our ‘image’ of ourselves.  And we keep these images of ourselves in an inner identity album. Our author, Mrs. Ruth Myers, uses this terminology to describe a “sort of mental photo album that strongly influences our sense of identity” (page 19). In other words, our inner identity album is like a scrapbook in our mind of how we picture ourselves—both negatively and positively.  The negative pictures show how our thinking about ourselves has been influenced by the world, other people’s words, difficult situations. And the positive pictures are reflecting the Truth from the Scriptures—the way in which God sees us.   These images portray what we think about ourselves in both of these ways—influenced by lies as well as the Truth.  They are the photographs in our inner identity album.   As we allow God to heal us and to change our image from negative to positive, we are ‘posting’ different pictures in our inner identity album.  These are the pictures that show ‘I AM who God says I am!’

Such as the Truth that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing,
will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39

When we hold that Truth in our minds and believe it with our hearts, then our image of ourselves is one of being beloved by God, always and forever, and nothing can ever change that!

Or the truth that God is always with us.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9

And the Truth that we are provided for by God.

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life,
what you will eat or what you will drink,
nor about your body, what you will put on.
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap
nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 6:25-26

We think on these things and they become the image that we have of ourselves…the Truth that is contained in our inner identity album.

As we continue along in this study, we are endeavoring to replace the lies with Truth. We will be changing our image and revealing that I AM who God says I am!

So my friend Kim and I thought it would be a grand idea to actually create an inner identity album as we go through our study of CHRISTLife.  Want to join us?  Each Tuesday and Thursday, we will have a little project—scrapbooking, journaling, etc.—that we can each do.  And on Thursdays everyone can post a picture of what they are currently working on—their inner identity album.  Today, Kim is introducing us to this idea with a simple, beautiful page that depicts that she IS who God says she is!

And now, from Kim:

This scrapbook page is a reflection of my transformation. I have gone from the pit of despair, and the lies I once believed, to knowing and believing what God says about me—the truth.   Praise the Lord!!!

• I am His masterpiece
• I am redeemed from my past; I no longer have to live there
• My past does not define my future
•  I have been redeemed
• There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus
• I can now leave the past in the past and move forward in my redeemed life

This page was made from items I had around the house—old magazines, a few scrapbook pages, some stickers and Modge Podge.   I encourage you to make your page(s) personal to your own journey with God.   Let them show what He reveals to you personally.   Through this Bible study and the CHRISTLife book, we are being  transformed into the women that God says we are. Each one will be unique and different and will reflect us personally as God meets each one of us right  where we are at.

  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Dear Lord, we are so thankful for the truth that we ARE who You say we are!  You know that in certain areas we struggle to maintain having that same vision as You do…please help us!  Help us to identify the lies and to refute them with the accuracy of the Truth of Your Word.  Truly it really only matters what You think…we so want to change our thoughts to being aligned with Your thoughts.  We need Your help, Father…and we are assured that we have it!  Thank You!  Praying and asking these things in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

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