I’ve heard so many teachers of God’s Word say that you must acknowledge the picture you have of yourself, in your heart.

Your image of yourself.

What is she like?

How does she act?

What’s her posture, her position?

God challenged me to think through this these past few weeks.

I have spent countless hours over the past year, studying out who I am IN CHRIST.

I know that I’m right with God because of Jesus.

I know that I’m complete and fully accepted in the beloved.

I know that my spirit is what God sees, and the Bible says just as He is, so are we in this world.

What I am challenged with, however, is what I believe is a separate topic.

The topic of peace with self.

Once we know we are at peace with God, we can potentially limit what He can do in our life if we don’t have peace with ourselves.

It is the fact that yes, this is who I am, as a spiritual being. The WORD is true and powerful, and I believe every single pen stroke.

And I’m here.

I’m in the natural, and internally a supernatural being. How do they fit together?

Yes, I believe God sees us as spirit, because of Jesus.

I also believe He sees our eye color, our tendency to prefer gelato over a cupcake, and our desire to run the marathon.

I believe He cares about the details that make me, me.

If we don’t recognize, and accept ourselves, as who God created us to be, made on purpose, we are missing a piece of abundance, an important piece of becoming the fearfully and wonderfully made that He originally intended.

I can tell you, I have boldness in who I am in Christ, a confident fire that burns through doubt, unbelief, criticism.

I know my spirit roars like the Lion of Judah, and then, I look in the mirror.

But it’s not supposed to stop there.

No, physical appearances may not change right away, but that inner critic pointing out my flaws, slowly silences under the pressure of the power of the Holy Spirit bulging inside.

You’ll begin looking in the mirror, and begin to see her, the daughter of the King, breaking through.

You’ll see you, with God inside.

You’ll see her—the her that’s for here— the one that’s created for such a time as this.

You’ll see the she that doesn’t blend in, but stands out for Him.

Can I challenge you?

Let’s stop trying to be just like each other… fitting in, dressing alike, including and not including.

Let’s step out of the mindset of church as a country club, with members who look and act and talk like us and act like everyone has zero life problems.

Ask God what He had in mind for you when He made you, and He will begin to transform your view in the mirror to match His.

Now I look in the mirror and see a warrior emerging.

I see a natural, tangible presence rising, a presence of someone who knows that she’s not perfect, but she’s on purpose.

She’s not going to get it all right, but her heart melts at the sound of her Father’s voice, and the warmth of His presence.

That spirit part of us, of who we are in Him, was made to break through the soul, into the natural.

That spirit part of us, who is FAR from oppression and fear, was made to out shine that depression that wants to hold back God’s purpose.

That spirit part of us, the saved spirit man who has every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, was made to shine brighter than shame or insecurity.

Ask God for a new picture in your heart if you need one, I did.

He and only He knows how to show you what you need.

Stop waiting to see to believe, and start choosing to see what you believe.

God met me there, and He will meet you there, too.

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“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭13‬-‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.139.13-18.NLT

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.1.3-5.NLT