Smashing False Mirrors

It’s audio devo day!

If there is a false mirror in your life reflecting back to you wrong information about who you are, what are you going to do about it? In today’s devo, we spend more time gazing into the true mirror of God’s Word. What HE says about us determines our true identity! Be exceedingly blessed as you listen here:

(Does this minister to you? Know someone else that needs to hear it today? You can either share today’s blog link with them, or look up my Feeding on Jesus podcast for sharing and subscribing. You’ll find it at these links on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and most other podcast platforms, with episodes identical to these audio devos!)

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And we are back! Ready to gaze steadily into God’s mirror some more? Ready to allow Him to show you more about who you are?

Last week we talked about rejecting false mirrors that give us convoluted images of ourselves… and instead gazing into God’s true mirror. What is this mirror? His Word. We found in the book of James, “If someone listens to God’s word but doesn’t do what it says, he is like a person who looks at his face in a mirror, studies his features, goes away, and immediately forgets what he looks like” (James 1:23-24, GW).

So yeah, we don’t want to be in that category – of those who are not walking in the truth of who His Word says we are. Instead, we want to count ourselves in the group described in the following verse: “But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (v. 25, NIV).

The perfect law that gives freedom… what is this? Again, it is His Word. His Word has a whole lot to say about us. When you really get it – down deep in your heart – who He says you are, it gives you freedom. It sets you free. Gloriously free! However, this verse is telling us that just a quick glance is not enough. On the contrary, we need to “look intently” into His mirror, and “continue in it.” God is asking us to do some serious, focused, determined, continual gazing at His Word. When we do so, this is where His blessing can flow into absolutely everything that we do.

So let’s do that today. Let’s look intently into His mirror some more together. We’ll pick up where we left off on last week’s list in a moment. For quick review, here are our first three points:

1) You look like God. He made you in His image!

2) You are His masterpiece. You are the amazing work of His hands!

3) Your personal creation design took an eternity’s worth of forethought. You are literally His dream come true!

If you missed last week’s podcast, and would like to soak more deeply in those three truths about who you are, make sure and take some time to check out the episode previous to this one. And now we continue our gazing into the mirror of His Word. It also has this to say about you:

4) You were very, very expensive. In fact, you are the most costly purchase anyone ever made in the entire history of the universe. Hands down. Want to know something’s value? Look at the price tag. You don’t buy gold and diamonds for pennies or a little bit of cash. The more valuable something is, the more expensive. You, my friend, cost the highest price ever paid for anything, ever: the blood of Jesus.

“You were bought, not with something that ruins like gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19, NCV). An exceedingly precious price was paid in exchange for an exceedingly precious you. I love how the Message expresses it: “He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know” (v. 19, MSG). Do you want to better understand your immense value to Him? Look at what you cost Him. Nothing less than unspeakable hours of agony and every last drop of His sacred blood!

Number 4 takes us right into number 5…

5) Your body is glorious and holy. Why? Because God created it in anticipation of moving in. He knew you would invite Him to do so. The moment you did, He took up residence inside of you. His blood made you holy. You became His temple. “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20, NLT). There you go, another reference to how expensive you were. Only the holiest dwelling place for the King of Kings! As the Message puts it, “Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit?” (v. 19, MSG). Sacred. Your body is sacred!

Think for a moment, too, of the spiritual picture we have in Solomon’s temple. Think of the tremendously elaborate, sumptuous detail put into its construction. Here is a glimpse of the majestic work done on it… get your imagination working to picture this: “He paneled the main room of the Temple with cypress wood, overlaid it with fine gold, and decorated it with carvings of palm trees and chains. He decorated the walls of the Temple with beautiful jewels and with gold from the land of Parvaim” (2 Chron. 3:5-7, NLT).

What grandeur! What splendor! You know what? You are far more precious to God than all of the lavish wood, choicest stone, costly gems, and (literally) tons of gold that Solomon poured into this epic building. Everything about the Old Covenant was a foreshadowing. Solomon’s temple foretold the glorious inhabitation of God inside of us. Now you are that magnificent temple that it prophesied!

Are you starting to get it? You have immense worth in God’s sight! This is who you are! Let’s look deeply one more time into His mirror together now.  

6) You are His delight. Take it in right here. Listen to this with your heart of hearts: “For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs” (Zeph. 3:17, NLT). This is what God says. If He says you are delightful, you are! You are, beloved child, you are! If anyone has eyes to see the truth, it is Him. Here, I think you need to hear it again. I’m going to read it to you from another version: “The Lord your God is with you. He is a hero who saves you. He happily rejoices over you, renews you with his love, and celebrates over you with shouts of joy” (GW).

Do you see what His mirror is reflecting back to you? You are utterly delightful to Him. You fill Him to overflowing with joy! This is who you are!

I want to encourage you with something this week… and while you’re at it, for the rest of your life. Whenever some weird bendy mirror tries to tell you that you are inferior, don’t you listen. Hey, come to think of it, if you have a false mirror in your life that is lying to you about who you are, what are you going to do about that? I’m thinking we need have a false mirror-smashing party! Are you in?

Those lying mirrors are going to shatter in pieces, the longer we spend gazing in God’s true mirror. Listen one more time: “But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:25, NIV).

Let’s make godly mirror-gazing as much a part of our daily routines as the physical mirrors that help us get ready in the mornings. Every day, look in your mirror and remember this:

You carry the very image of God in you.
You are His masterpiece.
He spent an eternity dreaming you up.
You are worth the very blood of the Lamb.
You are His glorious, holy dwelling place.
You are His delight!

The more time we spend gazing intently into these truths, the more His glorious freedom is going to permeate our lives. And we will truly, truly be blessed in all that we do!

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Don’t forget what you look like!

Why is our enemy so intent on stealing from us the truth of who we are? What is he afraid of? What would happen if we truly walked in the confidence of our utter preciousness to God?