“We labor unceasingly to preserve an imaginary existence and neglect the real.”_____Blaise Paschal
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
“We labor unceasingly to preserve an imaginary existence and neglect the real.”_____Blaise Paschal
thedailylily.com 
Bottom line for me, is Know thyself and move on! “To thine own self be true”, Shakespeare, if I remember correctly. I think Shakespeare was inspired by Socrates – Know thyself…
I think it takes the masterful work of the Holy Spirit working with and in conjunction with us to know thyself.
We have at least two great references for this quote on The daily lily. Use our search and search mirror mirror by Rena. And, Study with Sara-Mirror Mirror on The Wall-Who’s the fairest of us all!
It does take the Holy Spirit to help discern one’s real self, because as Sara has pointed out before, a great many people are so self-deceived that they are blinded as to who they really are, who the real self is under all that paraphernalia and baggage. Some accessorize their outfits and accessorize their chains that hold them captive, thinking that they can camouflage their hurts, old wounds and many times, Sins. Some people are be afrad to expose their real self. They may be fearful that they will not be accepted for who they really are and so they become someone else or something else. The Scriptures make it clear that those of us who are in Christ Jesus are in the Beloved. We are accepted in Christ Jesus.
I wrote a song a while back entitled
ACCEPTED (c)
YOU ARE ACCEPTED BY ME SAYS THE LORD
GIVE PRAISE TO THE FATHER IN HIS HOLY WORD
YOU ARE ACCEPTED BY MERCY AND GRACE
FATHER ACCEPTS YOU
JESUS ACCEPTS YOU
SPIRIT ACCEPTS YOU
MAY HIS NAME BE PRAISED
When people are fractured by hurts and assaults on their character, or personal appearance or demeanor, especially at a young age it is difficult to overcome those things. But…that’s one of the reasons Jesus Christ came and died on the cross…to set us free from prejudice and judgmentalism. As long as we love and serve the risen Savior and trust Him, by faith we can begin to gradually let go of the false self and start to allow the real, authentic self to emerge.
Sara’s song says, “as I look (maybe in the mirror) I see HIS face shining as the glory of grace…that is why I just wait in His room…”
If our mental energies are always being expended imagining what we are going to do next week, next month, next year (Now, I am not referring here to thoughtful, constructive planning); and where we are going to travel next to avoid dealing with the issues of today; or how we can aquire something else to fill the void that we are feeling…then it seems we are living a life of neglect. We are living an imaginary existence just stimulating the mind (much like in Rena’s Mirror Mirror blog that Sara referred to above). We are not in the present, but floating in never-never land. Maybe we, like Peter Pan, don’t want to grow up.
MG’s wrote, “When people are fractured by hurts and assaults on their character, or personal appearance or demeanor, especially at a young age it is difficult to overcome those things…” and MG gives Jesus Christ as the helper. And, I agree, He is. But, He helps in many different ways. If someone is still hurting in adulthood from childhood maybe they should see a good professional counselor. We are blessed to live in a nation of Doctors and professional Counselors that can help us live healthier. And, use our health insurance to pay the bill. How blessed we are!
Ms. Debi, you got me flying around with this Peter Pan character. Didn’t Peter Pan keep all his baby teeth and dress in all kinds of tree leaves. Didn’t he like to brag about his teeth and smile? Didn’t want to grow up. Hum! Think I had a dream about this last week. Hooodahawahoda! (Not a word but my Peter Pan baby blabber.) Peter Pan should have been deciduous and not delicious in his own eyes. He even wore the vine instead of staying connected to the Vine. John 15:5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
You also made reference to many things one might do to avoid the issues of each day. This scripture comes to my mind, “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6, NIV) We must grow up, leave the milk for the meat. Chew on the word of God with adult teeth and not baby milk teeth. We are to be stable minded. Keeping our minds steady on The Living God and His Word and not floating around in the heady.
Thanks for the scripture in James 1:6. Read with me the footnotes for verses 6-8. “If you have ever seen the constant rolling of huge waves at sea, you know how restless they are–subject to the forces of wind, gravity, and tide. Divided loyalty leaves a person as unsettled as the restless waves. If you want to stop being tossed about, rely on God to show you what is best for you. Ask him for wisdom, and trust that he will give it to you. Then yur decisions will be sure and solid.”
Those footnotes, Needles, really paint a picture of what we look like to others when we act like indecisive children. ‘Divided loyalty’ makes me think we don’t have our ‘feet on the ground’ (as my mother used to say) or our priorities in order and we just stay mixed up and agitated.
Sure won’t get anything from God! So, where is your heady, agitated, unsettled self headed? O, my soul, where art thou, I would ask of myself?
No, sure won’t. Isn’t that what happened to poor Humpty-Dumpty? He didn’t get anything. He was riding the fence, sitting on the wall. And we know what happened…he was so unstable he had a fall and got so divided up that neither horses nor men could put him back together again.
That’s interesting analogy, Debi. It seems that one of the main things I keep seeing in the word ‘Deciduous’ is the word “DECIDE”. And the root of the word ‘decide’ means ‘to cut off’. And ‘Decision’ which also comes from that root , means to CUT OFF UNCERTAINTY. So if we operate in a deciduous manner….as related to old dead leaves falling off allowing for new growth, then when we make a definite Decision we cut of all dead thinking and vacillating and hovering between two points and become decisive in our relationships and choices.
Just this morning in my reading of Deuteronomy 11, God tells Israelites – obey my commands He has given us we will receive the blessings of God or disobey and receive the curses of God by following after gods you have not known. That is sitting on the fence. Seems to me an easy enough decision reading this chapter, but putting it into practice is hard.
I read this on Brians FB…”Brian Sawyer we will never begin to experience our true purpose in life until we surrender everything to God!!!!!!” And, I asked him how does one surrender everything to God? His answer:
“a good to start would be to apply Matthew 6:33 to every aspect of our life!!!!!! We must change everything…..We must become a newer creature in Christ…..We must do everything different…we must choose to look at everything differently…..we must choose to love everyone and not see them for what they are doing but see them as if they were in love like Jesus as yourself…we must get in the written word of God..and when we surrender all these are not musts they are desires….we must desire to seek Gods will in everything…… we must mature in all areas in the guidance of the word of God…we must live off of every word of God Deuteronomy 8:3……we must learn to be servants of everyone higher and lower than us for really we are all equal….we must be willing to devote ourselves to the Great Commision and reaching mankind……we should speak to every person like it may be the last time we see them……we must be able to worship God in the good times and bad…we…..could gracious I could go on forever….most important when we start loving everyone else without holding back then we shall start feeling the flame of God in our hearts….everything must be done out of love!!!!!!”
Is this the answer to Rena’s comment on ‘putting it into practice.”
Here are the footnotes for the scripture in Matthew(6:33), Brian has commented on. Read with me, “To ‘seek the Kingdom of God above all else’ means to put God first in your life, to fill your thoughts with his desires, to take his character for your pattern, and to serve and obey him in everything. What is really important to you? People, objects, goals, and other desires all compete for priority. Any of these can quickly become most important to you if you don’t actively choose to give God first place in every area of your life.” Woe, now that is right to the point, isn’t it? How about the part that says “ACTIVELY CHOOSE”?
Yep, that (ACTIVELY CHOOSE) is where the rubber meets the road. As Rena said the hard part is putting God’s word into practice. Brian hit the nail on the head with his motivational speech. Needles loaded her syringe with footnotes. And, what excuse does one have now?
The time is now, get real!
That is to the point Needles and ‘actively choose’ puts the pressure on to do more than talk about it. Brian’s answer is full of action verbs…change, do, love, surrender, serve, speak, etc. There is doing in choosing.
I am remnded of Joshua 15:14:
“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
I think this quote sums up the totality of Rena’s mask blog. Blaise Paschal sure had acquired the wisdom that some of us strive for.