Well yeah it was. I am going to skip out on the year wrap up because I feel like my last couple posts have been that. I’d like to share with y’all something that I have recently learned. It feels so easy, and, in theory, it’s relatively simple, but it is something that I have gone practically my whole Christian life without.
We have been tasked with reading a book called “Abba’s Child” by Brennan Manning. Aside from the Holy Bible itself, (and Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis) I believe it is the most essential book to living a life dedicated to Christ. ‘The cry of the heart for intimate belonging’ is the subtitle and the rest of the book does nothing but echo that. Chapters range from ‘Come Out of Hiding’ to ‘Present Risenness’ to ‘The Rabbi’s Heartbreak.’ Chapter 3 is called ‘The Beloved’ and its truth is one that I have been overlooking and evading for as long as I can remember. Straight and to the point, the idea is this: “Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.”
Sheesh.
I have been believing the opposite deep, deep down for so long. How is it so? How have I forgotten my Father’s thoughts and feelings about me? Day by day it seems as though nothing changes, but as you look back on months and years, everything seems different. I am haphazardly quoting Lewis but the sentiment stands. How is it that the weak enemy’s voice can trump the truths of the Hero? It is because I have not been myself. Manning calls this the Imposter self, and it is the being that has inhabited me. Abba’s Child has rearranged my mirror-view. I am Beloved by God and, as Mike Yaconelli puts it: “for some strange reason, that seems to be enough.”
I am beloved by God, and for some strange reason that seems to be enough.
Stay tuned for how things are different following this refreshed information, but I’m really excited to say the least.
-Jack Bobo 12/31/19