Mirror Images

I've just finished this amazing short book and for those who might be interested in buying the book, I wrote a review on Goodreads:

"This is an excellent short book for any woman struggling with what they see in the mirror and how we perceive ourselves.
Arianna Walker looks at the rear-view mirror of the past, the dressing room mirror of the masks we wear, the full length mirror of self-image, the dance hall mirror of comparison, giving practical tips on how to beat self-doubt that starts with our thoughts. Biblically based, she discusses and uses testimonies of others as well as Bible passages that we can root our self-belief in rather than believing the lies we tell ourselves.

I was privileged enough to hear her speak on the rear-view mirror at the Detling Summer Christian conference and her use of analogies and images really help to understand concepts such as forgiveness, moving forward and poor self-image.
Every woman needs the compact mirror of God's word and this book!"

This book was so simply written but completely changed my outlook to my thoughts and the power they have over us. I was under the impression you couldn't control them!

My thoughts seem to let me down quite a bit really - I'm often negative about myself or worrying incessantly about what I have said, what others have said to me or how I should say things in the future! Lots of worry! But reading this book reminded me of all the good things I have learnt over the years, all the people that have been integral in my growing as a Christian and as a person.

I have been very lucky in that I became a Christian when I was 8 and it came naturally to me to speak to God like He was right next to me and knew everything about me anyway, so I decided I may as well share everything! Being quite a lonely but overly outgoing child (to mask the loneliness), I really needed a friend like God who was always there and loved me unconditionally. My childhood/teenage church perpetuated the idea of church as stale and irrelevant to the local community so by the time I left for university I had already left the church but still prayed to God. I was so lucky in who I met at university, during my course and through a local church, that I grew and grew as a Christian.

Those few years helped me feel secure in who I was in God - I knew how God viewed me through a wonderful one-to-one study I did with the student pastor at my university church. But reading this book, made me realise how much of my self-belief and confidence had been stripped away. Things I did well at my university church (lead a student home group, help lead children's ministry etc) I haven't done well at my local church. Being knocked back in my job and having tough times with people I thought were better, has really shaken who I am in God. I have been too quick to believe the things people say to me (and only the negative!) rather than the Bible.

One chapter in this book is dedicated to the compact mirror - the one we ladies sometimes carry in our handbags - that Arianna Walker names "the kind of mirror God's word is to our lives; always there inside our hearts in case of emergencies, or simply because we want to check something - easy to get to, often used. Just like you can't see your reflection in a mirror unless you look in it, you can't see your true reflection unless you look in the true mirror that is his word." When reading this chapter I realised how much I had stopped believing what good people were saying to me and what the Bible tells me. We can read the Bible all we like but if we don't act on it or believe it for ourselves it becomes like any other book.

James 1:22-25

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ 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.

I realised I had been looking in the mirror of the Word and forgetting what I read about God's love, freedom for those who love Him and His forgiveness. The way to remembering these things is really quite simple - learn scripture. Learn verses that reveal His truth and can't be argued with. Any doubts, worries or anxieties that come to mind can be shut off with these verses of truth. I have memorised funny verses too (2 Kings 2:23-24 is always a good one!) and these help to keep things less serious!

I will finish on a song from 'The Bodyguard' with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner:

"Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to him belong
They are weak but he is strong."

Seeking first the Kingdom 4 & 5

Jesus is the bridegroom - this statement seems quite simple and one that many would have realised and known for a while as Jesus states this in Mark 2:19. What I found interesting in Darren Rouanzoin's next talks were the references to God too being our 'husband' and He will woo us back to Him (Isaiah 54:5-6). The Jews and Pharisees at the time would have realised what Jesus was saying: that He was God, that the prophecies about Him were true and we would have that relationship with Him.

God makes a covenant with us, just like a marriage vow and just as tenderly: "I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body" (Ezekiel 16:8). What I love is the stance of the 'marriage' between God and us and how it compares to human marriage. It is written in Hosea 2:16 that we will "call (God) ‘my husband’; you will no longer call (God) ‘my master". It is a loving relationship, not a relationship between master and slave; it is not so important that we do exactly what we are told but that we love our God and love others.

Legalism has completely destroyed love and misses the point entirely. Darren describes it as 'singing songs with a closed heart'. There are a whopping 613 laws in the books of Moses and these were broken down into further rules by the interpretation of the Pharisees in the Mishnah. For example, the commandment "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work" (Exodus 20: 8-10) there are 39 categories defining 'work' and what is not allowed on the Sabbath. Many of the issues the Pharisees had with Jesus were related to what He chose to do on the Sabbath. The point of the commandment is to allow us to rest but the Pharisees miss the point. They tried to define Jews (and we fall into this trap very easily) by what we do or produce. God says we are defined by who we are - He knows us. Holiness is not defined by what we do or don't do. We have been 'set apart', not by our own doing but by the blood of Jesus.

Jesus, when asked about cleaniness laws in Mark 7, replies: "Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them” (verse 15) . He focuses on our actions and what we say, rather than what we eat, drink or touch. If we are motivated by love for God and love for others we will end up following the commandments anyway. Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13 when He says in Mark 7: 6-7 - "These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules."

The fruit of the Spirit "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23) comes out of our relationship with Jesus, with knowing that we are loved and have that loving relationship with our 'husband' the bridegroom. Our faith should not be dead but accompanied by actions not rules or laws (James 2:17).

Seeking first the Kingdom 2 & 3

In the next talks by Darren Rouanzoin at New Wine LSE 2011 continuing the exploration of the Kingdom of God he shared exactly what the Bible says about the Kingdom and what the disciples would have expected or understood by what Jesus said.

The Kingdom of God is the sovereign rule and reign of God and is not an actual place but paradoxically it is in the place where God reigns. Darren described it as the 'ultimate reality', which supercedes all other kingdoms. It is what God intended the world to be in the first place. It brings life where there is death.

The Kingdom will never end nor be destroyed (Daniel 2:44) and amazing things will happen (Joel 2:28-29). We will be given new hearts and the Spirit will help us (Ezekiel 36:24-27).

He likened our relationship with the King and the Kingdom to marriage, which is often mentioned by Jesus to describe the relationship He has with us. We are His bride and He is the bridegroom. It would be silly and disrespectful (!) to carry on dating other people after we were married, we need to be fully committed to our spouse. Just like when we say 'I do' in the marriage service we need to do this with God - be fully committed. We should be fully immersed in Him all the time. We need to sign up and say 'I do'.

What I found interesting is the use of the word 'time' in Mark 1:14-15 - “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Darren explained that the Jews would have recognised this use of the Greek word for 'time' as a fulfillment of the prophecies mentioned above. That 'shalom' would come: peace, wholeness and healing - proof of the Kingdom and evidence it is present. The time is now.

We are called to be 'agents' of this kingdom, ambassadors. It is not about us, its about Him. How hard is that?! Going through hard times can make us very self-centred and me-obsessed but reading the Word, praying and listening can really help to keep us God-focused in this crazy world.