"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven"

I'm slowly understanding that the Lord wants to give us everything. He wants to give us His kingdom, but we have to accept the paradox that to receive everything that He has for us, we have to give Him everything first. 

Instead of looking at all the things that I have to give up, I'm learning to look at the gifts that He has given me. And when I look at those gifts, my life looks a little less ordinary. 

-Elizabeth Jane

"Learning to No Longer Fear of Anxiety"

Elizabeth Jane

"Reach out and take His hand and trust that you have a purpose in this world and that you do deserve the beautiful future a God has planned for you. You are where you are for a reason, and although you can't see it yet, Christ has promised us life"

"Obedience Over Success"

Elizabeth Jane

What did my 'False self' telling me?

Elizabeth Jane

These past few weeks I've been thinking a lot of things that I wanted to share so badly but I can't think of anything until....I had this opportunity to meet my new favorite author Judith Hougen. She wrote the book about discovering our true identity as God's beloved. I was inspired of what she's been sharing in her book and I wanted to do the same. 

While reading her book, the chapter that was stood out to me is the idea of "unmasking the false self". In my head I used to think these questions like, 'what is my false self telling me right now?' how can I get rid of this false identity of mine? and when was the last time that I wasn't myself? If you are reading this and you feel the same feeling as mine.....don't be ashamed, it's okay! YOU ARE NOT ALONE, I'M WITH YOU. 

Growing up as an only child, I have this mindset of 'striving for the best' and 'being perfect in everything'. I admit, I'm scared of failing or being loser,  I don't want people think of me that I am not smart enough, I am not good enough and I am not capable enough. So, what my false-self is trying to tell me is that, "I AM NOT ENOUGH". Each of us owns a false self, and without intervention, it will be the rudder that steers our living. But, where does false come from? the idea of false self is the self created outside of the midst of God, the self that seeks existence apart from God. According to Hougen, a false self is a facade that we construct in order to gain love, attention and acceptance. 

My family expects too much about me, I can tell that there is too much pressure when I'm with them. They have been there supporting me all the way and I couldn't be more thankful for having a good parents and guardians. When I look back my life like way back 10 years ago, I had this mentality that has been always bothers me and that is "becoming perfect" and "worthy in the eyes of everybody". I have put a lot of pressure to myself to do good in my studies and in everything that I am doing. Do you feel the same? and if you do, then we are in the right page. Let me tell you this, our own identity is the foundation of our journey with God, the very bedrock of the spiritual life. Identity involves how I see myself, how I view God, and how I understand life itself. And the identity that we embrace determines if ours will be a life of shadow or of substance. I am very frustrated to the fact that most Christians live their whole lives as someone they're not, dedicated to an image that wears the face of a stranger. It happen to me several times when I lost myself and I don't know which mask I should wear on.

I vision my false self as a negative message that I receive from culture, parents and friends. I quickly learn that certain actions and emotions are applauded while others are condemned. A public self rises to handle uncertain in which we find ourselves. In short, anytime our lives become fixed on attaining external experiences of security, esteem and power, the false self is automatically in residence. If you are struggling finding your own identity,,,don't worry I am with you. It would be easy to categorize such a woman as uncommon, a person who follows God in a unique way. In truth, there should be nothing special or uncommon about obedience to Christ, about following wherever he leads. 

Hougen highlighted the idea that, "approval is an addiction. You can't ever get enough of it; and you can't find a sense of self. You're an empty pit desperately longing for someone to tell you who you are'". In other words, YOU CAN'T PLEASE PEOPLE, and don't even try cause you will NEVER win. To me understanding the whole concept of false self is very important to my soul. And in order to get away from this I started to seek God's attention first... I started to learn how to be loved and how to experience the true meaning of life. Let me ask you, what is God saying to you right now about the false self? Think of this question for a minute and try to reflect on your own relationship with Christ. We must explore the depths of false self identity and allow God to awaken us to the ways of the true self. In consenting to this journey, I choose life, I choose reality, and ultimately, I choose God apart from whom I can do nothing.