Your Thoughts Define Me
We are one week into the 2018 18 Inch Journey and we are loving this year's school. As the Journey progresses, we'll be posting about what's happening here and some of the things our students are learning. The first week of the 18 Inch Journey is all about the Father and centers around letting Him reintroduce Himself to us. In doing so, we find Him redefining us, calling us by our true name. This is where identity begins.
In honor of Father week at the 18 Inch Journey, we wanted to share a writing from Cultivate Volume One on the Father’s heart, written by Jonathan Helser. "Your Thoughts Define Me" is inspired by one of Jonathan’s teachings during the 18 Inch Journey and ends with a journaling prompt. As you read through this piece, may you encounter the Father re-introducing Himself and defining who you are. We hope you enjoy this window into our school and we can't wait to share more with you in the weeks to come!
I had this amazing experience one day after Melissa took my little daughter, Haven, shopping for the first time. She let Haven pick out her own dress. When they returned, I was in my room reading in my favorite chair. I heard my little girl’s feet run up the stairs to her room above me. I could tell by the commotion that she was either wrestling an alligator, or that she was furiously changing into her new clothes. Then I heard her little feet come back down the stairs, and she burst into my room. Without any words she ran up and stopped in front of me, wearing a new dress she had picked out. This was one of those moments when time seemed to stop. She stood still and time stood still. I realized it was one of the greatest moments I would ever have as a father. She was waiting to be defined by my voice. Her little heart was like clay, waiting on my thoughts to shape her. With everything inside of me I looked deep into her eyes and said, “Haven, you look more beautiful right now than you have in your whole life.” Each day for the next week, Haven would put on her new dress and come find me. No matter what I was doing, she would pause before me and wait for my voice to tell her again that she was beautiful. It was like her little heart was saying over and over to me, “Do it again, Daddy...tell me who I am.”
Identity is discovered through the voice we listen to.
We have all been created to be defined by a Father’s voice. Every girl is made to hear the words, “You are beautiful,” and every boy is designed to hear the words, “Well done!”
My words over Haven are but a shadow of the radiant thoughts that the Father in Heaven has for her. Until we each have an encounter with our Father in Heaven, like my daughter had with me, we will spend our lives broken and in search of our identity. Go and find a quiet space and spend a few minutes getting still and relaxed. Read the passage below.
“How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.”
Psalm 139:17-18, NIV
Prompt: Pray this prayer out loud a few times until your heart begins to resonate with His love. This prayer is like going to the dressing room of Heaven and putting on the gift Jesus bought for you. Pray: “God, you so loved me that you bankrupted Heaven and gave your only Son to give me abundant life. Holy Spirit, I raise my hands to you like a child, and ask that you take off any of my old rags of fear, shame and guilt. Clothe me with the Father’s tangible affections. I confess that I am no longer a sinner; I am a child redeemed by love. I wear a robe of righteousness on the inside and outside. I am in right standing with God. I am a fearless child, you are a very happy Father.”
Speak this scripture out loud a few times: “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, NIV).
Picture yourself opening the door to the Father’s room. Remember the Father is waiting on you with joyful expectation, so don’t be afraid to approach His presence. Stand before His throne of grace as Haven stood before me and ask with brave confidence, “Daddy, what are your thoughts about me?”
Now pick up your journal and write with faith the thoughts you hear your Father speaking.