Welcome to Wednesday Wanderings with Dr. Sherri–a time we set aside to wander in the Presence of Jesus and ponder His truths. When you are ready, prepare your mind, body, and soul to have a transformational encounter with Jesus.
PREPARATION: In our last Wandering with Dr. Sherri, we examined Share the Story of His Glow. This week we will examine Identity Matters. When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue with Jesus and state: “Jesus, I invite you to help me to leisurely wander into your Presence. Prepare my heart to receive, and illuminate my spiritual senses to encounter you.”
PROMISE: Psalm 104:1-3 Amplified Bible
Proverbs 3:5-6 amplified
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
6 In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way waters.
Our trust in God is based on His identity. He is Adonai, Yahweh, Jehovah. Period.
PSALM: O Worship the King 1561
William Kethe (?-1594); Robert Grant (1779-1838)
Frail children of dust and feeble as frail
In thee do we trust nor find Thee to fail
Thy mercies how tender how firm to the end
Our Maker Defender Redeemer and Friend
Grant proclaims that God’s mercy is tender, firm, and enduring. We can trust that God is our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend. We can trust in His name, His character, and His being.
PARABLE: Identity matters. It brands us. It establishes how others see us. It determines how we see ourselves. In this world of identity theft, fake news, Photoshop, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms, we can’t always trust that someone is who they say they are or who their image portrays them to be.
Instead of assuming what we see is true, we must let people GAIN trust and find themselves trustworthy. They must go through a trust hierarchy. The first level of trust is deterrence-based trust. It is based on rules and consequences that govern behavior. This rules-based trust is the basic level of trust. The next level of trust is knowledge-based trust. It is based on experiences that add up to prove that you have enough knowledge of the person’s behavior to have a good idea of how they will react and behave. The final level of trust is identity-based trust. This is the most intimate level of trust and is based on relationship, the understanding of loyalty, acceptance, and understanding. It is reserved for the most important people in our lives. It is where we can be transparent and vulnerable.
Identity-based trust is the kind of trust we can have in God. We can confidently rely on God our Creator to make a way for us, our Defender–to defend us in the battle of life, our Redeemer–to give us His redeeming grace and turn around our mistakes, and our Friend–to be our constant friend. Like a frail soldier being brought in from the battlefield leaning on his mates with each arm counting on them to bring him to safety, we can be certain and rest on the arms of the Holy Spirit and lean on the everlasting arms of Jesus to carry us to God our Refuge where we are safe!
Soul care training exercise: Some areas of life are easier to trust God than in others. God’s name is trust. Take a moment and turn your
attention to seeking the loving Presence of God. Ponder the question What part of God’s character am I most confident in – Maker, Defender, Redeemer, or Friend? Reflect and let the Holy Spirit reveal to you what God wants to say to you about how you most trust God’s identity within your life.
Notice without judgment and with a curious awareness of what comes to your mind. Invite God into your sanctified imagination. Ask Him to bring to your attention what He wants you to know.
- Next scan your mind and notice what the Holy Spirit is sharing that you need to know, hear, or do to fully depend on God’s whole being with your whole being. Expand your thoughts, it may be something you never heard told this way before.
- Finally, Focus on what you see and hear. Allow praise to form within you. Take a deep breath in and release a song unto the Lord.
PRAYER: Father, you are my Creator, my Defender, my Redeemer, and my Friend. Help me to trust your whole character with my whole being. Empower me to confidently rely on, confide in, trust in, secure my hope in, and lean into YOU. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
PRAISE: Now that you have emptied your mind of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to praise God for being a trustworthy Creator, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend. Then take the mindfulness of God’s glorious glow in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.
Until next time, be Resonant.
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Image attributions: Text art app with words added
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