Shaping Me – Internal Stories
We are all being shaped by something every single day
You are being formed every moment of every day! By simply waking up every morning you are being shaped. (John Mark Comer)
We are all being shaped by something every single day
Intentionality/Trust
Being shaped by Jesus is not passive but a partnership
Matt. 7:24-27 Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2 (Philips) Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.
ability and responsibility
Myths/ Rituals/ Symbols
Stories we believe
“Myths” are stories enshrining fundamental truths about life (Arbuckle)
It seems intuitively clear that we anticipate by framing little stories about how things may fall out… The whole experience as it is concentrated in a conscious present has a narrative form. (Steven Crites, The Journal of the American Academy of Religion)
Jesus was the God who told stories (Madeleine L’Engle)
Internal stories we believe shape us
John10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Lies = real event, generalized lie, identity
John 8:34,36 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin… So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed
Shape me by your Words
Romans 8:5-6 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Heb. 11:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.”
Psalm 37:23-24: “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”
Isaiah 61:1 “He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”
Shape me by your Words