BIBLE STUDY--Who Am I?

Yesterday was the beginning of Bible Study for this year!!! This year's theme is "Who Am I?" Yesterday's was taught by Dove Sister Alyssa Tatum.

We began with a game of telephone. The message was something that God would tell us, "I created you in My Image. You not ugly, but beautiful. You are Mine." If you are familiar with telephone, then you know that that is NOT what was said at the end! However, it is a great metaphor for life. We have people in our lives who are supposed to build up our self-esteem and tell us who we are. Many times this message gets warped or lost in translation. The only way to know exactly what was said, who you are, is to go back to the SOURCE. (Alyssa in this case, who represented the ULTIMATE SOURCE, GOD. And a very pretty God she is!)

And then we discussed the human brain. The brain is separated into two areas: our conscious mind makes up 22% and that is where our hopes, dreams, goals, and premeditated actions are stored, and our unconscious mind, 88%, which holds our beliefs, values, and self-image as well as every negative thought and insult we have ever had. Of course, we all see the disproportion here. How can there be so much space for negativity, and so little for our hopes and dreams? Is this how God intended? NO! Alyssa facilitated discussion on how God made us and the disconnect that happened.

How God made us, how God intended us to be, and how God intended us to see ourselves can all be answered in the Bible. Now, I'm going to list these scriptures with the full confidence that you are going to look them up. Go ahead and open up another tab and type in biblegateway.com. You know you want to know who you are in God: Genesis 1:26-27, Psalm 8:3-6, Ephesians 1:4, Psalm 139:13-16.

One thing that we all know is that we are all created in His image, and Psalm 139 says that we are all individually and uniquely made. Well, knowing that that is true, then that means we all are a different aspect of a complicated God. So if everyone in the world gathered and looked into a huge mirror, we would see God's reflection.

YOU ARE GOD'S REFLECTION

The disconnect comes in the beginning. Back in the gap, in the garden, Adam and Eve knew that they were God's image. That is, until the serpent came and started questioning them. The devil is sneaky like that; he tries to fool you with questions that make you doubt your worth. "God knows the difference between good and evil, and you don't. He lied, you aren't what He says you are." Genesis 3:1. Isn't that what the devil does all the time? More scriptures on this topic: Proverbs 18:21, 2 Corinthians 10:4-6. Then Adam and Eve hid from God. LOLOL. They HID from GOD. But although God knew exactly where they were, He is such a gentleman that He called out to them instead of exposing them. He does that to us now. We are so scared to be naked in front of God, who formed us before we were in our mother's womb, who know every hair on our head. We try to hide and put on clothes (fronts) for Him, when He already knows what we look like naked! But He won't impose; no, He asks, where are you? and knocks, waiting for us to answer, and then asks, who told you you were naked? Genesis 3:6-7. He knows you, because He know Himself. DEEP.

And because God knows us, we can be totally naked! We make mistakes, but He knows our hearts. He KNOW US. Genesis 3:10, Psalm 7:9, Psalm 139:1-11, Isaiah 49: 15-16.

It was an incredible Word, and I sincerely hope that you won't miss next week, where yours truly will be teaching "I'm More Than You Say I Am."

~Dove Sister DeAnna~