identity exercise: spirit-filled

 To be identified as spirit-filled...this is ever my desire.  For as long as I can remember, my heart's cry has been to be close to Jesus, to be filled with his Spirit.  As a very little girl, I loved God so much and I just wanted to be good for him.  My understanding of him was skewed when I was young and I was afraid, but I still loved him with all my heart.  

I've been through ups and downs in my spiritual life.  For much of my life, I felt like my relationship with God was pure discipline, not much "feeling" or experience involved.  Sometimes, I've experienced his presence profoundly.  I've felt him beckoning.  I've had times of apathy and times of passion.  I've yelled at him and sung to him.  

Most recently, it seems like he's been mostly silent.  But what I know without question is that he is present even in the silence.  I'm never alone.  I know I am beloved of him.  His Spirit is in me without a doubt and I am growing in God all the time, learning to trust more, learning to recognize his voice more readily, learning to see his leading more clearly.  I am confident that he is working in me, a good work, and he will be faithful to complete it in me.

Because I belong to God, I am Spirit-filled. What a gift.

identity exercise: generous with talents

 How can I not be generous with my talents??  They're a gift from God.  Any talent I have is because of him, not me.  The best way to show my thanks to him and to be a good steward is to share them with others.  

Every time I share my guitar playing, my voice, my writing or art, it's because God gave them to me and is pleased when I give them away.  I want any talent I might have to point people's eyes to Jesus.  My life and gifts are not about me, they are about him.  

I could keep my talents close to the vest.  I could bury them and keep them hidden, pull them out only for myself.  Especially because I don't think I'm especially talented at all.  But what I have, God gave, and I need to share in order to honour him.