“I yam what I yam.” Popeye

“I am who you (people) say I am” eventually and gratefully evolved into “I am who You (Jesus) say I am.” I celebrated the day I realized that I relied on Jesus’ opinions of me over the world’s. 

Listening to Jesus doesn’t mean I’m never bothered by what people say. It means I shake off offenses faster and hold onto what He says firmer. 

When I tried to let go of negativity with nothing to replace it, it didn’t work. The void filled right back up with negativity. And that’s exactly what the devil works toward – he wants us disconnected from our people, distracted, and depressed. 

What did work was replaying sermons from my church (Solid Rock at Market Common), turning on praise music like Yes He Can by Cain, or reading the Bible and from Streams in the Desert and Springs In the Valley, both by L.B. Cowman. I don’t always understand the Bible, but I unwind the minute I pick it up. 

I also began following a modern day prophet who God speaks through. His name is Jim Reilly at Mountain of Winds Ministries International. It’s some kind of unique experience to have a man who doesn’t know anything about me tell about my life from God’s perspective. To hear it verbalized is life changing especially since he’s told me to trust who I am and lean into who God made me to be. Just last week, he said to stop apologizing for who I am.  

Over time, I noticed that I could hear Jesus over the jabber, and listening to Him instead of people turned into a habit, which it should have been all along. The more I listened to Him, the more comfortable I got with who He made me to be.

And the more comfortable I got with saying “I yam what I yam.” 

The best part of all – when I heard from Jesus through music, sermons, prophesies, and the Bible and took His messages to heart, I fell deeper in love with Him and with everyone around me. 

A friend said it best when she texted me, “It’s like going from black and white to living color.”

Why, yes it is, my friend. It’s a whole new world to hear and heed what Jesus says and live into it.

Thanks for hanging around for almost half our days together. We cherish your comments around here.  

In This Together, 
Kim