The past few weeks I have been reminded by several articles and shows about the importance of what we think and feel about ourselves. One of the most profound thoughts that was brought to me through these media methods was that we are literal children of God, a part of Him, and that by putting ourselves down, we are not showing respect to Him.
I caught PBS a few weeks ago as they were doing their fundraising. They were showing clips from Wayne Dyer’s new video based on his book “Wishes Fullfilled”. He made some pretty powerful statements in that show. Between that show and a blog post from Denise Webster’s blog “All About Becoming” titled, “I AM”… it brought together many of the things I’d been reading and hearing. Here is part of Denise’s post that brings those thoughts together so beautifully:
First, Dallin H. Oaks was speaking on what it means as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ to testify of His NAME. He talked about Moses at the burning bush. Moses asked the Lord, “who should I tell them sent me?” A Jewish Rabbi gave Elder Oaks some insight into this particular scripture (the Name of Christ – I AM.) He told Elder Oaks that anciently, the name of a person was the essence or nature of a person, not the “label” like it is today. Moses was saying, “what are you made up of?” What is your nature? It was simply “The nature of God” that he was trying to find out about. The word essence comes from the French (or Greek ?) derivative of “essen” which means essential. The Lord answered him by saying, “I AM.” This Rabbi explained that anciently when they changed their “essence,” they changed their name—Abram/Abraham, Sariah/Sarah, Jacob/Israel. If you are a witness of the name of Christ, in that sense, you are a witness of the NATURE of Christ. When you see me, you will know me because you will become like I am. His atonement sets us toward Him and exaltation.
I thought this interesting because I always thought Moses was wondering if it really was the Lord, but with this definition, I learned that is was quite more than that. I also learned that when one changes their nature or disposition (the essence of who they are), then their name was changed, too. Had me thinking about new names for those whose lives become more pure and why they changed them. Saul became Paul after a mighty change. Is that so good things would be associated with his new name? When a woman marries, she takes on her husband’s last name (at least in America) and that con-notates a change. Interesting to think about what you have done with your current name.
As I came home that night, my good husband said he had recorded a show on PBS for me. (Video below) It was Wayne Dyer. And at some point in the show, he started talking about Moses being at the burning bush and asking the Lord, “who shall I say sent me?” The Lord answered, “My name is I AM that I AM.”
“Now every single time that you use the words, ‘I AM,’ you are citing the name of God right from the holiest books. And every time you say the words, ‘I am weak. I am poor. I am unlucky. I am unhappy. I am sick. I am unable to attract into my life what you want; you are desecrating the name of God. God did not say, ‘I will be. My name is ‘I hope things will work out well.’ My name is ‘maybe things will show up as I wanted, but possibly not. ‘ He said, ‘I AM that I AM.’ You must be conscious of how you use these words, ‘I am.’ I am strong. I am well. I am content. Even if your senses tell you something different. I AM……You’ll see that putting the words ‘I Am’ in front of something into your mind and imagination is a very powerful way to attract into your life recognizing your own divinity. I am God is not blaspheme. It is your identity.”
This brought me to tears. Here I had first heard an Apostle of the Lord testifying of the name of Jesus Christ– The Great I AM. Then I heard this and understood for the first time, that my own thoughts and words of self-deprecation were not just tearing down me, but were tearing down My Lord, My Savior, My Brother that I love so dearly. How could I have done this? How could I continually tear myself down and Him, too? I was heart broken. I would not hurt My Lord, but I would hurt myself. I had never made the connection that if I was hurt, He was, too. I vowed to watch my thoughts and language from here on out. I found some renewed hope.
That was worded so well by Denise I had to share it with you! What profound ideas! What ‘names’ do we call ourselves because we think we aren’t good enough? It’s so important to maintain an attitude of love for ourselves. Have you ever wondered about the scripture where the Lord admonishes us to ‘love thy neighbor as thyself’? I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel I have no problem loving other people, but when it comes to loving myself……. well…. that can be a different story! I often allow myself to put the negative things behind those “I am” statements…. don’t you?
I found it interesting that during this time of getting all this knowledge coming at me there was an article in the Meridian Magazine by Vicki Pahnke Taylor titled “A Few Things I Like About Me”. She started off the article talking about how hard it was for her to come up with these few things she liked about herself. It’s interesting how we have such a hard time taking note of our good qualities. I wrote post about that sort of thing a while back. We aren’t very good about ‘tooting our own horn’. You can read that post here. I think the big problem lies in the fact that we are of the mindset that it’s not proper to ‘brag’ about ourselves and that we appear to be conceited when we do. I think there’s a fine line between conceit and confidence and far too many of us are not even close to the confidence part!
If we can remember and even start to believe that we are literal children of God and that by so being we are a part of Him….. perhaps we can begin to realize our divine potential. In the Wayne Dyer program, he talks about how we are not our body….. our body is ever changing…. but we are what’s inside of us. Our spirits. Echart Tolle and many others also speak of this same thing. It’s learning to connect with that inner person that we really are that makes us become more aware of our Godly potential.
I am so grateful for these many people that remind me of who I really am and of how profound and powerful words are! I AM enough! Part of making this all work in your life is becoming aware! Well, now…. that’s another topic for another post for another day!
I am Grateful! How are You?
As a side note….. here’s an article from Meditations for Women that goes so well with all of the above!
Where Do You Get Your Validation
“Completion comes from within.”
Most women have the bad habit of looking to relationships outside themselves for validation. We believe that the love others give us is more important than the love we give to ourselves.
This puts a tremendous burden on those around us. If you really think about it, we cannot honestly expect someone to fulfill this demand. When we do, we are doomed to disappointment.
Instead, recognize that eternal happiness and a true sense of value can only come from within. The bottom line is that there is nothing anybody can say or do to assure you of your value if you aren’t sure of it yourself.
Start taking time to appreciate yourself, what you have achieved and how far you can go. Rely on the power that shines from within. It will never let you down!
Here is Wayne Dyers video…… long but full of profound information.
And of course….. one of my very favorites! Jessica’s Affirmations!