Saying Good-Bye

I want us to do something before our final day on Friday. Taking a cue again from Brennan Manning in his book "Abba's Child" I want us to write our Impostor a note. It can be lengthy, short and sweet, direct, one liner, whatever. I want us all to put REAL in action. Here, I'll go first and then you guys take some time with Jesus to get this moving.

Dear Me,

There is something I'd like you to know (and I know you know this) but I don't belong to you. You see, someone else controls me. I know, I know, there are too many days when I turn to you for affirmation, intimacy, acceptance, and well, I'm kinda done. You've offered me nothing but empty promises, selfishness, and guilt and I think more than anything, you make me tired of Me.

Now, I've got to be honest, sometimes I fall for it. Sometimes you have me convinced that if I had more of the applause of man then I'd feel fulfilled. Yes, I've listened to you and when those moments came, I simply felt the same and longed for more of empty fulfillment. But, the truth of the matter is; you are me and I am you, but, you see, I have a new Me. When Jesus took over my life I was told that I'd be a new creation and you? well, you'd die. Seems like you keep resurrecting.

Here's what I'd like to do. First, I'm going to stop denying that you are me and I am you and stop pretending that what you are isn't a real thing. Secondly, I'm going to tell you that you are now going to shrink. Third, I'm going to strive for a single-minded focus on the New Me, that is Christ in me. His promises are Yes and Amen. His ways are good and holy. His love is fulfilling and true. His grace is a balm on my soul. His laughter is what I long for. His nod of approval is the only approval I need.

My dear Impostor, you are me and I am you, but I'm ready for you to shrink even more. There's many areas where you a simply an afterthought or no thought at all. These are areas that Jesus has simply transformed and you are quiet, dead. However, there are some places where you are running in the fields of my mind laughing, alive, healthy, and causing me to be distracted from my Real Lord.

I need you to sit down for a minute. You, my dear Impostor, are going to meet Jesus and He has some stuff to do in Me. I realize that as I gaze into the face of the Real Me, the Real Lord, you will simply disappear into the shadows and no longer run these areas. I know this because He promised me. I am "putting you off" and letting the Spirit renew my mind. I am being renewed in the image of my Creator and am being created as a workmanship for Him.

I hope you understand, but you've got to go now. We'll both be better off.

Love,

Me