02.01.2010


   
Michael Fox CPCC,
founder of magine!,
is a professional
coach and trainer,
author and creative artist, whose work has been featured throughout
the world.

Michael is a
Certified Practitioner
of the
Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator.

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Hands: a heart and soul faith, made flesh 
Three: Release what hinders you...   

Here's the third of five principles of the "hands," framework of spiritual transformation: Jesus makes you more and more like him--a heart and soul faith, made flesh--as you release what hinders you. (You can read the intro here, no here.) These five posts are a bit longer than typical, but oh so worth your contemplation!  


 

My earliest taste of freedom was the day my parents first allowed me to explore Disneyland on my own. I ran the length and breadth of the park, from one "land" to another, from one attraction to another, from the time the gates opened to the time they were shut. As a child, "freedom" meant the ability to do what I wanted to do--no more, no less--and when I wanted to do it.

 

Nearly grown, and nearly a half-century later, I get that my initial perception of freedom only holds true in Fantasyland. True freedom, I understand now, includes the ability to live into the person God created me to be, the person that God created to bear his very image.

 

I did, however, learn a valuable lesson around freedom on that childhood excursion through The Magic Kingdom. I learned that freedom often requires making wise choices among the available options: choosing and losing. Those were the days when each attraction at Disneyland required a coupon for entry; and Disneyland sold books with coupons of different sizes and colors, labeled either "A," "B," "C," "D," or "E." An "A" coupon would get you a slow carriage ride down Main Street. A coveted "E" coupon might be redeemed for a magical cruise through The Pirates of the Caribbean. As you can imagine, a Disneyland coupon book included far more "A" than "E" coupons. The limited number of "E" coupons, in a park with a number of adventurous "E Rides," required deliberate choosing and losing.  

 

 

Freedom was an essential component of Jesus' teaching. He visited the synagogue in Nazareth, likely the "church" of his childhood, in the early days of his ministry. He was invited by the Elders to read the day's scripture to the congregation; the scroll of Isaiah was handed to Jesus, and he read: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19). Jesus returned the book to the attendant, sat down before the assembled, and declared, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

 

Freedom in Jesus has a lot in common with my wondrous day at Disneyland long ago. To enjoy our freedom requires a measure of choosing and losing. And, sure enough, Jesus invited his apprentices, "If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it" (Matthew 10:39, NLT). Choosing and losing.

 

But what does it look like to "cling and lose" and to "give up and find" your life?  

 

It's apparent that Jesus had in mind two different qualities of "life"--or "self": one to give up and one to find. What would it look like to perceive the two selves--in psychological terms--as the "False Self" and the "True Self"?

 

 

Your False Self is a mask, an external self, your self-image, your "ego," your expectations, your adaptive or protective self. Your False Self finds value in such dubious measures as pleasure, praise, power, prestige, position, popularity, productivity, possessions, perfection. [I sense a pattern here!] Your False Self loves to read People magazine. If you've ever offended or felt offense; fostered resentment rather than extended forgiveness; resisted responsibility; suffered embarrassment; denied pain and loss; you've engaged your False Self.

 

Reframing Jesus words, then, "If you seek your worth in your False Self you'll lose it, but if you release your False Self for My sake you'll find your True Self"--the person God created you to be, the person that God created to bear his very image.  

 

 

A few practical learnings then become apparent:

 

--One: short of losing your False Self, you may try to repair it or to anesthetize it. Your False Self thus becomes the seat of your attachments, your addictions, or--as one celebrated recovery program describes them--your hurts, habits, and hang-ups.

 

--Two: the lie is that your False Self dies a grand fiery death and that your True Self then rises from the ashes in a single brilliant transformative moment. Daily failures then feel like complete failures and, with them, hope is abandoned. In reality, however, you daily "take up your cross"--daily dying and rising, dying and rising, dying and rising--as you release your False Self and embrace your True Self. Trust the process.

 

--Three: you might frame the contrast between False Self and True Self as "flesh" and "spirit." As Paul admonished the Romans: "For the mind set on the flesh [i.e., your False Self] is death, but the mind set on the Spirit [i.e., creator of your True Self] is life and peace" (Romans 8:6). To the Galatians, Paul described what the True Self--the mind set on the Spirit--looks like; something of a divine assessment tool, if you will:   

 

But the fruit of the Spirit [i.e., evidence of your True Self] is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh [i.e., your False Self] with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:22-26).

 

 

"If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it."

 

Release what hinders your freedom in Jesus. Choose the "E Ride."

 

 

Enormous question...Is it possible you've been waiting to be released into freedom in Jesus, when Jesus is waiting for you to release yourself into his freedom?

 

Where do you most clearly see evidence of the False Self in your life? Where might you begin releasing the domination of the False Self? Choosing and losing. Release what hinders you! 

 

Michael Fox
m�agine!

530/613.2774
407 Myrtle Drive
Farmerville, LA, USA 71241  
In addition to personal and professional coaching,
m�agine! specializes in spiritual transformation coaching,
employing its proprietary models
--Values, Vision, Voice
and Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength--

as well as
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator� curriculum
published by CPP, the People Development People.

Michael's books include
 
Complete in Christ,
Complete in Christ Spiritual Transformation Workbook,
and Biblio�files.

Coaching fees are based upon a sliding scale. Contact us for details.
For additional information, visit our website at maginethepossibilities.net.

Limited scholarships are available for spiritual transformation coaching.
On the flip side, if you are able, please inquire about opportunities
to fund scholarships for those who cannot afford coaching fees.

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