As an adult I would have no idea what a “skin” was, except that I have children, and they have talked about them…
In some video games you can be a character but have options to change into different looks. The base character remains the same but everything about its appearance changes.
These are called skins.
The other night I woke from my sleep and was burdened with some things in my life that I’ve long desired to change. I began to deeply intercede from that place of between wake and sleep…apparently this is a common thing for me lately…and as I did, I asked God to change me.
I cried out, “God, please change this about me. Take it away!”
Suddenly, I saw a skin come off me. Like a layer of myself was gone…or a covering over me was gone. I immediately thought about the skins that my kids have talked about in their games.
I realized that some things we struggle with are more difficult to get rid of because they’ve become part of us. Like a part of who we are. Even though we wrestle with them, they won’t leave until we ask God to remove them from our identity.
Does this make sense?
Have you ever had something you struggled with so desperately?
Listen, I just want to be more like Jesus. I don’t want to let certain behaviors and thought patterns, that others might think are fine to have, slide in my life. I don’t want it. I want Jesus.
Today, I want to provoke you to consider whether or not you have skins in your life. Skins of false identity covering you and shading everything you do.
If you discover any then I encourage you to pray and ask God to remove them from you.
Then like a cicada does, shrug off that shell and move forward as the real you. The original you that God intended.
Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, Who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:12-18
365 Days in the Presence 