 Jesus wants to meet you face-to-face so you can experience His extravagant grace and we're so excited that you are here on Hope Today here with Tom and Amy and super excited about our guests that are coming up. Amy, tell us about them. I know we love face-to-face and today we love trading faces. You know identity and self-talk. Listen, cruise down any self-help aisle in Barnes & Nobles and you'll be sure to find a title promising you that your life will be changed by actualizing your effervescent perfectly capable self. Does that make anyone else want to throw up in your mouth? In trading faces the Beesons deep dive into the ten identities that masquerade as truth and give readers help and hope that they exchange those false labels for true identities. I have a feeling we might be addressing some touchy subjects today because we put our identity in so many things. You know I know this for a long time was a guy thing that we would get our identity men would get their identity out of what they did whether they were you know whether they were police officer or a welder or a professional athlete or whatever and I've been there I've not been to those jobs but I've getting my identity out of a certain ministry I did and all of a sudden it wasn't there anymore and it's like it's so hard to disassociate but you know it's not just men women also so much in in you know ministry and in workforce and things are seeing the same things. Yeah a lot of times in our culture I feel like we take on it's like okay what do I do and all these labels and things but that's not what it's about in the kingdom you know God calls us to be sons and daughters of him and so we are adopted because of Jesus Christ and I know right now we just even seen our culture there's so many identity issues there's so much self-esteem issues there's so many people that are dealing with depression and not knowing who they are but we know that he is the great I am and when we know the great I am when we see ourselves in him when we come face to face with him that's when all those labels and all those things that the world places on us begin to fall off and fall away so we are just really encouraging you today if you're dealing with that if you don't feel like you've arrived yet just honey just know you just got to be with Jesus you know just have your peace in him and he will lead you every step of the way because that's our heart I mean we all deal with it from time to time you know yeah I mean you know am I am I Amy the mother and my Amy the pastor and my Amy the co-host like who am I really I cannot wait Tom to dive into this but it's gonna be a great discussion and I know it's gonna be profitable for all of us to know and to learn those things right now we're gonna see if our identities wrapped up and stump the host so we have questions from the Bible we have not seen these so please play along we're hoping we can answer them so here's the first one which of Adam and Eve's sons was a tiller of the ground Cain Cain this is where you find that answer okay our next question are you ready when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been arrested where did he go oh shoot we just talked about this in church dang it like no for real I'm not talking about this had been arrested where did he go where he was a town he was in Israel in Israel that's probably that's a very true answer that's a real answer because remember he was talking to his disciples he said tell John yes that blind see yes he was in what was it cavernum it's all right with the headquarters of his ministry I will take it that's a that's a fine guess that would be a strong yes literally wait should we call our lifeline life oh wait a minute John are you there okay do you know the answer John I don't I don't he's right your phone while we're here what is your best right it's it's definitely israel we do ourselves yes as God part of the Red Sea for the Israelites what did Moses hold out over the water his rod his staff his staff his staff his hand no I just said his hand I just said his hand so did you see the sprinkle joy I said his hand at the last minute and it came out there's two options that the staff or his hand what was he having in his teeth I mean he was holding let my people go that's the most important thing well I'm glad that our identity is not wrapped up in stump the host but you know identity battles are something that have been plaguing our culture for quite some time now false identities have been leading people down the wrong path and that's not what God wants for our lives in John and Angel Beeson's new book trading faces they share the importance of knowing and understanding what your true identity is and that identity is in Christ amen John and Angel welcome to hope today thank you thanks for having us let's talk about even the title where did trading faces come from Angel yeah so it's with our publishers help it's been this process of taking a substitute identity that we hold on to and putting on a new identity in Christ and so it was the process of putting off the old like Romans 7 talks about and putting on a new Romans 8 and so it's just been and and the reality that we all wear masks every single day and we hide behind the mask to try to prove who we are to try to come up with who you know make something of ourselves and we just love yeah that what does it look like to take off the false mask and put on the true face that are live in our true image bearing nature of who Jesus says we are Angel did something happen where you said I've been living behind a mask and I need to deal with this and then I've been through it now it's time to help others through this yeah absolutely so God broke me back in 2013 we went into ministry came out of seminary in 2006 it just went hardcore and I would say that I was the fourth grade little girl who planned her wedding and really had just been setting myself up to my identity was in being a wife and being a mom one day that's who I thought I was and so fast forward we get married fast forward we go into ministry fast forward my husband is running towards the church and I now I'm thinking who the heck am I like I'm losing my husband to the church I'm getting angry I'm stepping into counseling I'm overwhelmed with the suffering and sin of the world and my identity my identity as wife and as mom I'm losing control of it and so I really rejected God's just call in my life and I ran into just a season of adultery and it was in 2013 that God really broke me of myself and really just I say this often when I'm sharing this story because brokenness was this moment where it was because we were pastor and counselor and you know living in Princeton, New Jersey this you know in an evangelical our world were very public but it was this moment that said Lord if I if I all I all I care about is I want to die being right with you and I'm living a lie I'm living in a lifestyle that you have not created for me and so break me and if I'm homeless in the side streets of Princeton, New Jersey then blessed be your name because you say that I'm a sheep and you're a shepherd and you promised to provide for me and if I lose my husband if I lose my kids I'm safe I'm secure in your love and it was just this profound moment where I had to really step into a death of Angel Beeson as I knew her and really and God just gave by his grace by his grace really taught me and purged me of old identities and just I came alive to who I am in Christ that nothing or no circumstance can take away Angel that's such a powerful revelation of your identity in Christ John did you ever wear any mask did you ever struggle or hide behind a certain identity that was not in Christ absolutely yeah the other half of that story is I felt called to the ministry as a 10-year-old boy and so it's a beautiful gift to have that clarity of calling so young in your life and yet you know fast forward to age 26 when I first entered pastoral ministry and I'm I'm jumping into not just a calling I'm jumping into who I think I am and that leads to this this season which impacts my life so devastatingly in terms of my neglect of her because I genuinely can't process where my priorities lie you know Christ is the bridegroom of the church and yet I'm acting as if I'm the bride groom of the church as if my identity is bound up in my relationship with the church as pastor and I just as devastating effects on my self because I have to run after and pursue after the affirmation of people of congregants as opposed to the joy and the gift of serving as a son of God and then it also results in the reality of a nickel the neglect of my first calling here as as a husband and so there's just absolutely there's both of us kind of the book is born out of our own journey our own recognition of just how easy it is to be entrapped in identities which are can even be good but not ultimate and then of course are walking with so many other people in that journey as well wow John so many of us try to find our identity in what we do or our gifts or our callings why did you start out this book with the subject of shame hmm we start there because that's where the biblical story starts that's that's something so embedded in us there's there's this amazing at the end of Genesis 2 as right before sin enters the picture we have this concluding verse there's so many things that you could say about Adam and Eve in the garden before sin enters the picture they're happy they're joyful they're excited exuberant peaceful all of those things are true and yet the author of the story chooses to say and they were naked and without shame and I think it's because there's something in all of us that recognizes our longing to be in a place that lives without the shame attendant speaking lies over our heart and and there's a profound a danger of us giving ear to the enemy in our and in our lives and for each one of us it's going to be a lifelong journey and so we begin with shame because every one of us is tempted to believe the word of the enemy that not just that we have done wrong not just that we have sin but we are wrong we are those who are worthless we are those I mean these are all words of the enemy about ourselves so that's why we begin with shame John and Angel just truly appreciate your transparency about you know what you both walk through in terms of your marriage and I think a lot of people can resonate and be understanding of have similar stories and situations so can you just share with us you know there's a lot of shame when the marriage falls apart and our lives are falling apart how did God meet you in the midst of that in the middle of that and began to change your marriage and relationship I'm sorry was that question directed to me cut out just a little bit oh it could be either either one of you Angel or John yeah he I mean the Lord met us in the moment of one the brokenness of repentance the brokenness of the process of owning you know I got to own a hundred percent of my sin John owned a hundred percent of his sin we by his grace we didn't blame each other for the sin that we each chose to step into and we're consumed with but we took ownership of that and then in that process of asking for forgiveness and walking through the forgiveness you start to learn like well you start to acknowledge and articulate okay what is it that I've been believing how did we get to this place what were the patterns that we took into this marriage how did we not protect our marriage where our lives falsely prioritize and so it was just this journey of the Lord allowing us to rightly prioritize our life and then in that space yeah like we had to make a choice I mean we start off with shame but it really is an invitation for the reader and we really pray that the reader is willing to slow down in that chapter because it's an invitation to say Lord if you say this about me then I will choose to say this about me the Lord can say it about us and we can say no God like I I just can't believe you know we let our pride get in the way or whatever but when we were able to just say yeah if this is what Jesus is I you know I had a person come up to you once and he said he would just remind me angel you don't wear the old jersey anymore you wear a new jersey wear your new name and it was so helpful for me because it's like yes I have agency all power belongs to God but he allows us to be part of our own sanctification journey where we can say yes Lord I will my I will receive the power of your blood for me at the cross and it's real for me and if you say I can leave it at the cross then I can get up and go and sin no more and I can receive the truth that your blood makes me white of snow and I am pure in you and this sin this season of life doesn't have to define us I'd like to ask you both where you see the situation with social media right now that it just seems to have exacerbated this problem so much what what do we do with that and especially with our young people how do we protect them in this environment great question yeah I mean so as human beings we are comparison machines right like we so often base our identity based on comparisons of those around us right I look to my neighbor and I say am I well off I answer that question by how well my neighbors doing am I righteous I answer that question by my co-worker my by my friend and social media just turns that dial up to a hundred and in the worst possible way because of course we all know like we're we're being let into this false kind of highlight reel of all of our friends lives which just compounds the shame narrative or compounds all of all of these realities in us it can exacerbate the desire for us to stand out in in being individuals and and desire to kind of hey I need to differentiate myself I need to create cultivate kind of this this image of who I am all of this is extremely dangerous right where the online self becomes the real self and that's just a dangerous reality we're actually the gift of of God and in Christ in us is for us to find our truest identity in the quietest most intimate most personal places with God and then to live out of that and so so how do we live I mean let's be honest like even blatantly secular psychologists would say it's unhealthy it's a dangerous place for us to live it doesn't mean it's just purely bad but we ought not toy around with the world in which our identity is so wrapped up in in the the social media kind of part of our existence and that's specifically dangerous for our children of you know so we have a teenager and a young adult as kids and man you know in that journey of knowing and becoming fully who we are and understanding who we are which is a journey for all of us at every age and stage but specifically at that age I think we have to be very careful as parents not to allow social media to become that mirror that they're constantly looking into to to kind of behold and think that they're understanding who they are when that's just absolutely not the case so as parents we can we need to know who we are in Christ so then we can speak that language over our kids and just remind them daily and consistently who they are Angel we're also in a culture where we identify by how we are feeling and we're letting our feelings say what our identity is does that concern you at all deeply concerning and I would say it's one of the biggest misconceptions as a culture that we have of identity you know we we we are who we feel and that can change and it's fluid and at the end of the day it is an identity that is built on shifting sand and it's false and it leads to an exhausting life it's constantly never enough because the flesh will never be satisfied the flesh will never be satisfied and if we are what we feel and feelings are in the flesh then we're constantly looking we're constantly looking and they're just you know mask over mask over mask over mask and no wonder people are asking you know we get into a midlife crisis and have no idea who we are John can you just take a minute and just pray for anyone watching that feels like man I've been using my personality as a mask I've been using my political party as a mask I've been using my career as a mask can you just take a moment and pray for those that we will come face-to-face with our identity in Christ I'd be honored to thank you Lord your word speaks over us who we are or forgive us Lord for looking elsewhere for having ears that are so attuned to so many other places and other things Lord to draw our identity we have restless anxious hearts Lord because we are trying to create our own identity but help us to rest as we know who we are in you or that we would be found in you as saints as your sheep as ambassadors as those who are our purpose to be part of of your body Lord your family Lord as sons and daughters as as part of your bride and Lord in that place Lord help us to know you and to know who we are in you God I pray for that blessing for each and everyone who who was listening Lord I pray for that for each of us God that we would pursue you and pursue who we are in you in your name we pray amen thank you John and Angel for helping us remove the mask and helping us find our God-given identity thank you so much when we return in 60 seconds we'll look at a scripture in which Paul instructs us on how we should live our lives with Christ stay with us in this month of Thanksgiving we're excited to send you the special daily gratitude journal with your best gift this easy to use journal will encourage you to bookend each day with short personal reflections that bring insight and intentionality to your busy and always changing life how can six simple questions help you better navigate life's uncertainty best-selling author tish oxenrider invites you to lean into the rhythms that each morning and evening offers with a twice daily thought exercise focusing on gratitude truth grace and more as you reflect on three key questions near the beginning and end of your day you will be more poised and prepared for whatever God has for you in the hours between request your gratitude journal today when you give call 888-665-4483 or donate online at ctvn.org slash donate thank you for giving to cornerstone television we have a scripture for you from Ephesians 4 22 through 24 and just listen to this imagery that Paul uses here you were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires to be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness and guys this just goes along so much with what we were talking about I remember teaching on this one time and having two different coats of putting one off and put one on because we understand the imagery of changing the old for the new which is in Christ you know Tom is yours talking and as we're doing the break God just dropped in my spirit about how all of creation is groaning and waiting for the revelation and the revealing of the sons and the daughters of God and so I just sense and I just feel that what would it look like you know we say it comes a lot of times like we plain complain about the world and what's happening in the world but what if God is saying in this season when you come face to face with me when you come before me and you know who you are in me what will that look like how will that shift your family how will that shift your community how will it shift your city how will it shift the world and so I really believe in the season that God is wanting us to do a deep internal check you know we have the end of the year is coming and I just really believe that God wants to speak to you God wants to download some things into you God wants to get the muck and the myri clay out of you get those roots of bitterness all of the offense everything out so you can shine and look like him repentance is so necessary and we just encourage you to repent to look at yourself and like God these are the things that I've done these are the things that I've been walking through I love what Angel was just sharing about her story and her journey of just getting to that place of just such brokenness that then you realize like all I want is you God that's all I want and that's all that I desire in my life and so we just encourage you today that maybe you're in a place of brokenness or just needing to seek God in a new way just give us a call on our prayer line at 888-665-4483 and I know there's something in your heart as well that you know in the amplified in that scripture about renewing your mind it says having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude you know and I kind of tease at the beginning how you go down barns and nobles and there is self-help stuff everywhere and there really is a way that we are speaking to ourselves so I love the example that they gave in their book and I just wanted to share it in 20 seconds you could be saying I'm so ugly I hate myself I'm such a loser this is going to fail you know everybody always leaves me I'm the problem I'm bad self help says oh I am beautiful you know I am successful I love who I am you know I am valued but there's no firm foundation with that that's that's not that's just positive affirmations but if you want the real weightiness if you want a real life change say what God says about you I am wonderfully made I am a conqueror I am beloved I am pure I'm a saint I am gifted it changes everything Tom when we grab not what our parents said about us not what our friends say about us not what our our crazy mind is saying but what does God say about us you know God is our biggest I'll use the word cheerleader but with reality not just like you said Amy positive affirmation but with positive affirmation after understanding who we really are understanding what he wants to do because he wants to do something beautiful inside of you knowing who we are now and what he's changing us into said we're just so grateful that you've just been joining us for this conversation and we just pray that during this conversation during this time together that you would trade the face of the world and say Jesus take my face and I just want to meet you face-to-face because that is the place when we are in his presence when before his throne the throne of grace that the changing happens and we become regenerated and he renews our mind so we can be all that he's called us to be we love you so much friend and we pray that this blesses you and that you would walk in the power and love of Yeshua today