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  1. Thank you Heather Hoffmeyer for your input!!

    Will the Real You Please Stand Up? – Devotional #3966
    Monday, March 25, 2002
    It was a TV show a long time ago, and it's a TV show again. The idea must still have some life in it! It's called "To Tell the Truth" – maybe you have seen it. Three contestants all tell the panel their name – and they all claim to be the same person. The host reads a little background on the person, and then it's up to the panel to try to figure out which one is the real one. The climactic moment comes when the host says, "Will the real Joe Slobotnik please stand up?" They all shift in their chairs, but finally one stands up. The real one!
    Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Will the Real You Please Stand Up?

    For many people, the struggle to identify which person is really them is a deeply personal one – one that rages within us. It's very important that you decide which of three identities is really you. In fact, the identity you choose will determine much of how you make your life choices and whether you feel significant or insignificant.

    Identity number one is you, the victim. If you've been hurt, betrayed, maybe abused, or abandoned, or neglected, it's possible to live your life thinking of yourself as a victim. Which means you will spend much of your life feeling worthless, depressed, distrusting, maybe negative, or self-pitying. And your relationships, your decisions, your goals will all be shaped by choosing "victim" as your identity.

    OK, identity number two is you, the sinner. While the victim focuses on their pain, the sinner focuses on their failures. You are frequently reliving the things you've done that were wrong – maybe very wrong, in some cases. If you decide that the "you" that is going to stand up is you, the sinner, you're also going to feel worthless much of the time… And ashamed…and never good enough. You'll accept and you'll expect a little life because you think that's all you deserve. And your shame will cause you to feel, "What's the use?" – and that will set you up for more and more mistakes.

    But there's a third identity you can choose. It's spelled out in II Corinthians 5:17, our word for today from the Word of God. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" There is an amazing transformation that takes place when a person gives themselves to Jesus Christ – from that moment on they have the right, they have the spiritual power to live as a new person!

    So if you belong to Jesus Christ, the real you is identity number three – new person in Jesus Christ! You don't have to be defined by your past pain. You don't have to be defined by your past sin. You are now defined by your relationship with Jesus – you are a child of God . . . A servant of Christ . . . And a make a difference person! Because you are forgiven . . . You are clean . . .you are free from the shackles of the past. You're about your future now, not your past! Don't miss, don't forget who you really are! It's time for the real you to stand up!

  2. "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 'I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.'" —John 15:4 niv

    Bev's Reflection:
    When friends disappoint, when pastors fall, when a son or daughter abandons you—there is Jesus. He is the only Constant to cling to, when the rug of life is pulled out from under you. Your Friend and Savior longs for you to connect with Him—in praise during the good and bad days, in prayer, and in reading Scripture, which has the power to comfort, encourage, and, yes, heal

  3. There's a song from the '90's by Susan Ashton called "A Rose is a Rose" that I sang at my college graduation. It deals with loss of identity but that no matter what, your position as a child of God is never in jeopardy … "oh, a Rose by any name is still a Rose."

    Lyrics:
    VERSE 1
    You're at a stand still
    Your're at an impass
    Your mountain of dreams
    Seems harder to climb
    By those who have made you
    Feel like and outcast
    Cause you dare to be different
    So they're drawing a line

    VERSE 2
    They say you're a fool
    The feed your resistance
    They tell you you'll never go very far
    But they'll be the same ones
    That stand in the distance
    Alone in the shadow
    Of your shining star

    CHORUS
    Just keep on the same road
    And keep on your toes
    And just keep your heart steady as she goes
    And let them call you what they will
    It doesn't matter
    A Rose by any name is still a Rose

    VERSE 3
    The kindness of strangers
    It seems like a fable
    But they're yet to see
    What I see in you
    But you can make it
    If you are able
    To believe in yourself
    The way I do

    CHORUS

    BRIDGE
    Cause a deal is a deal
    In the heart of the dream
    And a spade is a spade
    If you know what I mean
    And a Rose is a Rose is a Rose

    VERSE 4
    To deal with the scoffers
    Well it's part of the bargain
    They heckle from back rows
    And they bark at the moon
    Their flowers are fading
    In time's bitter garden
    But yours is only
    Beginning to Bloom

    CHORUS

  4. Many of you have already heard this; SPY V. SPY chacters act as grips for the entire Identity Theft series.

    For the unfamiliar, Spy V. Spy was a MadMagazine comic strip. The "black" & "white" spies were always trying to outdo and get each other. The element we could use is these two are around every corner to rob us of our Identity in Christ. This would only work if it were married to the visual/media elements. There could be a bit of quick struggle with them as they are on stage. Or have several of them dressed alike, only two on-stage at a time, exiting stage Right and them immediately appearing from stage Left, then from the house, etc…

  5. This is a video idea–I would love to do a spoof off of the Capitol One commercials about identity theft. Do you remember where they would have the little old ladies sitting in their chairs and two mean rough sounding men would be talking about all the things they were able to purchase on their credit cards, but the women were mouthing what the men were saying? There are many others, but this is the one I remember the most. I think these would be good as setting up the messages or as series trailers.

  6. How about a scene from the movie "Catch Me if You Can." It's based on a true story. It stars Leonardo Dicaprio as a con artist who impersonates an airline pilot, doctor, assistant attorney general and a professor. Along the way he cashes millions of dollars of fraudulent checks around the world. Tom Hanks plays the FBI agent who dedicates his life to tracking him down.
    And there is the movie that was just out called "Breach." It's also based on a true story about FBI agent Robert Hanssen who was arrested for espionage. He sold secrets to the Russians beginning back in the 80's. They just arrested him in 2001. The movie shows how this guy lived a double life and fooled his family and the FBI for years. At one time they even put him in charge of the investigation to find whoever was selling information to the Russians.
    I don't specific scenes in mind for either movie but if they interest anyone I could find a scene that would work.

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