Category: Lisa Perna

AUTHOR: Lisa Perna

Today God wants you to see your identity through His eyes.

We have been brought up with seeing things through the worlds eyes and the worlds views. You’ve heard the expression “If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and acts like a duck, then it’s a duck”. Our eyes see a duck and our minds agree. If we looked closer and peered through God’s eyes we might see something different. What if the truth was it wasn’t a duck at all, but a swan?

In the Hans Christian Anderson’s children’s story “The Ugly Duckling” that’s exactly what happened. A swan’s egg somehow ended up in a duck’s nest. As the swan hatched he was surrounded by ducks. He naturally thought, “Hey, I’m a duck!”

The swan grew up around ducks and learned how to be a duck. The swan always felt he didn’t look like the rest of the ducks and came to the conclusion “There must be something wrong with me. I’m not as attractive as the other ducks. I’m just the ugly duckling!”

That poor swan’s identity was stolen by believing a lie. The life of feeling beautiful, regal, and floating on the water was stolen away by a false identity. The swan will always feel something is not right with it because he is living a lie. The swan didn’t know how to be a swan because he was never told who he really was. He would just conform to be a duck and never learn the truth of his identity.

Sometimes that happens to us and we forget our real identity as sons and daughters of God. We are told lies about ourselves, our life or our destiny. We believe the false images of who the world says we are and it breaks down the true vision of who we were created to be.

We need to stop looking through the lenses of how others view of us and look at how God created us. God sees us as beautiful, chosen, precious, valued and loved. He desires all His children and wants us to walk in our true identity.

Throughout the Bible God showed people their true purpose. He called a Shepard by the name of David to be king, a orphan named Moses to deliver the Israelites out of bondage and young virgin named Mary to be the Mother of God! Each person was told who they were by the world, but God had a different view of their identity.
He knew the truth about their calling and He showed them exactly who they were called to be. God began a beautiful transformation from ordinary to extraordinary.

We can get so caught up in the lies that we have been told about ourselves that we lose the real vision of who we are. In the book of Romans it says “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ NLT).

See, when we look through God’s eyes that’s when we start to see ourselves differently. We start to think and act differently. We begin to live our lives in truth and in our real image! The lies will begin to fade and the new persona will begin to take over. We will no longer be who the world dictated, but we will become who God created us to be!

You see, when we look through God’s eyes we will see our true self and the royalty we truly are. When the truth of image is revealed we will never go back to our old man. Sometimes you need to remind yourself you were created to be so much more. There is a swan inside of you that needs to tell the ducks of the world “I never was a duck. I was created as something extraordinary, I’m a swan!”

Have a blessed day!

AUTHOR: Lisa Perna

I am such a huge fan of the show “Dancing with the Stars”. I have watched it for many years and loved every minute of it. There is something so magical as the couples intertwine on the dance floor weaving a tapestry of movement.

My love of dance began as a child.

My mother took my sister and me to dance lessons every Saturday until my pre-teen years. Whenever we would visit my grandparents the polka music would be playing in the background, without hesitation, I would grab my younger sister and begin spinning her around the living room.

The 70’s introduced me to disco dancing. My girlfriends and I would practice for hours. We imitated the latest dance moves we learned from watching “American Bandstand” or “Soul Train.” In my 20’s alternative and club music kept my feet moving. We would dance so much that it was like a workout. It wasn’t until I was 25 that I would discover my favorite dance, the waltz.

My brother’s wife had been a dancer in a Vermont dancing troupe called “The Green Mountain Volunteers” and they were having a dance for peace. This was my first contra dance. Contra Dancing is kind of like an old fashion barn dance with polkas, contra/square dancing, and the waltz.

The best dancer there was Ted, an older gentleman in his late 60’s. He also was a part of the dance troupe. I watched Ted the whole night, he was an amazing dancer. At the end of the night the band began to play the final song and it was for a waltz. Ted approached me with his hand extended. He asked, “May I have this dance?” I nodded yes and he escorted me to the dance floor. I sheepishly told him that I never waltzed before. His reply still brings a smile to my face. He said “I’ve watched you all night and you dance beautifully. You are natural, just follow my lead.”

I grabbed his hand and off we went. It was like my feet just knew where to go. I could feel his arms moving me and directing me as we spun around the dance floor. When the dance finished Ted bowed and said “I knew you could waltz!” with a kiss on my hand and a wink of his eye, Ted walked away.

There is something so beautiful and intimate that it is shared in a dance. That one dance forever brings a smile to my face. Since then I’ve danced at weddings including my own, but I didn’t waltz. The next time I would, well that dance experience would change me.

One night I was in worship at a church. The atmosphere was just in that sweet place where you become one with the music.
My natural eyes were closed as I prayed and worshiped. I began to open up my spiritual eyes and I immediately felt the presence of Jesus. I knew He was standing next to me. Suddenly, I imagined that He bent over and kissed my cheek. Giddiness took over as I tried to shake off the thoughts of Jesus ever giving me a kiss!

I began to push in deeper with my spiritual eyes. I wanted to experience everything that having a relationship with The Almighty God gave me. I wanted to allow The Holy Spirit to show me a world where the impossible becomes possible. As the darkness of this earthly plane began to disappear, it gave light to another dimension. Slowly I began to see something coming into focus and realized it was a ballroom.

I saw Jesus in the center and then He began walking towards me. I could see a big smile on His face as He was coming closer.
Now, this is the first time I really saw Him fully! In the past I could only see him from the neck down. He reached for my hand gently pulling me closer to Him and then I heard Him whisper into my ear “Dance with Me!”

I could see Him putting His hand out to take mine. Then, like in a movie I felt His hand pull me even closer. I could feel His other hand resting on my lower back. I could hear the music playing in the background of the church. My body was still present in the real world, but my spirit was engaging in the reality of this encounter. I could feel that my spirit was drawing me deeper into this beautiful vision. The music slowly changed into one of my favorite worship songs “Good Good Father”, it was the perfect song for this special dance!

Jesus was the groom and I was His bride! We floated on the dance floor. It was effortless. I could feel myself lowering my eyes as I felt not fit to dance with The King of Kings and Lord of Lords! I could see the hairs of His chest glimmering with a golden light beneath His white robe. The emotions began to overwhelm me. How could I lookup? I wasn’t worthy to see My King and all His Glory.

Jesus must have felt my unworthiness because we stopped dancing. For a brief moment time just stopped. My breathing quickened as I could feel His hands pick up my chin to look at His face! I was taking in all His beauty and splendor. The Groom wanted His bride to see Him fully as He is. Nothing was hindering my vision this time.

I looked hard and deep into those eyes that pierced my soul. My mind was shouting, “look at His eyes, the color of His eyes remember them.” People who had encounters with Jesus always talked about the color of His eyes. I saw His eye color change from the deepest blue to the softest green and then back to blue. My heart was bursting through my chest as I was trying to decipher the color when suddenly I knew the color. It’s was love, that’s the color of His eyes LOVE.

I decided to let go and allowed this vision to be more than a dream, but a real encounter! I was dancing with My Jesus. My greatest love and my best friend.

We twirled on the dance floor and I could see Jesus throwing back His head in laughter. His hair glistening with light and golden flecks. We both started laughing and smiling as we spun around. We were having fun just being together. No pressure, no performance. Our dance was a celebration of finally coming together and meeting each other face to face.

This was more than a dance for me, but a dance for His bride(the church). He wanted her to feel loved and safe. He wanted her to let go and allow Him to lead her through the intricate spins and turns of life.

Jesus began to speak into my ear about this dance! He said,” Lisa if you have a strong partner to lead you then the dance is smooth and beautiful. The lead dancer will take control and guide the other with ease and grace.” He went on to say “If the partner will not submit to the lead dancer, then it’s pure chaos. The movements will be jerky and not fluid. There will be confusion as to which way to go and inevitably the dance will come to an abrupt halt. The partners will become frustrated and the dance will have to stop.” I felt His sadness as this revelation took hold of my heart.

Jesus continued His lesson, “You see Lisa, waltzing is the same as your walk with me. You are My beautiful bride I want to twirl you on the dance floor. At times (you) the bride will fight to be the leader. You will want to control the way to go and when to turn. I Am The Groom and I will always try to show you that you can trust Me, but because of hurts and disappointments you won’t give Me the control. There are times that you do and we can dance.”

“There is so much joy that is released when we dance together. You feel beautiful and loved. It’s a dance of power, surrender, and trust. It’s filled with joy and complete agreement of who is leading. That dance is effortless! All you have to do is just allow me to lead!”

This completely blew my mind and yet it made perfect sense.
Jesus wasn’t trying to be anything other than a good dance partner. He wanted to show me how beautiful partnering with Him could be. He showed me in a language I could understand, in a waltz and I finally got it!

Then in an instant the vision was gone. I sat there perplexed at what just happened. It made so much sense. It seemed so real.

I was about to dismiss it as my imagination running away from me when this woman approached me. She looked at me and began to speak, “Hi I’m Marie and I didn’t want to bother you during worship. I just need to tell you that I saw Jesus standing next to you and then He bent over and gave you the sweetest kiss on the cheek.” I was floored. I began crying telling her what just happened and knowing that Jesus showed Marie so I would know it really happened.

Since that encounter I have met many women who have had the honor of dancing with Jesus. Each experience I heard was so unique and very personal. The one common thing all the women agree He is a great dancer.

So, now I ask you the same question that Jesus asked me “Do you want to dance?” If you do, then all you have to do is let go of your control and give it to Him.

He is coming for His beautiful bride and that’s YOU!

Now, just take His hand and let Him lead you in your dance of life!