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Transformed into Fire: Discovering Your True Identity as God's Beloved
There are moments in every Christian’s life when we hit a “spiritual glass ceiling.” In those frustrating moments, we wonder, why do others experience love and intimacy with God but not me? The remedy is not a checklist of actions but a personal, powerful call to come home, to come out of the cold, to forsake the false self―our old identity―driven by pursuit of security, esteem, and power. Transformed into Fire explores the profound spiritual depths found within the routine of daily life through thediscovery of our true selves in Christ. You are invited to journey toward the warm embrace of the Father where being and doing, prayer and action become a fiery response to His intimate love.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 1, 2015
This is not a conventional book, and it clearly written by a "creative writing" professor, which makes it hard to follow at times. But, overall, it introduces a freeing and refreshing approach to knowing God on a day-to-day basis that is uncommon within the church.
October 13, 2014
Judith Hougen’s Transformed Into Fire starts with a call to communion. She clearly articulates that people have bastardized perspectives of God and their relationship. There are three types of people that she describes. First, Karen, the church kid who recognized the void in the heart that should be filled with God, but decided to fill the need with romantic relationships and ultimately chose men instead of God. Second, Angie, who lived a life full of emotional and spiritual abuse, which led to anger with her image of God. Third, Doug, who is unable to feel God, and lived in a reality that disconnected the head and heart. Hougen suggests that the typical response to all three of these scenarios is to try harder, read more Bible, to functionally pound on the dashboard of the spiritual vehicle out of frustration, rather than opening the hood of the engine and fixing the problem. The normal response is to recognize that God loves, but to never experience the love. The head functions as intellect, focusing on facts and ideas. Conversely, the heart engages with experience, sensory impressions and emotion. Hougen notes that scripture also recognizes this divide and desires for us to be complete in God, combining both head and heart. It is this divide that results in the struggle that we have today. We are all searching for the “treasure of the heart” but unable to find the creator God, we find something lesser- the created – relationships, success, substance. Hougen says that “Cognitive fact has no place to lodge in the heart – it’s currency consists of the emotions and images of daily life. Thus the heart, in order to become convinced of a truth, needs physical or psychological experiences.” Hougen suggests that it is the enlightenment mindset that separates the head from heart, no matter how much bible study, youth group – actions – we will miss the feeling of being at home with God. This is distinguished by the language of communication vs. communion. Communication is information received by the head while communion is the information received by the heart. Hougen says that we are able to shift between the two forms daily, but most Christians only know how to spiritually function on the communication level. The solution to this inability to feel at home with God is to have a relationship with God that uses both communication and communion, both head and heart. The ironic piece to this is that churches typically only focus on communication in sermons. Hougen’s suggestion is to take a new posture of openness towards God, and it is this that she focuses on for the rest of the book. Hougen suggests that there needs to be a balance between the two extremes, neither too heart centered nor head centered. To do this, there needs to be credit given to imagination, as well as symbol, metaphor as the hearts language. Imagination is our capacity to form concepts and images of things not physically present. Hougen says that our tendency is to see imagination as an extra, rather than an aspect of our relationship with God. The use of imagination sometimes looks like receiving, hearing and seeing spiritual things in imaginative ways, images during prayers or worship, voices, etc. However, the evangelical church has an allergic reaction to this type of experience and proceeds to deny its credibility. Hougen also recognizes the heart’s language of symbols and metaphors, and its correlation to the rampant use within the Old Testament and New Testament. By using metaphors and symbols as well as imagination, the result is an improved prayer life and an ability to approach God. A key aspect that Hougen touches in this chapter is in regard to mountaintop experiences. Most Christians have some form of them, and realize that they only happen rarely. Hougen’s explanation for this is that we have them when we are postured to experience them, when we are on church retreats, mission trips, seminars, etc.; when we are expecting to have them. It is in our daily routine that we do not have them, which interestingly are when we do not posture ourselves to have them. When we recognize this, we sometimes run after the desire to have these mountaintop experiences again and are driven for the emotional response rather than the desire for God; and it is this that Hougen describes as spiritual lust. Instead of a Christian life that chases after emotional responses and communication level reading of God, Hougen suggests that we need to posture ourselves towards Jesus in the model of Jesus, by simply being and within a rhythm of receiving, giving, listening, speaking, resting, and acting. This is not possible however while hiding behind the mask of the false self.
In chapter three, Hougen proposes that everyone wears a false self perspective, a perspective that was created outside of the mind of God, seeking existence apart from God – idolatry. The root of this comes from a defense mechanism from childhood, a result of not receiving the unconditional love of God. This false self gets validated and strengthened through a cyclical habit, an illusory self that leads to focus on externals, which creates drive force esteem, power and security, which reinforce the original illusion. The false self focuses on the externals, particularly the drive for security, esteem and power. When either of these three are lacking during developmental periods, it will result in an unhealthy chasing after them in adulthood.
Hidden within the false self are wounded shadows. Hougen states that “The false self cannot self-justify its behavior and maintain its illusory sense of reality while worshipping the real God.” The result is a false God. There is a correlation about who we say God is and who we say we are. We take our wounded emotions and experiences and project them on God, resulting in a false God, idolatry. Even when we recognize that we are doing this however, Hougen suggests that we respond to it with simply a drive for harder work, more biblical reading, motivated by shame. Hougen encourages an exodus from the false self system, giving it the title of the most significant spiritual journey we will ever undertake. She grants that we will always struggle even after the exodus, as suffering is a requirement for holiness. Hougen describes the process of moving from the false self. It starts with an alienation from God, or so it feels. This alienation feels dreadful, linked to depression. Even so, Hougen says that this “desert experience” is the cause of self hatred, the drive for the removal of the false self. She says, “We may feel like ‘bad Christians’ or ‘poor Christians’ because of the alienation we feel from God, but such sense of alienation can be the birth pangs of receiving something entirely new – God as God is, not as we make him.”
The result of this process is the realization of our ultimate identity, or true self as the beloved of God. Hougen advocates that the true self should be bound within the receiving and giving of the love of God, while negative messages still exist, they are banished outside of the identity and refused admittance to the core self – that is as God’s beloved. The process to achieve this starts with receiving the love of God, and responsively return the love back to God. “Once the love of God has been deeply and thoroughly received, the possibility of loving God back exists in each moment.” We have a distorted image of God, due to our false self projection on God. We are unable to fix the problem on our own, the only thing we can do is to posture ourselves for healing and let God do the rest. The reality of posturing ourselves for healing requires brokenness and suffering. Hougen speaks of the happiness mentality that is ever present in our culture, that is that if we are not happy, we are doing something wrong. Instead, we need to own our brokenness. “When we own our brokenness and make it entirely available to the lord, our wounds and weakness are transformed into windows through which we can others can see God more clearly and thereby praise him with greater might.”
Hougen uses the rest of the book to teach methods of posturing ourselves to God for healing and communion, spiritual disciplines. The necessity of spiritual discipline is explained through an athletic metaphor. We must do disciplines in order to perform well for the kingdom. The analogy falls through in the question of reflection. In athletics, the question is “How am I performing?” while the question should be “How am I doing with God?” Hougen suggests that we should have a perspective of contemplative spirituality, being open to certain disciplines and a certain way of being. The control believes behind contemplative spirituality is first, God is the foundation and preeminent author of creation, sustaining all things. This implies that we do not need to strive to get to God, as if I am in Christ, God is already fully present in all places. Second, the purpose of discipline is to be present to God, not having ideas about him, but to soak in God’s love and mercy, carrying the presence and love of God into our daily lives.
One method for reaching this reality is the discipline of Lectio Divina, latin for Sacred reading. The purpose is to be read by God, not to read about God. Lectio is to take up the scripture, not simply reading, but approaching in a posture that allows ourselves to be read by God. To read slowly and attentively, in the awareness that Jesus is reading along with you. This starts with the acknowledgement of God’s love, the expectation of communion, not communication. The second phase of Lectio Divina is Meditatio, engaging with the passage. Reread the selected text again, but with imagination and intellect, allowing images to come to mind. This allows for the heart to be spoken to and to feel the text. Hougen suggests that this can be done either internally, noting the heart and head in connection, or in a lectio divina journal, recording the interactions as well as letting the writing be the interaction. Third is Oratio, the emergence of response, the formation of a prayer, asking the question “What do I want to say to God? What questions do I have?” Finally is Contemplatio, rest and silence. Rereading again sowly, not to gain new insight, but to soak in the Word and to be present to God; Hougen suggests to do this for a minute or two to conclude Lectio Divina.
A second discipline that Hougen describes is Centering Prayer, the Heart of Stillness. The purpose is to just be to God within two qualities. First is the prayer of rest, which within the false self, will feel wrong, and second is a loving attention to God, gazing on his presence. Hougen states that it is important to find a quiet place to get away from distractions and to get comfortable, followed by closing eyes and praying “May I rest in your Presence.” When distractions come to mind, and other topics compete for your attention, to remind yourself of the name of God or a characteristic of God to bring it back to mediation on God. Hougen suggests to conclude with the Lord’s Prayer or a Psalm, and to do it for about 20 minutes per day.
After these instructions, Hougen backtracked to describe the reality of separating faith from everyday life. She says “We have somehow encouraged separation of our faith from everyday life. We’ve relegated God’s life in us to special times and states of mind… When we think of ‘taking Christ into the workplace’ or ‘keeping Christ in the home,’ we are making our faith into a set of special acts. The ‘specialness’ of such acts just underscores the point- that being a Christian, being Christ’s isn’t thought to as a normal part of life.” Hougen describes a Spiritual Apartheid, the mentality of setting God apart from creation. Evidence is signing up for retreats in order to connect to God. The fallacy in this is the assumption that the presence of God is somehow incomplete or diluted where I spend my time and in the routines of life. To combat this is the necessity of living in the present moment.
A spiritual discipline to combat this is Practicing the Presence of God. “Awareness of God must not be confused with simply possessing thoughts about God. Thoughts about God are valuable, but post-Enlightenment Christian culture tells us a steady stream of thoughts about God is the highest form of awareness of God… But this actually divides us from Presence.” As soon as we try to grasp God in our thoughts, God disappears and we are left with thoughts about God. Instead, try to pray continually, to be marked by compassion and gratitude. When this is done, everything we do becomes an act of devotion and the spiritual apartheid is relinquished. Another potential discipline is the Prayer of Examen, the practice of recognizing the presence of God within each and every day. This is done by reflecting on two questions, For what moment am I most grateful? And for What moment am I least grateful? This in prayer helps us stay Present to God in an intentional lifestyle of living in the moment with God.
Finally, Hougen concludes with a reminder to not focus solely on the self. The book as a whole is self-centered in the necessity to be right between “me and God.” However, Hougen reminds us that Christ is the other, that compassion begins not with actions, but with a way of seeing that stimulates passionate and tangible responses. She reminds that the entirety of humanity is image bearers of God and that we are to not merely treat others as if they were Christ, but to see others as Christ. This combined with the true self results in living a Salvational life, with love as the meaning of our lives.
My response to Transformed Into Fire is largely positive. I enjoyed the continuity of the arguments made by Hougen. She starts with the core of the issue as a false image of God as the result of a false image of self. This as well as in connection between the struggle of head and heart, is a struggle that feels like abandonment from God and Hougen makes sense of many of the disruptions and stumbling blocks that Christians have. Many of the topics that she described are extremely present in my own life as a Biblical and Theological academic. The disconnection of head and heart feels inescapable but Hougen gives hope in overcoming it, both in theory as well as in practice. Not only does she describe “this is why it is the way it is” but also “here is a way to get out of it.” The practice of Lectio Divina is one that is beneficial and effective for my own life, and the notion of posturing oneself before God is one that I think of every day since reading Hougen. She recognizes potential disagreements, such as the evangelical’s allergic reaction to imagination as the communication and will of God, but in recognition of it, she defends it and gives motivation to look past it.
I would fully recommend this book to anyone that wants to take their relationship with God seriously, anyone that desires to see themselves as God’s beloved. The church of today is set up to focus on communication about God, but not to teach the communion of God. This book provides the perspective as well as the instructions to begin to see God as a spousal relationship, the beginning of a transformation of the false self to the true self, from an idolatrous image of God to God as God really is. It is only when this is done that perichoresis can be realized and the consequence of fallen humanity can be mended. I plan to use this book in ministry, both in context as well as referral to those who are suffering, feeling lost in the desert and tempted to return to captivity in Egypt.
In chapter three, Hougen proposes that everyone wears a false self perspective, a perspective that was created outside of the mind of God, seeking existence apart from God – idolatry. The root of this comes from a defense mechanism from childhood, a result of not receiving the unconditional love of God. This false self gets validated and strengthened through a cyclical habit, an illusory self that leads to focus on externals, which creates drive force esteem, power and security, which reinforce the original illusion. The false self focuses on the externals, particularly the drive for security, esteem and power. When either of these three are lacking during developmental periods, it will result in an unhealthy chasing after them in adulthood.
Hidden within the false self are wounded shadows. Hougen states that “The false self cannot self-justify its behavior and maintain its illusory sense of reality while worshipping the real God.” The result is a false God. There is a correlation about who we say God is and who we say we are. We take our wounded emotions and experiences and project them on God, resulting in a false God, idolatry. Even when we recognize that we are doing this however, Hougen suggests that we respond to it with simply a drive for harder work, more biblical reading, motivated by shame. Hougen encourages an exodus from the false self system, giving it the title of the most significant spiritual journey we will ever undertake. She grants that we will always struggle even after the exodus, as suffering is a requirement for holiness. Hougen describes the process of moving from the false self. It starts with an alienation from God, or so it feels. This alienation feels dreadful, linked to depression. Even so, Hougen says that this “desert experience” is the cause of self hatred, the drive for the removal of the false self. She says, “We may feel like ‘bad Christians’ or ‘poor Christians’ because of the alienation we feel from God, but such sense of alienation can be the birth pangs of receiving something entirely new – God as God is, not as we make him.”
The result of this process is the realization of our ultimate identity, or true self as the beloved of God. Hougen advocates that the true self should be bound within the receiving and giving of the love of God, while negative messages still exist, they are banished outside of the identity and refused admittance to the core self – that is as God’s beloved. The process to achieve this starts with receiving the love of God, and responsively return the love back to God. “Once the love of God has been deeply and thoroughly received, the possibility of loving God back exists in each moment.” We have a distorted image of God, due to our false self projection on God. We are unable to fix the problem on our own, the only thing we can do is to posture ourselves for healing and let God do the rest. The reality of posturing ourselves for healing requires brokenness and suffering. Hougen speaks of the happiness mentality that is ever present in our culture, that is that if we are not happy, we are doing something wrong. Instead, we need to own our brokenness. “When we own our brokenness and make it entirely available to the lord, our wounds and weakness are transformed into windows through which we can others can see God more clearly and thereby praise him with greater might.”
Hougen uses the rest of the book to teach methods of posturing ourselves to God for healing and communion, spiritual disciplines. The necessity of spiritual discipline is explained through an athletic metaphor. We must do disciplines in order to perform well for the kingdom. The analogy falls through in the question of reflection. In athletics, the question is “How am I performing?” while the question should be “How am I doing with God?” Hougen suggests that we should have a perspective of contemplative spirituality, being open to certain disciplines and a certain way of being. The control believes behind contemplative spirituality is first, God is the foundation and preeminent author of creation, sustaining all things. This implies that we do not need to strive to get to God, as if I am in Christ, God is already fully present in all places. Second, the purpose of discipline is to be present to God, not having ideas about him, but to soak in God’s love and mercy, carrying the presence and love of God into our daily lives.
One method for reaching this reality is the discipline of Lectio Divina, latin for Sacred reading. The purpose is to be read by God, not to read about God. Lectio is to take up the scripture, not simply reading, but approaching in a posture that allows ourselves to be read by God. To read slowly and attentively, in the awareness that Jesus is reading along with you. This starts with the acknowledgement of God’s love, the expectation of communion, not communication. The second phase of Lectio Divina is Meditatio, engaging with the passage. Reread the selected text again, but with imagination and intellect, allowing images to come to mind. This allows for the heart to be spoken to and to feel the text. Hougen suggests that this can be done either internally, noting the heart and head in connection, or in a lectio divina journal, recording the interactions as well as letting the writing be the interaction. Third is Oratio, the emergence of response, the formation of a prayer, asking the question “What do I want to say to God? What questions do I have?” Finally is Contemplatio, rest and silence. Rereading again sowly, not to gain new insight, but to soak in the Word and to be present to God; Hougen suggests to do this for a minute or two to conclude Lectio Divina.
A second discipline that Hougen describes is Centering Prayer, the Heart of Stillness. The purpose is to just be to God within two qualities. First is the prayer of rest, which within the false self, will feel wrong, and second is a loving attention to God, gazing on his presence. Hougen states that it is important to find a quiet place to get away from distractions and to get comfortable, followed by closing eyes and praying “May I rest in your Presence.” When distractions come to mind, and other topics compete for your attention, to remind yourself of the name of God or a characteristic of God to bring it back to mediation on God. Hougen suggests to conclude with the Lord’s Prayer or a Psalm, and to do it for about 20 minutes per day.
After these instructions, Hougen backtracked to describe the reality of separating faith from everyday life. She says “We have somehow encouraged separation of our faith from everyday life. We’ve relegated God’s life in us to special times and states of mind… When we think of ‘taking Christ into the workplace’ or ‘keeping Christ in the home,’ we are making our faith into a set of special acts. The ‘specialness’ of such acts just underscores the point- that being a Christian, being Christ’s isn’t thought to as a normal part of life.” Hougen describes a Spiritual Apartheid, the mentality of setting God apart from creation. Evidence is signing up for retreats in order to connect to God. The fallacy in this is the assumption that the presence of God is somehow incomplete or diluted where I spend my time and in the routines of life. To combat this is the necessity of living in the present moment.
A spiritual discipline to combat this is Practicing the Presence of God. “Awareness of God must not be confused with simply possessing thoughts about God. Thoughts about God are valuable, but post-Enlightenment Christian culture tells us a steady stream of thoughts about God is the highest form of awareness of God… But this actually divides us from Presence.” As soon as we try to grasp God in our thoughts, God disappears and we are left with thoughts about God. Instead, try to pray continually, to be marked by compassion and gratitude. When this is done, everything we do becomes an act of devotion and the spiritual apartheid is relinquished. Another potential discipline is the Prayer of Examen, the practice of recognizing the presence of God within each and every day. This is done by reflecting on two questions, For what moment am I most grateful? And for What moment am I least grateful? This in prayer helps us stay Present to God in an intentional lifestyle of living in the moment with God.
Finally, Hougen concludes with a reminder to not focus solely on the self. The book as a whole is self-centered in the necessity to be right between “me and God.” However, Hougen reminds us that Christ is the other, that compassion begins not with actions, but with a way of seeing that stimulates passionate and tangible responses. She reminds that the entirety of humanity is image bearers of God and that we are to not merely treat others as if they were Christ, but to see others as Christ. This combined with the true self results in living a Salvational life, with love as the meaning of our lives.
My response to Transformed Into Fire is largely positive. I enjoyed the continuity of the arguments made by Hougen. She starts with the core of the issue as a false image of God as the result of a false image of self. This as well as in connection between the struggle of head and heart, is a struggle that feels like abandonment from God and Hougen makes sense of many of the disruptions and stumbling blocks that Christians have. Many of the topics that she described are extremely present in my own life as a Biblical and Theological academic. The disconnection of head and heart feels inescapable but Hougen gives hope in overcoming it, both in theory as well as in practice. Not only does she describe “this is why it is the way it is” but also “here is a way to get out of it.” The practice of Lectio Divina is one that is beneficial and effective for my own life, and the notion of posturing oneself before God is one that I think of every day since reading Hougen. She recognizes potential disagreements, such as the evangelical’s allergic reaction to imagination as the communication and will of God, but in recognition of it, she defends it and gives motivation to look past it.
I would fully recommend this book to anyone that wants to take their relationship with God seriously, anyone that desires to see themselves as God’s beloved. The church of today is set up to focus on communication about God, but not to teach the communion of God. This book provides the perspective as well as the instructions to begin to see God as a spousal relationship, the beginning of a transformation of the false self to the true self, from an idolatrous image of God to God as God really is. It is only when this is done that perichoresis can be realized and the consequence of fallen humanity can be mended. I plan to use this book in ministry, both in context as well as referral to those who are suffering, feeling lost in the desert and tempted to return to captivity in Egypt.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2019
One of the best books I've ever read. Top 10 of all time.
April 13, 2020
This book is MEATY. There is substance for thought on every page. It will challenge you in a way that very few books will--if you let it. This book has led to my most meditative, life-changing moments. It also helps to free me from spiritual "eating disorders"--such as reading too much (Communication) without putting it into practice or experiencing it (communion). I love how Hougen ties in poetry, philosophy & scripture to tackle identity and the Creator/creation relationship. In a world of popular breeze-through "self-help" books, this book is deeply generous and truly enlightening.
February 4, 2014
Great... especially the second half! The book and title are deceptive... very thoughtful book about our identity and some more meditative ways to think of our own discipleship and our posture in caring for others (in humility, considering our own brokenness)
October 15, 2016
So good. The truths shared in the book are very relatable and clearly come from her experience. This is not a fluffy self help book with feel good stories, not is it a impractical academic book. Lots of stuff to wrestle with and process that is meaningful for true life
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews