Personal Identity

 

 

When we seek our personal identity from our mate, family, job or material possessions, we can lose it overnight. Then we are adrift without an anchor to stabilize our life. We may look to our character, talents and independence for our identity until we are accused, or even falsely accused of a crime and put in jail or dismissed from our job. However, if we draw our personal identity from Christ in us, we find a solid rock on which it can stand for eternity, regardless of our circumstances in life.

Paul related his struggle with his personal identity in Romans 7; and at the very last verse, he realizes that God freed him from sin, as well as the condemnation of sin (Romans 8:1). He comprehended the fact that the law of sin and death no longer has any power over the Saints of God, because we are set free by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). Our sinful self died in Christ, and we are raised to walk in His new life (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Christ is our whole life (Colossians 3:4). Jesus did only those things, which He saw our Father do (John 5:19). We have no separate identity apart from the Father either. We live only to please and bring honor to our Lord. His life flows through us and we bear much fruit (John 15:5). We grow in the knowledge of God, and He fills us with endurance and patience, as we joyfully thank Him for His love for us, for His blessings in our life and for replacing our identity with His (Colossians 1:10-12).

We wait on God to give us His thoughts, living from our spirit instead of from our human soul – our mind, will and emotions. We refrain from listening to our human thoughts, so that our words and thoughts come only from Christ within us. We desire God with our whole heart, seeking only His will for our life, and using the gifts, which He provides for us, as He opens doors that no man can close.

Prayer:

Father God, we relinquish our dependence on our self and we rely totally on You. We hunger and thirst after Your righteousness (Matthew 5:6). We thank You for increasing our faith and for helping us to live for Your glory. We totally surrender our life to You, and we thank You for Your spiritual wisdom and understanding (Ephesians 1:17). We succeed in life only through the power of Your might (Ephesians 6:10), not by our human reasoning and efforts. Regardless of the circumstances in our life, our personal identity comes from our relationship with You.

Thought for the Day:

We wait on the Lord until Christ is fully developed in us as our personal identity. – Galatians 4:19

The Purpose of Life

 

Jesus is a perfect example for us of the fact that Authentic Christians never die; we just pass from life on this earth, immediately through death’s door into the heavenly realm (1 John 3:14). Jesus now lives as our High Priest, our Melchizedek, making intercession for us to our Father (Hebrews 5:10-14, 7:25). Yet, He continues to perform His work on the earth through His Saints in which He resides (Colossians 1:27).

His life has the divine power of the Trinity, and He resides within us with this same dynamite power (Colossians 2:9). We are His Priests, His Body, His Saints and His anointed ones who abide in Him at the same time that He abides in us (John 15:4). He offers us an endless, unchanging life, which supplies us with all of our needs as we abide in His love (John 15:10). No matter what circumstances we traverse, we live in His abundant peace, joy and righteousness (Romans 14:17).

If we feel that peace slipping away, it is because we took our focus off of Him and put it on the circumstance around us (Isaiah 26:3). The events of our life occur simply in order to bring us to perfection and to enable us to effect the world around us. While we abide in Him there is no sin or temptation that can lure us away from walking in His righteousness (Romans 16:18). Our union with Christ brings us the unlimited blessings of His glory within us.

In His life, He triumphed over sin, and He wants to bring us into this same level of victory over those sins, which so easily overwhelm us (Hebrews 12:1). His holiness in us is greater than any evil in this world (1 John 4:4). Victory and deliverance are ours because He lives within us. Our walk is perfected as we seek our Father’s will in each moment of our day. His life flows through us to make a difference in the world around us.

We are to occupy the earth until He comes again as He receives us to Himself (Luke 19:13). He is our joy and our peace (Romans 15:13). He supplies everything we need in order to carry out His will for our life (Philippians 4:19). He alone is our strength and our song (Psalm 118:14). He is the source of our hope (Jeremiah 29:11). We watch and wait for His coming, to receive His bride to Himself for eternity (Matthew 25:1-13). Until then, we walk on this earth in the power of His might within us (Ephesians 6:10-12).

Prayer:

Father God, our life is hidden with Christ in You, and Jesus is our very reason for living (Colossians 3:3-4). We trust in You for every aspect of our life. With faith and certain anticipation, we rely on You and yield our self totally to You. We abandon our self-life and live as an act of worship to You. We live by faith in Your faithfulness as we yield to Your will for us. We glory in Your Word of Truth. We look forward to spending each moment of our day with You, and to the culmination of our relationship by serving You in eternity as well.

Thought for the Day:

We enter God rest by totally abandoning our self to His keeping and reveling in knowing Him, which is eternal life. – John 17:3

Ultimate Protection

God gives His armor to all of His Saints to prepare us for battle with temptation, sickness, weakness and lies from Satan (Ephesians 6:10-18). As we put on God’s armor each morning before the world, the flesh and Satan ever get a chance to attack us, then we walk in victory all throughout the day. God’s Spirit fully clothes us to withstand any discouragement or enticement that the enemy brings our way.

The first piece of armor is to accept Jesus as our Savior. He is the Truth, and He is the belt that holds our life together. Then, we put on the breastplate of holy living, which protects all of the vital aspects of our life. We walk in peace, which comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This fully prepares us to stand victoriously in the Lord and in the authority of His power within us (Ephesians 6:10).

In addition to all of these protective elements, we hold up the shield of faith in Christ to stop the fiery arrows of deception and temptation, which Satan shoots at us throughout the day. We put on the mind of Christ as our helmet (Philippians 2:5). Finally, we take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We follow Jesus’ example on the pinnacle of His temptation, and we quote the truth of scripture to Satan when he tries to deceive us (Matthew 4:8-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4).

When we face any situation in life through our human ability and resources, we come up short. However, when the God of the universe, who dwells within us, attacks our problems, He makes quick work of them. The key to walking in victory is to look back over all of the issues in our life that God took care of for us. There is not one aspect, no matter how awful it seemed at the time, which He did not work out for our good (Roman 8:28). This gives us faith to leave everything in God’s capable hands to deal with it in His timing and way.

The Lord is always available to us, because He lives within us (Philippians 4:5). His love is so dear, that it favorably changes the meaning of everything we experience in life, even if our soul lays broken and bleeding in His arms. We never experience any trial alone. Our sin is the only issue, which causes static in our relationship. Once we repent and commune with God in prayer, the fellowship between us is restored. Our prayer closet is so filled with God's presence that we can almost see the gates of heaven before us.

Prayer:

Father God, we look into Your sweet face and feel nothing but peace and rest. We come to You in our time of need for You to deal with the issues in our life as we live in Your peace and rest. Thank You for Your daily provision of all of our physical, financial, mental, relational, emotional and spiritual needs. You always provide for us with more abundance than we deserve. We thank You for Your gracious love for each of us.

Thought for the Day:

Take all of your cares to the Lord in prayer, with gratitude in your heart for what He already did for you, and stand still and watch the salvation of our God on your behalf over and over again. 

 

God Turns Mourning into Dancing

Read: Psalm 52:8-9

“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.” – Psalm 13:5

God will turn our mourning into dancing. He will remove our burden and pour out His joy upon us. Although our heart may fail us for fear about the future or grief over the past, as we look to God, our heart will sing joyfully to Him and not be silent, because of all the wondrous things He does for us every day. We will give thanks to our God forever, and in turn help others with the wisdom He imparts to us during this time of recovery (Psalm 30:11-12). However, it often takes planning on our part to open our heart to His healing love.

If we wait until the week before Christmas or some other holiday or anniversary, our negative emotions may overwhelm and debilitate us. It is wise to come up with a plan of action prior to special days and holidays, and not to wait until they trigger our feelings of grief and loss. Plan a party and set a place for your loved one. A friend of mine put a rose on an empty place setting for his deceased mother during his wedding reception. Or you can get together with others who experienced loss in their life and find comfort talking about your loved ones, sharing photos and stories and praying with one another.

God gives rest to those who are weary and heavy-laden (Matthew 11:28). He is our rock and fortress, our deliverer. We can take refuge in Him. He is a shield, which protects us from the darts of depression, and He is our stronghold and salvation (Psalm 18:2). He comforts us in our affliction and revives us when we can barely breathe, or hold our head up or even get out of bed (Psalm 119:50). As we follow a routine of daily Bible reading, devotion and prayer, we can bless our God and Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, for the mercies and comfort they give us during our affliction.

Our confidence in God does not disappoint us, because He pours out His love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives within us (Romans 5:5). We rest our faith, knowledge and eternal hope on God who cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 7:19; Acts 26:6). God knows exactly how we feel and He cares even if people do not. When our soul is sad, downcast and disturbed within us, we can put our hope in God and praise our Lord and Savior, even in the negative circumstances of our life (Psalm 42:11, 43:5). We wait expectantly for our blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus, the Messiah (Titus 2:13; Acts 24:15).

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, great is Your mercy and grace. You gave us a new birth with a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. You are our future and our inheritance, which can never perish, spoil or fade away (1 Peter 1:3-4). You know and care about what we have lost (2 Corinthians 5:11). We place our faith and hope in You, because You raised Christ from the dead and gave Him great glory (1 Peter 1:21). We share in His inheritance with all the Saints of God (Romans 8:15-17). Dear God of Hope, fill us with all joy and peace, as we trust in You.

Thought for the Day:

We will overflow with hope by the power of God’s Holy Spirit within us. - Romans 15:13