Tag: Worth

Courage to Realize our True Identity

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Knowing who we are, our identity In Christ, truly frees us! Seeing the value He places on our lives frees us to love, forgive, let others off the hook when they mess up. It gives us power to stay strong in the face of betrayal or hurt!

How? The God and Creator of all living things loved us and wanted relationship with us enough to come in human form as a baby. He grew up experiencing all we ever would and because He knew His worth and purpose, He withstood all kinds of accusation, abuse and betrayal without defending Himself or Fighting back.

Consider some of Jesus’ sufferings…

  • His family called Him out of His mind.
  • One of those closest to Him also betrayed Him.
  • Religious leaders marveled at His wisdom yet tried to trick Him.
  • Those same leaders plotted against Him and planned His demise.
  • The disciples often doubted Him either in word or deed.
  • He was beaten beyond recognition, to the point of not looking human.
  • Forced to carry the cross; yet another weapon of torture and death.
  • Finally, placed upon that cross to slowly suffocate to death, having to lift Himself up just to catch a breath, causing great pain as He did so!

Some considered it weakness when Jesus did not fight back, defend Himself or call upon His Father’s help; but consider the strength it took. Jesus was secure in His true identity, His purpose and the power He had; yet despite the world’s treatment, in His last few words He could show Grace and say, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Oh, what mercy and grace!!

This is God’s tremendous love for you and me. This is where we find our true identity and He labeled us priceless when God’s Son, His one and only Son, came and limited Himself in human flesh born in a humble setting. Then some thirty odd years later the King of Kings submitted Himself to abuse, false accusation, betrayal, brutality and ultimately death as a sacrifice for every sin ever committed; all for us to be able to have a relationship with the living God. At Christmas we celebrate His coming and because His story doesn’t end here we have great hope and victory over not only sin but also over death! Christmas celebrates Jesus coming; Easter, the fact that death was overcome at His resurrection! For now He is seated by God,  at our Father’s right hand ever interceding on our behalf!

This my friend is true love! This is our identity, our value to God and this is Grace! Jesus took all these sufferings and those cruel spikes for us. That’s the Gospel and that is true love displayed! May we have the grace and courage to love like our Savior loved even when it involves some suffering or pain!

Merry Christmas!

Grace and peace to you as we celebrate the Advent of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord!!

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To Catch a Thief

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“The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy…” It is with a grateful heart I tell you it does not end there! Jesus goes on to inform us that He “has come to give us abundant life”‘, “life to the full”, “rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10

One of Pastor’s points in his message yesterday has captivated me. It has rolled over and over in my mind ever since he spoke it. My first thought was I know this, how could I loose sight of this? Maybe I should explain. The statement that has captured me was “Whatever the enemy uses most against you is what scares him most About you!” 

Just let that one roll around in your mind a bit…

        “Whatever the enemy uses most against you is what scares him most About you!”

Whether we are talking about an enemy in the natural world or the enemy of our soul, they are an enemy because something about us is a threat to them. By definition, this is true…

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enemy

Ok, supposing this is an accurate statement, and I believe it is, just what are the tactics the enemy uses most in my life when he aims his fiery darts my way? Let’s start with a few areas that can be points of attack and we can answer silently whether or not they apply to our individual lives:

  • Fears
  • Relationships
  • Insecurity
  • Worth
  • Health
  • Worry
  • Self doubt
  • Not enough
  • Too much
  • Comparison
  • Finances
  • Lack
  • Loneliness
  • Love
  • Purpose
  • Job/profession

The list is endless… Do any of them hit just a little too close to home? For me, some do.  Not only do some of them hit close to home, one or two have been with me since I was a very young girl! The good news is knowing these places in which we are vulnerable is half the battle, maybe more than half. Let’s use worth as an example because in our culture it is an easy target.  Our world celebrates beauty, wealth, youth and sexuality and places a high premium on each so much so, that even the most beautiful of models and celebrities’ flaws are photoshopped away. This being the case, many get caught in comparing ourselves to others.

Comparison is one of the snares of the enemy. God created each of us to be unique, each having different strengths, different talents, different giftings and abilities, different looks and even different weaknesses. He celebrates our differences and our differences make us more effective when we work together in the body of Christ. Our differences also set us up to be tempted to compare ourselves to others. When we do,  we can see those differences as flaws and begin to become dissatisfied with ourselves, feeling worthless. Conversely, we could also fall into the trap of pride or conceit and view ourselves as better than another. Both of these can play right into the hand of the enemy and keep us from being the best person we can be. Lack of worth can limit us or hold us back from fulfilling our purpose and being our best. On the flip side pride and thinking too highly of ourself can put others off and limit our influence with people.  Either extreme renders us less effective at best in fulfilling God’s purpose or plan for our life. In the worst case, it stops us in our tracks. It also can cause us to fall short of the abundant life that Jesus has planned for us to live.

Knowledge is power! Knowing those weak spots helps us to identify and prepare for the future attacks. It is also helpful to be armed with the knowledge of what our God says about who we are In Christ!  Child of God, In Christ you are: loved, accepted, redeemed, beloved, precious, chosen, forgiven, complete, a new creation, set apart, and so much more! In the Word we are told in Christ we are…

The enemy will do what he can to stop us and to keep us from understanding that Our God deemed us worthy of His Son giving His life for us. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us:  “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17 ESV) Jesus laid it all down for us, not one of us could ever earn or deserve such a generous gift and yet You gave it freely to us-Grace!

Grace-pure and simple-unearned-unmerited-Grace

You love us for who we are, not despite who we are. You love us for who You know we can be yet You meet us right where we are!

Pure Love

Unconditional

Unstoppable

Unlimited

Unashamed

Uncontainable

Incomprehensible