UNDERSTANDING WHO I AM FACILITATES UNDERSTANDING WHO JESUS IS

UNDERSTANDING WHO I AM FACILITATES UNDERSTANDING WHO JESUS IS

Friday, November 22, 2013

                John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name, 13 who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God.

Romans 12:1-3 I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to every one who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But set your mind to be right-minded, even as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.

  I often meet professing Christians clueless about their identity as God’s John 1:12 child. Consequently their image is amiss and consequently they act amiss. We can only live as we know and see ourselves!

  Some of you may suffer from this identity crisis that includes the issues of confidence in living.

  If this is a problem for you, there is a solution God has provided by and through The Word.

  First, understand that when you trusted Jesus as personal Savior, you gained a new identity. “if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature” (2Cor.5:17)

  Secondly, please know that to understand new identity takes labor that we are responsible for before our Father. “Study earnestly to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.“ (2Tim.2:15)

  To the goal that all will know and live unashamed in their new identity I have provided identity points with Scripture references.

  If need be, I encourage you to print out copy of this list, carry it with you, and read and consider repeatedly . . . and expect godly confident change in your life.

  Know Him; know who you now are; act concordantly.  EBB4

 

·         I am God’s child.  John 1:11-13 He came to his own creation, yet his own people did not receive him. However, to all who received him, to those believing in his name, he gave authority to become God's children, who were born, not merely in a physical sense, or from a fleshly impulse, or from man's desire, but of God.

·         I am Jesus’ chosen friend.  John 15:15-17 I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. I have appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. I am giving you these commandments so that you may love one another."

·         I am justified.  Romans 5:1-4 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing God's glory. Not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

·         I am walking in new life. Romans 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father; even so we also should walk in newness of life.

·         I am united with Christ; no longer a slave to sin. Romans 6:5-6  For if we have been joined together in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection; knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin.

·         I am by and through Christ more than a conqueror. Romans 8:37  But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us.

·         I am united with the Lord and am one spirit with him.  1Corinthians 6:17  … the person who unites himself with the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

·         I am bought with a price and belong to God. 1Corinthians 6:19-20 You know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God, don't you? You do not belong to yourselves, because you were bought for a price. Therefore, glorify God with your bodies.

·         I am a member of Christ’s body, part of his family, the church eternal and universal.  1Corinthians 12:27 Now you are Christ's body …

·         I am a holy saint.  Ephesians 1:1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, to his [KJV “saints”] holy and faithful people in Ephesus who are in union with Christ Jesus.

·         I am God’s adopted child.  Ephesians 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his presence. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will, …

·         I have direct access to God through his Holy Spirit.  Ephesians 2:17-20 He came and proclaimed peace for you who were far away and for you who were near. For through him, both of us have access to the Father in one Spirit. That is why you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.

·         I am redeemed and forgiven all my sins.  Colossians 1:13-14 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves. In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

·         I am complete in Christ.  Colossians 1:8-10 He has told us about your love in the Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him as you bear fruit in every good work and grow in the full knowledge of God.

·         I am forever free from eternal condemnation.  Romans 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.

·         I am assured that ultimately all things work together for good.  Romans 8:24-28 For we were saved with this hope in mind. Now hope that is seen is not really hope, for who hopes for what can be seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience. In the same way, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself intercedes with groans too deep for words, and the one who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, for the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to God's will. And we know that he works all things together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

·         I am free from condemning charges.  Romans 8:31-34 What, then, can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us? The one who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for all of us-surely he will give us all things along with him, won't he? Who can bring an accusation against God's chosen people? It is God who justifies them! Who can condemn them? Christ Jesus, who died-and more importantly, who has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God-is the one who is also interceding for us!

·         I cannot be separated from the love of God.  Romans 8:35-39 Who can separate us from Christ's love? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or a sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all day long. We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through the one who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor anything above, nor anything below, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

·         I am established, anointed and sealed by God.  2Corinthians 1:20-22 For all God's promises are "Yes" in him. And so through him we can say "Amen," to the glory of God. Now the one who makes us-and you as well-secure in union with Christ and has anointed us is God, who has placed his seal on us and has given us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.

·         I am confident that the good work God has begun in me will be perfected.  Philippians 1:6 I am convinced of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Christ Jesus.

·         I am a citizen of heaven, a sojourner here.  Philippians 3:20 Our citizenship, however, is in heaven, and it is from there that we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

·          I am hidden with Christ in God.  Colossians 3:1-3 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep focusing on the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Keep your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

·         I have not been given the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.  2Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but one of power, love, and self-discipline.

·         I can find grace and mercy to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:14-16 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us continue to hold on to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. So let us keep on coming with boldness to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

·         I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me.  1John 5:18  We know that the person who has been born from God does not go on sinning. Rather, the Son of God protects them, and the evil one cannot harm them.

·         I am the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  Matthew 5:13-15  "You are the salt of the world. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty again? It's good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled on by people. You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can't be hidden. People don't light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

·         I am a branch of the true vine, Jesus, a channel of His life.  John 15:1, 5  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.  … I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who abides in me while I abide in him produces much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

·         I am chosen and appointed by God to bear fruit.  John 15:16  "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. I have appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

·         I am a personal Spirit empowered witness of Christ.  Acts 1:8  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

·         I am God’s temple, His Holy Spirit living in me.  1Corinthians 3:16 You know that you are God's sanctuary and that God's Spirit lives in you, don't you?

·         I am God’s ambassador to bring others to Him.  2Corinthians 5:17-20 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and-look!-all things have become new! All of this comes from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. For in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them, and he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are Christ's representatives, as though God were pleading through us. We plead on Christ's behalf: "Be reconciled to God!"

·         I am God’s coworker.  2Corinthians 6:1 Since, then, we are working with God, we plead with you not to accept God's grace in vain.

·         I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm.  Ephesians 2:4-7 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love for us even when we were dead because of our offenses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly realm in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the limitless riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

·         I am truly magnificently alive! Ephesians 2:1-3 And He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience; among whom we also had our way of life in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

·         I am God’s workmanship created for good works.  Ephesians 2:10  For we are his masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.

·         I may approach God with freedom and confidence.  Ephesians 3:1-12 … in keeping with the eternal purpose that God carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through his faithfulness.

·         I can do all things through Christ living in me.  Philippians 4:12-13 I know how to be humble, and I know how to prosper. In each and every situation I have learned the secret of being full and of going hungry, of having too much and of having too little. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

·         I am heir to an incorruptible eternal inheritance. 1Peter 1:3-4  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in Heaven for you …

SERENITY PRAYER (complete): God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying every moment one at a time; Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He (Jesus) did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.  Reinhold Niebuhr