Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. [Ephesians 1:3-10]
I often forget who I am. How do I identify myself and why do I cling on so hard to those identities. My Pastor, Mark Driscoll, recently released a new book and it is beautiful. I have only read, studied (with the daily devotional study guide) and heard (from his sermon series) the first two chapters but God is turning me back to the basics. I often try and identify myself as certain things which are all on shaky ground. Nothing, other than Jesus, is for certain. As sad and heart wrenching it is to think about, even identities as daughter, sister, friend, wife, mother can be stripped of you from a tragic accident. Something that I have lived for in the past is outward beauty. That will diminish as time goes on. There is no getting around that. When we cling to those identities, what happens to us, who are we, if and when those things are lost? Who will I be if I am not beautiful, wealthy, or successful?
This is where I get to share the most amazing thing with you! If you are saved by Jesus, you were bought! Your identity now lies in the hands of the creator of this world, and you are made new, you are made clean and you are righteous. Your righteous does not have to do with anything you have done but rather what Jesus has done. Jesus! Much controversy surround His name (as it did when He walked on this earth 2, 000 years ago). God left His thrown in heaven and came down to this earth as a HUMBLE SERVANT, lived a perfect, sinless life, died on the cross, rose from the dead after 3 days, walked on the earth for another 40 days and then rose into heaven. Why did Jesus do this? ALL was done so we may be a part of His family. We are loved beyond any sort of imagination by the King of this universe. And THAT KING is who holds our identity. Because of Jesus, we can identify with Him, as our Father, as our perfecter. We no longer have to cling to things which are on shaky ground. Yes, I am a daughter and a sister and a friend, but more importantly, I am SAVED and I am RIGHTEOUS and it is in those things that I live out! I can appreciate the blessing of my other roles here on earth. As Pastor Mark says, the things, events and roles in my life explain me but they do not define me! I am defined by someone so powerful and beautiful that I get to live joyously in that identity.
I would HIGHLY recommend reading this book for ANYONE. If you know Jesus, this is so helpful in growing in wisdom, if you do not, read it! For you want to know Him!!
BUY THE BOOK HERE!!!
I also just wanted to share this picture from when I was baptized in the puget sound in August. This picture stirs so much peace in my heart when I see it!
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