I don’t care if you call yourself a pastor, a producer, a house-wife, an entrepreneur, a janitor, an executive, a trainer, a teacher, a counselor, a salesman, a bartender, a food server, or one of the un-employed. I don’t care if you have a Master’s degree or your PhD, if you never attended college, if you’re an intellectual or a visionary, or if you can’t even read.
It doesn’t matter to me whether you own home or will never own home; whether you have money in the bank or are barely scraping by; whether you have the perfect hair, the killer body, or the best outfits. It doesn’t matter how physically strong you are, how much weight you can lift, how far you can run, or the endurance you have.
Strength of body does not necessarily mean strength of heart. Vanity will get in the way if you let it.
It doesn’t matter to me how good you are at something, or if you’re un-coordinated, a slow-learner, blind, or deaf.
You are not defined by what you do. You are defined by who you are. So stop, STOP, defining yourself and looking for significance, worth, and fulfillment by the things you do, the reputation you create, and circumstances you produce with your hands.
When you die, who you are- your character, your heart- THAT is what you take with you. NOTHING ELSE.
Do you know who you are? Who you are not? What you are made of? And Who you are called to?
DO YOU?
Do you know who you are, in the midst of pain so great, with an ache so deep, that you aren’t quite sure you have what it takes to make it through.
Do you know who you are in the middle of financial trouble, when you’re not sure where the next check is coming from, how to make the next dollar, or how to pay the bills stacking up.
Do you know who you are when you’ve lost your dream job- the one you worked your whole life for- and suddenly, it’s gone. Vapor.
Do you know who you are when your start-up business fails. When all the hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and prayers end in “shambles” at your feet before you and you’re left wondering how on earth this could have happened…and what to do now.
Do you know who you are when someone you love betrays you, leaves you, or turns their back on you- nay, they even turn their back on who they are- and you’re left with questions unanswered, perhaps never to be answered. And yet, the world keeps spinning, even though you swear it should stop for something so painful.
Do you know who you are when you’re single and none of your friends are- and you can’t help but wonder why you’re the only one left.
Do you know who you are in the midst of a marriage struggle- it’s not what you thought it would be- or rather, it’s less about what you can get out of it than you had selfishly anticipated.
Do you know who you are if your husband (or wife) had an affair…or if they died. Or maybe your child goes astray. Prodigal.
Do you know who you are when you don’t look like the pretty girl you are tempted to envy; or when you don’t have the physically fit physique of the guy who gets all the female eyes.
Do you know who you are, who you are not, what you are made of, and Who you are called to when things don’t go your way; when the house of cards you built come crashing down; when the walls fall; when the veil is lifted; when the mask is dropped…and you are exposed. You and all your mechanisms and tools to uphold your false self. The self you tried to create to make you feel better about yourself, to make people like you, to feel loved. Worthy. Important. “Hey everybody look at me. I’m worth something! Look at what I do for a living. Look at who I’m married to, look who I’m dating, look at how I work for the Kingdom of God! Look at me, look at me!”
The emptiness and the loneliness inside you goes so deep, doesn’t it? You are desperate for someone, anyone, to notice you- even if only for a second- and think “He/she really has it going on…wow, look at the life they lead.”
You want people to see you for how you want them to see you.
But, let me ask you, would you be okay if they could see you for who you really are?
(I mean, deep down, isn't that what you really want anyway? To be known and loved for the TRUE YOU?)
I know, you want to be pursued, sought after, and loved so badly. You want it from the core-depths of who you are. I understand. I do. You were created for it. We all were. But only One can satisfy. Only One can give you that worth that you ache for. Which begs the question, how many times a day, even in the tiniest efforts, do you look for satisfaction and identity fulfillment in something or someone other than him?
Are you afraid to keep count?
All those external things you try to orchestrate and hold together in your hands- and then one day you find that you are enslaved to them. Your identity is one of a slave to an illusion. How sad. I don’t think you intended for that, now did you?
If you don’t know who you are- when things start to shake, crumble or fall- so will your identity. So will your security. Why? Because you were looking for it out “there” in those “things” and those people. And if you stake all you are in them, they’ll take it when they leave or when they let you down. And that’s a lot of pressure for someone. No one wants to be the center of your world. They weren’t created to be.
Would you be able to carry on- with grace, strength, dignity, compassion, and integrity- if everything, or rather if one very important thing you hold so closely- were taken from you?
Just.
Like.
That.
When it leaves- and if it dies- does who you are die with it?
Is your identity in Christ rooted enough for a blow that big? Would you turn to dust if you lost “him”…or “her”…or “that”…or “this.”
OR have you spent your whole life looking for external fulfillment after external fulfillment that you haven’t sat long enough in the loss so you can’t even answer that.
Your soul must be so tired.
So longing.
For something real.
Are you hidden in, covered over, wrapped up, and hemmed in to all that he is, that nothing could deter you, sway you, or pull you from him and who you know yourself to be in him.
DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE?
Do you know your identity in Christ by tangible experience; experiences that so often come through suffering, sorrow, and trials. Are you willing to experience those “unwanted friends” and to experience them intimately, trusting that the Lord will turn them into Peace and Joy, but not before the lesson of suffering for his sake and for the body of Christ is learned. And then beneath the weight, the pressure, the hard-pressing, and the hot fire will you stay true and hold fast to who you are when the voices, the lies, and the world tells you to settle for lesser than, to be entitled, to resent, to be bitter, self-righteous, and take the wider road.
Will you have integrity?
You’re either identified in him and by him…or you’re not.
You’re either a slave to righteousness…or a slave to your false self.
The false self can’t be close to God; it can’t find its security in him. Because that “self” doesn’t exist.
Stop trying so hard to be someone you’re not. To make people like you or look at you. To make them think you’re cool. It’s not about you. So knock it off. Stop seeking fulfillment in people and things that cannot and will not ever give it to you. Such efforts are those of a fool.
Soak your toes, your feet, your knees, your legs…your whole body in the life-giving, soul-satisfying, heart-filling, rushing and cleansing pure River that is the Spirit of God.
Come home to who you are. Set the rest down. Cast it all aside. Because when the blow hits- and it will hit- you’re going to need the Rock of Ages. And he will be waiting to tell you, once again, who you are, who you are not, what you are made of, and Who you are called to.
HIM.
This is who you are. You are not all those other things. Your security rests in Christ alone. And what a blessed gift. We’d be a fool to waste who we are on anything or anyone less.
You are a child of God. You are a friend of Jesus. You have been justified. You’ve been united with the Lord and are one with him in Spirit. You are his Joy. You are delighted in. You are rescued. You are complete in Christ. You are redeemed and forgiven. You have direct access to the throne of Grace through Jesus. You are free. You cannot be separated from the love of God. You’ve been established, anointed, and sealed. You are washed. Sanctified. You are hidden in Christ with God. God started his work in you and he will bring it to completion. You are a citizen of Heaven. You haven’t been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. You are born of God and the evil one cannot touch you. You are a branch of Jesus Christ, the True Vine, and a channel of his life. You have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit. You are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. You are God’s workmanship. You are an heir. You are an overcomer. You are a conqueror, a warrior, a fighter, a freer of slaves. You are a child of a promise. You have been given the mind of Christ. You are salt. You are light. You are a minister. You are a disciple. You are a Son. A Daughter. You have authority. You are a new creation. You are alive in Christ. You have received fullness in him. You are whole. You are healed. You are his temple. You are a co-laborer. You are chosen. You are a living stone. You are a partaker in a heavenly calling.
You are HIS. And he is YOURS.
HUNT HIM DOWN.
Bind him around you.
Until you don't know where you end and he begins.
Until you are ONE.
In Spirit.
In Truth.
In all that you are.
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