Our True Identity

The Christian’s Identity In Christ

John 1:12, 13   I am a child of God, born of God.

*I am God’s Beloved Daughter

John 15:15   I am Christ’s friend

*He loves me and wants the Best for me

John 17:23   I am loved.   

*God actually really Loves me unconditionally!

Romans 8:1, 2   I am free forever from condemnation.  

*He doesn’t hold my past mistakes against me!

Romans 8:15   I am adopted into God’s family.

*He CHOSE me to be His daughter!

Romans 8:37  I am more than a conqueror through Him.

*I can overcome all my problems with His help.

1 Cor. 1:2 I am sanctified.

*I am pure and holy in God’s eyes.

1 Cor. 3:16 I am God’s temple; God’s Spirit lives in me.  

*He is Always with me!

2 Cor. 5:17 I am a new creation in Christ  

*I don’t have to be the same person as I was in the past.

Ephesians 1:4 I am one chosen in Christ to be holy and blameless   

*I am not blamed for my mistakes.

Ephesians 2:10 I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works                *God created me as a Special person, who is loved and who has a purpose in life

Colossians 1:14 I am one redeemed and forgiven of all my sins  

*All my sins are Gone, washed away.

Colossians 2:10 I am one who is complete in Christ  

*Jesus is all I need, He will supply all my needs.

1 Cor. 15:57 I am victorious in Christ  

*Jesus will help me get over all the hard stuff!!

Pain and forgiveness

quotes from "Soaring Above The Flames (The Flame Series Book 1)" by Ann Ansah-Grant 

"Those who do not have faith blame God or doubt his existence in times of suffering. Those who have faith cling to the Lord even tighter, knowing He is already in the future removing the barriers, clearing a path towards a greater purpose for their pain.”"

"Colossians 3:13 appeared—“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” Forgiving her did not make me weak. Rather, my obedience to God as it relates to forgiveness made me powerful because it meant I was more like Him. The burden of lack of forgiveness makes one spiritually sick. It pollutes the spiritual environment and makes it less conducive to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As human beings, we are incapable of forgetting our experiences because God provides us with a memory. Our emotional reaction to those memories is a measure of whether we have truly forgiven those who have wronged us."

I made a conscious choice that day to embark on a journey of forgiveness. When those past memories visit me and they no longer arrive with heavy baggage full of anger, resentment and pain, I will know that I have arrived at the destination.

Quotes and ideas from "Walking through the Flames"

Love comes in the shape of a heart not a fist.And it is not expressed with insults or threats.  Loving lips are not capable of forming profane words to use as a weapon against you. 
Love doesn't make you feel ashamed or ugly.

"I made so many mistakes and now I have to own them."
If God wanted us to Own our mistakes, He wouldn't have paid for them on the cross!  He took ownership of the sins you committed before they even came to pass.  Don't Own your sins, repent of them! Cry out to the Lord with a broken and contrite heart and ask for His forgiveness.  Then release it and sin no more. Micah 7:19 He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea
The Lord is waiting with anticipation to forgive us. 

What is Love? part 1

         1 Corinthians 13 is the Go-To chapter about Love, but first, consider this  1 John 4:7-8    7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  
       If God IS Love, then all of the descriptions and explanations of love are part of the Character of God! Anything described as Love applies to God's response and actions toward us.
      But, this verse tells us to love each other. Not just those in our family or our spouses, but our neighbors (Jesus was pretty clear that our neighbors are not just those in our comfort zone, our church, our circle of friends).
      So, What exactly is Love? The word in the original Greek is Agape, which is also used when God refers to His love for us. Agape means unchanging, self-giving, without expectation of repayment, love that gives in spite of rejection, not giving in order to get something in return, sacrificial, self-denying for the sake of others.
     In 1 Cor. 13. Love is described by Action words, not feeling words. Love isn't that mushy, fluttery Feeling in our tummy.  If love is an Action, that means it is a Choice.  We can Choose to Act out of Love. Jesus was asked which commandment was the greatest, in Matt 22. He said loving God was 1st and next? Loving Each other!  Loving God and others fulfills all the laws and prophets, meaning if we love God and Others, we've got it Made in the Shade!      It's obvious that Love is pretty darn important to God, and we Have to remember that if God asks us to do something, then He Makes it Possible.  He doesn't assign us impossible tasks! He gave us a very clear picture of what Love is and is Not in 1 Cor. 13.      
     The first 3 verses of the chapter tells us that all the really great things we could do -prophecy, giving everything away to the poor, move mountains with our faith, get burned alive for following Christ- it really isn't worth Anything if we don't have Love. It's kind of a Big thing! Now we get to the good stuff;

• not losing heart, 

• persevering  patiently in enduring misfortunes and troubles, 

• bearing offenses and injuries with patience, 

• patiently enduring without avenging wrongs, 

• not punishing

     We can usually act in love toward our children. Its easier to be patient and kind with children, at least until they are Teenagers!  We don't lose heart when they are stubborn, defiant and rotten to us. We don't hold them away from our hearts when they offend us, we don't take Revenge on them. We are kind to little ones, generously extending good to them, especially the grandbabies!      But... relationships with others- that's often a different story! Even with family and friends, we often develop automatic responses and reactions based on past interactions.  We tend to be kind to those who are kind to us, and patient with those who have been patient with us. We don't easily extend kindness or patience to those who we feel have wronged us in some way. Of Course! That's Human Nature, right? Well, yes, it actually Is human, sinful, selfish nature! If it were our natural inclination to be loving, God wouldn't have needed to Explain it so Clearly throughout the Bible. 
As a matter of fact, 1 Peter 4:8 tells us to keep on loving each other because Love covers a multitude of sins.
   (I have used several translations, commentaries, dictionaries, etc. to be sure of accuracy)
     LOVE IS:
     4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; (new kjv)
      4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant (esv)
1. Patient/long-suffering: long suffering (makrothumeo), <2 Peter 3:9 uses the same word to describe God's actions toward Us>; 
2. Kind: (chresteuomai) showing, using kindness (friendly, generous, considerate) extend good to others
        Loving others sounds like an easy commandment to follow.  After all, as a Christian, we have the love and mercy and forgiveness of God. We live under the grace of the unfailing love of the Almighty. That should Fill our hearts with easy affection for others. Unfortunately, that isn't how it works, once we have been hurt, offended, or rejected. Its easier to put on the Good Christian mask, hiding a frown, while pretending to be pleasant and kind.      
     Once we have put our guard up, prepared to protect ourselves, it becomes much more difficult to Extend true kindness or bear offenses with patience. And Why Should I? "My sister said the most hurtful thing"-  "My dad never had time for me"-  "My spouse has broken my heart, offended, injured me, in So many ways" -  "I Need to be Careful"-   "I'm not going to let him forget that offense"-   "She always gets away with it but not This time"-   "He always gets the recognition at work"-   "They don't deserve another chance"-  "I think he is up to Something"- "I sure won't trust them"-  "I can be patient and kind by Totally Avoiding them!"
     Does any of that sound familiar? It should be obvious, these thoughts are familiar to Me. And I like to think I am actually a loving person?  In case you are thinking, "I'll just work a little harder at being Nice to people, it's 'all good'", we have only covered the first two aspects of LOVE.  
      Please stay tuned, hehehe I have more to say.... I Always have more to say! ;) 

Xmas

     I'm sure we have all heard the anger and hostility by Christians regarding the use of Xmas.  Is the use of "Xmas" a way to leave Christ out of Christmas?  It appears that in today's culture it is usually taken that way, and generally viewed as a quick way to remove Christ.  I had to do a little research, curious where the whole Xmas thing started. So where did it come from?  Whew... interesting stuff here!

 The Greek word Christ is written  ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ .  Notice that if you place the first two letters, ΧΡ, and overlay them, you have a symbol, the Chi-Rho. ΧΡ, Chi Rho gained widespread popularity and found much use by the Christians after it was adopted by the  Roman military commander, Emperor Constantine I as a military banner. Constantine said the symbol appeared to him in a dream before the Battle of the Milivian Bridge in 312 A.D. He put this Christian symbol on his soldiers’ shields. His army won the battle, Constantine legalized the religion of Christianity across the Roman Empire, and the Chi-Rho has continued to be widely used in Christian art and literature since that time.  The symbol XP (Chi-Rho) has been in common use by Christians for about 1700 years now. 

     Chi, X,meaning Christ, as an abbreviation, really came into common usage in the 13th century, especially with the advent of the printing press. Since the printing press required each letter to be set by hand, abbreviations were very common.  So Christianity, Christian, Christmas became Xianity, Xian, and Xmas.  As a matter of fact, the name Christina was very commonly written as Xtina. The X part of the words were pronounced as Christ...not X.    In many manuscripts of the New Testament, X abbreviates Christos (Xristos). In ancient Christian art X and XP abbreviate his name. This practice entered the Old English language as early as AD 100. Even Wycliff used X as an abbreviation for Christ.
    With this history in mind, originally Xmas was in No way an attempt to Remove Christ.  It was the most Common practice of abbreviating the name of Christ.  In fact, the symbolism was a way of honoring of Christ, as the symbol was in reference to the original language of His name.  
     So, how does that fit in today?  I personally wouldn't use the term Xmas simply because the modern connotations of the term.  Christians and non-Christians alike are unaware of the history, and it is commonly perceived as a removal of Christ.  I don't want to support that misconception.  
     Once again, we have allowed the secular world to steal one of the wonderful symbols of our faith.  It once made a statement to wear a cross, but gang members and rappers have giant gold crosses hanging around their necks while they spout the most horrifying garbage. Rainbows, a promise from God, now symbolizes homosexuality.  The shamrock, used by St. Patrick as a way to explain the Trinity, has become a symbol of the Irish. Angels and butterflies have both been symbols of Christianity, but not anymore. Our Christian symbols have been appropriated by rappers, pagans, other religions, and the LGBT community. I wonder if it is even possible to reclaim our Christian symbols? 
   I find it ironic that someone using the term Xmas thinks they are removing Christ and yet they are actually using an ancient symbol of Christ.  The Intended Insult, removing Christ, really Isn't an insult but a return to our Christian symbolic roots!!  Knowing the facts and the rich history behind the X, makes me wish we could recover the original symbolism, but it's not likely I suppose.  
     So when I see someone using the X, I am pretty Likely to go ahead and explain it to them!!!  But I won't be using the controversial X except within a group that understands the the history!

Saturday, December 11, 2010 at 2:29pm