Food For Thought

-April 22, 2020-

A few years back, I was in a pastor’s group working through the book “The Deeper Life: Satisfying the 8 Vital Longings of Your Soul” with the author Daniel Henderson. In keeping with this principle of changing the way we see ourselves, one of the exercises in that book involves creating “identity statements”.

Henderson writes:

“Fullness of identity begins when you receive the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ as your only hope of salvation and a new life. The truth is that you carry the worth of God’s Son. He cares so much for you that Jesus came and gave His life in order to provide you with a totally new one. By trusting His life and message, you can experience the gift of a new life. Then, as Christ-followers living in the fullness of our new life, we must recount truth about our new life and renew our mind daily.”

Henderson, Daniel. The Deeper Life: Satisfying the 8 Vital Longings of Your Soul (p. 59). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

These identity statements should reflect who we are according to the Scriptures, rather than according to our feelings, past experiences, etc. I have found reciting these statements, out loud, to be helpful in retraining my inner thoughts to line up with God’s.  I have also found that changing those thoughts has an affect on my attitude, my actions, and the quality of my Christian life.

“Changing thoughts has an affect on my attitude, my actions, and the quality of my Christian life.”

 

Let me share my personal statements with you. Feel free to use them, tweak them, or make different ones. The thing is to make them yours. They need to be things that you can truly believe about yourself, based on the word of God.  Don’t worry if it takes you a while. I have literally spent years tweaking mine. I hope this will be a blessing to you as it has been to me.  Here goes:

• Nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ. God has reconciled me to Himself through the cross, adopting me as His child, in order to share a relationship of mutual love and affection.
• God demonstrated His love in that Christ willingly suffered and died for sinners – including me. This shows that God’s love for me and desire for relationship with me is in no way tied to any righteous performance on my part.
• God is for me so who can be against me. The Lord is my help, what can man do to me (that God’s blessing does not supersede)?
• Not by working, but believing in Him who justifies the ungodly; my faith is counted as righteousness.
• Being joined to the Lord, I am one spirit with Him. Therefore, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. In all ways at all times, having all that I need, I can excel in every good work God leads me to do by the same power that raised Christ from the dead.
• I have the mind of Christ through the Holy Spirit Who searches the depths of God.
• I have been baptized into both Christ’s death and resurrection. The old self has been crucified, so I can walk in newness of life. I can consider myself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
• Jesus calls me not a servant, but a friend. Therefore, I seek to live according to God’s word, not out of duty, but because I believe God and trust that His ways are best.
• When I do fall short, I can come - because of Christ's work on my behalf - boldly before the throne of grace. There I will receive mercy for my sin and grace to help me avoid the same pitfall(s) in the future
• Christ suffered that I might be made whole; changed into His image from glory to glory. Through His promises I have all I need for life and godliness.

——— That’s who I am by God’s grace! How about you?

-Pastor Ron