“…Be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” Romans 12:2

One of the hardest things about walking out our new life in Christ is that our thoughts form patterns. Patterns of thinking that are created over time. Think of a dirt road that has ruts worn into it from the repetition of the tires driving in the same spot over and over again. When a car turns onto that dirt road it almost automatically finds those same ruts. You would have to force your car up out of the ruts and blaze a new trail if you didn’t want to go where the ruts were taking you. 

The same is true with our thoughts. 

Over the past few weeks, we’ve talked about the issue of sin and the situation we were in before the cross. We were dead in our sins, stuck in a state of separation from God because sin is a consuming evil power that destroyed the relationship we had with God.

At the cross, everything changed, when Jesus became the substitute to take what we deserved, those voices that whisper in the night saying, “You are a failure, you are disqualified, you are not enough,” lost their legal right to speak over us as Children of God. And so, even though we feel like the voices of our past disqualify us, they can actually be the weapons Jesus uses to defeat the enemy, both in our lives and in the lives of others who need freedom as well. 

That simple, yet intensely difficult action of stepping out of the shadows and stepping into the fullness of our identities in Christ is a daily thing and can feel like a daunting task. When attempted in our own power, it is impossible. But when those weak places are reclaimed through the truth of who He says we are, then and only then are we able to fully walk in the truth of Jesus’ love for us. 

What is that “newness” that we receive when we open our lives up to Jesus? Good question. This week and next week we are looking at a few different aspects to that answer. It’s an amazing journey of discovery that can take a lifetime to fully discover. But if you are ready, please place your seat backs and tray tables in their upright positions and let’s go on an adventure! We are going to look at 3 areas where we need to experience truth and love spoken to in our lives. 

Our security in Christ

Insecurity plagues our culture. We can be in a room full of people and yet still feel alone like we don’t belong like we are invisible. Whether it is a specific point in time when you felt insecure, invisible or unwanted, or just a broad struggle the solution is the same. Jesus. The crazy thing is Jesus doesn’t just see you…and then go on with His life…He sees you in such a way that He gets invested and involved in your life. He transferred you into a Kingdom in which your security is sealed by the blood of Jesus. It’s what got you in and it’s what never will let you go. 

“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  Colossians 1:13-14

He will never let you go or leave you (Hebrews 13:5-6) Nothing can separate you from His love (Romans 8:35-39) When you are born of God, the evil one cannot touch you (1 John 5:18) and you have constant, limitless access to the throne room of heaven when you need help (Hebrews 4:16). Talk about security. 

Our acceptance in Christ

In a world of rejection and abandonment, being accepted and adopted can mean a lot. I’ve worked with troubled and disadvantaged children for years and yet the symptoms I’ve seen with children who have been abandoned, felt unwanted or have been through overwhelming things, can be seen in the Church as well. Those feelings that we aren’t enough, we aren’t wanted, we weren’t chosen; that we don’t qualify have carried over into our spiritual lives… Those voices from family, people at work, friends etc. can still haunt us even years later, and we think that God sees us the same. But the good news is that a new word has been spoken over you. 

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” John 1:12 

You are accepted and adopted. (see also Ephesians 1:5) You are wanted. You are enough. Father has chosen YOU. Not based on your merit or any worth in yourself, but because of His Son. Through Jesus, there is no condemnation towards you any more (Romans 8:1-2) You are anointed (2 Corinthians 1:21-27) and He has given you full power (Acts 1:8) 

The full weight of the truth of our adoption into the Kingdom is too much to go into now…so we will have to dive more into that later.

Our significance in Christ

Mankind has an innate need for significance. We are searching for something to show that we matter, that we are important. We tend to look in the wrong places such as material possessions, relationships, popularity, social media followers, etc. But when you realize that the Creator of the Universe looked through history and time and decided He needed one of you too and placed a calling and a destiny on your life centuries before you were born, it sheds a different light upon the significance of your life. 

“For through Him, we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household” Ephesians 2:18-19 

We are co-heirs with Christ, He gave us power and authority and told us that we would do greater things, than even He did, in the Kingdom. (John 14:12) And He gives us everything we need to complete this. 

But it’s not enough to just call out the lies in our life or to identify where things are wrong, you have to replace it with the truth – you have to begin to think and live differently.  

Take some time with Jesus today to identify some of the lies you have believed about who you are, your worth and your value and write down some verses that speak the truths against those lies. And speak that truth over your life every day. If you need to talk or need some help finding some verses, email me. I’d love to talk to you or pray with you. 

Take some time to fix your eyes on Jesus today. 

Father, thank you for the work You did for me on the cross. Forgive me for the ways I’ve looked to other sources for my acceptance, security and significance. I need You to speak truth into those areas. I want to learn to translate the world around me through the lens of the gospel and learn how to think, feel, and understand everything in light of what has been done in me and for me through Jesus. Help me everyday to make a choice to believe in the truths of the gospel over any other thing in every thought, situation and moment. Teach me to live in complete dependence upon You so that I can display what You are like to the world. Teach me how to not hide in or operate from anything other than Jesus and usher me into a season of deeper knowledge of the truths about You and a deeper more intimate acquaintance with You personally. I want to experience You pouring out Your Spirit deeper into my heart, filling me with more of Yourself and Your love. I want to be so full of Jesus that I leak YOU everywhere I go. Teach me how to regularly meditate on how amazing Jesus is and to ask Holy Spirit often to show, teach and remind me more of how great my incredible Savior is. Reacquaint me with the love of my life and the truth of who I am as a result. In Your name. Amen. 

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