REFRESHMENT IN THE NEW

I am so thankful for a new life and a new name in Christ!  These are not just words, but a newness I have actually experienced!  Anyone who really knows me can tell you that I am definitely not the same person I used to be!

If you are reading this today and are not in the family of God through Christ's saving work on the cross, and through faith and belief that he is the only one who can save you from the wages of your sin, which is death eternal; my prayer is for God to do his redemptive work in your soul and give you a new name that I may see you someday in eternity. 

If you are in Christ, we continually need encouragement as God works in us and through us.  So, whether you are in Christ or not, I came across some words in my journal that God spoke to my heart in 2012 and I believe someone else may need to hear these words today.  Please apply them to yourself and your life.  I am going to share them and trust God to use them in whatever way he chooses, wherever you are at in life.

Here they are:

FREEDOM IS THE ANSWER TO EVERY ACHING SOUL.  LIVE LIFE TODAY IN THE FREEDOM YOU ALREADY POSSESS.  EVERY CHILD OF GOD POSSESSES FREEDOM IN CHRIST.  CHRIST HAS SET YOU FREE FROM THE POWER OF SIN AND DEATH THROUGH HIS WORK ON THE CROSS.  THAT'S WHERE YOU NEED TO START- HIS WORK ON THE CROSS.  FROM THERE YOU CAN MOVE TO HIS SANCTIFYING WORK IN YOUR HEART.

IT IS LIKE THIS...THE LORD LIVES AND BREATHES INSIDE YOUR BODY.  HE, IN HIS CHARACTER, CANNOT CONTINUE TO DWELL ALONG WITH THE FILTH, AND SIN, AND EVIL THAT STILL LIES WITHIN YOU.  SO HE BEGINS A SANCTIFICATION PROCESS OF CLEANING UP THE SPACE WHERE HE DWELLS.  HIS WORK IS NEVER DONE.  HE IS ALWAYS WORKING.  YOUR FREEDOM FROM AREAS HE'S CLEANED BRINGS HIM GLORY!

CHRIST CONTINUES TO BE YOUR HIGH PRIEST CONSTANTLY PRAYING FOR YOU AS HIS NAME IS NOW WRITTEN ON YOU.  HE IS AT WORK TO GIVE YOU YOUR NEW NAME.  THERE WILL BE NO MORE HANGING YOUR HEAD IN SHAME, BUT WALKING PROUDLY IN THE CONFIDENT ASSURANCE THAT YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD.  YOU ARE AN HEIR TO THE THRONE, ONE WHO CHRIST HAS REDEEMED BECAUSE YOU ARE LOVED, CHERISHED, PRECIOUS, THE APPLE OF HIS EYE, AND HE NOW LOOKS AT YOU THROUGH CHRIST HIS SON. 

THAT IS A PROMISE YOU CAN APPLY TO YOUR LIFE!

If you are reading this and want what you have just read, ASK GOD FOR IT!

In the love of Christ I write this to YOU.

THE ROYAL FAMILY

  

Prince William...Duke of Cambridge...elder son of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales...grandson to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.


Prince William has been born into the Royal Family.  No matter if he fails in something, or gets disapproval from others, is treated harshly, betrayed, hurt, wounded, alone, insecure, feels unloved by those around him, makes a bad decision, or is unsuccessful in his life...none of that can change the fact that he is a part of the Royal Family.  He is still royalty and always will be royalty.  He will always be the Prince...son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana...grandson to Queen Elizabeth II.

ROYALTY ... it sounds good to some of us, doesn't it? 

Jesus has invited me over the years to see that I... AM ROYALTY!

YOU... MAY BE ROYALTY!

Right now... YOU... might be being handed an invitation to... BECOME ROYALTY!

When we enter into the Family of God, accepting our sin condition and Jesus Christ as our Savior, we enter into God's royal family.  When we are adopted into God's Family we become co-heirs with Christ, as he is the first born son of the Holy, Mighty, Everlasting God.  There is nothing that can then change your value and who you are as God's royal heir.

My value and identity was something I struggled with for a long time even after I began my journey with Christ.  In Christ's unconditional love for me He invited me into a long process of healing.  I thought at times that I knew my identity in Christ, until something would happen that triggered my feelings of insecurity and I got pulled back toward that pit of worthlessness.

I remember after years of this process when I found myself again feeling hurt and a wound arising.  I cried out to God saying "God...will I ever be free of this insecurity and imprisonment to it?"  I continued to pray fervently for freedom and for God to lock in my identity and value as his daughter.

And one day...after God repeatedly kept reminding me that only God sets my value, God locked it in and it has stuck with me ever since.

Jesus has the same immense love for YOU...

If YOU become adopted into the Royal family of God...YOU become the beloved Prince/Princess, heir to the Royal King of Kings, Son/Daughter to the Creator of Heaven and Earth.  You bear the mark and image of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.  You belong to the Holy, Mighty God...and He is your Father....

Prince William sometimes wears the clothes of Royalty...the son/daughter of God wears the clothes of the Redeemed.  YOU have been cleansed and washed inside and out.  YOU are new.

No words...
or feelings...
or man...

can change Prince William's identity as a son of royalty...

and no words,
feelings,
or man

can change YOUR identity (if you are in God's family) as the son/daughter of the Most High God.  When God locks that into your belief system you will feel the freedom!

If this is touching your heart and you do not belong to God's Family...

Jesus says "COME..." 

If you are...Walk on today wearing the royal clothes of the Redeemed, believing that YOU are His beloved, cherished one, the apple of his eye...and nothing and no one can EVER change that.

WHO AM I?

The other day I was listening to a speaker and he posed the question, "WHAT IS A HUMAN BEING?"  He went on to share what some say is the answer.  Some say "we are nothing more than a pack of neurons and chemicals".  Others say, "I am the clothes I wear", "I am who I convey I am to others", or "I am what I own".  At some point in our lives mankind thinks about the answer to this question. When we are honest, everyone of us has an answer to that question. 

I have also asked myself the question over the years, "Who am I?  

I once believed that I was what I did, and who I made myself to be.  I was the type of clothes I chose to wear and the things I chose to possess.  I believed "If I did good, then I was good...if I did bad, then I was bad".  My whole belief system was wrapped around these thoughts.  So I lived my whole life under the belief that who I was... was all dependent upon me.  The only problem with that is that I kept failing at who I wanted to be.  I could never stay consistant at always following the template I had made for myself.  So my identity kept changing according to my belief system.  When I did good-I was a good person.  When I failed-I was a failure.  When my emotional wounds would get opened-then I was a victim.  When I hurt someone emotionally-I was terrible person, worthless...etc.  You get the picture.  After a while I didn't know who I was!  My identity was unstable.  It's a terrible way to live!  

How about you?  Can you relate?  Are you desperately trying to figure out who you are?

I have hope...there is an answer. Outside of these lies sits truth.  In my next post I will share the answer.