KNOWING WHO YOU ARE IS A JOURNEY OF FAITH...

“… just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him” (Colossians 2:6). How did you accept Him? Did you work hard, striving in human strength to be right in the presence of the Savior? Or did you trust God for giving you His Son, coming before Him just as you were, and confirming Jesus is Lord? It is only by faith, and not by your works, that you entered into God’s presence, humbly receiving what you could not earn or purchase for any price. You believed in Jesus, and by His spiritual action, He cut away your sinful nature; this was a spiritual circumcision (Colossians 2:11). You immediately received new life, “cleansed and perfected” and made holy (Hebrews 10:14). You were perfected because you believed in Jesus, as Christ, the Son of God (John 20:31,31). You received the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:6) and became an heir to God through Him (Galatians 4:7). Through Jesus, you are now one with the Father and the Holy Spirit because you are one with Him (Colossians 2:10). The work which the Holy Spirit accomplishes in you, that is in your spirit, is all the characteristics of God Himself: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and faithfulness (Galatians 5:). Right now, while living on this earth, you are just like Jesus (1 John 4:17).

Despite these truths, we are often tempted to evaluate ourselves according to our behaviors and worldly experiences. We may have a bad-tempered moment, speak an unkind word, express an ugly attitude, experience doubt against God’s truth, or decide that we are not demonstrating characteristics that suggest we are children of God, letting that become our reality. We may even express a thought such as, “What is wrong with me?” or “I am hopeless!” We may have let empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense of this world, which come from human thinking, invade our thoughts, drawing us away from truth and evaluating who we are incorrectly (Colossians 2:8). Out of the abundance of our heart, our mouths will speak (Matthew 12:34). Suddenly, our confession does not line up with God’s Word. As our ears hear the lie, we journey down a slippery slope that causes us to think defeat and therefore act in defeat.

Only God’s Word has the power to transform our thinking to His truth. Yes, we may struggle while living as citizens of heaven on this earth, but our struggle doesn’t change God’s truth. We are who He says we are! Our journey is renewing our minds to what He says about us, and trusting the transformation that has occurred in our spirits. Bad behaviors and ‘stinkin thinkin’ may occur, but that is when we must recognize what the Word says about us, and confirm that truth. Abraham experienced this. God said he was the father of many nations, yet he did not even have a child. But God said it, so Abraham believed it and spoke it; he believed the promise (Romans 4:18-21). It is the same for us. He has told us who we are, and that is what we must believe. Behaviors or thinking that don’t align with that truth should cause us to press into the Lord, into the Word, and confess by faith the true reality of our transformation instead of doubting based on incorrect evaluation.

You accepted Jesus because you believed by faith. Now, accept the truth of your transformation and who God created you to be, by faith. Know because God said, “You are My workmanship, recreated in Christ Jesus, born anew…” (Ephesians 2:10).