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"Resting Your Identity In Christ"!
It is always helpful to remind ourselves that we are children of God, and Jesus Christ is our personal Lord and Savior. If we take this step, and rest assured that this is the case, we may maintain a secure identity in Him. Unfortunately today we are saturated with all sorts of distractions that may hinder our identification with Jesus as Savior. Many of us, even Christians, tend to gravitate towards other means of measuring our value as an individual. There are a few areas that come to my mind, which may essentially become a culprit for this kind of identity crisis. One of these areas is our relationships with people, and especially our significant other. Now I know what some of you may be thinking, "Victor, isn't it perfectly fine to find comfort and rely on our marriage partner - isn't that what we're supposed to do among other things?" Although I agree that sometimes, particularly in the case of a married couple, it is vital to support one another in times of adversity and need - I believe that our ultimate identification should rest on Jesus Christ. One big issue that I see quite frequently, and occasionally myself fall into doing, is compartmentalizing our life aspects into different sectors. While we may be doing right in our minds to segment our career, family, and faith in these different boxes - I think it can be a grave mistake to do so. The reason I say this is, God's plan and word transcend all kinds of boundaries, and without a shadow of a doubt He deserves our undivided praise, glory, and attention. This means that we should abide by and consider God's word in every aspect of life, not just the ones that are convenient for us to do so with. To be frank, since we all have our strengths and weaknesses in diverse areas, it is practically impossible to speak generally on what aspects we may easily abide by and which ones we may struggle to adhere to. Some of us might struggle with the concept of tithing financially, but attempt to compensate for it by giving of our time and efforts instead. Although I do not want to judge harshly on this idea, I have a hunch that God likely feels as though we all have room to grow and improve in faith in areas like this. Sure it may be perfectly fine and even beneficial for me to dedicate time and effort to God's kingdom, but if I am capable to sow financial seeds as well and forfeit that opportunity it is realistically plausible in my mind that I may be missing out on other potential blessings and rewards as well.
I was reminded recently, while listening to my local Christian radio station, that God does not need us and much less does He need our money. The Creator of the universe is more than capable of executing His plans without us providing our resources to facilitate the ultimate agenda. This should intrigue us, and speaks volumes on the character of our Almighty Father to say the least. We are privileged beyond measure to be chosen by God to help spread His word and ultimately give up our own selfish ambitions, desires, and motives in order to achieve His perfect will. What an honor it is to be able to contribute to spreading the message of the gospel, and reach out to help those in need across the globe!
Back-tracking to our main point, the truth of the matter is that once we achieve identity in Jesus Christ as Savior and place Him in the 1st place spot of our lives, everything else will always fall into its proper place at the right time. God knows, much better than we do, what our exact needs are. The reason I bolded the word needs is that, we should learn to distinguish needs from wants. I may want to win the lottery Saturday, but I definitely do not need it. On the other hand, I may need to suffer some adverse event in order for God's plan to be accomplished. Although it is arguable whether or not I could try to "want" this adversity if I knew it was part of God's plan - certainly without knowledge of it being in His plan I would not want to suffer or agonize over anything.
Another benefit of finding identity in Jesus Christ and resting it in His faithful providence is He will never let you down. When we place our primary source of identity in our hobby, activity, career, or even in our marriage - there may be a significant chance that we may be let down. Career paths may change or veer into unplanned directions, hobbies and activities of all kinds may eventually fail to garner our interest and may wore off as nothing more than a novelty in our lives, and sadly as it is even marriages we've seen may lead one into compromising, intense situations and eventually could even end up in divorce as we've seen in the statistical evidence of marriages ending across the globe (even under the umbrella of the church). Jesus Christ, unlike all these other areas, will never leave you or forsake you. He will always be there for you in your brightest and darkest hours, and if you freely choose to serve Him He will bless you with the tools you need to help proliferate His plans. This does not by any means guarantee that the path will be at all easy, as a matter of a fact I am almost certain that there will be difficulty, hardship, and struggle along the way. However, with God on your side, you can be certain that even in the most difficult moments you will receive unprecedented inner peace and comfort that I do not think anyone can truly illustrate or articulate with any picture or words.
With all that said, I feel as though I have only truly begun to scratch the surface on what resting our identity in Christ actually entails. I am sure I will touch on this topic in future articles, or perhaps even the next one I write. Please pray with me the following prayer, so that God helps us to continually renew our minds and identity in Jesus Christ rather than the distractions of the world:
Dear God,
We come before you as sinners in need of your supernatural provision, guidance, and mercy. Despite the fact that we are undoubtedly weak in many areas, we are certain that through Jesus Christ we can be made more than conquerors and receive your ultimate gift of salvation and find comfort in Your promises. Please fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we may be guided along the straight and narrow path that leads to heaven, bless us with your full armor - your Helmet of Salvation, Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith, Breastplate of Righteousness and Approval, and Sandals of the Gospel of Peace - so that the piercing lies and deception of the enemy will not bring us down. We know that as long as we find identity in Your Son - Jesus Christ, and we receive these provisions we can stand in triumph over the temptation that the enemy may bombard us with at any time. Please help us to find strength in You during times of weakness, and praise You in times where you have blessed us with the strength to stand victorious. We ask that you help us to trust in Your timing more each day and to be proactive in our efforts to continually seek renewal of our minds and further solidify our identities in You. If we do this Father, I know that collectively we can grow in faithfulness and further Your kingdom according to Your perfect will.
Finally, we pray that all the readers of www.fatherspiritson.com and Your children across the globe will be protected and find their ultimate identity in Jesus Christ their Savior.
In Jesus Christ precious, holy, and mighty name we pray - Amen.
-Victor Nunez
Thank you all for reading my article, and I thank God for giving me the words and the opportunity to convey this message to you our readers. I know that many times I write it is not just my idea, but of course the Holy Spirit using me to spread God's message and inspiring me to share what is on my heart in light of His word. Additionally, the link below is helpful in finding some verse references that deal with the concept of identity from a scriptural perspective. As always feel free to contact Jim and I via e-mail in regards to this or any other one of our articles. May God bless you richly, and continually renew your identity in Him.
- Victor Nunez
Additional Link:
http://www.unitedrevival.com/revival-articles/your-identity-in-christ.asp