{"id":23490,"date":"2018-07-14T03:30:31","date_gmt":"2018-07-14T10:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=23490"},"modified":"2018-07-10T13:51:02","modified_gmt":"2018-07-10T20:51:02","slug":"july-14-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2018\/07\/14\/july-14-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"July 14, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cBut God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together in Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.\u201d <\/em>Ephesians 2:4-7<\/p>\n

Who Are You?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Who are you?<\/p>\n

I recently listened to a training that said how we think about things determines our feelings about those things. What we think about our circumstances determines what action we will take, and will culminate in a result either good or bad. It starts with our thinking. What we think about God is crucial. And what we think about God will define what we think about ourselves.<\/p>\n

The above verse speaks of who God is. It speaks also of who we are in Christ. What thoughts do you have about God? What thoughts do you have about yourself? Who do you think you are?<\/p>\n

I have been on a long journey of faith in the God who found me in the worst of circumstances. Little did I realize as I held on desperately to Him in those days, He was beginning a process in me that would reveal not only who He was, but who I was in His eyes.\u00a0Over years, even decades, I have begun to see who I was created to be. I was given a vision of that woman and she was more than I ever hoped for, almost more than I could believe. I loved that version of me. It is marvelous to me that God sees that glorified version of me as though I had already attained it in the here and now.<\/p>\n

Since those days I have let that vision direct me in thoughts and feelings and actions.\u00a0 I am growing up into the woman God has called me to be. In the online training I participated in, the speaker encouraged us to act now, to choose now, to live now like that future version, to live like that \u201cbetter me.\u201d That thought resonated in me. It is what God had already shown me.\u00a0Am I fully that woman in the here and now? No, but I am more like her than I used to be.\u00a0She is in the here and now, and she is in the yet to come.<\/p>\n

Who are you?<\/p>\n

Look at the verse again. You are alive in Christ. You are saved by grace. He has raised you up. You sit in the heavenly places in Christ.<\/p>\n

I want to encourage you to see yourself through God\u2019s eyes.\u00a0He thinks so much more of you than you do of yourself. You are deeply loved by the Creator of the cosmos. You are accepted in the Beloved. You are of immeasurable worth\u2014for the blood of His only Son ransomed you to be His own. You have your own gifts that are to be uniquely expressed through the one and only you. God Himself is your confidence and deepest assurance. It\u2019s ok to be you. It is not only acceptable, but highly desirable, that you would be the very you God created.<\/p>\n

The above truths are only the tip of the iceberg. Explore the attributes of God. Discover Him as He is. Then ask Him to reveal who you are as He sees you. You are more than you know. Only you can discover what that \u201cmore\u201d looks like for you. What are the exceeding riches of His grace being manifested in you? Ask Him.<\/p>\n

\u201cFather, from the foundations of the world You knew us. You created us to worship You and to live fully and freely in Your grace. May we live up to that glorious potential! Praise the Lord! Amen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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