In Christ, I Am

Accepted, secure and significant.

In Christ, I am accepted …

John 1:12 — I am God’s child.

John 15:15 — As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1 — I have been justified.

1 Corinthians 6:17 — I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 — I have been bought with a price, and I belong to God.

1 Corinthians 12:27 — I am a member of Christ’s body.

Ephesians 1:3-8 — I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child.

Colossians 1:13-14 — I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.

Colossians 2:9-10 — I am complete in Christ.

Hebrews 4:14-16 — I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ.

In Christ, I am secure …

Romans 8:1-2 — I am free from condemnation.

Romans 8:28 — I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.

Romans 8:31-39 — I am free from any condemnation brought against me, and I cannot be separated from the love of God.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 — I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.

Colossians 3:1-4 — I am hidden with Christ in God.

Philippians 1:6 — I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.

Philippians 3:20 — I am a citizen of heaven.

2 Timothy 1:7 — I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.

1 John 5:18 — I am born of God, and the evil one cannot touch me.

In Christ, I am significant …

John 15:5 — I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine and a channel of His life.

John 15:16 — I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.

1 Corinthians 3:16 — I am God’s temple.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 — I am a minister of reconciliation for God.

Ephesians 2:6 — I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm.

Ephesians 2:10 — I am God’s workmanship.

Ephesians 3:12 — I may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Philippians 4:13 — I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

Nobody But Jesus

I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody all about somebody.

Video: Casting Crowns - Nobody (Official Music Video) ft. Matthew West

Why You ever chose me

Has always been a mystery

All my life I've been told I belong

At the end of the line

With all the other not-quites

With all the never-get-it-rights

But it turns out they're the ones You were looking for

All this time

'Cause I'm just a nobody

Trying to tell everybody

All about Somebody

Who saved my soul

Ever since You rescued me

You gave my heart a song to sing

I'm living for the world to see

Nobody but Jesus

I'm living for the world to see

Nobody but Jesus

Moses had stage fright

When David brought a rock to a sword fight

You picked twelve outsiders nobody would have chosen

And You changed the world

Well the moral of the story is

Everybody's got a purpose

So when I hear that devil start talking to me saying

"Who do you think you are?"

I say

So let me go down, down, down in history

As another blood-bought faithful member of a family

And if they all forget my name, well that's fine with me

I'm living for the world to see

Nobody but Jesus

So let me go down, down, down in history (Goin' down in history)

As another blood-bought faithful member of a family

(That's all I ever wanna be)

And if they all forget my name, well that's fine with me

I'm living for the world to see

Nobody but Jesus

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

Best Giver Ever

The best gift giver ever has a load of presents for his children.

John 1:16-17 From His abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.

John 3:16 "For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

James 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

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The original gift giver is still the best, he has a huge advantage, he is all knowing and all powerful. Since he made us he knows what we really need the most and he has the power to meet every one of our needs.

One of the greatest themes of the Bible is that God loves so much that he gives, God has a huge pile of gifts for his children, check out some of his best gifts.

God Has Given You:

✔ The gift of a Savior: “And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” - Matthew 1:21 ✔ The gift of the Holy Spirit: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…” - Acts 1:8 ✔ The gift of God’s love: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” - Jeremiah 31:3 ✔ The gift of God’s grace: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” - Ephesians 2:8-9 ✔ The gift of God’s peace: “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” - John 14:27 ✔ The gift of wisdom: "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking." - James 1:5 ✔ The gift of a brand new life: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” - 2 Corinthians 5:17 ✔ The gift of an eternal inheritance: "Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan." - Ephesians 1:11 ✔ The gift of freedom from bondage and sin: “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” - Romans 8:1-2 ✔ The gift of supernatural strength: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” - Philippians 4:13 ✔ The gift of help to overcome testing: "Since He Himself has gone through suffering and testing, He is able to help us when we are being tested." - Hebrews 2:18 ✔ The gift of purpose: “For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:11 ✔ The gift of direct access to God: “And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” - 1 John 5:14-15 ✔ The gift of hope: “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” - Romans 15:13

As you dig into God's word take note of the giving nature of God. Loving and giving are so closely related that you could easily come to the conclusion that if you don't give then you must not love.

We certainly cannot out give God but it won't hurt us to try and it will help make the world around us a better place.

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Standing On The Promises

God's promises compel me to pursue living up to a higher standard.

2 Peter 1:4-7  And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.

5  In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,  6  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,  7  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

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God has given me everything I need to live in this world that is corrupt and full of uncontrolled passions. As a child of God I have his nature within me to help me live drastically different than the rest of the world. So much has been given to me that I didn't do anything to deserve and I am responsible for my response to God's promises.

I love how the New Living translation says that I must "escape the world's corruption." As Jesus disciple, I am saved through faith without any effort on my part but now that I am saved I am compelled to discipline myself and make every attempt to live for him. This doesn't come naturally and I will need to resolve to work at the change that God wants to see in me.

True Christians will want to increase in their understanding of God and take on his character. Some of the qualities that I must grow in include:

✔  Virtue (moral excellence)
✔  Knowledge
✔  Self control
✔  Patience
✔  Godliness
✔  Brotherly kindness
✔  Love

My life should honor God in every way, all that I am and in everything that I do, in my worship and in my relationships. It is so easy to do things that dishonor him, we think more about pleasing our friends than we do about pleasing the greatest friend that we could possibly have.

Spiritual Training
1 Timothy 4:7-9  Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives' tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come."  This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it.

The world wants us to focus on physical training which doesn't do anything for us when we step into eternity. Paul told Timothy that training for godliness comes with a promise of benefits for this life and in the life to come.

Putting my faith in the work of Jesus on the cross is the starting point on a long journey. I need to respond to God's promises by training myself spiritually to become more like him.

Thank you Lord for your promises, thank you for showing us a better way to live, I want to honor you by becoming more like you.

Promises You Can Count On

When life is hard remember God's promises are a sure thing.

Genesis 16:7-12  The angel of the LORD found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. 8 The angel said to her, "Hagar, Sarai's servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I'm running away from my mistress, Sarai," she replied.

9 The angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority." 10 Then he added, "I will give you more descendants than you can count."

11 And the angel also said, "You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means 'God hears'), for the LORD has heard your cry of distress. 12 This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives."

Genesis 21:14-21  So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar's shoulders. Then he sent her away with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beersheba.

15 When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. 16 Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. "I don't want to watch the boy die," she said, as she burst into tears.

17 But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, "Hagar, what's wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants."

19 Then God opened Hagar's eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink.

20 And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness. He became a skillful archer, 21 and he settled in the wilderness of Paran. His mother arranged for him to marry a woman from the land of Egypt.

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We have all been the victim of broken promises, people that didn't come through when we expected them to have caused all of us disappointment.

Sarah's servant was forced into a precarious situation when she was given to Abram so that he could have a child through her, a child that they were hoping would be a boy. Hagar was probably a good servant that was highly regarded, that is probably the reason that she was picked out of all of the servants that hey had to choose from. But soon after she became pregnant Hagar was being mistreated, all of a sudden her service to her master didn't matter and her future wasn't very bright as far as she could tell.

Hagar received a promise from God that she forgot about not too long after it as given. God told her that her son would not die but not too long after she is sent off into the wilderness she starts to prepare for the end.
God's promise was meant to give her hope but it doesn't work too well if you don't keep the promises in mind. We treat God's promises like that, we know that there is a book full of them but we neglect to keep them fresh in our head so that we can get through the tough times.

Hebrews 10:23  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Thank you Lord for your promises that have never been broken, help me to stay in your word everyday and keep them fresh in my mind.

Keep Your Word

Even if it hurts.

Matthew 5:37  Just say a simple, 'Yes, I will,' or 'No, I won't.' Anything beyond this is from the evil one.

2 Corinthians 1:17-20  You may be asking why I changed my plan. Do you think I make my plans carelessly? Do you think I am like people of the world who say "Yes" when they really mean "No"?  18  As surely as God is faithful, my word to you does not waver between "Yes" and "No." 

19  For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between "Yes" and "No." He is the One whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God's ultimate "Yes," He always does what He says.  20  For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding "Yes!" And through Christ, our "Amen" (which means "Yes") ascends to God for His glory.

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A promise doesn't mean much these days, it used to be that a man lived up to his word at any cost but these days if the cost or the inconvenience is too great then you will have to wonder if he will come through.

What a difference it would make if Jesus didn't keep his word, he promised us that he was going to die and rise again and he kept his promise, that gives me the confidence to believe that he will keep his word and return for me someday.

I need to be careful when I make a promise, it doesn't help my witness if I don't follow through, living with integrity can be inconvenient some times.

Help me Lord to be wise when I make promises to you or to those around me.

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El Shaddai

The many names of God in the Scripture provide us with insight into His character.

El Shaddai is the name that God used when he talked to Abraham at the time that he established his covenant. 
Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am El-Shaddai--'God Almighty.' Serve Me faithfully and live a blameless life.

If somebody makes a covenant with me, I want to be sure that they at least have the power to live up to the covenant, whether they have the desire to keep it is a different issue, if they don't have the power to do what they say that they will do then why bother?

Not to worry with El Shaddai, he has the power to fulfill every promise that he has ever made. He promised many things to Abraham and he came through on every detail. He is God Almighty and nothing can stop him from fulfilling every promise that he has made to me, David says that his promises are my armor and protection. 

Psalms 91:1-4 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust Him. 3 For He will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. 4 He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

I can count on the promises of God, he has never made a promise so big that he didn't have the power to come through, he is my protection and I can trust in him to give me victory, even over death.

Thank you Lord for your power to protect and save your children, help me to be rely on your strength to accomplish everything that you have commanded me to do.

God Made A Promise

He doesn't need me to figure out how to make it happen.

Joshua 3:1-5   Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing.

2 Three days later the Israelite officers went through the camp, 3 giving these instructions to the people: "When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, move out from your positions and follow them. 4 Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about a half mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don't come any closer."

5 Then Joshua told the people, "Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do great wonders among you."

Joshua 3:13-17 The priests will carry the Ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall."

14 So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. 15 It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river's edge, 16 the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.

17 Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the LORD's Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground.

Joshua 4:15-18 The LORD had said to Joshua, 16 "Command the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant to come up out of the riverbed." 17 So Joshua gave the command. 18 As soon as the priests carrying the Ark of the LORD's Covenant came up out of the riverbed and their feet were on high ground, the water of the Jordan returned and overflowed its banks as before.

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Look across the river over there, that's the land that the Lord has promised to give us, it looks like a nice place but there is something big that stands between us and what God has promised. That water is moving fast, this is not the right time of year to move our cattle across the river, and look at that little foot bridge over there, it would take a few years for all of us to cross the river on that thing.

Great big problems can stand in between us and what God wants to give us, that raging river was nothing for God, if God has made a promise then you can stop looking at the raging river. The Israelites camped out next to that river for three days and they must have looked at that river and thought "Wow, we are going to get wet" or perhaps they thought that God was going to have them camp out right there until the rainy season was over.

God has already seen the raging rivers in our lives and he already knows the way to get us to the other side, the nation of Israel didn't realize that God's power was about to be displayed in their life, there was only one way that God's promise could come true and that is for God to provide his way.

I will trust God to come through, even if it looks like I need to help him out, I need to just wait on him to provide.

Thank you for your promises Lord, help me to trust you and to rely on you to keep your promises.