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As we go through this walk
with our awesome Christ He asked us to be transformed by the
renewing of our minds. Recently, one of the things that I have been searching
out is who I am in Christ.. I know for a fact that I want to be directly in His
will. What I mean by is I want to be real, not a mirage or a copy of something
or someone else but unique in my important destiny.
In the Body
of Christ there seems to be two camps and I am not sure I want to belong to
either one of them. The first is the group that when you ask them how they are
you get these types of answers. “I am too blessed to be stressed, or I am doing
great!” Or the polar opposite, “I am just going through so much right now.” It
seems to me that there should be some middle ground that is not so extreme.
The best
place to look at this is to our model and creator Jesus. Knowing that Jesus is
100% God and 100% man should lead to the answer. In the scriptures I read Jesus
has true emotion not tethered to how a society should make Him seem. We see that
he gets angry, overturning the tables in the temple. We know that he weeps and
above all in every situation He loves. This tells me that it’s okay to have
emotions and not hide them and to be honest. But in our humanness we often hide
behind our masks. The Word says that we are transformed to His likeness from
glory to glory. The most important part of that scripture says this is with
unveiled faces.
Masks are
the things that we love to hide behind, it is where we find our safety or so we
think. How can we be whom God wants us to be if we are hiding behind masks? So
in our quest to be real, we have to take off the masks, besides it’s the real
you that draws people to you, not a fake you.
Authentic is my word for the day. The opposite of authentic is a mirage. A
mirage is an illusion or a deception. Something seems to be there but in reality
it is not. We must strive to not be like that because it is false for sure.
Authentic means it is not false or an imitation. It also means genuine.
Genuine implies actual character that is not counterfeited, imitated or
adulterated. How awesome is this, why? You are completely unique and created by
God, not a copy, or an imitation but set apart for the destiny that God has for
you. We are to rebuild the Kingdom of God here on earth and if we will seek who
we are designed to be then and only then can we do it. Recently I heard a verse
that we all have read a million times but it really hit home for me. In Acts
17:6 it says in the second part that “there were those that turned the world
upside down”. That’s us my friends.
God wants
us to real so we can attract this world to Him and His Kingdom. To avoid
trusting in masks or a mirage, here are three things you should not focus on…
1.
Appearance,
it comes in
many shapes and sizes, from our physical appearance to how we appear to others
in the area of finances, relationships, even spirituality. We so often put this
mask up to even the playing field so we don’t feel intimidated or inferior.
2.
Acquisitions,
or put another way, our stuff. Acquisitions can also be people, An example: “My
church is now up 1000 people and we are running three services on Sunday. The
old bumper sticker says that he has the most toys wins, there’s a great lie of
the world.
3.
Achievements.
We tend to hold these up like trophies won on the sports field. We see all the
time when some wealthy person donates to a cause; they hold a press conference
to announce what they have done. I thought the bible said that when we bless not
to let the left hand know what the right one is doing.
So how do
we know that we are authentic? Do you wake up each day and look in your mirror
and say, “I am wonderful”? You probably don’t, but you should. You are fearfully
and wonderfully made, His works are wonderful and you are one of those works!
Here are three factors of being AUTHENTIC unique works in process…
1.
God has given
you unique
IDENITIY. Jeremiah 1 says that He knew us before He formed us in our
mother’s womb. That thought always blows my mind. He says before you were born I
set you apart as a prophet to the nations. It is so important to recognize your
God given identity.
2.
God has also
given you unique
VALUE. You are of great worth and often we don’t even realize it because
we base value on what the world says it should be. But God says this about you,
(in Romans) that God showed His Great love for us by sending Christ to die even
while we were still sinners. So it stands to reason we have value. To express
your value even more just take a look at 1 Peter 1:18-19, “For you know that God
paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors.
And the ransom he paid was not with mere gold or silver. It was the precious
blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless lamb of God.” Imagine that God says that
your value can’t be bought by mere gold or silver, you are worth so much more.
So your value to God is so important He paid the ransom for you, you are the
apple of your Father’s eye.
3.
Finally, God
has given you unique
PURPOSE! For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord.
Ephesians 2:10 tells us we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew so we
can do the things He planned for us long ago.
Achievements, acquisitions, appearances, in and of themselves are not a
bad thing, unless they are masks that we put on to hide the real us. If they are
used for God’s glory then there’s no problem. But if we can truly seek out our
identity, value, and purpose to develop authentic lives, then we will
reach our destiny.
Being
authentic allows us to be real, approachable and appealing to those we come in
contact with helping them see Christ and what He as done for us. More
importantly what He can do for them. One day either via Jesus’ return or our
earthly departure we will stand before God and hand Him our certificate of
authentication. It will represent, our lives lived for Christ here on earth.
God will know the real you no matter what you hid on earth. My prayer for all us
is He will stamp it and hand it back to us with; “Well done, good and faithful
servant!” |
One Body, Many Members, Jesus Is Lord