Last week our challenge was to go home and just do the "next step" in forming our own Identity Statements. For me, that meant I needed to go home and compile a list of everything I believe about who I am in Christ and who God is in my life. As I pour through Scripture and do some heart analysis about what I honestly believe about my identity I'm remembering who I was before. There was a good portion of my life where I didn't even know Jesus. After I came to know Him as my Savior there was a good portion of my life where I didn't know or believe what the Bible says about who I am in Christ. My experiences and God's truths collided constantly and I had (have) to humbly ask God for the faith to believe Him over whatever it was I had experienced or was feeling.
So...
...I trade in fear for trust (1 John 4:18, Jeremiah 29:11, Proverbs 3:5)
...I breath in peace instead of anxiety (Psalm 56:3-4, Phil 4:6-7)
...I cherish instead of cling (Hebrews 13:16, Luke 6:38, Phil 4:19, Luke 12:33)
...I hope instead of dread (Romans 15:13, Isaiah 40:31, psalm 71:13, Hebrews 11:1)
...I offer love instead of indifference (1 Cor 13:13, 1 John 4:7)
...I choose joy in the ordinary (Gal 5:22, Rom 15:13, Prov 10:28, Psalm 126:5, John 15:11)
...I choose Jesus' way over my own (Matt 7:1-2, James 2:8, Gal 5:14, Gal 3:28, Isaiah 58:6-14, 1 Cor 6:19-20, Matt 25:34-36, Luke 10:25-37, Rom 5:8)
...And every moment and every thought where I trade my old ways for Jesus' new ways it's like the buffing of a dull rock. His glory begins to reflect off my newly polished surface in ways I never would've imagined and instead of a common rock God reveals a diamond shining through. It's a lifetime of Him polishing and refining me, but there is unbelievable joy in the journey.
Where are you today? Are you just getting to know Jesus? Are you wondering if you can trust Him and His ways that feel so foreign and far off? Does reading the Bible feel like a complicated electronics manual instead of a love letter to you? Wherever you are just know that all you have to do is take the next step. What is one thing you need to trade in or lay down in exchange for Jesus' way right now? If you aren't sure of your next step then ask someone: ask God, ask me, ask your Table Leader, ask a trusted friend.
Will you join me in asking God for a big, bold faith? To see with an eternal perspective? Asking God to reveal our diamonds in ways that bring glory to Him and unexplainable joy to us?
It's an honor to be in this journey with you,
Jena M.
