FINDING OUT WHO YOU REALLY ARE !

2/18/2019

AN AMAZING THING HAPPENS WHEN YOU INVITE JESUS INTO YOUR LIFE. YOU CHANGE. AT FIRST IT IS MANIFESTED IN THE EXCITEMENT OF GIVING YOUR LIFE TO HIM, AND FOR ME IT WAS A SENSE THAT AS A 17 YEAR OLD, I HAD SOMEONE TO HELP ME FIGURE SOME THINGS OUT. MY MOM AND DAD WERE REALLY AWESOME TO ME, AND THEY LOVED ME AND TAUGHT ME A LOT. THEY GAVE ME MY MORAL COMPASS, MY WORK ETHIC, MY VALUES AND PRIORITIES….BUT JESUS GAVE ME SOMETHING DIFFERENT. HE GAVE ME MY PATH TO HIS FATHER, AND A RECONCILIATION BACK INTO MY TRUE PLACE TO BE….IN HIS KINGDOM!!! HE HAS HELPED ME FIND OUT WHO I REALLY AM. MY TRUE IDENTITY….AND IN THAT IDENTITY, MY TRUE PURPOSE.

THE BEST WAY I CAN EXPLAIN IT IS LOOKING AT LIFE AND KNOWING YOU HAVE TWO PLACES THAT COMPETE FOR YOUR LIFE. I LIKE TO CALL IT “THE KINGDOM CHOICE”. ONE KINGDOM HAS GOD ON THE THRONE, AND HE IS YOUR KING. YOU ARE A ROYAL SON OR DAUGHTER TO HIM, AND HE HAS CREATED YOU, BREATHING LIFE AND CHARACTER, AND PURPOSE INTO WHO YOU ARE AT THE VERY CORE OF YOUR BEING. GOD DESIGNED YOU, AND HE HAS BIG PLANS FOR YOUR PURPOSE IN HIS KINGDOM. NOW THE TRICKY PART. GOD HAS GIVEN YOU FREE WILL. HE HAS ENTRUSTED YOU TO BE FREE IN YOUR LOVE FOR HIM AND HIS KINGDOM, OR REJECT HIM, AND BUILD YOUR OWN KINGDOM….I CALL IT THE WORLD KINGDOM. IT IS A PLACE WHERE YOU ARE ON THE THRONE. YOU CALL THE SHOTS, AND YOU MAKE THE RULES.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD WAS CREATED IN A SPECIFIC WAY. THERE ARE PROCESSES, AND ORDER, AND LAWS. A WAY OF LIFE THAT EMBODIES LOVE, CITIZENSHIP, OBEDIENCE, SECURITY, FREEDOM, AND TRUTH. A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN FEEL AND LIVE IN THE MOST INCREDIBLE LOVE THAT HAS EVER EXISTED….THE LOVE OF YOUR CREATOR, AND YOUR FATHER.

FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, GOD HAS BEEN IN CHARGE IN HIS KINGDOM. HE SPOKE EVERYTHING INTO BEING, AND HE GAVE HIS KINGDOM STRUCTURE, AND LIGHT, AND TIME, AND TRUTH. AND HE PUT MANKIND INTO PARADISE TO LIVE AND FLOURISH IN RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. IN A GARDEN, FULL OF PROVISION, WITH A COMMAND TO “DRESS” THAT GARDEN, AND TAKE CARE OF IT…..AND HAVE DOMINION OVER THE EARTH, AND ALL THAT WAS ON IT. GOD BLESSED MANKIND, AND WANTS US TO BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY…..HE SPOKE INTO WHO WE SHOULD BE….FUNNY THING IN THAT GARDEN…..ALL THESE TREES PRODUCING FRUIT TO EAT FROM, BUT SCRIPTURE TALKS ABOUT TWO. THE TREE OF LIFE, AND THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL. AND AS WE KNOW, ADAM AND EVE ATE FROM THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL….AND WE LOST THE GARDEN….AND WE WENT OUT, INTO THE WORLD.

IF YOU ARE MAKING THE CHOICE TO LIVE IN THE WORLD, AND BE THE KING ON YOUR OWN THRONE, THEN I CAN TELL YOU THAT I AM AMAZED AT YOUR FAITH. YOUR FAITH TO GO IT ALONE. TRUST IN YOURSELF TO MAP EVERYTHING OUT AND MANEUVER THROUGH THE CONSTANT PRESSURE OF CULTURAL CHANGE AND JUDGEMENT. IT IS A CHALLENGING LIFE. WE HAVE ALL LIVED IT IN VARIOUS WAYS, AND IT HAS APPEAL….UNTIL YOU REALLY START TO LOOK AROUND YOU AND SEE WHAT IT PRODUCES. FOR SOME IT IS MONEY, AND SUCCESS, AND RECOGNITION, AND FUN. LIFE IS A PARTY, A VACATION, A BIG PAYDAY, CLOSING A BIG DEAL….AWESOME, UNTIL IT ISN’T. I’M NOT SO HAPPY, I’M NOT SO CONFIDENT…I’M SCARED AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I’M ADDICTED…TO ALCOHOL, TO DRUGS, TO PORN, TO MYSELF, AND NO ONE SEEMS TO NOTICE OR CARE I’M IN A CROWD, BUT I AM SHOUTING OUT….I’M SO ALONE. I SHOULD BE HAPPY, BUT I AM MISERABLE. I’M LOST, AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO !!! HELP ME. PLEASE. SOMEONE, ANYONE…..

I COUNT MYSELF AS VERY LUCKY, BECAUSE I AM FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE SURROUNDED BY A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO KNOW GOD, AND ALTHOUGH NOT PERFECT, STAND BY ME AND HELP ME RIGHT MY SHIP WHEN I HEAR THE SIREN CALL OF THE WORLD. I HAVE TO CONSTANTLY SEEK GOD’S FACE AND HEART EVERY DAY TO GROW INTO MY IDENTITY. IT IS PRECIOUS, AND THE WORLD AND THE DARKNESS WANT NOTHING MORE THAN TO SNATCH IT AWAY FROM ME….BUT THEY WON’T, BECAUSE I AM HIS. I ABIDE IN JESUS, AND HE ABIDES IN ME. HE IS MY IDENTITY. IN MYSELF, I AM A SINNER, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. IN JESUS, ….I AM BORN AGAIN, INTO HIM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. INTO WHO HE IS, AND I WANT TO BE LIKE HIM.

“I PROCLAIM HIM, ADMONISHING AND TEACHING EVERYONE WITH ALL WISDOM, SO THAT WE MAY PRESENT EVERYONE AS MATURE IN CHRIST. I LABOR FOR THIS, STRIVING IN HIS STRENGTH THAT WORKS POWERFULLY IN ME”. Colossians 1:28-29

THIS WORLD MAY SEEM LIKE ALL YOU NEED IN LIFE, BUT THEIR IS SO MUCH MORE. IMAGINE GIVING YOUR LIFE TO FOLLOW SOMEONE WHO DIED, SO THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE LIFE IN PARADISE FOR ALL ETERNITY…..I’VE MADE MY CHOICE….AND LIFE IS SO GOOD !!!

BE BLESSED AND LOOK A LITTLE HARDER. YOU JUST MIGHT FIND OUT WHO YOU REALLY ARE :) JA