Who Do You Think You Are?

This morning we were talking about the many times we be come involved in actions, reactions and just plain crummy thinking in our lives because of circumstances that happen. Whether they are of our own doing or not, when we fall into temptation or experience hard times, our minds go places we don't really want to go but we go there anyway. We wallow in self-pity or grumble in displeasure and judgment.


The enemy plays on these times of opportunity for his own pleasure and we help him by cooperating with him. In the process we undo ourselves and others around us. We work out of fear, anger and disgust and say and do things we really ought not to be saying and doing. We bring shame to ourselves and the name of our God. Our behavior is unbecoming of a Saint and a disciple.

I believe that at times like that we have just plain forgotten the most important truths of who we are and who God is. We act as if there is no relationship with God about our lives and display a character that denys any power or might for overcoming these circumstances, easily snuffed out, through faith and acknowledgment of who we are in Christ. We can remember who we are and act accordingly.

Of course, you should consider the position that you are in with God. That is, do you love him and keep his commandments? If so he says you are his. And if that is true, if God dwells in you and you belong to him then these statements are true for you.

You are loved - 1John 3:1-3

"See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God's children---and so, in fact, we are. This is why the world does not know us: it has not known God. My dear friends, we are now God's children, but it is not yet clear what we shall become. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is. Everyone who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure, just as Christ is pure."

You are accepted - Ephesians 1:5-10

"God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children---this was his pleasure and purpose. Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son! For by the blood of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God, which he gave to us in such large measure! In all his wisdom and insight God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head."

You are a child of God - John 1:12-13

"Some, however, did receive him and believed in him; so he gave them the right to become God's children. They did not become God's children by natural means, that is, by being born as the children of a human father; God himself was their Father."

You are Jesus' friend - John 15:14-16

"And you are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father. You did not choose me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of him in my name."

You are a joint heir with Jesus, sharing His inheritance with Him -

Romans 8:15-17

"For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba, Father! The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; so that if we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together."

 You are united with God and one spirit with Him - 1Corinthians 6:17

"But the person who unites himself with the Lord becomes one spirit with him."

You are a temple of God. His spirit and his life live in YOU - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God; he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God's glory.

 You are a member of Christ's body. - 1 Corinthians 12:27

"Now you are Christ's body and individual parts of it."

You are a Saint - Ephesians 1:1

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus . . . "

You are redeemed and forgiven - Colossians 1:14

"In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

You are complete in Jesus Christ - Colossians 2:8-12

"Beware lest anyone rob you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in whom also you were raised through the faith of the working of God, raising Him from the dead."

You are free from condemnation - Romans 8:1

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death."

 You are a new creation because You are in Christ - 2Corinthians 5:16-18

"So then, from now on we do not think of anyone from a human point of view. Even if we did think of Christ from a human point of view, we don't think of him that way any more. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and-look!-all things have become new! All of this comes from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation."

You are chosen of God, holy and dearly loved - Colossians 3:10-14

"and have clothed yourselves with the new man, which is being renewed into full knowledge according to the image of the one who created it. Where this happens, there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free person. Instead, Christ is all and in all. Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  Put up with one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, you also should forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which ties everything together in unity."

You are established, anointed, and sealed by God - 2Corinthians 1:20-21

"It is God himself who makes us, together with you, sure of our life in union with Christ; it is God himself who has set us apart, who has placed his mark of ownership upon us, and who has given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the guarantee of all that he has in store for us."

You do not have a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind - 2Timothy 1:7-8

"For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore you should not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,"

You are God's co-worker - 2Corinthians 6:1

"In our work together with God, then, we beg you who have received God's grace not to let it be wasted."

You are seated in heavenly places with Christ - Eph 2:4-7

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us (even when we were dead in sins) has made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved), and has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,so that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."
You have direct access to God - Ephesians 2:18

"It is through Christ that all of us, Jews and Gentiles, are able to come in the one Spirit into the presence of the Father. So then, you Gentiles are not foreigners or strangers any longer; you are now citizens together with God's people and members of the family of God. You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, the cornerstone being Christ Jesus himself."

You are chosen to bear fruit - John 15:16

"You did not choose me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of him in my name."

You are one of God's living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house - 1 Peter 2:5

"Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ."

You have been given exceedingly great and precious promises by God by which you share His nature - 2 Peter 1:4

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the full knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. Through these he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, seeing that you have escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires.

You can always know the presence of God because He never leaves you - Hebrews 13:5

"Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for God has said, "I will never leave you or abandon you."

God works in you to help you do the things He wants you to do - Philippians 2:13-16

"And so, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I am absent, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is producing in you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may be blameless and innocent, God's children without any faults among a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world as you hold out the word of life."

You can ask God for wisdom and He will give you what you need - James 1:5

"Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to everyone generously without a rebuke, and it will be given to him."
I especially love this last one since it was shortly after I prayed for wisdom that God opened the door for me to meet a man who God used to change my life. Since then God has revealed many truths to me and shown me who I am in Him. Don't miss the best God has for you. Be alert and remember what God says about you is true. Let every man who denys him and leads you astray be found as a liar. Our God is truth and love. Follow him only. Believe him completely. He loves you.

So, Who do you think you are?