The Importance of Identity: Is This Important to God?

    Identity is important. It is who we are. Our identity is the qualities, beliefs, characteristics, personality and our expressions. It is the way we think about ourselves. Identity is a huge part of what makes us human. We are not alive without an identity. Is this important to God? The answer is yes. Here are three reasons why identity is important to God.

Reason #1 God is Our Creator

Genesis 1: 1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Not only is God our creator He is the “Creator”. Genesis 1: 26 – 27 shows God as creator of mankind (male and female).
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

There is nothing or anyone that exists outside of God. Out of all God’s creations, His creation of mankind was His best because we are made in His image and after His likeness. There is no other creature on earth made in Him image and after His likeness. Identity is important to God because we mirror His image and likeness. That makes us important and valuable to God. Dominion is a part of our identity because it is one of the ways we are like Him. This is how we identify with His image. When this verse talks about likeness, it talking about man’s moral ability and capacity of obtaining holiness. Unfortunately, the fall of mankind changed all of this. What I find amazing is that God created mankind the same but we are all unique. We are all the same in the sense, that we are all made in His image and likeness. Also, physically we all have two hands, two feet, eyes, etc. We are unique because no one has the same finger print, and all image bearers of God have different personalities, characteristics, traits, etc. If identity was not important to God, He would not have paid so much attention to detail in creating us.

Reason #2 Attention to Detail

Psalm 139 13 – 15
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
In these verses we see God’s hand in forming us in the womb before birth. God making this a priority shows why identity is important to Him. In one translation the first part of verse 13 says, “For thou hast possessed my reins”. Reins means the kidneys and then it denotes the inward parts. The mind, the soul, the seat of the desires, affections, and passions. God is and was intentional when creating us while in the wombs of our mothers. Not just the physical body but things where the identity dwells the mind, soul, seat of desires etc. Sadly, the fall of man affect all of this as well. Mankind now desires to identify themselves outside of God. When scriptures say in John 5:15, “apart from God we are nothing”. However, God original intent was for us to have our identity in Him through Jesus Christ.

Reason 3# We Are Christ’s Ambassadors (Representatives)
2 Corinthians 5: 19 – 21
19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

For every believer in Jesus Christ our identity is important to God because we represent Him as His ambassadors. What is an ambassador? An ambassador is a diplomatic official of the highest rank, sent by one sovereign or state to another as its resident representative. In other words, an ambassador represents his country and when he says something it is as though his country is speaking. Every believer is a representative of God and His Kingdom. We represent Him in character, deeds, what we say, and how we carry ourselves. We speak on behalf of God. Now, this is an enormous responsibility. We as fallen human being cannot speak on behalf of God or represent Him. This is why we had to be given a new nature or a new identity because we no longer represent ourselves, we represent Christ. We have been given the Holy Spirit (God’s Spirit) who empowers us to accomplish this awesome responsibility. We have also been given a message which is be reconciled to God. In other words, we were estranged from God because our sin. That estrangement has ended because of the Jesus’s death on the cross and resurrection. Jesus’s blood was shed so that we may have right standing and relationship with God.

Identity is important to God because as creator He was very meticulous in creating us with such care and love. We the undeserving, God allows us to be his ambassador’s as well. Knowing who we are should be important to us as well because it is important to God.

Three Practices To Grow In Jesus Christ

Thee Practices To Grow In Jesus Christ

 

God’s will is that we grow in Jesus, become more like Him (Romans 8:29), and live a life that pleases Him. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9-10 )

This is an ongoing work of the Spirit of God in our lives; however, we co-labor with God and or not idle bystanders in the growth process. We have a responsibility as Christian to put into practice some things that help us grow in Jesus. God has given us instruction in His word what we are to practice to contribute to our growth in Him.

Three Practices God’s Word Instructs Us To Do To Grow In Jesus Christ

1. Pray and ask God for His help to grow in Jesus Christ

We are instructed to pray without ceasing (2 Thessalonians 5:17). Praying helps us not to faint but to keep doing good and that is a part of growing in Jesus Christ. Growing in Christ is work of the Holy Spirit working in us to will and do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). He began the good work in us and will complete it until Christ comes (Philippians 1:6). We cannot grow in Jesus in our own strength. Trying to do so with mere human strength and will is sure to cause discouragement and frustrate God’s grace within us. God can do far more in us by the working of His power in us in a minute than we can try doing ourselves in a lifetime. Praying to God for help, about our feelings, desires, and struggles is necessary. Life can be difficult at times. We experience ups and downs, along with temptations. We will always need guidance, stumble at times, feel confused sometimes, and go through things. This is a part of life. The devil is our enemy and will try to use whatever He can to trip us up in any way BUT GOD is greater and is always with us, lives within us, and is able and willing to help us. Going to God with all our needs, faults, struggle, pain, concerns, temptations, setbacks is the only way to avoid stumbling and staying down when we do stumble or to avoid stumbling in the same areas repeatedly. We can go to Him, repent, get instruction, get healing and help to get up when we mess up, keep going, and growing.  We can get better and do better. With God we do get better and do better. Praying helps us grow in Jesus.

 

2. Read the Bible

How else will we know the truth about God, His ways, and how He wants us to live, and His promises to us if we do not learn? We can’t rely on other’s beliefs and opinions about God. We must learn for ourselves with the Holy Spirit leading and guiding us into all truth. We don’t want to be misled and there is a lot of error out in the world that will stunt our growth in Christ. The word of God is able to instruct us in who God (Father/Jesus/The Holy Spirit) is, God’s ways, thoughts, how we are to live, and God’s promises to us – All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We can read the bible to learn the truth and ask God to help us grow accordingly and apply His word in our daily lives.
 3. Fellowship/Assemble with other Believers In Christ.

Who we hang out with on a constant basis will influence us whether for good or bad. No one is exempt. Healthy Christian fellowship and worshiping together is encouraged in scripture –  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25). Fellowship and times of worship with fellow believers in Christ contributes to our growth, encourages us, and helps with us being accountable. The devil likes when we are isolated, alone, and/or constantly around unbelievers alone so he can lie to us and get us caught up in worldly ways. When we are attending worship services with each other and have Christian friends to talk and fellowship with we are often refreshed and sharpen each other. We can also go to each other for prayer and get Godly counsel when we need it. This in turn helps us to grow in the Lord.

These three points are not exhaustive but general. Personally God may have you to do some other things regarding relationships, practices, and pursuits to contribute to your growth in Jesus. This means we all have to go to Him to learn what it is He is asking of us to grow in Him. I pray this information helps you.

 

Thanks for Reading, God Bless You,

Samantha

 

 

Knowing God through the “I am” Statements in the Bible.

My Hearts desire in this season of my life is to know God more. I believe the Holy Spirit is leading me to study the “I am” statements in the bible. I believe that the Holy Spirit is allowing me to share with you some of the things He is showing me about Himself through this study. This study is helping me, and I hope it helps and sparks a desire to know God in a deeper way.

“I AM THAT I AM” (EHYEH ASHER EHYEH)
The first “I am” statement that I see in scripture is in Exodus 3:13,14. “I AM THAT I AM”. This is what God said to Moses when asked what is your name and who will I say sent me? For those who are not familiar with God, Moses, and the people of Israel, here is a little background. The Israelites (God chosen people) were made slaves and heavily oppressed by the Egyptian’s. Moses who was also an Israelite was chosen by God to deliver His people out of Egyptian bondage. However, when God called Moses to deliver His people he was far from Egypt and hiding because He had killed an Egyptian taskmaster for beating up on one of his people. Moses got married and started another life for himself. He was keeping the flock of father-in-law Jethro when God appears to him in the form of a burning bush but the bush was not consumed by the fire. God tells Moses I am sending you to Pharaoh so you can bring my people out of Egypt and out of bondage. Here is the text where we see God describe Himself:

Exodus 3:10-14
10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” 13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'”
In this text Moses in some form was asking God what is your name? What if they ask me what is your name? “I AM WHO I AM” In Hebrew it is “EHYEH ASHER EHYEH” was God’s response. Tell them the “I AM” has sent you. In other words, tell them the self-existent, self-sufficient, has sent you. In this response I learned something about the God we serve. In that name God says, I am self-existent no one has created me. There was no one before me, and there is no one after me. God is the beginning, the end and everything in between. Genesis 1:1 says it in the first four words, “In the beginning God. Our human minds cannot fully understand this. However, by faith we believe it and accept it.

I want to quote an article from an author that I do not know. However, what was written was profound concerning the self-sufficiency of God:
Only God is self-sufficient, because he does not need from nothing or anyone. He doesn’t need life, because he is the Life; he does not need provisions; he is the Provider; he doesn’t have a beginning, because he exists from before the beginning. The self-sufficiency of God is part of his nature.
Our God lacks nothing. He does not need to ask permission to do anything. When God needs something to happen all He has to do is speak it and it appears. This is powerful, God is all powerful.

I AM WHO I AM, The self-existent, and self-sufficient God is the God that we serve.

The Anointing

The Anointing (precious Holy Spirit) is every Christians’  helper, comforter, advocate, and teacher. He is the one that convicts us of sin, leads and guides us into all truth, brings things to our remembrance, advocates for us, intercedes for us, helps us, and empowers us to be Christ’s witnesses. The Anointing destroys the yokes and lifts the burdens off us as well.

 

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. ( John 16:8 ESV)

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.  (John 14:26)

But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (1 John 2:27)

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26)

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. (Isaiah 10:27)

We do not have to, and quite frankly we cannot, rely on our own intuition, human strength, and human know how to accomplish and carry out anything God calls us to do. Nor can we deliver our selves from any besetting sin or handle life situations in a Godly way which glorifies Him, on our own.

Any struggle we face with sin and with various life situations which try to entrap us, weigh us down, oppress us and discourage us will not overtake us. We can be assured that the Anointing/Holy Spirit helps us through.  He comforts us, frees us, teaches us, uplifts and encourages us, advocates for us, and prays/intercedes for us according to will of God.

As we are trusting God’s Holy Spirit to work this out in our life, we must co labor with God in the name of Jesus endeavor to:

• remain in prayer/seeking God’s face and heart daily
• read God’s Word (The Holy Bible)
• hear God’s Voice
• resist the devil
• submit to God
• obey God
• assemble and fellowship with other believers

and this too, the Anointing which is the Holy Spirit – God in the third person, helps us to live out. 

We are the helped ones. Jesus did not leave us comfortless and without help. The Anointing is with us and in us. We are empowered. We are anointed by the Anointing.

Go forth anointed ones, praying and praising, thanking God, for this is already done In Jesus Name! Only Believe! Be Encouraged!

Thanks For Reading and God Bless You,

 

Samantha Ann Waring-Jolicoeur

 

 

 

Trusting God With Not Trusting Him

It Seems Like an Oxymoron

Written By Samantha Ann Waring-Jolicoeur

     I’m learning from God that there are different levels of maturity in trusting Him. I admit I don’t always trust God the way that I think I do and hope that I will when situations occur. Some situations I do and then there are times I find that it can be difficult. It is not until I am faced with those extremely trying situations, that I see where my trusting God is wanting and needs to be developed. That is when I hear His Holy Spirit reminding me of the verse Lord I believe help thou my unbelief (Mark 9:24). This gives me some comfort and relief from the sadness I feel at the sight of my heart’s failure to trust Him like I should. Then comes my repentance “Sorry Lord, I don’t trust you with this (whatever the situation may be)”. Thank God that He knows, He already knew before I did that my heart would waver, and He readily forgives me. I am also reminded that He transforms us from glory to glory and that means there is always room for growth in the area of trusting Him. He is invested in developing trust in Him in various areas, thus the good work He began continues.

     I use to be so quick to feel ashamed and horrible when I didn’t trust God and take Him at His word when disappointment, hardship, and/or adverse situations transpired. To me it was a very grave offense because I know that God can do anything, is perfect, and with Him all things are possible. I’ve experience some ups and downs in the trusting God department and know I will in the future. I think it is all a part of growth and understanding that my heart and flesh will fail, but God is the strength of my heart and life. Now my perspective is quite different. I know I will mature in trusting Him and there is no need to feel hopeless or despair over falling short when it comes to trusting Him.  This leads me to these questions. What if I told you, that uttering Lord I believe help thou my unbelief demonstrates some level of trust? What if I told you that confessing to God that you don’t fully trust Him shows a measure of trust in Him? I say it seems like an oxymoron. I believe this confession shows trust and in and of itself is a part of pouring out one’s heart to Him. Psalm 62:8 states:

Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.

The Contemporary English Version reads:

Trust God, my friends, and always tell him each of your concerns. God is our place of safety.

     Here we read the psalmist admonishing the people to trust God at all times, to pour out their hearts to God (share the concerns of their heart) and encouraging them that God is a place of safety. This gives me great comfort knowing I can tell God anything, even my deep concern that I am failing Him at the aforementioned admonishment before pour out your heart before Him, which is to Trust in Him at All Times. In other words, my prayer may sound something like this “God I am sorry I am not trusting you right now. I have trust issues and I have trust issues with you. Please help me. Lord I believe. Remove from me unbelief.” Yes, it takes some measure of trust to admit such an offense to God. Why would I not trust Him? Is He not worthy of trusting? Yes, He is and therefore I should be trusting Him, but my heart has failed Him. Oh! but my friend, He indeed understands why. He knows the past trust issues, previous disappointments, pain, suffering, feelings of fear, and distress associated with the situation, that causes my heart to go awry and not trust Him in that moment. Still His loving hand keeps it, towards trusting Him, and heals the hidden wounds that causes mistrust to emerge in grievous moments.

     God is a safe place for us to pour out our confessions and concerns whatever they may be, even the ones of unbelief and mistrust and indeed, all trust is not lost. If you are experiencing trust issues with God, don’t despair. He understands and you can repent of the mistrust and talk with him about it. He does not despise your affliction of the heart. He is near to the broken hearted and save those contrite of spirit (Psalm 34:18). Deeper trust is being developed when feeling of mistrust is confessed. God and you can get to and deal with the underlying causes of mistrust. He is the one that teaches us to trust Him and births sustaining trust in Him deep within our hearts (part of growing in a relationship – learning to trust Him). Also keep it mind, this is a life long journey of growing and getting to know God. We never arrive on this side of glory. There will always be room for growth in the area of trusting God. God is not caught of God by your shortcomings and your inability to trust Him and in and of yourself. He is invested in teaching you and I how to always trust Him because He indeed is trust worthy.  

Be Encouraged In Christ,

Samantha Ann Waring-Jolicoeur