Who I Am in Christ – Confessions

My Position in Christ

1. I am of the seed of Abraham by adoption, therefore I am part of God’s covenant with Abraham and therefore I receive Abraham’s blessing. Gen 12:3, Gal 3:8,9,29.

2. I am a “son” of God (son denotes male or female and is the position of first born son therefore an heir to the father’s estate – not a servant as a servant has no right to the inheritance but a son does. Rom 8:14-16, Col 1:12, Col 3:12, Eph 1:14.

3. Because I am a “son” I am an heir of the Father, I am a joint-heir with the Son. Whatever He has is at our disposal (and our Father is not poor, He holds the wealth of the universe in the palm of His hand). There is no need He cannot meet if we are not too proud to receive it.

Rom 8:17.

4. Because we are born into God’s family we are a brand new race – born of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God. 1 Peter 1:23.

5. I am a new creature. 2 Cor 5:17.

6. I am the Head and not the tail – I am above and not beneath. Deut 20:13, 28:13.

7. I am the elect. Col 3:12.

8. I am a priest of the King. 1 Peter 2:5, 9

My Value and Worth

1. I am the apple of my Father’s eye. Psm 17:8, Zech 2:8. I am special – His Favorite. If I am in right standing (i.e. I chose life - to obey) His favour will chase after and pursue me.

2. My soul is priceless and worth more than all the treasure of the earth. Psm 49:8-9. The only thing that can ransom a soul is the most precious and costly thing in the whole universe, which is Jesus’s blood therefore I am of extreme worth as I have been bought with the highest price.

1 Pet 1:18-19, Luke 12:7.

3. I am constantly in my Father’s thoughts. Psm 139:17-18, 115:12, Isah 49:16, Jer 1:5, Zep 3:17-18.

I am Loved by my Father with an Everlasting & Unconditional Love

God Is Love, His very essence and nature is love. He loves us more than we can ever imagine or think. Eph 3:18, 1 Pet5:17, Jer 31:3, 1 Thess 1:4, Rom 8.

My Future

1. God’s plans for me are for good and not evil. Jer 29:11, Psm 138:8.

2. My future is to be with God in my Father’s house, I am a citizen of heaven. I will rule and reign with Christ forever.


CHRIST IS IN ME THE HOPE OF GLORY Col 1:27

Casting Your Cares

CASTING YOUR CARES

1 Pet 5:7 Amp “Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” [Ps 55:22]

What does it mean to cast all your cares on Him? Are we not even allowed to entertain one little moment of worry or concern? Not if we want peace! But how do we do this? It’s far easier said than done, that is for sure! There are many things in life’s journey that cause us anxiety, worry and fear and that’s just ordinary life – but what about this moment of time in history – this extraordinary period of time that man has never experienced before, where we face an incredible onslaught of evil in every facet of society, as well as famines, floods and increased natural disasters. How do we keep peace of mind in the midst of all that?[1] I believe the key is found in three simple principals:-

THREE KEYS TO THE PATH OF PEACE

1. Trust in God’s love, goodness, wisdom, power and sovereignty.
2. Surrender of control.
3. Hope and expectation (that things will change).

Trust- The key lies in what or whom we put our trust and hope in? If all your hope and trust is in a person or an institution or your money or your education or in a job, none of these things are stable and can crumble right before our eyes (just as the house built on the sand crumbles in the midst of a storm Matt 7:24-27). So how do we truly trust Him with every aspect of our lives from the smallest things to the really big things? The more we develop our relationship with Him, the more we begin to learn of His incredibly deep love for us, the more we understand that He never intends evil for us but has only good, a hope and a bright future planned for us (Jer 29:11) the stronger our trust in Him grows.

Surrender - It all boils down to one word surrender! Surrendering our lives over to Him. When we are truly willing to let go control and allow God to do it His way – no matter how confusing, strange and sometimes very slow it seems. We can make the choice – a decision right now to cast our cares on Him “once and for all”. When you are not in control of something you don’t have the responsibility for it do you? So when a situation comes along to torment you with fear and worry just remind yourself I am not the one in control here therefore I am not responsible for fixing this problem am I? Or turn it the other way round - when you slip into fear and anxiety become aware that you have now taken back control, confess this and surrender the control back to Him (casting your care over to Him). What a burden and weight releasing mechanism this is – no wonder Jesus said take My yoke for it is easy and light (Matt 11:28-30).

Hope - Zech 9:12 Amp “…you prisoners of hope; even today do I declare that I will restore double your former prosperity to you.”

As someone said “real hope is a constant positive attitude that no matter what is happening currently, things will change for the better. Satan cannot defeat a person who refuses to stop hoping in God. Become a prisoner of hope, someone who absolutely refuses to be negative, and get ready to receive a double blessing for your former trouble.”

Without hope we are lost in the pit of despair! Without hope we shall surely die. Remember there is always light at the end of the tunnel, the darkest night always has an end, there is a silver lining behind every cloud, the sun will always shine it’s just the clouds that are blocking it from our view. So it is with God’s love which is everlasting and never failing, and always shining, it’s just sometimes we cannot feel or see it! It’s in these moments we need to hold onto hope with the tenacity of a bulldog[2] – knowing that the dawn of a new day is just around the corner! It is just one more step away!


CHALLENGE PUT IT TO WORK

When worry, anxiety and fear attack you ask yourself these questions.

1. Does God love me? Does He have a good plan for my life? Does He know what is best for me? Is He all powerful, all knowing and all sufficient? Is He able to supply all my needs? Is He big enough to handle any problem in my life?

2. Who has control over this situation? Is it me or is it God? Am I willing right now to confess and give back the control to Him? (PS If you are in control – good luck to you – you have a long hard struggle ahead!!)

3. Will I hold onto hope and make a decision right now to be a prisoner of hope and to never let it go? (be a bulldog!).

If we truly follow this a hugh burden and weight will be removed and peace and joy will begin to flow in our lives once again (as it did when we were children). We will be free to live our lives as God intended – free of worries – free to enjoy life – free to love.

“…And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture” Malachi 4:2

[1] A footnote to all Zimbabweans. We live under extremely stressful, confusing and worrying times right now! But what we are facing now is what the rest of the world will face shortly. So an encouraging word here – we have the opportunity right now to put this into practice and be experienced warriors of peace by the time the rest of the world is in turmoil.
[2] My bulldog (never let go) hope for Zimbabwe. “The first shall be last and the last shall be first” (Matt 19:30) Zimbabwe is the last on every conceivable world list, but one day we will be FIRST!

Live Life in the Present

Don’t live life in the past! All of us have made mistakes and regret a lot of things we have done and not done in the past, but will that change it? No the past is gone and finished forever, never to be visited again! So why dwell on it all the time, rather – “don’t be disturbed about your past – it is forgiven[1] and forgotten. Shake off the past once and for all. Do not partake of it any longer! Lay a wreath there and put it to rest! It is dead and over!” If we hang onto the past we cannot grow and move forward. We can become so focused on past regrets, things that didn’t work out or people that have hurt us that we can miss the gift of today – each day is a new day and God has new things in stall for you! But if your mind is constantly in yesterday we will never enjoy this day as we should. It is even important not to stay focused on past accomplishments and victories as this can steal the new victories God has for you. Live in this moment Ecc 5:4 “give your mind to what you are doing” that means don’t live in yesterday and don’t live in tomorrow focus on right now!

What about the future – are we to partake of that in the present? No!! That is the main cause of anxiety, frustration and confusion if we try to plan the future today! Not one of us knows what lies ahead of us and it is foolishness to think we know how to plot our future? I’m not saying that we shouldn’t make wise decisions, have goals and plan and prepare for our future – yes but we must not waste too much time there! We are not given to see the whole road ahead of us (thank goodness!) for most of us would faint with fear, but we are given enough light for a few meters at a time (just as a vehicle’s light only show the road just ahead of you – you travel that 50m then you see the next 50m) and so it is in life. God never intended for us to see too far ahead mainly because what we would see would overwhelm us and secondly we would never learn to trust and lean on Him!

If we spend our time worrying and trying to figure everything out it will steal the joy and energy that was meant for today. Worry doesn’t accomplish anything positive. God can only work in your life where there is faith – faith is simply trusting, believing that God is in control and that He will work out everything ultimately for our good (Rom 8:28). Most of the things we worry about never come to pass. Mark Twain said “I’ve been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened” Jesus said “Don’t worry about tomorrow it will take care of itself (Matt 6:34). No live each day for today for tomorrow has enough worries of its own! Our attitude should be, this day is a gift, I’m not going to waste time worry about tomorrow - it may not come - and I’m not going to focus on yesterday – that ended last night – this is a new day and I’ll make the most of it and enjoy it today – I’ll stay in the present! Children have mastered this truth, they always live in the present. They get over disappointments quickly, they never hold onto grudges and they don’t worry about the future – they are just happy with no cares (they leave the worrying up to their parents) and so it should be with us what joy and peace we would have if we completely trusted our Father with our pasts and our futures!!


[1] If you have asked God to forgive you through the blood of Jesus your sins are forgiven and forgotten (as if they never happened) and if God has forgotten them what right do you have to remember them ( return to your vomit!!!) But also remember you will give an account for any un-confessed sins. Isah 1:18, 43:18,25, 44:22, Psm 103:12, Jer 31:34, Micah 7:19, Phil 3:13, 1John 1:9.

My Choice

What makes man different to animals? God gave man a free will - CHOICE!


We can choose how we live - we can choose life or death - blessing or cursing!!


We can choose to love and not hate

We can choose to have peace and not fear

We can choose to have joy and not sorrow

We can choose to have faith and not doubt

We can choose to be kind and not harsh

We can choose to be cheerful and not grumpy

We can choose to be givers and not be greedy

We can choose to walk in forgiveness and not bitterness

We can choose to walk in humbleness and not pride

We can choose to walk in hope and not despair

We can choose to walk in mercy and not cruelty

We can choose to walk in freedom and not condemnation and guilt

We can choose to walk in gratitude and thanks and not complaints and negativity!


I can choose to cast my cares upon Him or I can choose to carry the burden and heavy load myself. I can choose to speak positive and encouraging words, words of hope (life) or I can choose to speak negative, critical, judgemental and slanderous words that will kill, destroy and maim (death).

How can we then blame God for how our lives turn out when all along it was our choice which path we tread? If we choose to follow the path of unforgiveness it will most assuredly and definitely lead down a road of death, self destruction, torment, depression and isolation. But don't blame God for where you are, it was YOUR CHOICE!

For unlike animals God gave us a free will - the right to choose because He wanted an intimate relationship and friendship with us. This kind of closeness cannot be forced - for it to be real there has to be willingness on both sides. God is more than willing - He gave the best part of Himself - His only Son to us and all He wants from us is to CHOOSE HIM and His ways!

Challenge (Put it to work)

Lets take one of the above joy and put it into practice. Next time you feel depressed first check to see what is the root of your depression (it could be because of strife, unforgiveness, anger, anxiety, worry, disappointment, fear) deal with the root then choose happiness and say to yourself "I will be joyful" - I will think of and focus on all the good things in my life - I will be grateful and thankful for so many blessings in my life.

What about unforgiveness, next time someone offends or hurts you, you can choose and decide to forgive that person or you can dwell and meditate on that offence! Think of a bulbous weed, when it is young it is easy to pull up but the longer it is left to grow the harder it is to pull and uproot that weed as the root grows deeper and deeper! And so it is with unforgiveness the longer you dwell on the hurt the harder it is to uproot and it will continue to grow into bitterness, resentment and anger.

Then there is fear, anxiety and worry which we all face today! It is a known fact that these are the root causes of certain diseases. We can choose not to allow fear into our lives, we can choose to cast our cares on Him for He careth for you! We can choose to trust Him with our lives (even and especially when things look hopeless).