Amidst the Stillness
Once during bible study, the question was asked,” What do normal Christian people think about? “Sarcastically, with grace, it depends on, “who you are” as far as your uniqueness? Now, for me "normal" should be used loosely because we all have our own little distinctive unique aspects of ourselves, and I truly believe a lot of us struggle in the world today with the words, “who am I”?
A majority of us claim to be born again Christians. But what makes it so hard to take these claims seriously? Perhaps many think they are Christians because they once confessed Christ in the past and that’s enough? So, Is it a new day? Or perhaps a day based on life that’s repeating itself? Like me are you doing the same things that you did last week? Performing actions that give the minimum that just gets you by. After all, you have done all this before. If you are just going through the motions of boredom, you may need to change your ritual of wasting your time. As the expression goes, in our daily lives is there enough evidence to convict us of being Christians? Think about your answer to this question. Is it to get rid of all “outward things and focus just on “spiritual” things? No, the big problem with that. As humans we are physical as well as spiritual. We don’t just learn things by thinking; we learn by doing. We don’t just add to our knowledge by ideas, but by experiences that add up to the motions of, “who am I” in Christ.
According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” we are regenerated, renewed, and born again, and this new creation is spiritually minded, whereas the old nature is carnally minded. So does the new nature fellowships with God, obeys His will, and is devoted to His service? You ever met someone new, and they ask probing questions trying to establish who your identity is. For me they look at my physique and then they response, “where did you play at”? In Christ we are adopted, justified, redeemed, reconciled, and chosen. In Christ we are victorious, filled with joy and peace, and granted true meaning in life.
If you identify yourself as more than one alphabet, does it leave you with a feeling of neglect for your other ABC parts? Leaving you with lovey milk toast thoughts like, “are they trying to throw dirt on my other “essential” nuts and bolts of me. Stressing the drama as “a spoon full of sugar”; hearing voices that echo or imply that strange,” Mary Poppins mindset, an agent of moral self-change?” Retorting, “Don’t they know I’m a former feel in the blank. Leaving us with the question, Do we as Christians no longer prefer to love, vs our sin? We wonder why we so often do not live in the manner described, even though we have given our lives to Christ and are sure of our salvation. This is because our new natures are residing in our old fleshly bodies, and these two are at war with one another.
In fact, we hate the impurity within us and engage in a spiritual battle to defeat it. Maybe God is urging us to practice our faith? That involves both what we do and help other people and what we do to work on our relationship with God.
Praise the Lord, we have the victory in Christ: “The word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2{14).
When we are excited, afraid, worried, or elated, we tend to chew over our conversations or actions we either participated in or wish we hadn’t. We may have spells of overthinking when we are engaged in a major transitional thought, such things as political identity, diversity requirements; starting a diet or even what we tithe to the church. Maybe your, who I am identity comes from a disease or condition you have?
Part of the problem goes all the way back to the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods. Anything we put our fear, love, and trust in more than God becomes an idol. And no idol can hold up to that kind of pressure. Our idols will let us down, and then we’re left with a broken who identity.
One way to avoid overthinking this worldly identity subject is to incorporate Scripture and prayer into one’s thoughts as we join Jesus on his mission. The psalmists give us excellent examples of this Psalm 94:19 says, “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.”
One way to avoid overthinking this worldly identity subject is to incorporate Scripture and prayer into one’s thoughts as we join Jesus on his mission. The psalmists give us excellent examples of this Psalm 94:19 says, “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.”
The plethora of details about who we are in Christ, whom we belong to and our purpose, can be spoken in declarations as " I am a child in Christ?" that’s with you daily. So, what does that mean? Should It consume our thoughts for a short normal time? Or Thinking about it daily and giving it to the lord in prayer, with study and action which is good, but overthinking can turn a simple God honoring matter into an overly complex one.
"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
Today, let us celebrate and remember God just didn’t go through the motions with us, He sent His Son Jesus into this world to live a whole life in our place and then die a death for us. That is what frees us to know who we are and do the motions of our faith. It is what Jesus called in our Gospel lesson every day to be a “light” and “salt “of the earth.
When we are in Christ, “we are more than victors through Him that loved us” (Romans man’s 8:37) and can rejoice in our Savior, who makes all things possible (Philippians 4:13). In Christ we are loved, forgiven, and secure. In Christ we are adopted, justified, redeemed, reconciled, and chosen. In Christ we are victorious, filled with joy and peace, and granted true meaning in life. What a wonderful Savior is Christ! That’s Who we are! In discovering or rediscovering or reaffirming your identity in Christ, God opens the door to learning about who you are, what you are called to be as His child, and to embrace the hope for your life in this world and the world to come. Rather, we are God’s church, a community that comes together around His Word to be the body of Christ. This is what God sees as our identity, that is who we are.
God Bless You and This Ministry!
