Lifetime Daily DevotionsSample

That's Who I Am?

God's home is holy and clean,

and you are that home. - 

I Corinthians 3:17b (TLB)

 

The defeating thoughts kept coming - one right after the other:

 

 I made a huge mess of our weekend. I didn't do any of the things I had said I would do and did every thing I said I would not do! What must they think of me after that horrible performance! How long will it take to cover all of the mistakes I made! What a loser I am!

 

Now wait just a minute. I stop and think, that's not right! No, I wasn't Ms. Congeniality, but that's putting too much emphasis on one weekend! So I analyze what's going on and my careful analysis shows me that I wasn't thinking that way at all! The Deceiver has deceived me![1] He's the culprit! Those thoughts came from him! He is unrelenting in his plan to destroy me and my relationship with Jesus and he has just done a super job of coaxing me to the depths of depression and seeing myself as a total failure! Okay. I blew it because of stress and circumstances beyond my control, but that's not the end of the story by a long shot! I have tomorrow! And Christ living through me can smooth these troubled waters.

            It is absolutely essential that I KNOW who I am and realize the Power that lives within me. Do I always act like who I really am? No. There will probably be a "weekend bust" every so often, but that doesn't negate my true identity. This is a learning process. You don't learn to fly an airplane with two or three hours of instruction. It takes a long time to earn your flying credentials and I am in the process of earning my "flying credentials" as a new creature in Christ while I am enrolled in the University of Earth.

            Do I have any other option? Yes. Chill. Cut myself some slack. Quit listening to those critical reviews and accept the "second chance" clause that we have in our covenant with Jesus. Remember that our agreement with Him is not a contract. It is a covenant. A contract can be broken or nullified or ignored. It is impossible to break a covenant or to nullify it. We may ignore it, but that's a short-term, temporary choice because our Covenant is a lifelong, eternal relationship.

            So I didn't come through like gangbusters and everyone was aware of my poor performance. I'm not proud of it, I'm sad about it, but I can't undo what has been done. What I must do now is allow Christ to encourage me, to love me, to give me His wise plan for undoing what I did. And He will do just that! Furthermore, He will follow through on His plan for me - performing through me. You can't beat that arrangement! Thank You Lord for bailing me out again!

 

            But you don't know me, Anabel! This is not who I am! I know the real me! Don't I?

 No, not if you're going to beat yourself up over the episode. Yes, you were wrong. But you are God's home and you are holy and clean. Believe that - and start acting like who you are holy and clean. Believe that--and start acting like who you are. [2]

 

What an "out" we have! That's all part of the good news God gave us through His Son, our amazing Jesus. Too good to be true? Oh, but it is!

[1] John 8:44, II John 1:7, Revelation 12:10

[2] Galatians 2:20