This post is part of the Write 28 Days Blogging Challenge hosted by Anita Ojeda. Participants choose a category, in which to concentrate throughout the challenge and the host provides a daily writing prompt. You can find me in the Christian Living category of this year’s writing challenge link-up. Be sure to visit other posts while you’re there.
As we work towards developing an identity statement, we’ve employed a few practices to help.
- Prayer for God’s direction and understanding.
- Looking to God’s word for passages describing our position as a child of God.
- Combining both scripture and prayer through the practice of personalization of scripture as prayer.
You are welcome to share how one or all these practices are working for you. Your experience may be helpful to others.
Today, we’ll start to lay the foundation of your identity statement which lies in the character of God.
Clarity & Confidence
Determining an identity statement is not done to fluff and buff your ego so you feel better about yourself. It’s not to cover over what others have told you about how they see you, or what you could improve in your appearance or personality. It’s not an exercise in self-discovery. It’s more like your car windshield defroster (I’m not sure this applies in the warmer climates). It clears the frost so you can see the way forward.
A defroster blows warm air on the inside of the windshield, melting away the frost that developed overnight, impeding your ability to see clearly what’s in front of you. When we turn it on it has to work, or we’re not leaving the driveway.
By realizing your identity is in Christ, and nothing else, you will see the way before you with clarity and confidence.
What are some of the promises of God?
Ephesians 2:8 By grace you are saved through faith.
Deuteronomy 31:6 I will never leave you or forsake you.
Isaiah 41:13-14, Mark 5:36 Do not fear.
Matthew 11:28-29 I will give you rest.
Psalm 32:8 I will counsel you.
John 15:26-27 I will send you a Helper.
Jerimiah 29:11 I have good plans for you.
John 14:27 My peace I give you.
Romans 10:9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Promise: noun, a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen.
The word Promise is a noun. A promise is something real. It is not a pinky promise like those children make.
Before we can develop confidence that anyone’s promises are real before we accept anyone’s promises, don’t we first consider the one who’s making them? Know their values, actions, and integrity. The value of the promise is truly based on the character of the promiser and his or her ability to deliver. Why would I believe a single promise without first knowing the character of the one making it?
We’ll learn more about the character of our Promiser in the next post.
Note: Some promises are conditional, meaning we must do our part to receive the promise, while others are as presented. That’s another topic for another post, but I wanted you to be aware of this distinction as you discover more on your own.
The list above is not all-inclusive, so I encourage you to find more on your own and spend some time meditating on them.
