Remember Whose You Are- TRACIE MILES
"Butto all who believed him and
accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12
(NLT)
Because of mistakes in my past, I
spent a lot of years not liking the woman who stared back at me in the mirror.
Maybe you’ve been there, too. Maybe
you’ve even played the "wonder" game, like I did, for far too long.
Wondering who you really
were. Wondering if you were forgivable. Wondering if you were worthy. Wondering
if you were loved by God and others. Wondering if you were lovable. Wondering
if you were beyond repair. Wondering if what someone did to hurt you stole your
value. Wondering if you were a good enough person, wife, mom, employee, boss,
sister, daughter, friend, servant. Wondering if you measured up in any area of
life.
Maybe you still wonder if your life
counts for something beyond your responsibilities and obligations, or if you
were just meant to march through your daily routines with no real purpose or
direction. Maybe you wonder if the lies you hear in your head are true: that
not only does your life not matter to God, but that you probably don’t matter
either.
Today’s key verse is a reminder that
these whispers from the enemy are nothing but lies. We are each royal heirs to
God’s kingdom, but sometimes life gets in the way of that truth. We think we
are either too sinful or too messed up to be loved by a Savior, or that our
past voids our chances of being loved by God, much less useful to Him.
Whether we are the sinner or the
victim of a sinner, shame can slither in and shape the way we see ourselves.
Then it becomes easy for the enemy’s deceptive and damaging schemes to weave a
web of lies deep into our hearts and minds. Gradually, we lose sight of who we
are in Christ, which is exactly what the devil wants us to do.
Satan’s ultimate goal is to get us
to believe the lies, and live them out in our everyday lives, apart from God.
But it is up to us whether he reaches that goal or not. We can thwart his plans
by claiming God’s sovereignty over our hearts once and for all.
It’s possible you have been living
in the shadow of the enemy’s lies, either because of your own mistakes or
because of someone else’s choices to sin against you. I wasted many years
believing the enemy’s lies were absolute truths. When I finally began to
believe I did matter to God, I thwarted the enemy’s plans and began to follow
God’s instead.
If you have been living the lie, too
discouraged to allow yourself to believe how much God loves you, or too ashamed
of your past to accept God’s gift of grace and mercy, let today become the day
you begin seeing yourself in a new light with a new reflection looking back at
you. Be proud of who you see in the mirror, not because of who you are,
but because of Whose you are.
Today’s key verse reminds us that we
are, without question, beloved children of God. As Beth Moore once said, "If
you are not royalty, He is not King." We are rightful heirs to God’s
kingdom — and His love and acceptance. You are a royal and dearly loved
daughter, and He is the King of all kings!
Oh Lord, how I want to break free
from the pain and shame of my past and embrace who I am in You. Cleanse my
heart and mind of the lies I have believed, and transform the reflection I see
in the mirror into a dearly loved child of God. In Jesus’Name, Amen.
TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Psalm 139:14, "Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous — how well I know it." (NLT)
Psalm 139:14, "Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous — how well I know it." (NLT)
Matthew 10:31, "So don’t be afraid; you are more
valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows." (NLT)
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