Showing posts with label video love letters. Show all posts

Monday, April 18, 2011

Finding Your Identity In Christ

Discovering Your Identity in Christ

Self-Image or Your Identity in Christ

Beliefs → Thoughts → Feelings → Experiences
Question: Do you think your identity is your body weight, the size of your nose and feet, the color of your hair, etc.?

Let me ask you three questions on core beliefs?

LIE 1: ‘I’m not good enough’

LIE 3: ‘I am unlovable – loving myself is selfish’

Is your identity the essence of who you are - the spirit part?

Question: Do you think you will live with the same body all your life, or doesn't your body return to dust at the end of life.

Question: Does your spirit man live forever regardless of heaven or hell?

So, why do you get so caught up on the outer side of us instead of paying attention or really going to know the real essence of you?

Note: Our identity as Christians is in Christ. If it is not, it must be in something else—our nationality, family, friends, possessions, and job. We have nothing when all these are removed unless our identity is founded and fixed in Jesus.

Today, there needs to be a better understanding of our identity. The source of these disastrous errors is that rooting ourselves in anything outside of Christ undermines our efforts at obedience or following him.

The problem: When you put your identity to get your needs met through others, you set yourself up in disastrous relationships - putting high expectations on others to meet demands in you sets you up for a lot of disappointment and hurt.

It also sets you up to go horizontally, getting needs met when all you have to do is go up and receive God's love.

Often a person goes into a performance-based life of performance, drivenness and perfection to meet a need. Nothing is ever good enough, and that person develops a lot of self-hatred.

What shapes our identity:

Your past identity

1. Family background: A major part of our identity has been influenced by
the family that we were born into.
2. National background: At the Olympic games, winners often drape the
flag of their nation over their shoulders after they have won their event.
3. Ethnic background: One’s ethnic background can sometimes have a
huge impact on a person’s identity
4. Past life experiences: Your past experiences often have a major part in
determining your sense of personal identity. Including your sinful
activities.

Your identity is more than just these 4 areas of influence. The clothes you wear,
and your hairstyle can be used to develop your identity. Some people change
their identity by joining the army, or changing jobs, or moving to a new location.
We develop our identity by:

--what we value --what we think about
--who we spend time with

EPHESIANS 1:4-5 (MESSAGE)
Long, long ago, he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What the pleasure he took in planning this!)

Your identity is in Christ but how many of you try to find your identity in others - husband, children, job, etc.

(Ephesians 1:1)

Paul knew that he was the Apostle of Christ Jesus! He knew who he was! One of the basic questions of human existence is, "Who am I?" Who am I as a person? What am I? What is my role in life? Who am I in the grand scheme of things?

Self-evaluation

•Honestly describe yourself. How do you really define who you are?

•What aspects of yourself do you dislike?
•Evaluate your answers to the questions above. To what extent are you dependent on external attributes or roles—such as appearance, education, skills, family relationships, and occupation—to describe yourself?

Scriptures Who Am In Christ?

All bible verses (quotes) quoted in NIV

I am accepted...

John 1:12 I am God's child.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

John 15:15 As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ.

I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Romans 5:1 I have been justified.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

1 Corinthians 6:17 I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit.

But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 I have been bought with a price, and I belong to God.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.

1 Corinthians 12:27 I am a member of Christ's body.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Ephesians 1:3-8 I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the world's creation to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, by his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, by the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Colossians 1:13-14 I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 2:9-10 I am complete in Christ.

For in Christ, all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

Hebrews 4:14-16 I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

I am secure...

Romans 8:1 I am free from condemnation.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:28 I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:31-39 I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God.

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughter"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Colossians 3:1-4 I am hidden with Christ in God.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Philippians 1:6 I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:20 I am a citizen of heaven.

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

2 Timothy 1:7 I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

1 John 5:18 I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me.

We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.

I am significant...

John 15:5 I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:16 I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

1 Corinthians 3:16 I am God's temple.

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 I am a minister of reconciliation for God.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Ephesians 2:6 I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 2:10 I am God's workmanship.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 3:12 I may approach God with freedom and confidence.

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who Am I in Christ?

I am a child of God; God is spiritually my Father.

Romans 8:14,15

because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

Galatians 3:26

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus

John 1:12

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

I am a new creation in Christ; old things have passed away and all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

I am in Christ.

Galatians 3:26,28

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

I am an heir with the Father and a joint heir with Christ.

Galatians 4:6.7

Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, " So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

Romans 8:17

Now if we are children, then we are heirs heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

I am reconciled to God and am an ambassador of reconciliation for Him.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

I am a saint.

Ephesians 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

1 Corinthians 1:2

to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ their Lord and ours:

Philippians 1:1

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

I am God's workmanship, created in Christ for good works.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

I am a citizen of heaven.

Ephesians 2:19

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household

Philippians 3:20

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ

I am a member of Christ's body.

1 Corinthians 12:27

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

I am united to the Lord and am one spirit with Him.

1 Corinthians 6:17

But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

I am the temple of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

1 Corinthians6:19

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.

I am a friend of Christ.

John 15:15

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

I am a slave of righteousness.

Romans 6:18

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God

I am the righteousness of God in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

I am enslaved to God.

Romans 6:22

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

I am chosen and ordained by Christ to bear fruit.

John 15:16

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

I am a prisoner of Christ.

Ephesians 3:1

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles

Ephesians 4:1

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

I am righteous and holy.

Ephesians 4:24

and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

I am hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:3

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

I am the salt of the earth.

Matthew 5:13

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness,how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything,except to be thrown out and trampled by men."

I am the light of the world.

Matthew 5:14

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden."

I am part of the true vine.

John 15:1-2

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

I am filled with the divine nature of Christ and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:4

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

I am an expression of the life of Christ.

Colossians 3:4

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved.

Colossians 3:12

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience

1 Thessalonians 1:4

For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you

I am a child of light.

1 Thessalonians 5:5

You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

I am a partaker of a heavenly calling.

Hebrews 3:1

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

I am more than a conqueror though Christ.

Romans 8:37

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

I am a partaker with Christ and share in His life.

Hebrews 3:14

We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first

I am one of God's living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house.

1 Peter 2:5

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

I am a chosen generation, a royal priest hood, a holy nation.

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priest hood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

I am the devil's enemy.

1 Peter 5:8

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

I am born again by the Spirit of God.

John 3:3-6

In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

I am an alien and a stranger to this world.

1 Peter 2:11

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

I am a child of God who always triumphs in Christ and releases His fragrance in every place.

2 Corinthians 2:14

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

I am seated in heavenly places in Christ.

Ephesians 2:6

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus

I am saved by grace.

Ephesians 2:8

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

I am a recipient of every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places

in Christ.

Ephesians 1-6 (The Whole book!)

I am redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

Revelations 5:9

And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."

I am part of the Bride of Christ and am making myself ready of Him.

Revelations 19:7

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.

I am a true worshiper who worships the Father in spirit and in truth.

John 4:24

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.

Traci Morin
Touch of God International Ministries of Healing and Deliverance - Setting the Captives Free

Index Page

Our Father Who Comforts Us - Video Love Letters

Our Father Forgives Sin

Finding Your Identity in Christ

We are created in the image of God

Attributes of God

Becoming Dependent on God

Be Transformed in the Image of Christ

I Love You From God - Video

We Are Created to be a Friend of God - plus Video

Why the Corrupted Thinking where we cannot Trust God

Father God Transforms Us By Transforming the Mind - How To transform the mind

Father God Loves You - See Scriptures

Discover our Root Problems of Not Trusting God

Your Father God Loves You - Audio Player

Our Father Love Letter to His Children - Video Love Letters

Our Father God Happy Thoughts of Us - Video Love Letters

Our Father God's Love Toward's Us - Video Love Letters

Come to the Father - He Loves You - Video Love Letters

By Coach Teresa Morin - Anxious2Victorious Women 12-week program, or

Touch of God International Ministries - a Christian Healing and Deliverance Ministry - Setting the Captives Free from curses

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

God's love for you scriptures

His love for us in scripture

"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:16

"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Romans 5:8-10

"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39

"Whom have I in heaven but You?

And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.

My flesh and my heart fail;

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26

"In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:9-11

"...humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brethren that are in the world.

"But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever." 1 Peter 5:6-11

See also Conversion: Born again into the Body of Christ

His love in us

"Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:5-8

"...that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory..." Ephesians 3:17-21

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

His love through us

"...that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head -- Christ...." Ephesians 4:14-15

"And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

“I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

“...if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ... But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

“...And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?" Luke 6:27-41

"Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things..." 2 Timothy 4:2-5

"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and a good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work." 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

"To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Revelation 1:5-6

His love forever!

"I have set the Lord always before me;

Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will rest in hope. ...

You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:8-9, 11