Worship Devotions

Who do YOU think you are?

Some of the most effective, violent and devastating attacks Satan launches against humanity have to deal with our identity. Why? Because we are made in God’s own image. (Genesis 1:26) Satan hates God and because we bear His likeness, he goes after our identity in an attempt to hurt God. And God does hurt for those who struggle with who they are. If you don’t know who you are, how can you ever know what God wants of you?? How could you ever envision His purposes and plans, your crucial place in His Kingdom? People who misunderstand their true identity do terrible things to themselves and their bodies, changing their identities in an attempt to figure out why they were made. Outside of Christ, any answers they might uncover are hollow and wooden, at best. (Psalm 115:2-8)

People who misunderstand their true identity do terrible things to themselves and their bodies, changing their identities in an attempt to figure out why they were made.

In John chapter 9, the story is told of a man who was born blind. His disciples asked Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus told them the man, who was born into sin was not blind as the result of a specific sinful act but that, “it happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Initially, the blind man’s identity was found in his disability. But Jesus saw his identity as one through whom the works of God would be shown!

Once the man had shown himself in the temple to confirm his healing (according to Jewish law), the Pharisees questioned him about Jesus.…He opened my eyes,” the man said. “If anyone is a worshipper of God and does His will, He hears him….If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” The man spoke with the courage of someone who could at last see himself as Jesus saw him, and it emboldened him to witness and testify to the Pharisees that Jesus was God! It was they who were identifying themselves incorrectly! Their response? 

“They answered him saying, ‘You were completely born in sin. Are you teaching us?’ And they threw him out.” Here’s the thing: The Pharisees did not identify as being “completely” born into sin although the truth was they absolutely had been born completely into sin. (Psalm 51:5) Their identity was in their perfection under the Law and they identified as ceremonially clean. However, Jesus knew they were spiritually unclean. The blind man, who had spent his life identifying as unclean, with his shortcomings and disabilities, finally saw himself as he truly was and as Jesus saw him- literally born to be a witness to the mighty, miracle working power of God! That’s you! That’s me!

Thought for today

If you don’t understand why God made you, who you are to Him and the fullness of His love and compassion toward you, you’ll spend your entire life identifying as someone you are not. You’ll let others tell you who you are and what you should do or how you should look or act. You’ll attack your own image – the image of God – and hate or harm your body and seek approval from others because Satan wants to keep you in blindness. Jesus wants to touch your eyes and show you who you really are and who you were created to be- a living witness to the world that Jesus Christ is Lord! Wherever you are in life, you are called to be a witness for Him. (2 Corinthians 3:2) You were created so that the works of God would be displayed in you! If you don’t understand that identity, you’re probably living as a blind man, letting others treat you as a worthless beggar. Jesus Christ has a purpose for you. Ask Him to touch your eyes and you will see!

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