Identify

identify (verb)
1. to know and say who someone is
2. to find out who someone is
3. to show who someone is
(according to Merriam-Webster's simple definition)

This is exactly what Christ calls us to do in Luke 9.23 "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."

We are so eager to identify with a sports team or a state or country...yet we mask our identity in Christ. We become undercover spies instead of unashamed saints. But Christ calls us to do the opposite. We are to identify with Him, regardless of the culture around us.


1. DENY YOURSELF
To deny is to disown. We are to disown ourselves, giving full ownership rights to God; we represent Him "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" (Romans 13.14) This is a complete change in lifestyle. Denying oneself is an act of humility which is complete opposite to our prideful nature. This does not mean that we should think lowly of ourselves - after all, we were created by God and in the image of God (Genesis 1.27) - but rather to transfer our thoughts to Christ, instead.

If you remember, the first definition of "identify" is listed as "to know and say who someone is." When we disown ourselves, we have the privilege to know God. When we know God, we realize that we have nothing to offer if it isn't through what He has done in and through us, causing us to speak of Him and ridding us of our self-centered nature.

2. TAKE UP YOUR CROSS DAILY
As Jesus carried the cross that should have been ours, He identified Himself with us. The holy God who was big enough to create the heavens and earth and all within it made himself small enough to associate with lowly, sinful people like us (Philippians 2.7-8).

Christ tells us to take up our cross. Our cross is not just an illness, an unsaved spouse, financial trouble, or a stressful job; it is much more than that. We were not all called to die on a cross, but we are all called to be willing. To bear our cross is to simply be willing to pay any price for Christ, even if it means going completely against culture and "the norm." No two people's cross will be the same; the length and intensity will vary, but nonetheless, we are commanded to carry our cross, and carry it DAILY.

3. FOLLOW HIM
To truly identify with Christ, we must also pattern our lives after Him. We can carry our cross, but if we don't follow Christ, the cross becomes unbearable. He is our rest "for my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28).

We cannot come to God on our own terms and in our own time. If we are to serve Him, we are called to follow Him (John 12.26). There is no "grey area" where we can mesh God and the world. We can try to justify anti-Biblical laws as "social acceptance" and claiming to show "no respect of persons." But this is not God's plan. We either give Him all or He doesn't want us: "And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." (Matthew 10.38).


In his book, Forward in the Face of Fear (set to release April 4, 2016), Edgar Feghaly tells of his life and ministry in Lebanon. He gives a good example of how a Christian should view his life, even in a society where identifying with Christ is far from fashionable:

"To me, carrying the cross daily had to do with my identity with Christ. Christ was not popular in His day; He reminded the disciples that He was hated by the world (John 15:18). So I determined not to worry about what the world thought but to be identified with my Saviour. And because I knew those around me were watching me and I realized my life could either be salt and light to show the glory of my Saviour or it could bring reproach to His name, I determined to have a good testimony before the world."

How well do you identify with Christ?

Noisy Blenders

We always have something to do. There is always somewhere we have to be, something to cook, something to clean, something to prepare. Paperwork, bank stuff, the house, food, family, work...the activities that make up our everyday lives.

It seems like we never have time for us. But most importantly - we don't have time for God. Well, actually: we don't MAKE time for God.

Think of the Bible story of Mary and Martha (found in Luke 10.38-42).

I consider myself a Martha. I run everywhere going crazy and don't realize that what I need and what is going to make my life more enjoyable is to sit at Jesus' feet to listen.

God has not put us on this earth to be stressed and to suffer. When he created Adam and Eve, his purpose for them was that they enjoy Him and what He had created.

How then can we enjoy if we are always busy?

We know we need to work, take care of family, do the monotonous things of life, but we allow that to take up too much time in our lives. The stress we put on ourselves of "doing and doing" should not take away the time we have to stop and enjoy the life God has given to us.

Please don't misunderstand me.

I am not saying that we should not do anything. On the contrary. The Bible tells us that if "any would not work, neither should he eat" (2 Thessalonians 3.10). When God created Adam, he told him to care for the garden and to eat and enjoy it: "And the LORD God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." (Genesis 2.15-16).

Working is part of life, but once it takes God's place it turns into sin.

Psalm 46.10 Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

God tells us to have a quiet heart, in peace, trusting in Him. There is so much noise in our lives that we don't hear God. He is not going to yell at us until we listen. We ask Him to help us, to give us the strength and health to do what we need to get done, but we don't get to the point where we hear Him and learn from Him.

I am not just talking about spending time with God. I am taking about spending time with ONLY God. 

Talking to my husband from the kitchen while I am cooking is different than looking at him in the eye, talking and conversing. When I am in the kitchen, I am not giving him my full attention, but when we are on the couch concentrated the one on the other - it is completely different. 

The only way to be able to spend time ONLY with God is to have a quiet heart free from distractions. Only in complete peace are we able to hear God. Even when we are going through something difficult, we can point our hearts towards God.

My husband gave me this illustration a few days ago:

He works in a coffee shop where we sell coffee (obviously) and fruit smoothies. Right now we are having trouble with the blenders. One is broken and when the other one is used it sounds like a train coming through.

The phone rings often (too much). Now that we have nicer weather, we are busier and Gerson, who works alone, doesn't have time to make all the coffees and smoothies, and restock the fruits and ice creams. Attending to the phone during these busy times has been an almost impossible task.

When we have a lot of people and lots of calls, the easiest thing to do is to ignore the phone. The solution is simple: turn on the blender to drown out the phone calls!

Go ahead and laugh, or get mad...but think:

This is exactly what we do with God many times. We have so many things to do that they turn into "noisy blenders" and make it easy to ignore God's call. Many times, the things we busy ourselves with are good, but when they take priority over God, it is sin.

How do YOU talk to God? Do you yell at Him from the kitchen? Or simply turn on your blender of sin to ignore him?

What we should do is found in Isaiah 26.3-4: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in The Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength."

This passage is not directly written to Christians, but since the promises of God and His qualities do not change, I felt this an appropriate verse. Not much explanation is needed: God will keep us in perfect when our thoughts are on Him. When He is our priority, our hearts can be in peace and we can communicate with Him.

Lessons from a Vacuum Cleaner

I like having my house clean. The smell of fresh sheets, the dust-free furniture, the shiny bathroom, the mopped floors, the spotless kitchen...its such a feeling of accomplishment! One of my favorites is to see the lines in the carpet parallel from vacuuming (if you are slightly OCD like I am, you know how hard this is to accomplish). For the past few weeks our vacuum cleaner had been making a funny noise. I checked it for a loose connection and cleaned out the dust container. It didn't fix the noise, but since it still turned on, I continued to vacuum attempting to line up the marks in the carpet and make it look as neat as possible. I soon got used to the noise and didn't think anything else about it. Two days ago, it was time to empty the dust container again. As I did this, I found the filter and saw that it was black and filthy. I scraped at the dust and found yet another layer of filth underneath. I managed to get it clean and let it dry. I reassembled the vacuum and vacuumed the house again. What a difference it made! The noise was gone and the carpet was clean!

You may not think much about this event, other than "Priscilla, how gross! How do you not clean out the filter?" but it caused me to reflect.

Psalm 147.10
"He delighteth not in the strength of the horse, he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man."

I want to draw your attention to the phrase "he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man." This phrase speaks of how God is not impressed with our strength, abilities or attempts to live a life pleasing to Him.

My vacuum experience reflected my life. I had tried to work properly, perform effectively and keep all the lines straight in my life, but my filter was dirty. I outwardly "worked" and looked good, but the results of my attempts did not meet the quota. God was not impressed with this. My filter needed cleaning. The answer is verse 11: "The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy." Until I began to truly fear the Lord again, my attempts to please Him were futile.

Psalm 112:1
"Praise ye the LORD, Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments."

We cannot fear God if we do not delight in His Word. This is the key. The way we love our Bible determines how we love the Lord. Only through the Word of God can our filter be rid of gunk, only through His Word can we delight in his commandments and fear Him. And only then can we fulfill our true purpose and please the Lord outwardly as well as inwardly. We need to stop trying to please God our way and start learning to do it His way. Let us refuse to run on a dirty filter and let us refuse to do less than what God will enable us to do.

Tuned to God? or Tuned to Others?

When we tune an instrument, we are adjusting it to the correct pitch. But imagine that we tune it to another instrument that is off tune.  Just because they both have the same pitch and sound the same does not mean they are tuned properly. They are only tuned to each other. The instrument then becomes useless unless tuned properly and to the right pitch.

Applying this illustration to our lives as children of God: we become useless unless tuned properly and to the right Person.

In the general mindset of the world today, we must please everyone and be accepted by all. Everyone must agree on everything and this is how the world will run smoothly. Sadly, this mindset is not only in the unbeliever’s world, but it is also present between Christians, in our homes and in our churches. We like to tune ourselves to culture, to what is popular, to other people: Christians, pastors, evangelists, missionaries, choir directors, Sunday School teachers, etc. When we do this, we automatically shift the blame when we find ourselves in a predicament. We have stopped taking responsibility for our actions and we always find a way to justify.

When we live our lives with this mentality, we forget to tune our lives to Christ. Ephesians 5:1 tells us, “Be ye therefore followers of God.” We are so focused on doing good things, serving the Lord or having a spirit of unity with the brethren. Call it whatever you like, but the bottom line is that we forget the principle thing: BE what He wants us to be. God wants us to be a follower of Him and to be that follower we must know Him. Only then can we truly be tuned to Him. We are not responsible for what everyone else does. We are responsible for our actions and our personal relationship with Christ.

Please do not misunderstand. I am not saying that serving the Lord and getting along with others is wrong. I don’t think having spiritual role models or looking up to spiritual leaders is bad. I believe these are all Biblical. But I also believe that these things are wrong if we do not have Christ as our main priority. Our only concern should be to follow Him and please Him regardless of what others may say.

If we are tuned to Christ and really know Him and follow Him, we do not need anyone else’s approval or acceptance.

Colossians 3:23 –  ^“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;”

A Damaging Purpose

When we use something for a purpose other than what it was created for, we run the risk of damaging it.

I am not very good at sports, but I like them. It can get intense, so I try to stay away from that competitive streak by just playing to have fun: no rules! Just enjoy! My friend and his dad play tennis and some years ago, I decided I wanted to learn. They took me out to the tennis court and I started to swing at the ball with my “racket”…my guitar.

Now, anyone that knows me knows that there is NO WAY ON THIS EARTH I would ever use my guitar as a tennis racket! It used to be my Grandpa’s. I am not very good at guitar, but I enjoy playing. It relaxes me! I like my guitar but it cannot be used for everything. It is possible to use it as a paddle, an umbrella and even a tennis racket but the wood and strings would be damaged and it would break. It was not created for those purposes. It was created to be played, to make music.

The world seeks purpose and reason to life. It is what keeps us going and pushing forward. We have a designated purpose. Are we ignoring it?

Colossians 1.16

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

We are created by and for God. Our purpose is “for him.” When we use our lives for something that we were not created for, we bring damage to ourselves. We think we can put ourselves in the place of God and assign ourselves a purpose. But that purpose is ultimately damaging to our lives. God created us. How dare we tell our Creator that we know what is best? Our purpose is for God and He alone knows what is best for His creation. His perfect plan will not hurt us, only make us more like Him.

Dare we ignore our assigned purpose? Dare we take control and decided our own damaging purpose?

Lord of All Seasons

It is the fall season! I enjoy every season, but I forget how much I love fall until it gets here! Taking a walk through the fall weather is amazing: the unexplainable smell, bundling up in sweaters and scarves, the crunchy reddish brown leaves under your boots, avoiding the soggy green orangey yellow ones, mini puddles reflecting the cloudy grey sky…you know what I’m talking about!

Entering this month of November, we are reminded of Thanksgiving. Today I came across a quote by Elisabeth Elliot in her book “Keep a Quiet Heart” that took my mind to the book of Colossians (quote is at the bottom of the page for those of you who are too curious to wait). As I read the second chapter, these verses grabbed a hold of my thoughts:

Colossians 2:6-7

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

Because we have received Christ, we have the responsibility to live in Him. We are to be rooted and built up in Christ and established in the faith. But I want us to draw our attention to the last phrase “abounding therein with thanksgiving.” This phrase is at the end, not to imply less importance, but to bring to light that this should be a recurring and constant action. As we are being rooted and built up in Christ we are to abound in thanksgiving. While we are being established in the faith, our thanks should never cease.

Jesus is Lord in every season of our lives, and that is cause enough for a grateful and trusting heart. Do I really believe that He is Lord of all seasons?

“If I can’t give thanks, trust, and worship the Lord in every ‘season,’ in the face of any set of facts which may touch my life, I am not really a believer.”

–Elisabeth Elliot

Step Out of Your Self-Pleasing Bubble

So many times we get caught up in our own lives: get up, go where we need to go, get done what we need to do, see the people we need to see, eat the food we need to eat, sleep and do the same thing the next day. It is a constant cycle and it is so easy to get wrapped up in ourselves. As a Bible college student, it is easy to get into a routine of classes, chapel, work, homework, hardly any sleep, classes, chapel, work, homework, hardly any sleep, classes…you get the idea.

The routine things of life are not bad, in fact, it is important to have a routine and organization in your life. But what and who is the focus?

This past Saturday was an eventful day: there was a funeral, a wedding, and several birthdays. Think about all that is involved in each.

• Funeral: a daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, church member, friend passed away. Those who knew her were reminded of her life and service to Christ. Those who did not know her were encouraged by her testimony. Several people were saved during this home going service.
• Wedding: the union of two growing Christians and faithful church members who are a testimony to those around them. Two people with great potential and desire to serve the Lord were made one and will go on to glorify Christ with their lives.
• Birthday: celebration of birth, of a life entering into the world. These people have impacted many people’s lives around them and continue to be faithful which encourages those who watch and follow.

A funeral, a wedding, and birthdays. None of these events had anything to do with me; I barely knew the people involved. As I woke up on Saturday morning, well aware of all that was going to happen that day, I was excited to be busy, stressed and pressured. But my motive began somewhat selfishly: I enjoy being busy; I find fulfillment and satisfaction in it. As the day went on and I attended and served in each event, my perspective changed.

At the funeral, I remembered how it felt to lose a grandparent and I remembered that others have the same feelings I had. As an elderly lady sat in a wheelchair and sobbed, I realized that she has pains and feelings I do not understand. This funeral was not about me being busy and helping make sure the food for the reception was ready, it was about being compassionate and understanding to the needs of others.

At the wedding, I got sentimental (as most girls do at weddings) and thought how wonderful it was that a glowing bride walked down the aisle toward her waiting groom to join in marriage. This wedding was not about me making sure the nursery workers were in their place, or about me making sure the cake was on its way or that everyone had their corsages. This wedding was about the union that was glorifying to God and two lives brought together as one to help each other be better servants of Christ.

The birthdays were not about me wishing them a happy birthday or thanking the people for the influence they have been in my life. These birthdays were about lives that were given by God to use for His glory and to continue faithfully.

So many things go on in the world around us, and they really have nothing to do with us. But why can we not see past these things and see the people involved and what it means to them? What is the eternal value? How much will it kill you to stop thinking of yourself and put others before you? Step out of your self-pleasing bubble and look to someone in need.

Matthew 16:14 – Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

To be a disciple of Jesus, we need to stop thinking of ourselves, deny our pleasures and get our focus on following Christ.