Just be yourself, everyone else is taken.
I recently came across this message
on a marquee sign on my way to church. What's important to note here is
that I was thinking along those same lines of this sign as my mind was
speaking to God. Whoa, wait a minute, your mind was speaking to God?
Yep, God can read what's on our mind even if we don't verbally speak it
out, after all He is God.
Sometimes we let our minds drift off into thoughts about ourselves and
our lack thereof. It could be lack of confidence in ourselves, it could
be lack of not getting the attention we want from others, or it could be
a lack of assurance in God's plan for our lives. But these negative
thought patterns we may have are not from God, but strictly from the
enemy who wants to cause havoc in our thinking of who we are in Christ.
You see, there is an importance of not just knowing who we are in Christ, but living it out,too. There is an old Chinese Proverb that says,
"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power."
If we are to master everything who God says we are in Christ,
we need to know God's Word and act it out accordingly. We need to
remind ourselves each morning when we look at ourselves in the mirror:
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are
anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act
on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who
glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who
they are, what they look like. (James 1:22)
and confess who we are in Christ:
God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2Timothy 1:7)
The entire Book of James teaches us about hearing God's Word and doing it. But just recently while doing lunch with a friend our conversation led me to this wisdom about God's Word in James:
Hearing God's Word and doing it isn't
just about how we should treat others, minister to others, and how to
show God's love to others. It is also about hearing God's Word and what
it says about each of us individually and how we are to apply it to our
own lives.
We are to walk in faith, speak out God's promises upon our lives, act
like we are a son and daughter of the Most High, and realize that we
are a new person in Christ and our old mistakes have been forgiven.
We should also imitate God in all that we do:
"Therefore be imitators of God (copy Him and follow His example), as well-beloved children imitate their father." (Ephesians 5:1)
It is so easy for believers to get
caught up with their struggles and indecisiveness and forget the power
to overcome that has been given to them through Christ Jesus.
A great piece of wisdom from Paul says it all,
"I can do all things through Him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13)
If you live in an area with no access to a Bible, click on www.biblegateway.com for more of God's encouraging Word.
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