Identified with Christ

Do you know that God has something to say about you? He has a plan for your life, and has called you his very own child. Your identity isn’t just as someone’s son or daughter, somebody’s mom or dad, or somebody’s grandchild. You are identified as a Christian. The word Christian mean Christ-like. You are also a disciple, which means disciplined one! There are lots of other things God has to say about you too. Why not say what God says about you? Don’t believe the lies of the devil; that you’re not smart enough, not athletic enough, not tall enough, or rich enough, or have made too many mistakes to do what God has for you. Believe what the Bible says! It says this…. You are God’s own son or daughter, once you became a Christian. The words of others are not and cannot be as powerful as the words of God. His Word is what matters in your life. You are above and not beneath, the head and not the tail, blessed going in and coming out, and most definitely able to do all things through Christ who strengthens you. You are going to fulfill your destiny, and live the dream that God has for you. Your life is full of blessing in every way. I hope that encouraged you….you can be and do and have all that God has for you!

Live Free

One huge factor that helps us determine who we are is our past. That can be good, or that can be bad. Sometimes we hold on to the past through bitterness and unforgivness and bind ourselves to what has happened to us in the past. It is vital to recognize where we have wounds so they can be healed and released. Releasing them is something that only you can do. Prayer from others certainly helps, but forgiveness is a choice that you must make. To get to any root of bitterness, and remove the poison that it produces in your life, the root needs to be exposed, and then forgiveness can come. God says who we are, is someone who is free in Christ. That means there is no bondage to the past or anything that holds you back if you make the choice to forgive. Forgiveness is a choice, but for the believer, it isn’t an option. We must forgive. Freely we have received forgiveness, freely we should grant forgiveness. I realize that there are those who have deep wounds, but there is nothing too deep for God to reach if we will release it. One stone, or one scoop full at a time, let’s give forgiveness and then live free in God. Say this with me…..He who the Son sets free is free indeed. I am free to live life to the fullest, and to enjoy this wonderful abundant life that Jesus came to give to me. I forgive much because Christ has forgiven much in my life. I am free from the law of sin and death. I freely receive all that God has for me. Be encouraged today that you are who God says you are, and you can be all that God says you can be. Your identity is in Him!

Live Long and Prosper

One of the biggest areas of battle takes place in our physical bodies. Whether it is controlling our appetites, or making choices to eat food that leads to health, a war goes on inside of many people many times a day. It is very clear that God want us to prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers. Soul prosperity happens with the renewing of our mind. When we line up our lives with the Word, and our soul is prospering, a natural outflow is that we are healthy and have success. We do live in a fallen world, where the devil roams about as a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour. We know the devil is the one who come to kill, to steal and to destroy. It is Jesus who came to give us abundant life. We serve a great big God! He has given us power to live above the enemy’s tactics, and He has conquered death, hell and the grave, and then handed the victory to us…. making us more than conquerors! Thank God for Jesus! So what does God say about our bodies? That’s exactly what we should be saying too! Why not say this with me… My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I am blessed with the blessing of Abraham. I prosper and live in health, even as my soul prospers. My body is healthy and whole. I am receiving the healing that I need to be able to walk in health and the divine life that God has for me. I am disciplined in my body, and guard my mouth from anything that would defile God’s temple. The stripes that Jesus took on his back have brought healing to me. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, quickens and makes whole my mortal body. I will live long and prosper on this earth! I hope that encouraged you!

Daily Disciplines

Once you decided to change and grow in your Christian walk, you can just about guarantee there will be obstacles put in your path. The daily discipline of just doing the right thing all the time can seem overwhelming, but empowered by the Holy Spirit, you can do all things through Christ who is strengthening you. His power is released in you to live the life, and walk the walk as well as talking the talk. The daily disciplines of the Christian walk…. Study, prayer, meditating, worship, and living a fasted life, are what get you through obstacles and over into progress and success. It is the person who begins saving as soon as they start earning a wage that will have a large sum in the bank at retirement. The later you start the harder it is to catch up. That same principle applies with just about anything. Why not start today to live a disciplined life…. Because that is who you are! Say this with me…. I am a disciplined person. I am not conformed to this world, but am being transformed into the image of Christ. I seek God first, and seek those things which are above. I set my mind on things above. I give myself continually to the ministry of the Word and to prayer. I study to show myself approved unto God, I’m a workman with no shame in my life. My life is changing because I believe what God’s Word says about me. Today is 31 years that I have been married to my wonderful husband Lynn!  Believing for at least thirty “one”derful more!

The Real You

Perhaps you are looking at who you are in the natural, and thinking this is not who I want to be. One thing that is so awesome about serving God is not only can we have a dramatic change of direction through salvation, but our life continually can grow and change. We don’t have to continually do the same things over and over, we can make improvements. The biggest factor in changing is in choosing to renew our mind. To change the way we think. If we would take every thought captive as the Bible tells us to do, we would realize that we have some faulty thinking going on! To change that, we need to renew our mind, and begin to think and believe like what the Word of God tells us to do. To renew our mind means we take what we believe and make it line up with the Word. Past experiences, or what someone else has told you, can shape who we are. To change to be who God wants us to be, we must make our beliefs and thoughts conform with the Word of God. Will the real you, please stand up? I believe you will!Say this with me…. I am renewing my mind, and am putting on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. I am putting off the old man, and becoming who God has made me to be. I will take off the old me and put on the new me! I keep the Word of God in my mouth and in my heart, so my way is prosperous, and I have good success! I hope that encourages you today!

New Identity

Do you know that what you think about is what you will become? Hi this is Dorette Schaal with an encouraging word for your day. This week we’ll be talking about our identity. Who do you think you are? Who in Christ are you? As believers we often walk way beneath our privilege, but when we know who we are in Christ, we will never let that happen again. Be encouraged to be who God created you to be, starting now! Here is your dailyeword!

Monday
Who are you? Jesus asked that question to Peter…who do you say that I am? Well let me ask you the same question.Who are you? Do you know who you are? Not just who are your parents, or what is your position, or occupation, but who are you really? Paul prayed that we would know who we are in Christ. What you believe about who you are is really a major factor in your life. God’s image of who we are is what we should go for! This what God says about you…. You are His child, once you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are a new person in Christ. The old is gone, and you are a new creation! God has raised you up to live in newness of life. You are made to be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. He says you are blessed with everything that Heaven has to offer. Not only blessed with spiritual blessing, but also with everything that pertains to life and godliness. He says that your needs are met, and that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. You can overcome any problem or situation or circumstance, because you are more than a conqueror. Wow! Those are great things to believe, and they are what God says about you! So, who are you? You are who God says you are! Those are encouraging words for you today! Happy Birthday to my sweet husband today. I love you Lynn!

Not Scratched or Dented

Maybe if you are the grocery shopper in your family, you may have noticed that some stores have a scratch and dent bin for food items that are not perfect. They sell those cans and boxes for a discount, and most of the time, they are just happy to get rid of the imperfect items. Have you ever felt like some of those items with the scratches and dents, or that your life isn’t as valuable or worthwhile as someone else? Probably every one of us has! As we start out this new season, I want you to think the way God thinks about you. Sometimes we identify with an image of who others say that you are. It happens all the time, we get compared to somebody else, and someone determines that we aren’t good enough, or smart enough. Or, even the opposite happens, that you’re too good for anybody else, or that you are a brain or a nerd because you are smart. Sometimes that happens because of words we have heard, but often it comes when we begin to meditate or think about the words that have been spoken to us, or about us. What begins as a thought to our own mind soon becomes who we think we are. When we let the thought remain, it begins to color or warp who we really are. So as we start this new season…..I want to remind you of what God thinks about you, and I hope you begin thinking that same way. God has a wonderful plan for your life. He has given you talents and abilities that are unique to you. He wants you to live out your dreams and live your best life for Him. When any thought comes into your mind contrary to what God thinks, make sure to replace it immediately with God’s thoughts about you. Be encouraged today that a label doesn’t determine who you are….God does!

Confess Who You Really Are!

Every once in a while, maybe daily, it is good to recall and even rehearse what God says about you. The Bible tells us to fan the flame, and to stir ourselves up in the things of God. As we close out this week, we are going to do just that. I want you to say out loud, who you are in Christ. I want you to put your mind on those things that God says about you. Then I want you to tell someone else the same thing! Here are some great words to say:
I am who my Father God says I am in His Word
I can have what the Word says I can have.
I can do all that God’s Word says I can do.
I am blessed coming in and blessed going out.
I am above and not beneath.
I am an over comer.
I am more than a conqueror.
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
I am well equipped to minister to others.
I have the Spirit of God on the inside of me.
I have His power, His strength, and His ability,
I am God’s ambassador to my world.
I am the person God made me to be.
I operate in the gifts God has given me.
I am a willing vessel for God to use.
I am a new creation in Christ Jesus.
And I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!
I hope hearing those words encouraged you on the inside. Now it is up to you to believe them, think or meditate on them, and make them a part of your life. Your identity is in God, and you are becoming more Christ-like daily! Why not encourage someone else today!

The New Has Come!

In II Corinthians 5:16 Paul tells us that from now on we should regard no man according to the flesh. When I read that scripture it speaks to me of the importance of not judging anyone by what you see. In the next couple of verses, it goes on to say that when we receive Christ we are a new creation and the old is gone and the new has come. We immediately become an ambassador for Christ and are representatives of heaven on this earth. Verse 21 in that same chapter reminds us that Jesus became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. If ever you have a doubt filled moment, or your thought life takes you down a road of defeat, open up the Bible and go to these scriptures and let them reverberate in your heart. The old is gone!!! The new has come! God put you in his team, you are His ambassador! We don’t have to measure anybody by how they appear on the outside, and no one should do that with us! Jesus thought we were valuable enough to make you righteous, and give you right standing with the Father. That is a pretty awesome way to see yourself, and a pretty awesome way to see others. So we can quit being so hard on ourselves! We can realize that the old life really is gone….the mistakes, the mess ups, the wrong belief systems, the pain, the guilt, the frustration. God set us on a whole new path, and it is filled with light and life. As we begin this new season, celebrate the new you that you are in Christ. Even if you have been saved for years, today is a new day. You are still a new creation today! Be the new, fresh, clean, forgiven, blood bought, believer that God made you to be. Celebrate today and rejoice that you really are who God says you are. You really can live the abundantly life Jesus died for you to live. You really are the person God created you to be!

A Grasshopper? Or a Giant Slayer?

Are you a grasshopper in your own eyes? Do you remember the spies that went into the promised land and came back saying that they were like grasshoppers in a land of giants? God told them the land was theirs, and all they had to do was possess it. They looked at the impossibilities and forgot that God said it was possible. Ten of the twelve spies said it was not possible. Two, Joshua and Caleb, said, let’s go for it, we can do it. For the ten, what they thought of themselves determined their level of victory, and they never got to see the land that was promised to them, because they saw themselves as insects, instead of how God saw them. I’m sure that has happened to all of us on some level. We don’t try for a great job opportunity because we don’t think we are capable. We let go of a relationship because we don’t think we are worthy of being loved. We treat our body poorly because we don’t think we are valuable. I hope you are beginning to see the connection of our thought life to how we see ourselves, to how we act. The change starts in that great battlefield, the mind! To find our true identity and really become who God says we are starts with aligning our thoughts with what God thinks about us. It takes discipline. It takes determination. It takes the power of God on the inside of us to be consistent about making sure thoughts that are not from God do not remain on the screen on our mind. Especially if they are persistent, we have to be extra persistent. We have to be as persistent positively as the negative thoughts are. One thing that has helped me in controlling my thought life is to immediately recognize where a contrary thought is coming from, and say out loud, that is not the truth. And then I say, the truth is….. It is a great reminder that Jesus reversed the curse for us, and we need to remind our enemy of the same. All the enemy can do is lie, so the opposite of what the enemy says is the truth! The lie you heard in your mind from the enemy really is proof positive that the opposite is true! So are you a grasshopper? No way, you are an over comer on your way to victory! A giant slayer!