Can't Stop Writing About New Freedom in Established Identity

 For the longest time, I was convinced that who I am was all dependent on what I was thinking. How insane is that?

If I was feeling bad, it meant that God was getting crowded out of my life, and therefore I had to do something about those bad feelings, those bad thoughts.

Yet my identity in Christ has nothing to do with what I am thinking or feeling. It has everything to do with Christ Jesus has done and is doing still for me.

I understand what it means to be at rest in Christ Jesus. His love is real, His presence is real, and His goodness for me is never-ending. I do not have to wonder if He is present and real to me, no matter what I am thinking or feeling.

For the longest time, I was so busy trying to keep my thoughts and feelings in check. I did not realize how real God is, and that my loving Father is still with me, and there is no way that He is going to leave me or go away from me just because I think or feel a certain way.

I know that I am belaboring this point, but it has been really powerful for me. I have learned to distinguish who I am apart from my thoughts and feelings. It's all about God's Word, and it's all about God's Work at the Cross.

It does not matter how I feel. All this time, I kept thinking that I had to make sure that I did not have thosed bad thoughts, those negative feelings in my head in order for God to work in me and through me. How painful, how frustrating all of that was! It was really difficult.

Today, this is not the challenge that it used to be. Why? Because God is real, present, corporal to me, all by faith. Faith is not fantasy. It is the recognition of the truth, apart from our limited five senses. Indeed, we walk by faith, not by sight.

This is a great revelation for me, and I am so grateful to the LORD JESUS for all that He has accomplished and is continuing to accomplish for me. Amen!

Lord Jesus, Thank you so much for showing me how real, how prevalent, how present You are to me! All this time, I was so busy trying to make sure that I was always thinking the right thoughts, the right feelings. My goodness, no wonder I faced such torture, such pain, such anguish.

Thank you, Jesus, for setting me free!