You are His--believe it!

From my friend Rhonda Kelly, good encouragement:


A right relationship with God begins with settling once and for all the issue that God is your loving Father and you are His accepted, adopted child. Yes, you are a child of God, you are created in His image, you have been declared righteous by Him because you trust that what Christ accomplished in His death and resurrection is applicable to you. As long as you believe that and walk accordingly, your daily experience of practical Christianity will result in growth. But when you forget who you are, and try to produce in your daily experience the acceptance God has already extended to you, you'll struggle. We don't serve God to gain His acceptance; we are accepted so we serve God. We don't follow Him in order to be loved; we are loved so we follow Him.

This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.
Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassion never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I hope in Him!"
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul who seeks Him.
It is good that one should hope and wait quietly.
(Lam 3: 21-26)

The essence of the victorious Christian life is believing what is already true about you. Do you have a choice? Of course! Satan will try to convince you that you are an unworthy, unacceptable, sin-sick person who will never amount to anything in God's eyes. Is that who you are? No, you are not! You are a saint whom God has declared righteous. Believing Satan's lie will lock you into a defeated, fruitless life. But believing God's truth about your identity will set you free. Your perception of your identity makes such a big difference in your success at dealing with the challenges and conflicts of your life. (Know the truth and the truth shall set you free!)
--Neil Anderson