Identify Yourself!

  "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!  The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.  Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.  And in him is no sin.  Dear children, do not let anyone lead  you astray. he who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.  He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work."  I John 3:1-8

 

When a child is born, family and friends gather around the newborn.  And the conversation goes something like this, "He/she looks just like her Mama."  "He/she has her daddy's eyes, chin, etc."  We closely relate people to the ones that they are most closely identified with.

The same phenomenon is true in the spirit as well.  If God is your Father, then people are going to see his character and attitude at work in you.  If you  are sowing wild oats, living like the devil, then people will assume that you are a non-Christian.  And rightly so.  Jesus  is the King  of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  He defeated the work of Satan when he died on the cross.  He has made his enemy his footstool making a public display of defeating Satan.  All of this was done so that we- his  precious, yet lost children- can be restored to a right relationship with him and become born-again children of God.

After he has suffered so much on our behalf, why would we accept him as our Savior, but show allegiance to his  enemy by acting like the devil?  Why would we lie, cuss, hang out in bars and brawl?  Why would we gossip, take the Lord's  Name in vain or view internet pornography?  There has to be boundaries in life.  There are places I just can't go because I am a Christian.  We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, how can we take our temple to a place where our Lord is not honored and Satan is given free reign.

God has destroyed Satan's work.  We need to be careful to reject his efforts to ensnare us again. Are there areas in your life where Jesus cannot be found...? In your movie/television viewing?  In your reading material?  In your flirtations with the cute blonde at work?  Decide today to cut the enemy off.  Do not allow him to influence you.

Dear Lord, help me to show forth your character in all that I do.  Search my heart and reveal to me the areas where I make room for the enemy.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Sherri