It’s Who I am in Christ, Not Who I am at Work - Purity 1321

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of the sun setting over the Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse comes to us from Celestial Blue Photography's Rocco Saya, who shared this scene on social media, commenting that the sun did make an appearance on the day of the big eclipse, but it apparently was obstructed by clouds at that magic moment when the moon eclipsed its light. Well, it's Tuesday, and although I enjoyed unobstructed sunshine for most of the morning and early afternoon while doing a spring cleanup of my backyard yesterday, my view of the eclipse was similarly obstructed by overcast clouds, causing me to agree with Seiya's other comment to his Facebook friends that We can't have everything in life. I would add that if you are counting on the circumstances of your life to fulfill you or to give you everything in life, you'll be severely disappointed. We don't look to the skies— we don't look to blue skies and sunsets to give us joy. We don't look to eclipses to give us a sense of meaning and purpose. We don't look to things the things on the earth or the things in the skies to give us those things. No, we should look to the Creator, God, not the creation, to give us a sense of purpose, joy, and worth. And luckily, our God revealed himself throughout history and used men to tell us all about it in the Bible. We don't have to look for a sign in the skies or listen for a voice from heaven. God shows us who we are and tells us what we need to know in Scripture. And he doesn't only tell us about himself in the history of his interactions with man, he tells us about who we are and who we are when we put our faith in Christ. This world would tell you that your identity and your worth is based on your accomplishments, talents, preferences, and performance, but we are But who we really are and what we are really worth should be determined by the one who has perfect knowledge and who made us— God. I'm on vacation this week, but as I was enjoying myself outside yesterday, I received a negative report from a colleague at work who was assigned to use my truck and reported there's no way he could work out of it because of its disorganized overstock state and that he was concerned about negative comments about my less than exemplary work. Now, this man is a brother and a friend, so I appreciated his warnings and readily admitted to the disorganized state of my truck when I left for vacation, and humbly accept that people may criticize my skill sets, although I do perform the jobs I get to the best of my abilities. But then he wished to encourage me by reminding me that we work for the Lord. And convict— and tried to convict me that, uh, how I choose to work is not a good testimony. Uh, he then admitted that he may have his own issues in some regards but stood by the fact that he gets his work done, whereas I guess the perception is that I don't, uh, because I don't work overtime and will pass my unfinished work on to those who do and will readily ask for and accept help if I need it. He then reminded me that we have a great job. It's great. Sorry for the sarcasm. It is a well-compensated job, and I appreciate how it provides for my needs. But my colleague did admit that the job isn't perfect, and neither are we. But we are— but we, quote unquote, need to be a reflection of Christ. While I understand what my brother is saying and appreciate that I could keep a more organized truck and strive to, quote unquote, do better, I have to admit that I take issue with the performance-based, work-based bill of goods that he's trying to impart me with. While I agree with the Colossians 3:23 sentiment to do everything heartily as to the Lord, I think there is a fine line here in thinking that we are proved significant or secure because of our performance and that the opinions of our fellow man are similar to what God thinks about us. The truth is, our worth in Christ, who we are supposedly trying to reflect, doesn't work that way. As I stated, I am doing everything to the best of my abilities and somehow, and somehow got a satisfactory evaluation from my supervisor during my last review, I believe, and even get a customer accommodation on occasion. Oh, by the way, I couldn't stop myself and had to check my numbers and discovered that I have exceeded my performance goals more than I have missed the mark so, so far this year. And although I can't claim perfect perfection, I know I'm, I know I'm not the best tech, but I do my work to the best of my abilities and satisfied with my work. The standards of performance and the opinions of others are subjective. And honestly, I don't put my sense of personal worth in doing a good job because there will always be room to criticize me and my performance will vary from time to time. If I were to put my sense of worth in my performance, I would be fearful of not measuring up to others. How good do I have to be? Or depressed because I am not the best. Is top 10 good enough? What about top 20? Or do I have to be approved by all of my coworkers to feel a sense of worth? Or do I have to be number one to reflect Christ? He is perfect, after all. The reason I am so zealous about my faith is because I am accepted by the Lord because of who I am in Christ, not because of who I am at work. And honestly, it does, it does bother me when Christians fuel this worldly performance-driven driven evaluation of our reflecting Jesus. That's not how it works, although you may have been taught it in church. Legalistic standards created Sunday best and the pharisaical attitudes of being above the law, and often drive people away from faith or cause us to live in despair over our shortcomings. I have been, I have been going through Neil Anderson's Who I Am in Christ devotional and just yesterday read about how our worth is determined by our talents. And so I'm sharing what I read yesterday to stop the condemnation I was under and to remind myself that negative reports should be evaluated not by our feelings but should be checked out according to the actual truth. The facts are my performance is satisfactory-ish, LOL. Like I said, not perfect in all areas all the time. And more importantly, we should evaluate things by, the truth of God's word. So from Neil Anderson, I present that, uh, and it's— the message is titled, I Am a Member of Christ's Body. And, uh, Anderson references 1 Corinthians 12:27, which says, now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And Anderson writes, anybody who regularly relates to people on a deep level knows that they don't inherently feel good about themselves. We are not born in an innate sense— with an innate sense of worth or value. The natural man has no identity in Christ. So from the time we are born into this world, we are constantly pursuing some sense of identity, purpose, or meaning in life. The self-esteem movement has been profoundly affecting every aspect of life. More and more, people are searching for some sense of significance in philosophy of attempting to find it within yourself has even found its way into the church. I have heard Christians say a man finds his identity in a job and a woman finds her identity in her children or family. Some say this teaching comes out of Genesis 3, where it states that a man shall work by the sweat of his brow and a woman shall bear her child in pain. But that is is the curse of the fall, the result of man's choosing to live independent of God. If a man finds his identity in his job, what happens when he loses his job? If a woman finds her identity in her family or children, what happens if she never gets married? Who we essentially are is not determined by what we do or the roles we live out in society. It is who we are that determines what we do, and that, and then what we do brings a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. The search for self-worth. So the question is, where does a person find a legitimate sense of identity or worth? Is it in talents? No, it can't possibly be. God has given some 1 talent, some 2 talents, and other 5 talents. See Matthew 25:14-28. You may say, "Well, God, how could you do that? Don't you know that the only person who can have any legitimate sense of worth or identity is the 5-talented person?" But that is not true. I know a lot of 5-talented people who are struggling for a sense of worth, just like the 1-talented person. Well then, does our worth lie in intelligence? No, according to 1 Corinthians 1:27, God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. Okay, how about appearance? If we only appear good, certainly we would have the acceptance and affirmation of others. But according to Isaiah 53:2, Jesus had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him. Jesus. Uh, that was my, uh, edition of Jesus there. Anderson continues to write, one time I asked my son Carl, suppose there is a young girl that you're school who has a potato body, stringy hair, bad complexion, stutters when she talks, and stumbles when she walks. Is there any hope for happiness for her? He paused for a moment and said, hmm, probably not in the world system, probably not. But could she have a legitimate sense of worth in God's system? Absolutely. Is our worth found in spiritual gifts? No, I am sure it's not. God has not equally distributed gifts, talents, or intelligence, but he has equally distributed himself. Our identity comes from knowing who we are as children of God, and our sense of worth grows out of our commitment to become like him. Legitimate sense of worth in Christ. Show me people today who know who they are as children of God and have committed themselves to him and I will show you those who have a profound sense of self and of worth. Show me somebody who is continually growing in the fruit of the Spirit, whose life is characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Will that person have a good sense of identity and value? Yes, I am sure of it. The beautiful part of that truth is that everyone has exactly the same opportunity. And that was from Neil Anderson's devotional, Who I Am in Christ, a devotional, uh, not to toot my own horn, but I do know who I am as a child of God and have committed myself to him. And as Anderson indicates, I have a profound sense of self and of worth. I marvel over how much I have grown in the areas of the fruit of the Spirit and have a great sense of peace and joy as long as I don't let the world's performance-based system or the opinions of men speak to me more than the truth of what my Heavenly Father says about me. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, right? So if someone comes at you with a negative report and tells you to do better to quote-unquote reflect Jesus, take it under advisement. Look at where they are coming from and see if they have a point. But at the end of the day, remember, we are not accepted because of our performance, and we will never be free in Christ if we are busy in our attempts to measure up to some subjective standard of performance or to be well considered in the eyes of men, most of whom are desperately wicked and headed for perdition. It is only in, it is only in Christ that I would ever be accepted, secure, and significant. And I won't let the opinions of others or the changing circumstances of the world erase the truth of my new identity in Christ. It's who I am in Christ, not who I am at work, that sets me free. So please excuse me as I reject your performance-based evaluation of my sense of worth and choose to keep on walking and talking with God. Okay, and so we move on. Uh, today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture Reference Reference for Counseling by John J. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on death and eternal life, and today's verse is Philippians 1:21, uh, 1:21. And from the NIV, it says, for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Today's verse falls under the third point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on the— on death and eternal life. And the third point is To live is Christ, to die is gain. Today's verse determines our mission in life. To live is Christ, so we live to proclaim the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone, uh, until our dying breath. And if we die, we go to see him. We can't lose because we are victorious through Jesus. The only loss we suffer is when we fall, when we fail to remember who we are in Christ or fail to tell others of how they can be saved, forgiven, and set free through him. Yeah, and that— and, you know, just a real quick comment, I stumbled all over that verse yesterday. To live is Christ and to die is gain. So there, there it is. Um, the Lord, the Lord knew I would stumble yesterday and gave it to us today so I could, you know, be assured and recall what, what the verse says. Anyway, we move on to the next section. Uh, as always, we invite you to go to mt4christ.org where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford. And, uh, in Alford's devotional, he prompts us to read a chapter of scripture. Today's chapter is John 13, and from John 13 he shares, uh, from verse 4, which says, Jesus rose from supper and laid aside his garments, took a towel and girded himself. And Stephen Alford writes, in this picture is presented supreme humility. Oh, to grasp the same spirit, that my life may be characterized with the humility of my blessed Lord. He rose from supper. Here was the deliberate and intentional advance for the expression of humility. It is true that He was incarnate humility, but it is also true that He deliberately came to express it. He laid aside His garments. He emptied Himself of all His glory. He who was rich became poor. He took a towel and girded Himself. He took upon Him the form of a servant. Girding is essentially the sign of service. He could say, 'I am among you as the one who serves.' Luke 22:27. And finally, Alfred, praise, teach me humility, O Lord. Amen. Amen. Yeah, we have, uh, Jesus was humble, a humble servant. And as far as I know, the apostles didn't criticize. He probably did a perfect job washing their feet. Got out under their toenails and everything, undoubtedly, because, you know, Jesus would do it perfectly, and thus we should put that perfect mantle on ourselves if we want to represent Christ. I'm being facetious, of course. We're not going to be able to do things perfectly, and I've run into this sentiment, which is well-meaning but can be a trap of the enemy. You know, I've heard if we're not going to do everything, you know, if we don't— we're not going to do everything perfectly for the Lord, we shouldn't do it. Well, that's great, except for one thing. We're not going to do anything perfectly for the Lord. You know, the perfect standard is something we're not going to attain to. There will always be room to criticize us because that evaluation is subjective. You know, yeah, it's perfect except for this, you know. And yeah, yeah, yeah, he does a great job, but he's a jerk anyway. You know, that's the opinion of men for you. Or I would have done it better, or someone could have done it better, you know. So we try to— we reject the performance-based system because it gives you great peace and because God will judge us, and he'll judge the intentions of our hearts and I do the best job I can. I try to do what's right, you know, and I don't want that to be a burden for someone either, but we should try to do what's right. And I guess that can easily be construed as doing everything perfectly, and if you don't have a perfect, you know, a perfect workspace, you know, everything is perfect, um, you're falling short and you're not reflecting Jesus. If you read my blog, I'm sure you'll find mistakes. I do run it through spell check and whatnot, but my schedule is somewhat quick where I can't super edit my messages on the blog, and I know there's mistakes. But I put it out there every day, even though it's not perfect, because I want to give glory to the Lord in some way, as opposed to not doing it. And, you know, so I was, I was torn into pieces over a negative report yesterday. Oh yeah, my truck was a little messy and super cluttered, actually. I put supplies on continually and don't know what I have and what I don't have, but I managed to get the job done. And if I don't, I pass it along to someone who can. You know, I'm not qualified to do everything, so I can't finish everything, and I run out of time, so I'll have to pass that along to somebody who wants to stay. My personal and ministerial life requires that I, you know, don't stay late after work, and I don't want to. So yeah, but we could beat ourselves up over our work performance, but Where will we ever find joy and peace? Well, we find that in the Lord and what He says about us, and the fact that we are accepted regardless of our performance and regardless of our sins of the past and our failings of today. That is grace, that is the joy, that is how you can have joy, that is how you can have a real abiding love for the Lord where you actually want to follow Him. Where you don't say, well, I work hard at work and now I do what I want. That's what I used to say when— before I came to Christ. Yeah, I did a— I did a good job, I did my work today, so now it's time to drink and, you know, do what I want. You're like, yeah, I pay my bills, so now it's time to sin all I want. Yeah. I work hard, so I'm gonna play hard, and my playing hard just happens to include a lot of sinful and selfish activities. Deal with it. Um, yeah, that's the world system, and, um, it's upside down, you know. So I don't want to live according to it. The Lord called me out of the darkness of the world system and is leading me in his light, and I try to be a light that to encourage others that you don't have to live according to the world's lies, or even the misinterpretation of scripture. You know, Genesis 3 says work by the sweat of your brow. I mean, that's a reality, um, but your identity is not supposed to be found in your work. Granted, you are, you know, you are what you are, you know, in many ways that is true. But whether or not you're going to continue in your profession in, in the heavenly realms, uh, that's left to be determined. I bet you there were some, you know, there's all types of technology throughout time and space and history, and so your purpose in life may have been dealing with a technology that is now obsolete. Is your purpose, you know, you know what I'm saying? Like, I can't think of anything, you know. I repair wagon wheels. Well, we don't have wagon wheels anymore. That's all I do. That's who I am, wagon wheel repair guy. Uh, no. And I know you go like, well, he could repair new wheels. It's a different skill set, you know. Rubber versus wood. Yeah, I don't know, man. So yeah, it just sort of shows. Things change, and I don't know what's going to be new in the kingdom, or what's going to maintain and what's going to fade away. But the Lord will be there, and who we are in Christ will be there, and that's what's important. You know, whatever we do, we'll do it for the glory of the Lord. And maybe in our— maybe in the, the next state, in God's kingdom, we will do everything perfectly. I somehow doubt it, but yeah, maybe. Until then though, I'm gonna accept God's forgiveness and for my shortcomings, and I will try to do better, but I'm not gonna let that, you know, rip me to pieces in how I feel about myself. God loves me and he's approved of me, and I'll do the best I can in life. To reflect him, you know. And so, pardon me if it's not always going to be done perfectly at work, but if you ask me about the kingdom, I'll tell you all about Jesus. You want me to reflect Jesus at work? Holy moly, don't get me started. I'll probably get fired for speaking the gospel. Anyway, that's the way, you know. This, the silent gospel, work hard gospel, and there's some truth to that, but, uh, you know, really, I think the word of God is going to have to convict people. Not like, hey, Dan did a really good job, you know, I think I'll be a Christian. I suppose that could happen, but they might have a problem when they understand they have to give up their sin. What? I thought it was just about working hard. Not about giving up all your sins. Forget that. Anyway, I'm obviously on vacation because I'm rambling. I'm gonna pray and let everyone go to work, and that includes me. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for your grace and your forgiveness and that you accept us because of our faith in Jesus Christ. And that you approve of us. And, uh, you do encourage us to, to do better, but, um, that's not why you accept us, Lord. It's because you love us and, uh, that we made the decision to follow you, even if we don't do it perfectly. And you'll encourage us to go that way. So, Lord, we just pray for anyone who's listening today to, to be encouraged. Lord, we pray for you to come alongside them in their walk of faith and their prayer requests. And Lord, we pray for you to go before us today. Open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go, because obviously we need a lot of help. Um, and, uh, man will not approve of me, Lord, so I need you to— and I need you to show me the way, because all I want to do is represent you in your kingdom, and I'm going to need your help. Uh, Lord, we pray all these things, and we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.