My identity in Christ

The Pearl Necklace Story

The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.
"Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please!"
Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.
"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."
As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents.
On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.
Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere--Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.
Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"
"Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess--the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favorite."
"That's okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.
About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"
"Daddy, you know I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my babydoll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."
"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you." And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.
A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.
"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"
Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver,she finally said, "Here, Daddy. It's for you."
With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.
He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her genuine treasure.
What are you hanging on to?
--- Author Unknown


You see this little girl was holding on to something that wasn't real. Jesus wants us to surrender anything and everything that is not from Him. He will  replace it with what is real and the truth. No more lies from satan. satan want us to believe all the lies that are in our heads about ourselves. However, they are so untrue.

Today we are going to speak about our identity in Christ. Are you believing what Christ says is true or do you believe what satan says about you? What are some of the lies satan tells you about yourself?  Often our minds are flooded with lies satan wants us to believe. He wants us to focus on these lies and believe them, after all we hear these lies in our voice. It's just his way of keeping us from focusing on Jesus.

In the book becoming spiritually beautiful (great book) the author says " we begin to replace the lies with the truth when we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."  Wow, I just enjoy that. She goes on to say " we have a new identity and are no longer simply a product of our past failures, hurts, and disappointments, but a result of Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross."

You are chosen by Christ--He loves who you are--you are a new creation --created by Him, He loves you♥

What satan doesn't realize is that sometimes when he tells us all these lies about ourselves, it has an opposite affect of what he intended to happen. Sometimes this sends us running to Christ as fast as possible, He is the only one that we know can make our life better.

According to Isaiah 43:10 why were we chosen by God? (I'm not going to tell you, you'll have to read it for yourself. We should be filling our thoughts with truth---anytime we feel satan nagging with those lies--we should did deep into God's holy word.

Read Philippians 4:8--what are we to think about?

"As we have already established, satan's desire is to steal your joy, rob you of the freedom which is yours in Christ, and deceive you into thinking you are still a slave to sin instead of a slave of righteousness. He wants to keep you from understanding and embracing your spiritual inheritance and keep you living like a pauper instead of a child of the King. He does not want you to believe the truth of who you are, what you have, and where you are in Christ, because he know if he can, then he can keep you from being all God wants you to be, doing all God wants you to do, and having all God wants you to have." (from becoming spiritually beautiful by sharon jaynes)

Look at 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
What do these verses tell us? "we through Christ have the power to demolish strongholds" A stronghold is anything in our lives that we hold on to that ends up holding us"--Beth Moore

"How did Jesus fight satan in the desert? He conquered him with the truth! Each time satan put an evil thought before Him, Jesus said it is written "--(becoming spiritually beautiful_  Matt. 4:1-11

Read proverbs 16:3---Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established" nkj


John 14:20   you will know that I am in My father, and you are in Me, and I in you.


Taste and see that the Lord is good.