Wonderful article, something we all need to work on, I know I do.

What makes up your “Identity”?

What is your Idol?

What is standing in the place of Jesus?!

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Identity Check

Hello blog world.

It’s been well over a year since I’ve last wrote a blog. I’ve learned that I am horrible at taking the time to put my thoughts down in writing. It is definitely beneficial for me to do this, but doesn’t always feel productive.

Pastor- “If you lose your church, will you lose your Jesus?”

This is a thought that has been on my mind for the last couple days. It’s a question that really shakes me at the core. But it’s a very valuable question to ask.

You see, many times we “pastor types” can find our identity in our ministry, our activity, our service, our good Christian quotes, our book reading- over finding our place and identity in Jesus. We can think that life is good because ministry is good, but little do we know our hearts are as far as they have ever been from Jesus.

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and our strength, our very help in time of trouble.”

This verse is one of those verses you read when you’ve just lost a loved one, when you are persecuted, and when you fell all alone. But I’ve never really thought about it as a verse for good times.

The Facts

But the truth is we are all in trouble at all times and in desperate need of refuge. We are sinners in desperate need of a Savior to save us from our sin.

We don’t realize that our strength is not our own, so we work harder to accomplish our goals to success. When the truth is nothing is ours in the first place. Our church is not ours, our wife is not ours, our children are not ours, our lives are not ours… We are but stewards of the things God has given us to share in his beautiful grace.

When we find our identity in our “whatever” we place that “whatever” in a higher place than Jesus. We create an idol to take His place.

This causes worry, fits of anger, sleeplessness, and mistrust of others. We worry because we feel as if we are going to lose what is “ours.” We have fits of anger because we feel out of control of “our” life. We have countless sleepless nights because we are trying to figure out how to get “our” “whatever” working like we want it. We mistrust others because we think they are out to get us and take what is “ours.”

Thank You Jesus

The beauty of the Gospel is that we have because Jesus has, we love because Jesus loves, we have a place because Jesus makes it.

So, whoever you are, what is standing in the place of Jesus? What is your idol? Is it the work of your hands? Is it what you have?

Give it up and run to the only refuge that will help you in this time of trouble; because, one day Jesus will return to take us to a place that we will never have to experience the repercussion of our sin again.

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Click on the article title for a link to full original referenced article.

If you have not asked Christ into your life, the essential gospel is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and that He was raised on the third day (1 Cor. 15:3-4).  Believing this is the only qualification for salvation.  We are sinners in need of a savior.  Jesus died for our sins, and to prove that His death was sufficient for us,  God raised Him from the dead on the third day. Believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead is our assurance that He will raise us, too.

 ³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, (1 Cor. 15:3-4).