Living From Who We Are

Last night was our last lecture class for Galatians. (Always bittersweet for me.) To begin the lesson, I had them start back at the first of the letter and begin looking for descriptions of our status as children of God. We started with "rescued"...and went from there....and came up with an incredibly hopeful list of who we are in Christ. All of these things we had seen over the past 13 weeks. (You should try doing the exercise.) Anyway, the reason I had them do that, is because I wanted that list to be the "backdrop" for everything else we talked about the rest of the night. Because at some point in the lesson, Keller makes this statement: "When we obey God out of grateful joy that comes from A HIGH CONSCIOUSNESS OF OUR STATUS AS CHILDREN OF GOD...when we do that, the idols which controlled our lives are disempowered and we are free to live for God." So, what I did was to first focus on what it is that can be so powerful that it can cause my idols to be disempowered and is so powerful that it brings true freedom that allows me to live for God which is what I desire most....and what I have highlighted above is the central thing. Our status as children of God. Constantly being reminded of that reality and choosing to live from that position! In every single area where you are struggling right now, I encourage you to "preach the gospel to yourself"....reminding yourself of your status as a child of God (especially as defined in the book of Galatians and Ephesians) and live your life today FROM that position. Don't live it from your feelings, your wrong desires, your rebellious nature....rather fight against those things and hold onto the truth and the hope of the gospel. Remember what John the Baptist preached? "Repent and Believe". That is our sermon for today and everyday: Repent and believe!