I AM Changes i am: An Ambassador

     As I begin to write this "I Am" statement, the word ambassador sends shivers up and down me. Not the word itself, but the pictures that are conjured up in my imagination. Just weeks ago, as America reminisced the devastation of 9.11.01, another act of terror was being perpetrated on our US Embassy in Benghazi, Libya. Once again, Al-Qaeda struck at the heart of our country, as they broke into, burned, and murdered four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.  Being an ambassador is not a cake walk. It is not a roll of glamour and glitz. It does not always come with tantalizing benefits.  It comes at great risk, immense vulnerability, and excessively dangerous potential.  As an ambassador, one represents his country. So, as far as your country finds favor, you will find favor.  If you believe in your country, have faith in your government, honor the fundamentals of her foundation, and love what she stands for, representing her is a great honor.  An honor that comes with great cost.  A cost that must be considered before taking the job. Loyalty and patriotism to a cause are not easy. 

     Those who claim the identity: I Am Reconciled, also receive another I Am Truth:  Ambassador. We don't have one without the other.  Re-read above paragraph again...there are a lot of comparisons for the “reconciled” follower of Jesus Christ. It is not easy being an ambassador; it’s risky and comes with a great cost.  Ask Paul, the Apostle.   Yet the man considered the cost, just as Jesus asked all his followers (see Luke 14:25-33).  He considered the cost, and then gladly declared, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I counted everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish...(Philippians 3:7-8).  Who does this?  I think I know.  One who never gets over who they were, what they were, and whose they are now.  One who remembers they aren’t worthy, but absolutely know that in Jesus, they have become something so much more.  One who remembers what life was like under slavery, now set free, but not just free, handed a remarkable calling.  A calling to represent the Kingdom of New Life.  Read his words:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

One word stands out to me in that passage - the word entrust.  Paul understood what an honor it was to be entrusted with the message of reconciliation. He never lost sight of that honor...no matter how difficult the job became. I'm just beginning to comprehend it.  I wish I understood it more. Maybe the shivers would fade away. I've begun to pray that like Paul, I would never "get over" my new life in Jesus and what it means.  May I always be "One Who Remembers."

I AM Changes i am: Reconciled

...givng thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us into the kingdom of  His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins...For it was teh Father's good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of the cross...And althought you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through deal, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach...

Colossians 1: 12-13, 19-20, 21-22

I am such a visual learner.  I really need a picture bible, a picture dictionary, and a picture commentary to go with the bible.   If someone can sketch it out for me (stick figures are fine), then I seem to understand meanings much better.  Somehow it helps me connect the dots that run from my head to my heart. 

With that said, I have a story that helps illustrate the next “i am” from The I AM.  Here goes; and since it’s a true story, I can’t start with “once upon a time.” 

There lived a little girl who loved God.  She loved God so much, she thought she wanted to grow up and serve him one day (so she considered joining a convent).  She also loved church.  She went almost every Sunday, and especially loved the stories, the songs, and the crafts.  One day, the little girl asked her Sunday school teacher about the stories.  “Are all these stories you tell us from the bible really true?” she asked.  The teacher replied, “Oh, no, honey.  These stories are sort of like fables that teach us lessons about life.”  The little girl pondered that answer.  If the stories like the ones about Adam and Eve, Abraham and Isaac, Noah and the Arc, Moses and the Ten Commandments weren’t true, then were the stories about Jesus real?  Remembering her teacher’s words, she decided they must not be.  Yet, the lesson about life that rang in her head like a little sing-song was this:  Good-Enough.  The Bible was about being Good-Enough.  But, over the years, it got very tiresome trying to be Good-Enough.  So, as the little girl grew, she decided she’d had enough of Good-Enough, and she became Bad.  She knew she was Bad, because she wasn’t Good-Enough anymore.  The God she’d learned to love felt very far away.  He was very Unattainable & Far-Away.  The more Unattainable he seemed to be, the more Bad she grew.  Of course, the more Bad, the further away God seemed to be............until one day, she realized God was not only Unattainable, he was Invisible.  And............ Little-Girl-Grown-Older was very Sad. Very Sad, indeed.  Sad and Bad.  OUCH!

In reality, God had never moved.  He was still where he’d always been.  He’d always been on the other side of a big canyon.  No amount of Good-Enough would help the little girl “attain” God.  No matter how hard she tried, Bad was always inside of her.  On her own, she could never cross the canyon that separated her from God.  As long as she could see him, she thought he might be reachable, but when Bad took over, she moved further and further away from the edge of the canyon and could no longer see God.  That’s when he became Invisible. 

One day, Little-Girl-Grown-Older grew very discontent with her life.  The further away from God, the darker her world became.  She despised Bad.  She longed for something different.  She wanted, no, needed some light.  However, she was so lost, she couldn’t find her way back to the edge of the canyon, where glimpses of light were seen.  In her shame, lostness, and despair, she cried out, “Help me!”  That’s all the Lord God was waiting for, and, when he heard her cry, he sent his Son who delivered her from her domain of darkness and transferred her across the Chasm-Deep-and-Wide right into the presence of God-the-Father.  The Beloved Son lay down his life, bridged the Chasm-Deep-and-Wide and made a way for the Sad-Bad-Girl to become Little-Girl-Holy-and-Blameless.  No longer Bad, she was beyond reproach...and reconciled to the Father. 

That little girl was/is/will be Me.  I am reconciled!  What a story, I have to tell!  You, too?

I AM Changes i am: Not Perfect and Weak

“He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6).”

Someone posted this verse on Facebook this morning, which sent my mind traveling down an “i am” road, which I didn’t expect.  Here’s what Paul is trying to say in so many words, “I am: not perfect!”  Nope.  I am not perfect!  I am far from perfect.  I am in process of becoming, but I am not perfect.  The process is called sanctification. 

I love this truth! Love it!  Just saying it over and over (as I just did) is quite liberating.  The statement takes a lot of self-inflicted pressure off.  I’m a perfectionist by nature.  I confuse my perfectionism with God’s expectations of me.  He doesn’t plan on me being perfect this side of heaven...it won’t be until the day of Christ Jesus!  What God does ask for is for me to “work heartily (meaning as from the soul)“ in Colossians 3:23.  He doesn’t want me to work heartily with the motivation of pleasing men – that gives man too much power and control.  He does want it to be “as unto him.”  I’m the one who wants perfect.  I want instant complete (another word for perfect).  I want instant maturity.  Why?  Of course, I want the pats on the back, the atta-girl, the well-done.

According to what I do know, all of those words are reserved for the Lord to speak over me when the race is won.  Of course, there are those cheering us on, but that’s another story.  One day, the One I’ve been reconciled to by the blood of Jesus will give the coveted, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  All he asks of me on this earthly journey is faithfulness.

Faithful to:

·         Suffer as a good soldier

·         Work with consistency as a farmer

·         Train as an athlete

·         Prepare and be ready as a bride waiting for her groom

·         Surrender as a living sacrifice

·         Remain weak so he can be strong

I want perfect.  I’m the one disappointed and frustrated if I’m not.  I judge.  I grade.  I lecture.  It’s been this way since I was a kid.  I loved the feeling of accomplishment when I completed a goal.

But the older I have gotten, the more pressure I have felt under the weight of perfect.  So God has reminded me, “You are not perfect...yet. Don’t expect to be.”  In fact, he pleads, “Stay weak!!  It is in your weakness I am made strong.  When others see me doing what you cannot do in. and of, yourself, they will look past you, and see me!”

Simply put, his message is this: “Remain weak...please...for heaven’s sake!!”

There is GREAT RELIEF in this truth.  Sigh.

I AM Changes i am: Beautiful!

This blog entry this morning may need to read: For Women Only (although, if you are a guy reading this blog, remember to treat the woman God gives/gave you the way he sees her!).  Please think about the following verse:

Listen, Oh daughter, consider and give ear…The King is enthralled by your beauty.

Psalm 45:11

According to one author, the cry of every woman’s heart is the answer to the question, “Do you think I’m beautiful?”  I found this difficult to believe, until I realized just how often I ask my husband, “Do you think I look OK?”  However, I don’t want to know that he simply thinks I look “OK,” I long to hear the words, “You look beautiful.”  I also began to notice how many times I look in a mirror during the day, to smooth my hair, or reapply lipstick, or check out how I look in a window as I walk by.  It simply wouldn’t do to not be at my best.  But, one thing is for certain.  We do not ever have to wonder what the King of the Universe thinks about us.  This verse says it all – He thinks you are gorgeous, and he wants you to pay particular attention to this fact.  So, go ahead, say it:

I am beautiful!

The problem is that in our society, the world has unveiled a certain box that women must fit in to be called “beautiful.”  We must dress a certain way, be a certain size, wear our hair just right, and have a complexion that is flawless.  If we don’t fit the box, we don’t think we measure up.  If we don’t measure up, then we can’t be beautiful.  And, if we’re not beautiful, then, obviously, we are less than significant.  This is such a lie!  After all, if you lived in Africa, the bigger your butt (sorry if the “b” word offends you), the more beautiful you are.  It’s all so relative, depending on the culture you come from.  But, no matter where we live, it’s the “world” that sets the standard.  This should not be!

The Lord God should set the standard.  He created each of us unique.  He knew what our bone structure would be before he planted us in our mother’s womb. He knew the color of hair we’d have, and he had every one of them counted!  He intended for there to be variety and creativity, so we wouldn’t live in a mundane, cookie-cutter world.  His idea was that we’d learn to find the beauty in “different.”  But somewhere along the way, man got this hair-brained idea that his version of beauty was better than someone else’s.  As a result, we are ruled by “opinion.”  Sadly, the opinion of man became more important than the opinion of God.

Now, certainly, there are things we can do to enhance our beauty and femininity.  As someone once said, “Some barns are just better painted.” J Taking a little more time with how we look can certainly change the way we think of ourselves, and increase our confidence level.  However, we don’t have to succumb to the world’s standard.  So instead of dressing for fashion, we dress to fit our body type; don’t over-do on the makeup; exercise and eat right to be healthy; and stay clean and neat.  The little things can make a world of difference, especially where attitude is concerned.

At the same time, every mirror should come with a warning sign!  Warning:  Reflections in this mirror could be distorted by socially constructed ideas of beauty.  Instead, look in the mirror of the Word - Ah, yes, you are beautiful!  And, so am I!

I AM Changes i am: Something Else!

A little more about redemption & forgiveness (the two go hand in hand) that I find important.  Look at these passages of Scripture:

What shall we say then?  Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions...For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.  For it was for freedom that Christ set you free.  (Romans 6:1-2a, 12, 14 & Galatians 5:1)

Now let’s look at the full meaning of “redemption” as defined by my Greek Lexicon, which says redemption is “deliverance on account of the ransom paid from the power and ultimate consequence of sin, which Christ procured by laying down his life.”  It adds, “to remove the guilt, punishment and power of sin.” 

Redemption isn’t just a onetime past action.  Redemption is an on-going, present tense, help for today.  To tap into Christ’s redemption is to plug into the Spirit, who lives in us (Romans 8:9) and so, the power of the one “who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us (Romans 8:11).”  Redemption is a reminder that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).”  Redemption is a fact that I don’t have to live crippled by sin – anymore.  Will I?  Sadly, yes.  I’ll never be completely freed before heaven (that is the hope of eternity).  Yet, the truth is that I can, indeed, live more and more to Jesus, and less and less to my own fleshly nature, and sinful desires.  The truth:  Because of redemption and forgiveness, I AM NO LONGER A SLAVE TO THE POWER OF SIN.

What’s the key? The Spirit who indwells me.

My redemption and forgiveness mean that not only am I in Him (Jesus), but that His Spirit is in me.  “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh...If you are led by the Spirit, you will walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 18, 25).”   

The result will be a whole new me...who looks a lot more like Jesus: loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, who exhibits self-control (Galatians 5:22).  I like redemption & forgiveness (freedom) for they are making me a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).                       

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PS.  What identity truths are for today?  How about focusing on these:

In Christ, I am a new creation.

In Christ, I am indwelt by His Spirit.

In Christ, I have resurrection power over sin.

In Christ, I am freed from the fleshly nature.

In Christ, I am no longer a slave to sin.

In Christ, I can do all things...

I AM Changes i am: Redeemed & Forgiven

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his Beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:13-14.

 

“Redeemed!  How I love to proclaim it... Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.”  The last couple weeks, the words to that great hymn have been going through my mind.  Over and over, they seem to be stuck on replay.  The apostle Paul was big on this identity truth.  Redemption & Forgiveness were his theme song.  The blind hymn writer, Fanny Crosby, who penned the words to the hymn, seemed to see and understand the truth better than most who could read it.  “Redeemed,” she wrote, “...and so happy in Jesus.  No language my rapture can tell!”  As I have mulled and marinated my mind in these words, I recognize just how deeply she “got it” – never to forget it.  She washed herself in the theme daily...and lived with gratitude (from everything I’ve ever read about her life), just as Paul did.

The redemption story is this simple.  At one time, I stood on an auction block, a slave to sin, being passed around from one owner to another, when Jesus found me standing there in my naked shame.  He loved me at first sight; chose me; then paid the price to redeem me (as a treasured possession); and when I was handed over to him in my chains, he set me free (forgiveness).  Loved.  Chosen. Redeemed.  Forgiven. Freed.  These are powerful words!!!  With absolute certainty, there is an oh-so-happy-in-Jesus-no-language-my-rapture-can-tell relationship between us!  At least, there should be!  When we grasp the fullness of redemption and forgiveness, we live in its declaration of grace.  It’s one of those moments when we declare with all that is in us, “I WILL NEVER FORGET.” 

Yet, sometimes we do forget.  We allow ourselves to get comfortable in the new life as a free man.  We start to believe we’re entitled to more.  We settle into the day in and day out routine of safety and security in God’s love, and we start to neglect the relationship.  Or worse, we ignore it. Or maybe even worse, we choose something in place of... When this happens,  Jesus becomes invisible.  Then, when things get tough, we start to think he’s abandoned us.  Not true!  Jesus is with us always.  It’s his covenant promise to us.  If we don’t sense his presence, maybe it’s because we’ve forgotten.  Maybe it’s because we’ve stopped letting the words of redemption and forgiveness fill our minds, move into our hearts, and draw us into that closeness of the oh-so-happy-in-Jesus-no-language-my-rapture-can-tell relationship.

Ever since the words to Fanny's hymn have circled around in my brain, my prayer has become: May I NEVER FORGET!

“I think of my blessed Redeemer. I think of Him all the daylong; I sing for I cannot be silent; His love is the theme of my song.”



I AM Changes i am: Treasured Possession

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.  The Lord has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession (emphasis mine).

Deuteronomy 7:6

 (He) gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own (emphasis mine), eager to do what is good.

Titus 2:14

 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God (emphasis mine), that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. 

1 Peter 2:9

     
     What do you own that you treasure?  I possess a lot of things that I highly value.  They don’t cost a lot money-wise, but because they hold a lot of memories, they are treasured:  pictures from my past (especially of my children), artifacts we brought home from Kenya, gifts given to us by special people, books that brought a life-changing message, a box of old recipes that belonged to my mom (in her hand-writing), poetry written by my dad...these are the treasures of my world.  Pieces of nostalgia.  I couldn’t part with these things for any price.  What do you treasure?  I’d love to sit and compare notes.

     I also love to look for treasures.  The bargain variety.  I especially like the treasures of the past.  On any given weekend, you might find me at The Brass Armadillo treasure hunting.  Some people obsess over treasure hunting.  I can’t say I obsess; it’s more like a hobby.  It was more the previous for Robert Ballard.  At age 25, he began a search for the sunken Titanic.  Those who knew him said this quest became the sole force that drove his every day.  He lived, ate, breathed, and slept Titanic information.  Finally at age 42, his mission came to a close when he finally achieved his goal.

     The Hebrew word for treasured means the same thing to the Lord as it does to us.  It signifies a private possession one has personally acquired and carefully preserved.  So, what does this mean to you and me that we are “treasured possessions?”  The Word is clear that the Lord considers us his treasure.  Indeed, we became the obsession that drove the Lord Jesus Christ from his heavenly home, where he lived in close connection with his Father.  You and I were his motivation to limit himself to a human body, then to suffer physical and emotional pain, and ultimately death, in order that we could be freed from the depths of our sin.  Jesus "lived, ate, breathed, and slept" the desire to have us as his treasured possession.

     Here’s where the analogy with Ballard breaks down.  While Ballard was credited with the discovery of Titanic, he never could possess, or “free,” the very thing he sought.  When the Lord pursued us and found us in our lostness, he longed to possess us.  This is good news!  In our society to be possessed by another has some negative connotation.  No man desires to be owned by another.  We see that as slavery.  Not so in God’s economy.  It is not slavery, but freedom.  Freedom to work, and move, and live abundantly.  His possession of us simply speaks to the greatness of our value; we were bought at a price when he found us...an extremely high price.  He would not give us away for anything!  We.Are.His.  Say it, "I.Am.His."  Being his possession is very personal.