He is Faithful

 

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

—1 Corinthians 1:9

 

What are you called to do? You are called to be in fellowship with Jesus. And when you are in fellowship with Jesus, you are transformed by the renewing of your mind with the Word. You will prove what God’s perfect will is (Romans 12:2). Don’t worry about what God wants you to do. He leads you beside still waters and restores you (Psalm 23:2-3). God is faithful to accomplish His will in your life when you seek Him. 

 

You are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), but when you are consumed with sin and shame from which Christ has redeemed you, your heart will condemn you. But praise His Holy name! God’s grace is greater than your heart (1 John 3:20). Let the Holy Spirit draw you into a deepening and intimate fellowship with God through His unreserved love and grace.

 

^“Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:16-18).

 

When you are renewed in the spirit of your mind with God’s truth, you can come to know the new person Christ has made you. You don’t have to hide behind a veil of sin and shame that Jesus bore on the cross for you. You are free in the Holy Spirit when you know the identity of the new person you have become in Christ. You can stand before God with an unveiled face no longer consumed with the consciousness of sin. You can put on the new man created by God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:23-24). But you choose to be renewed by God’s Word and to put on the new man. You choose to identify with Christ, and not with the old sinful nature from which Jesus redeemed you.

 

You can’t put on the righteousness of God Christ has given you when you don’t believe it is yours. Let the faith of Jesus grow in your heart. You don’t have to hide anymore behind fig leaves that never hide shame. Jesus restores your soul. Don’t try to cover up what Jesus has washed away with His precious blood. His grace has cleansed your heart. You don’t have to hold yourself together. Drop the false identity of the old man that has passed away. Accept the love of Jesus in all His fullness. He is your real identity. That is who you are. 

 

Freedom from sin and its shame is not found in what you do. Freedom from sin is found in the perfect love of Jesus. Jesus, who had no sin, became your sin, so you could have His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Don’t make your faith about what you lack. Make it about what Jesus has accomplished for you.

 

God is faithful. His love is constant. He has called you righteous because He sees Jesus’ finished work of grace in you. Your sin to God is as far as the East is from the West. The love of Jesus isn’t about how well you can love God. You could never love and serve God as much as He loved and served you. God loved you before you ever loved Him. Your identity in Jesus is not about how much you love Him. Your identity is about how much He loved you. 

 

That veil is torn.  Let go of the attempts to prove your righteousness. Let go of the old identity you had before you received Jesus in your heart. Open yourself to the new creation He has wrought forth in you. You aren’t meant to thirst and never be filled. Believe who Jesus is in your life and the new life that is yours. And out of your heart will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38).

 

God has called you into a relationship with Him, and He is faithful to that relationship. As God loved His Son, He also loves you.

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

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