FellowshipWith the Holy Spirit – “Who Do You Think You Are?”
Identity Amnesia
- When we forget who we are, we frantically look for identity in 1000s of places where it will never be found. Places where you were never meant to look for identity.
- You probably do it so instinctively, you probably do it so frequently, you probably do it so naturally, you don’t actually know that you’re doing it.
- You are in a constant conversation with yourself. No one’s more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do.
- And a principal part of that conversation is this conversation of identity. You’re always saying things to you about you.
- You are always assigning to yourself some kind of identity and connected to identity you’re assigning to yourself some kind of potential.
- It’s instinctively human to do and your identity that you assigned to yourself will somehow, someway set the course for how you deal with literally everything in your life.
- You never escape the identity that you assign to yourself. It’s always there. It’s always forming the way you’re interacting even with the most mundane things in your existence.
- You are getting your information to define who you are from somewhere, information to give yourself some kind of identity.
Psalm 27
- The thing that I love about this psalm is that it’s a Psalm written in a time of trouble, shows us where our identity can be found in a time of trouble.
- And perhaps it’s in moments of trouble where your true sense of identity gets most exposed.
- What you’re really looking to to give you rest and peace and security and that inner sense of meaning will always be exposed in those moments of trouble.
- It’s very interesting that this psalm written in a time of trouble doesn’t begin with trouble. It begins with theology.
- And maybe where we need to begin is that true rest in these moments, is rooted in sound scriptural theology, it’s these truths that begin to tell me who in the world I am in this world that is way bigger than me that I can’t control and I don’t actually know what in the world is going to happen next. You don’t know what tomorrow will bring
- David doesn’t say the Lord is light. He doesn’t say the Lord is salvation. He doesn’t say the Lord is stronghold, does he?
- What does he say? “MY”
- You see that changes the whole thing.
- Enough of abstract impersonal, distant, isolated informational theology. It’s not the theology of the Word of God.
- You see, the theology of the Word of God, properly understood, never just defines who God is; it redefines who you are as His children.
- The Lord is MY light, MY salvation, the stronghold of MY life.
What would you ask for?
- Try to put yourself in David’s place, people are trying to destroy you, maybe even your son, to take your position as king by killing you, what is the one thing you would ask of the Lord?
- Look what David says, in the middle of this dark situation. “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” Psalm 27:4 ESV
- One thing I like is the honesty of this psalm.
- I love how honest scripture is, how it is able to look at the darkness of life in a fallen world with such honesty I love little references that are so completely honest,
- And what we need to see is that biblical faith will never require that you deny reality.
- In that reality of real trouble David turns to the Lord and focuses on theology.
- Here’s what David knows, that there’s one that exist of such awesome gorgeous, glorious beauty that He is way more beautiful than any ugly thing you will ever face in your life and Grace has connected you to this beauty.
- Listen, none of those things that get you down are ultimate. His beauty is ultimate.
Homework – 4 words
- The first is the word gaze.
- I would deeply encourage you start every day and gaze at the beauty of the Lord.
- For a few minutes each morning stop the study, stop the analysis of all that stuff and just gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.
- Sit with your Bible and do nothing but gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.
- Second word Remember.
- Remember this truth that theology properly understood never just defines who God is, but it redefines you as His children.
- “So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 ESV
- And remember that He is beautiful for you. This beauty has been unleashed for you by His grace
- Third word, Rest.
- Rest, not because the people around you like you, not because you figured life out, not because you have things under control. Not for any of those reasons.
- Rest because grace has connected you to this One with such beauty. And that frees you from ever again, having to look for your identity anywhere else.
- Your identity is settled. It’s over. It’s done. This is who you are in Him, now rest.
- I’m afraid that in our amnesia the one thing that church of Jesus Christ is not good at at all is rest.
- Too many Christians have no rest. This is such a massive contradiction.
- And the fourth word act.
- Go out and act and live.
- Act now, live now, not on your rightness, not on your control, not on your achievements, not on your possessions, not on your successes, not on all of that stuff, but based on who you have become by means of one thing, gorgeous grace.
Living Hope Ministries 