Reclaim Your Name

In my house for over 10 years we had a toaster that faithfully did its job day in and day out but after a couple of years it started to get sluggish. Every time the toast popped it was just ‘pfft.’ Thankfully my sister at Christmas bought a new toaster for the family, it looked exactly the same, had the same functions and features but when that bread was turned into toast ‘BBOOOFFFTT’ it would fly! I turned my back stunned to hear that proud sound that my toast was done, but I couldn’t find it! The new toaster had renewed springs, the bread would land on top of the cereal boxes, near the utensils, past the bread box, sometimes even onto the floor it got so high!!

Sometimes in my walk with God I need to remind myself of who I actually am and what I am capable of. Like the old toaster I can get stuck in a routine of doing the same thing the same way and accomplishing the bare minimum. I can get bogged down with labels and pressures and expectations that are too heavy to bear. But when I take time stand back and remember who I really am, I can operate out of a place of victory and strength, ready to face anything. I need my springs dusted off, my purpose to be renewed to remind me that actually I can thrive and do life well.

If you know yours springs are getting rusty, weak and sometimes even a bad attitude of ‘pffft’, a great place to start in getting renewed is claiming your identity.

GOD

To reclaim my name, I need to go back to the beginning. In Genesis of the bible, it tells us how God called things to life, the animals, trees, where the seas part, he breathed all of this into life out of nothing. In Genesis 1:27 it reads:

‘So God created Human beings in his OWN image. In the image of God he created them, male and female. He CREATED them.’

We weren’t just called into being, we were created which takes a lot more work than just a breathe. We were created, formed, fashioned into the image of God!

Psalm 139:13-14: ‘For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.’

I believe that God made us in His own image so that we would be able to connect, have fellowship, communion with God. We see this happen as we read of Adam and Eve walking with God in the garden. They got the chance to walk and talk, communicate and enjoy their creator.

Adam and Eve had it all, but sadly we find out that a voice rises up, not Gods but the devils, deceiving them into thinking God was withholding back from them.

The decision they made broke that connection with God and as a result we too have been cut off. Adam and Eve lost the knowledge, affect, comfort, knowing of what it was like to be in the presence of God.

What does this say about you?

I was made in the likeness of God.

My original form was made to fellowship with the creator of the universe.

I need to be redeemed in order for the connection to be restored.

JESUS

Thankfully the story doesn't end there!

Because of the father's radical love He sent His one and only Son to redeem that lost connection so that we can truly live as we were meant to. However it came with a price to repair and correct the destructive choice of Adam and Eve, Jesus was the only one fit to make it right. Jesus never sinned, which made him the perfect sacrifice.

But for God, that meant sending His only son to die for us (us the ones who cut ourselves off!). When Jesus was contemplating this in the garden of Gethsemane He said

“My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

Why would Jesus basically say ‘Father I don't want to do this? But YOUR will be done’ ? Because He knew that for the first time He would be separated from His father, He would know what it was like to be lost without His father's presence, He would be in darkness covered and filled with sin. God gave up His perfect son, who knew no sin to die for us so that we have fellowship with Him again at such a high great cost.

What does that say about you?

You are worth fighting for

You are forgiven

God was willing to give up part of himself to save you

God sees your value

God sees you as a daughter/son

You have a new Family in Jesus’s name

You are his friend

God pursues you

God is calling us home

YOU ARE GREATLY LOVED

In reaction to the saving sacrifice of Jesus, God calls us to respond:

‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ Romans 3:23 (Because of the choice Adam & Eve made in the garden of Eden) But when we repent from the way of life, living in sin (sin: actions that endanger your relationship with God, furthering the gap of communication, fellowship between you and God) and ‘...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” Romans 10:9-11

In my journey of faith in God, I can boldly say I have never been disappointed but only fulfilled.

HOLY SPIRIT

For those who say yes to God, who commit their lives to following this life saving God are on the most wonderful adventure life can give. Even though Jesus left in physical form, He did not leave us alone, He gave us the gift of His Holy Spirit.

John 16:7 ‘But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you…’

Being filled with the Holy Spirit means you have that renewed access and connection to God. He guides us, counsels, comforts, teaches, renews, intercedes. The Holy Spirit is also there to give gifts to help us along in the journey, gifts of wisdom, knowledge, discernment.

What does that say about you?

You have a present helper

You have gifts

You have joy

You have the ability to do good

You are cared for

You are never alone

You have a counsellor

You have a guide for life

How can you tell if you're being led by the Spirit? By the "fruit" of your life—your attitudes and actions. Galatians 5:22-23 says, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Are these things evident in your life? Two verses later, it says, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."

I have to remind myself of this often. I have to challenge myself and ask,

Do I see myself as radically loved by the King of Kings?

Do I see myself as a free women of God?

Do I truly know that I know have access to the God of impossibles?

Do I know God has overcome for all for me?

Do I know that I am sealed into the Kingdom?

There is no other mark on me than Jesus. From the inside out I am called a daughter of the King and so are you.

We are MADE in God's image, our spirit and soul and body is REDEEMED by Jesus, our hearts and minds are FILLED with the Holy Spirit. That is who we are, (new toasters!). Reclaim your name, your rightful name in Jesus and see the fruit of the joy and revelation it brings into your life.