See the Gospel as God Sees It

by Laurie Aker

The eyes of our understanding are very weak. We can barely see our sin as God sees our sin, and we have such a difficult time seeing our sin through His eyes of perfect love and grace. Our perspective virtually blinds us; if only we could see the gospel as God sees it. His mercy is extravagant. Freedom, joy, love, and power become limitless the more we comprehend the gospel from our heavenly Father’s view. When Christ died for us, the ungodly, He paid our debt. He cleared our debt as if we had never sinned and rose from the dead to conquer our spiritual and physical death. Thus, in Christ’s death and resurrection we are justified and declared righteous before God. When He suffered and died, He didn’t just suffer a physical death, He suffered the wrath of God that was poured out upon Him, the wrath we deserved for our sin. Through Christ’s death and resurrection we were saved from this wrath, rescued, and brought to another kingdom. God also gave us a new heart and mind to now live for Him. When God sees us in Christ, he sees Jesus’ righteousness.

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This blog post is an excerpt from the Thistlebend Discipleship Study Falling in Love Again with Your Lord available here.

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Who Is This?

Thistlebend Quiet eMoment

by Laurie Aker

Focus Scripture: Luke 9:7-9 ESV

7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening,
and he was perplexed, because it was said by some
that John had been raised from the dead,
8 by some that Elijah had appeared,
and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen.
9 Herod said, “John I beheaded,
but who is this about whom I hear such things?”
And he sought to see him.
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Herod was perplexed.
Who was this man anyway?
Where did He come from?
Some had said that it was John the Baptist
risen from the dead.
“That must be who it is,”
Herod was tempted to think.

Matthew 14:1-2
1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus,  
2 and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist.  
He has been raised from the dead;  
that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.”

Who do people think that Jesus is?
A good man?
A holy man?
A reincarnate diety?
A god?

Someone at the nail salon told me one time that they thought that
Jesus was Buddah, just with a different name.

In 2012, Mitt Romney spoke in William’s Stadium to the
graduating class of Liberty’s University.
He made many references to God.
He would say that his god is our God.
Mormon’s identify themselves as Christians.
They say they believe in the Bible.
But they also believe in the Book of Mormon
which contradicts the Bible.
A couple we once knew in Boston would explain to me that they
did physical healing in the name of Jesus.
But when I asked them about Him, they knew little about Him.
They knew nothing of Him as the lamb of God who came to take
away the sin of the world and they never read the Bible.
They thought of Him as a healer and miracle worker.

Some think He was a man of power, but not all powerful.
Some think of Him as a good man and an example to follow.
Some see Him as merely an apparition in people’s minds.
Others have no interest in Him at all.
Jesus is God or he is not Jesus at all.

Before I was saved I remember thinking,
“What do I need with Jesus?
He is just a dead man who lived 2,000 years ago.”
I had heard that He was Savior, but that was odd.
What did I need saving from?
And I definitely didn’t know Him as God.

TAKING THE TRUTH TO HEART

Many Christians today would say that they believe in Jesus.
But who do they believe He is?
Is He Lord? Is He their Savior?
Do they truly believe that He died for them?
Do they really believe that He took their sin upon Himself
and died in their place?

Is the Living Word alive in them?
If this is so, why do so many completely disregard His Word?
Why are Christians divorcing at a higher rate
than the secular community around them?
Why do “they” look just like the world around them?
Why do “they” want to vote for those who approve abortion?
Why do “they” live for themselves instead of for the
One who died for them?
Why do “they”?

What about you?
Who is Lord in your life?
You may say that Jesus is your Lord,
but what do your actions say?

Do you love Him or some
campy, convenient “Jesus”?

Do you know Him?
Do you worship and serve the Jesus of the
Bible or a man-made Jesus?

AND BRINGING IT TO LIFE

Choose one truth from today and apply it to your heart.
Take it with you throughout the day.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, please help me to worship you
and follow you in truth.

In His hands for His glory,

Laurie
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A New and Amazing Identity

by Angie Thomas

The question of our identity and purpose is perhaps one of the most perplexing, challenging, and ongoing struggles of our lives.  If I were in a conversation with you and said, “Tell me a bit about who you are,” what would be your response?  Would you say, “Oh, I’m a teacher, an accountant, or nurse; a wife or mother; an artist or writer; a sport’s fanatic, craft person, or musician; a runner, a health fanatic”? The list is endless.

But is that really who you are, or just a description of what you do? What if instead I asked you the question, “Who are you in Christ?”  If you are like me, you might stumble over your word’s a bit and say something like, “Hmm, well, let’s start with the fact that I’m a Christian.  I’m a Bible reader….most days. I am a regular church attender and when I can, a tither.  I am a Thistlebend discipleship study participant.  Do you know how challenging those studies are?  I am pretty sure God is giving me extra brownie points for participating in those. I am a volunteer twice a month down at the crisis pregnancy center and I really have a heart for missions and orphan care. Oh and did, I mention, I really love Jesus.”  Great. Thanks for the Sunday school answer.  Sorry, but actually that is not who you are.  You are still describing to me what you do. (And no, God doesn’t give extra brownie points for works—ever. 🙂 )

Sometimes I wonder if our Mighty God in heaven laughs or is deeply grieved because we just really don’t get it.  We want so desperately for our identity to be about us, but it just isn’t.  We have been given a new identity that has nothing to do with what we do but has everything to do with what Christ has done for us.  Here is what Paul says our response should be to the question, “Who are you in Christ,” based on Ephesians 1-2.  I beg of you to read through this list slowly, asking the Holy Spirit to really allow these truths to penetrate your heart.  Don’t blow through this list and then mutter a, “Thank you, Jesus” and be on your way with the rest of your day.  Stop.  Revel in these truths.  Be delighted, refreshed, renewed.  If you are a believer, these promises are for you.

In Christ, I am:

  • A saint
  • Blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing
  • Chosen before the foundation of the world
  • Holy and Blameless
  • Adopted as a son or daughter
  • Redeemed through His blood
  • Forgiven of my trespasses
  • Lavished with grace
  • Given knowledge of the mystery of His will
  • Sealed with the Holy Spirit
  • Guaranteed an inheritance
  • Made alive
  • Saved by grace
  • Raised up with Him
  • Seated with Him in the heavenly places
  • God’s workmanship
  • Created for good works
  • Brought near by the blood of Christ
  • Reconciled to God
  • A member of God’s household
  • A dwelling place for God

Can you catch a glimpse of the magnificence, the glory?  Isn’t it actually sort of unfathomable that the God of the Universe would bestow this amazing identity upon us, wretched sinners?  Our minds can barely grasp it, which is why I think we just tuck it back into our brains as biblical knowledge without allowing it to ravish our hearts.  I beg of you, please do not allow Satan the victory of stealing the treasure of these truths and promises from your heart. Paul knows that these truths are so profound and yet so hard to understand that he prays in Ephesians 1:17-19 that we would be given wisdom, revelation, and enlightened hearts to know the hope, inheritance and power that we have been given in Christ.

Ladies, this is our identity and every other identity is really just an illusion.  Every other identity we try to cling to can be lost or taken away from us in an instant.  Our profession, our family, our health, our hobbies.  Christ alone is the only thing we can cling to for eternity.

I humble ask that you would consider printing out this list of who we are in Christ this week and pray through it.   What are a few of those descriptions that puzzle you, amaze you, or perplex you? Spend some time doing a biblical word search on one or two.  Perhaps it is “adopted” or “redeemed” or “made alive.”   Allow the Lord to lead you through His Word to really cement some of these truths in your heart so that when the storms arise or continue to rage, you can rest assured of the glorious riches that you have been given in Christ. Your new and amazing identity.

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