My Identity in Christ Part 5: Becoming the Person God called you to be.

You can’t live beyond what you believe. Ever since we were little kids we formed belief systems. i am not talking about what we believe about God and the world but what we believe about ourselves deep inside. this develops overtime through our experiences and things are parents and friends tell us growing up. We take in certain truths or perceptions that form our belief system. We can profess to believe something all we want but its what’s in our hearts that really drives us or holds us back in the search for significance, success and satisfaction in life.

You will hear a lot of advice in this world to follow your heart and dream big and you can do anything if you just set your mind to it. which all sounds good until you hit some speed bumps along the way. We get discouraged, distracted and even disappointed when our plans are delayed or put on hold. or they just don’t turn out they way you expected them to. And when we are disappointed we say things like “oh well i guess it’s not God’s will for me” or ill never accomplish (Fill in the blank) its not a fun place to visit.

Illustration: one of our vacations to visit family we decided to take a boat out on to Caddo lake in texas and on our way they we passed through a town. name UNCERTAIN. population 94. and it was a quiet place. i couldn’t believe they named a town Uncertain.   and the names they had for their business had the towns names. and yes there was an UNCERTAIN CHURCH. and if you think about it that’s are struggle today.

I think we all at times end up in a similar place where we are uncertain of what God’s plan for us really is. That’s why I like how the Apostle Peter put it in his letter

(3) By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. (4) And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

(5) In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, (6) and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, (7) and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. (8) The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your

knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (9) But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. (10) So, dear brothers and sisters,  work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.
2 Peter 1:3-10 – NLT

Transition: Did you notice something missing in Peters description of God’s goals for us? there is nothing about gifts or talents or abilities, there is no quantification, no numbers. There are no verses in the Bible that tell you must accomplish a certain task or reach a certain number of people or do a particular amount of ministry in order to fulfill God’s Plan for your life.

1. Godly goals vs Godly Desires  There are a lot of godly desires that we have. to raise our kids to be Christians, to reach our neighbors for Christ. to see our spouse come to know Jesus. but when those godly desires are blocked, we become discouraged. When our neighbor doesn’t want to know Jesus or maybe our kids aren’t walking with God like we want or that husband or wife that’s been praying for their their spouse to be saved for years doesn’t see it happen. it can really affect your sense of self worth. you can feel like your failing as a Christian and of course that can can bring anxiety as well. and that’s because our desires, even though they are well intentioned can be blocked by other people or circumstances.
   1.  A Godly goal is a clearly defined direction for your life that aligns with God’s purposes and does not depend on controlling other people or circumstances.
      1. the only one you control is you. you can’t control other peoples decisions.
   2. A Godly desire is any specific result that depends on the cooperation of other people, the success of events or favorable circumstances
      • you can’t base your success or sense of self worth on your desires no matter how godly they might be.
      • When we elevate our desires, as good as they might be, and equate them to God’s goals or his plan for our lives we set ourselves up for anger, discouragement and even depression because people aren’t going to always act the way you want, circumstances will not always workout the way you want.
2. God’s Goal is for you to become the person he has called you to be.
   • That means character development powered by the Holy Spirit.
   • God has given us everything we need to live a Godly life
   • We share in his divine nature (Spiritually Alive) which give us the power to escape the desires of this corrupt world
   • lets take another look at that verse
   • (5) In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, (6) and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, (7) and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. (8) The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be
   • • Believe you are who God says you are.
     • Grow in your knowledge of his word
     • practice self control
     • Love everybody.
3. Your significance comes not from what you accomplish but from who you are in Christ.
   1. this is were we as Christian’s can experience true spiritual freedom. not being burdened by our own expectations or expectations placed upon us by others. as we develop our relationship with God and his people we will develop into the person he has always meant us to be .
   2. God sees you not as who you are but as who you will be. he knows past, present and future
   3. Illustration: We have a digital photo frame at home that cycles through pictures our family has taken. and even when we are watching TV we stop and look with a sense of love and thankfulness for our kids and grandkids. I picture God the father sitting in his throne room and imagine he has a picture of each of us.in  it would be all grown up. we are not there yet. but one day we will be and that’s the picture he looks at. in fact Paul points this out in his letter to the Ephesian church.
   4. (10) For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. 
      Ephesians 2:10 – NLT
   5. Know that you are God’s work of art, his child and he just wants you to grow into the person he has planned for you to be.
   6. Be free today in Christ and in his love for you.
   7. Ephesians