[Disclaimer: There are lot of words this blog. Usually, I throw in a lot of pictures and just write a little bit, but it’s kind of the opposite this time. I hope you still enjoy it! ]

Isn’t it cool when God shows you something and then keeps bringing it back up in different ways and different areas of your life? Like, you read a verse and the Holy Spirit makes it stand out to you, and then over the next week or so, the pastor preaches about the same topic at church, then you see a quote about it on Facebook, then your daily devotional is about the same thing! And you just think, “Man, God must really want me to get this!” Has that happened to you before? Lately, God has been showing me how important it is that we know who we are in Him.

This week, I read the Max Lucado story You Are Special to my kids one day before centers. It was wonderful. There are these little wooden people called Wemmicks ( I hope I’m spelling that right) who go around putting stickers on each other. They have golden star stickers to give to the pretty Wemmicks with smooth wood and special talents, and grey dot stickers to give to the Wemmicks that have scratched paint and are clumsy, or make mistakes. There’s a little Wemmick named Punchinello who always gets grey dots. He tries to do cool tricks like the talented Wemmicks, but he always ends up falling and scratching up his paint even more. All he ever gets are grey dots. The other wooden people make fun of him and say that he’s worthless all the time–so often that he starts to believe them. But one day, he meets a Wemmick who doesn’t have any stickers at all; no stars or dots! He finds out that it’s because she spends time with Eli, the woodcarver. Punchinello is curious, so he decides to go visit Eli himself. When he walks into the carpentry shop, he’s so nervous and overwhelmed that he turns around to leave, but Eli sees him and calls him back. Eli notices all of Punchinello’s grey dots, so P apologizes and tries to defend himself, but Eli stops him. He tells him how glad he is that Punchinello came to visit and how special he is. P is confused because he’s not as beautiful or talented as the other Wemmicks, but Eli tells him that he is special to him because he made him. He tells him that the opinions of the other Wemmicks don’t matter. And he tells him that the stickers only stay if you allow them to–if you believe what they stand for–and that overtime, as he starts to see who he really is (in the eyes of his creator), they won’t even stick.

I loved the powerful message of this book! When we base our identity on what other people say about us, our appearance, and what we can and can’t do, we’re constantly going up and down in our emotions. The way people see us and the way we behave changes from day to day. When we base who we are on ever-changing things, we don’t have anything solid to stand on. But, when we find our identity in God and who He says we are, we can rest in the security that the way He sees us and the way He feels about us will remain the same. He doesn’t love us any less when we mess it up big time than He does when we’re having our best, most on-top-of-it, Spirit-led day.

At the ranch we have a Bible-reading plan that we all do together, and for the last three weeks or so, we’ve been reading through Acts. I’ve read Acts before, but I’m seeing new things this time. One thing that God has been highlighting for me is the character of Paul. You probably know the story of Paul–that he was someone who persecuted Christians, dragged them out of their houses, put them in prison, and agreed that they deserved death, but God stopped him in his tracks (literally) and totally transformed him to be someone who would preach the gospel and end up on the receiving end of the persecution. What is rocking my world about Paul right now is that he is SO confident in who he is in the Lord and what his purpose is.

Acts 20:24 “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus–the work of  telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.”

Paul knew what God wanted him to do. He didn’t care if he was hated, beaten, imprisoned, or attacked. He knew what God had commissioned him to do, and he did it boldly and with joy.

In the letters to the churches, he introduces himself as:

+ an apostle not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead (Galatians)

+ a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives (Titus)

There’s this part in Acts 21 where some guys get super upset, gather people together, and start a riot because they’re freaking out about something that they think Paul has done. Paul is grabbed, and dragged out of the Temple (where he’s preaching the Good News like God has called him to do) and the people start attacking him. The commander of the Roman regiment is called and the soldiers and officers run out into the crowd to get to Paul. I imagine that this is a pretty intense situation. But it gets more intense! The officers arrest him and the commander asks why the people are so upset with Paul, but they just get even more upset talking about it, and as Paul is being led away by the soldiers & officers, he has to be lifted up onto their soldiers because the mob is closing in and shouting for him to be killed. Can you even imagine?! I think it would make complete sense for Paul to be terrified, but instead, as he’s about to be taken inside, he asks the commander if he can have a minute to talk to the people. What?! Why would he want to stick around and talk to these people who want to kill him? I can only figure that his focus is not on them, but on what God has called him to do. He’s going to speak to these people and attempt to tell them the Good News that he has been chosen by God to share.

This story is so crazy to me. I love that Paul isn’t even scared; he’s not affected by this angry mob who wants him killed. He knows his purpose and he knows that God is with him and for him, so he can be at peace even when people are beating him and calling for his death. What is this!? It’s not that Paul was so amazing on his own. On his own he was persecuting Christians. On his own he was full of pride and self-righteousness. He was so amazing because the Holy Spirit was living inside of him and he was totally surrendered to the Lord.

It’s really easy for me to look at Paul and other people from the Bible and think that I can never be as good or faithful or bold or powerful as them. But it’s not true. The good in them and the amazing things that happened through them were because of God. It was–and is–His Spirit that lives in us and does the crazy, cool stuff. So if we have the Holy Spirit living in us, God can use me and you to do just as much as Paul. John 14:12 even says that “Anyone who believes in [Jesus] will do the same works [He] has done, and even greater works, because [He] is going to be with the Father.” Our job is just to surrender and respond to Him in obedience. It’s His Spirit that provides everything good.

My prayer for the kids at the ranch, myself & the other staff here, my church, and my friends & family, is that we would know who we are in Christ and that we would live by the power of the Holy Spirit, following His leading in every area of our lives. We need His perfect counsel and truth. We really need to know how MUCH God loves us. I think that’s the only way that we’ll actually be able to live out the lives that God has called us to.

“Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.” (Colossians 3:16b)

“Your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3b)

“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” (Colossians 3:10)

Thank you for reading my blog. I hope it wasn’t a snoozefest. I so appreciate the love, prayers, and support that you all give me. You guys are the bomb.com!

Below are some lovely lyrics from a couple songs that I’ve been playing over and over lately because they’re just so good.

If you wanna look them up and hear the loveliness, I don’t think you’ll regret it 😉 Happy listening!

In Over My Head–Jenn Johnson (Bethel Music)

Would you come and tear down the boxes

That I have tried to put you in

Let love come and teach me who you are again

Would you take me back to the place

Where my heart was only about you

And all I wanted was just to be with you

Come and do whatever you want to

Good Good Father– Pat Barrett (Housefires II)

You’re a good good father

It’s who you are (x3)

And I’m loved by you

It’s who I am (x3)