Who I Am

"Remind Me Who I Am" by Jason Gray is one of those songs that I've heard a billion time on the radio but never really paid much attention to. Until today. Don't get me wrong, I've always thought it was a good song, I just never really paid a whole lot of attention to the words and how they applied to my life. If you've never heard the song, here are the lyrics:

When I lose my way,
And I forget my name,
Remind me who I am.
In the mirror all I see,
Is who I don't wanna be,
Remind me who I am.
In the loneliest places,
When I can't remember what grace is.

Tell me once again who I am to You,
Who I am to You.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to You,
That I belong to You.
To You.

When my heart is like a stone,
And I'm running far from home,
Remind me who I am.
When I can't receive Your love,
Afraid I'll never be enough,
Remind me who I am.
If I'm Your beloved,
Can You help me believe it.

Tell me once again who I am to You,
Who I am to You, whoa.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to You.
That I belong to You.
To You.

I'm the one you love,
I'm the one you love,
That will be enough,
I'm the one you love.

Tell me once again who I am to You.
Who I am to You.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to You,
That I belong to You, oh.

Tell me once again who I am to You.
Who I am to You.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to You,
That I belong to You.
To You.

(lyrics copied from azlyrics.com)

Here's the thing: we all know John 3:16. Even many non-Christians in America know John 3:16. And most of the time we quote that Scripture without thinking anything about it. We forget just how special we are in God's eyes. I think one of Satan's most successful lies in our world today is that we are worth very little to God. He has a very crafty way of weaving our past into our present and getting us to cling to all of the bad we've done. We say "I'm forgiven", but the way we act and think says differently. Myself included.

Guys, hear me out. There are things that I have done in my past that few people know about. Really bad stuff y'all. Stuff that makes me shudder when I think about it. And I dare say that all of you can say the same thing about yourself. Satan loves that stuff. He loves it when you are having a really awesome day so that he can bring that junk up and ruin it. And when he does that, our minds jump to the same old lies: "I am such a screw up." "I don't deserve God." "God probably doesn't even like me that much. How could He?" "I should just stop trying. My past is just always going to haunt me." Sound familiar? It does to me.

Friends, we have got to STOP with all of this mess. We are all sinners. We have all messed up. And guess what? We are going to mess up again in the future. But the truth is, sin looks the same in God's eyes. When we ask Him for forgiveness, He doesn't weigh our sins on a scale to try and decide if we messed up too bad for Him to forgive us. He doesn't say He's forgiven us and then hold a grudge. Psalm 103:11-12, "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." That Bible verse is not some sort of joke y'all. It's for real. When God says He forgives us, He forgives us. That's it. Our only job at that point is to move forward with Him as a new creation.

Satan is going to bring up your past. But with the power of God in us, we can spit back in his face. "Satan, you have no hold on my life. You can bring up my past all you want to, but I am a forgiven daughter (or son) of Christ. My past is dead. And you will not ruin my future."

I would say that most of us wrestle with out past. Some more than others. I wrestle with mine a lot less than what I used to, but Satan still likes to bring things up when God is really working in my life. But when he does, let's remember who we are in Christ. Let's remember that we truly are His beloved people. Let's remember that He wasn't kidding when He says He loves us. He wasn't kidding when He says He forgives us.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son,  that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) That means that God loved me. He loved you. He loved every person who has ever existed and who will ever exist in the future. There are no "if's" or "but's" in there. There is no requirement for us to look or act a certain way. He. Loves. Us. Just. The. Way. We. Are. The only thing we have to do is believe in Him. Now believing in Him is more than just acknowledging His existence in our minds. No, we must believe in Him in how we talk, how we treat one another, how live our lives every day. But the point is, He loved us even though we are sinners. He died for us despite the fact that we will disobey Him time and time again. He loves us-every single one of us!

So keep your chin up! Don't let Satan barge in and ruin your day. You messed up in your past. So what? That's over now as long as you have repented and asked for forgiveness. Keep on truckin' and tell the enemy to scram. He has no right to dangle your mistakes in your face. You are a forgiven child of the Most High God!!!  :)  :)  :)

And now, I leave you with one of my favorite songs that applies perfectly to this post. It is called "Sound of Melodies" by Leeland.

We who were called to be Your people
Struggling sinners and thieves
We're lifted up from the ashes
And out came the song of the redeemed
The song of the redeemed
The song of the redeemed

Can you hear the sound of melodies
Oh, the sound of melodies
Rising up to You
Rising up to You, God
The sound of melodies
Oh, the sound of melodies
Rising up to You
Rising up to You, God

We have caught a revelation
That nothing can separate us from
The love we received through salvation
It fills your daughters and your sons
Your daughters and your sons

The sound of Your love
The sound of Your love
Is what You're hearing
The sound of Your sons
The sound of Your sons
You've won Your children
The sound of Your love
The sound of Your love
Is what You're hearing
Your daughters in love
Your daughters in love
You've won your children

The sound of melodies
Oh, the sound of melodies
Rising up to You
Rising up to You, God

(lyrics copied from azlyrics.com)

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation."                                                                                       ~2 Corinthians 5:17-19