Who Am I?

Have you ever awoken in the morning with an unusual lack of self-confidence?  Well… I did a few days ago.  But I’ve had days like that before and can usually erase those feeling through a little time spent in fellowship with the Lord during our morning coffee and Bible fellowship time together.  And while it did take a bit longer than normal, I was able to push past those negative thoughts and find myself getting built up by the Word of truth as discovered in my Bible.

So… with that all behind me, I took a shower, got ready for the day and then marched down the stairs from my third-floor apartment and out to the sidewalk that encircles our large luxury apartment homes complex… in the not-too-hot-yet Tennessee morning air.  Once on the sidewalk, I said hello to a couple of friends I’ve made over the almost year that I have lived here and proceeded across the front of my building toward Fiver’s and my favorite green space/park in the community.

As I meandered along, I began… as is part of my walking routine… to talk to the Lord about all the new things that are happening in my life.  But when my thoughts started to focus on the prioritized projects list that I had made… I felt many of those previous early morning lack of self-confidence thoughts knocking on the door of heart.

My instant response was to think about my deceased wife and the emptiness that still resides in parts of me since her heavenly homegoing… and I paused near the park, looked up into the beautiful deep blue sky and audibly asked the Lord the same question I’ve been asking for nearly eight years now… “Who am I without Piper?”

But this time something different happened and I began to picture myself thumbing through the many Bible translations that I own and stopping at many of my favorite verses that I have underlined, circled and/or highlighted in them.  I also had to laugh aloud as I recalled one of Piper’s Bibles that had far more verses as well as entire pages highlighted and notated in a variety of creative ways… that gal knew many things but she especially had a deep command of and attentiveness to the promises in God’s Word!

As I looked at the picture of the personally marked up verses in my Bibles, I quickly realized that the Lord was answering my question by showing me who… I already knew I was… according to His opinion of me… as clearly stated in His book.

And so, with that heavenly reminder, I resumed my walk and for the duration of it… quietly spoke out the highlighted verses I was seeing in my mind’s eye.  The first two scriptures that came vividly to mind were old favorite, memorized and well depended on commands of God that have HIS descriptions of the characteristics and strengths that I have as a Christian… found in Joshua 1:9 and 2 Timothy 1:7.

I’m not going to write out those wonderful verses in the blog today, but I would most definitely encourage each of you to look them up in your Bibles and to underline or highlight them as you speak them out and take them as a personal endowment from the Lord… just for you!

Since that early morning encounter with the Lord, I’ve been studying many of the verses in the Bible that tell me who I am that are in direct agreement and cooperation with how God sees and empowers me to be.  One surprise scripture that keeps popping up during my morning Bible Study is found in John 9:5 where Jesus tells you and me that,

“For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of LIGHT.  I am the world's LIGHT." (The Message)

Another translation that I enjoy is a little more descriptive and has Jesus saying,

“As long as I am with you My life is the LIGHT that pierces the world’s darkness.” (The Passion Translation) 

The first thought that I had when I initially read this verse was the question… “Who or What is He talking about?”  Is He just talking about Himself for the period of time that He physically walked this earth… or does this statement also have bearing for you and me who are living in the world today?

So, let’s think about this… we know that after the cross and resurrection, Jesus eventually returned home to the Father and is now seated at His right hand in the seat of all power and authority at the throne of God.  But if Jesus is in heaven… and this verse is also for us today… who is here and acting as the LIGHT of the world that pierces the world’s darkness?

Well then… Many verses like Colossians 1:18 make it clearly understood that while Jesus is the head, we… the church… are the body of Christ* by declaring that,

“He (Jesus) is the Head of His body, which is the church. And since He is the beginning and the firstborn heir in resurrection, He is the most exalted One, holding first place in everything.” (The Passion Translation)

Therefore, verses talking about the LIGHT of or in the world… are describing the role and purpose of you and me as members of the church!  Likened to the mechanics of a human body, the church as the body of Christ takes its directions from the head… but yet the head can’t operate without its body… and likewise the relationship of the body to that of the head.

And as a caveat to that position as the body of Christ, the very next verse in Colossians 1:19 informs or better yet… EMPOWERS US in order to operate in that place… by letting us know that,

“God is satisfied to have all His fullness dwelling in Christ.” (The Passion Translation) 

Now that’s pretty exciting wouldn’t you say?  For found within us… as the body of Christ… is the workings of the FULLNESS of GOD!  It is all there within Christ… which includes us as His hands, feet and spokesmen in the world right outside our front doors!  We just have to look for it in the written Word of God, which is available to us within the pages of our Bibles! 

And it is His Word and His owner’s manual that tells each of us exactly WHO WE ARE along with the provisions, tools, authority and power that are available to us in order to be the LIGHT in the darkness of the world (that seems to be getter darker each day) and for bringing the LIGHT of His freedom and truth into everywhere we go and in everything we do!  And while the idea of bringing His LIGHT into the darkness may be a little intimidating… just remember that John 1:4-5 tells us that,

“He (Jesus) is the source of life, and that life is the LIGHT for humanity.  The LIGHT shines in the dark, and the dark has (and will) never extinguish it.” (God’s Word ©) 

So… keep your part of the body in good shape by filling it and strengthening it with the Word of God… and then being fully fueled… Go out and be a bright shining LIGHT in the darkness that is trying to encroach upon us!

Until next time… Be blessed!

 

* 1Corintians12:27; Romans 12:5. Colossian 1:24: Colossians 2:19; Ephesians 1:22.; Ephesians 4:2, Ephesians 4:15; Ephesians 5:30.