Though many things in my life have shaped me, outside of Christ nothing has defined me. I am not that boy who grew up in an alcoholic home, we are not that couple who were pregnant as teenagers. We are not that couple who were homeless or that couple who lost their child. Nor are we the couple that's son was 60% burned when he was two or whose other son was born with Down Syndrome. I am not that guy who struggled with drink and pot. I am not that guy who quit drink and pot. I am not that guy who laid bricks nor am that guy who sells houses. While all of these things had a hand in shaping my wife and I, it is only Jesus that has defined us.

Jesus has defined us so much that probably no one could tell where we came from or even guess what our childhood was like. We are so rooted and defined by God because He is so much bigger than any one of those events or even all of those events combined. Do not let yourself become defined by the events that happened in your life whether good or bad. Don't be that guy who is very wealthy, don't be that woman who was abused, don't be that person who has a handicap, be defined in Christ and you will be renewed no matter what your circumstances were or the combination of all of your circumstances are.

Be known as that couple who are kind and loving. Be known as that woman who is virtuous. Be known as that man who walks with integrity. Be known as the couple who others can turn to for help. No single event or series of them must be allowed to define us, not even our salvation, for salvation is not a one time event, it is a living thing. Let the lives that we live define us and let those lives be in Christ and then when the world looks at us they will see Jesus. And if He be lifted up.........................Glory to God in the highest , Glory to our God on high who can take someone who has been shattered into ten thousand pieces and put it all back together. Glory to the one who transforms and renews and makes all things whole........bro Frank

Praise God for what you have shared Brother Frank, for the old things have truly passed away and all things have become new. Our identity is not in who we were, that Man has died, but Now Christ has become our true identity, and we are a new creation in Him.

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Mike

Amen brothers Frank and Mike,
It is a constant battle, for the world (and we oftimes) wants to define us by our actions, our past, our failures or successes and Satan loves to drive in the nails, BUT as Paul wrote:
'But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as a loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ ...

I do not regard myself as having laid a hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (From the letter to the Philippians)

Those things which God delivered us from and saved us from, the sin and sorrows serve only to give us greater love for the lost and help us encourage the downtrodden saint and most importantly give gratitude to our Lord and God for His salvation!
Sis L

Good words to begin the new year with.

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Leslie

Bro Mike writes.....

"Our identity is not in who we were, that Man has died, but Now Christ has become our true identity, and we are a new creation in Him." Amen ..........bro Frank

Amen sister Leslie, it occurs to me that we must also count our losses as loss for the sake of Jesus. Without Jesus most of us are more shaped by the losses than the gains.........bro Frank

Someone quoted part of this text earlier.
2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

It is refreshing to know my brothers and sister 'after the Lord' as new creations.
knowing them as 'ex-bikers', ex-gangsters, or as something else from the past or the present keeps us reminding them of the power of their flesh, and keeps reminding them we still view them as bikers, gangsters, philanderers, cons, thieves etc. It's a horrible thing when your family will not let you get out of your cage. When your spiritual family does the same thing it's equally harming.

Being defined by what we now hate is a hateful thing.

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Marvin

Those are great points bro Marvin and resonate in my spirit. Its like in the world, once an alcoholic always an alcoholic, just a sober one, but in Christ one is set free and is no longer what he was and is now completely free in Him. This has been my experience and also the experience of my father. On that subject, I do not refer to some Americans as African Americans. This denotes blackness and the fact that they are not really fully Americans. Every American comes from somewhere but we do not refer to them as Hungarian Americans or Jewish Americans or Russian Americans. In Christ, truly in Christ we only see people, we do not see them as rich or poor, black or white educated or uneducated. These are the things that are sent to divide us, our sole (or soul) focus should be on what unites us whether that be in the world, Americans or in the Body of Christ, Christians............bro Frank

YES!!!!!! Thank you for this encouragement Frank. The new man is created in His image in righteousness and true holiness. The old man's identity was determined by carnal circumstances. The new man's identity is determined by God. The circumstances of life no longer define me. He defines me and gives me the power to walk through all of life's circumstances in power, joy, and glory. Praise God!

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Travis

Bro Travis writes.........

"The circumstances of life no longer define me. He defines me and gives me the power to walk through all of life's circumstances in power, joy, and glory. Praise God!"

Praise God indeed...........bro Frank

Brother Frank
Amen and Amen.
We are new creatures in Christ 2 cor 5:17
We are changed But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit.2 cor 3:18
We overcome him by the BLOOD of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Rev 12:11

We all have stuff. we all have testimonies.. Only those who are perfect can cast stones... We are bought with HIS Blood
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,
KJV
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but ...
NKJV

May we remember this when people come against us..
We can ruin the present by looking in the back mirror.
Blessings Brother Frank.
In Christ
Frannie

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Frannie