A daily devotional for your time alone with God. In an increasingly dark world, more than ever, we need to look beyond what we can see, past our present circumstances. In order to see the light and experience life as our Heavenly Father intended, I...
Body image can be quite an issue for many in our world today, where young people, particularly young women, strive to look like the images of celebrities and models in magazines or on social media. Many are searching for their identity and often go through quite a struggle in order to try to fit in, but does it need to be this way?
Identity is formed very early. One of the first things I remember about giving birth to my first child was looking at her tiny fingers and exclaiming that they were shaped just like my husband's. Her eyebrows were his too but her little chin was mine! Anyone seeing her now can tell that she is our child. These particular inherited traits help form our identity but of course not everyone grows up knowing their biological parents. There is an even more important source of identity which we will explore today. We can see at first glance in the passage below, that we are all made in the image of God! How special that during His creative process on the sixth day, God chose for us to bear the image of all three persons of the Trinity —God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Surely this answers the most important question of our identity:
"Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground." So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground." Then God said, "Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life." And that is what happened. Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day." Genesis 1:26-31 NLT
Not only did God make humans in His image, He gave them jobs to do as well! The first was to be fruitful and multiply, then fill the earth and govern it. Man was also asked to reign over all the animals. He was given a type of vegan diet and that's how things were on day six of Creation! The interesting thing to note was that this time when God looked at what he had made, He said that it was very good! David agreed with this when he contemplated how he was made:
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16 NIV
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for choosing to make us in Your own image. It is so special to know I am made by You, have this strong connection to You and also have been given tasks to do and special responsibilities to fulfil. Lord bless all who at times, struggle with their identity. Lord help us all to know clearly who we are and to rejoice! May we become more and more like You!
We have so much to celebrate when our identity is in You! Thank you that I am loved (1 John 3:3), I am accepted (Ephesians 1:6), I am Your child (John 1:12), I am Jesus' friend (John 15:14), I am a joint heir with Jesus, sharing His inheritance with Him (Romans 8:17), I am united with You (1 Corinthians 6:17), I am a temple of God. Your Spirit and life lives in me (1 Corinthians 6:19) I am a member of Christ's body (1 Corinthians 12:27), I am a Saint (Ephesians 1:1) I am redeemed and forgiven (Colossians 1:14), I am complete in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:10), I am free from condemnation (Romans 8:1), I am a new creation because I am in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), I am chosen by You, holy and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12), I am established, anointed, and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21), I do not have a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7), I am Your co-worker (2 Corinthians 6:1), I am seated in heavenly places with Christ (Ephesians 2:6), I have direct access to You (Ephesians 2:18), I am chosen to bear fruit (John15:16), I am one of Your living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5), I have been given exceedingly great and precious promises by which I share In Your nature (2 Peter 1:4), I can always know Your presence because You never leave me (Hebrews13:5), You work in me to help me do the things You want me to do (Philippians 2:13) and I can ask You for wisdom and I know You will give me what I need (James 1:5).
Thank You for everything I am because of Jesus! Amen.
"For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see." Psalms 36:9 NLT
If you would like to read some of my inspired poems, look for 'Seasons of my Soul'.
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