Who You Are In Christ

This was compiled and is used by Neil T Anderson. It comes from his book Victory Over the Darkness, and is used in his other books. Each of us has bondages in our lives, and you cannot successfully break them without first gaining an understanding of just who you are in Christ Jesus. I encourage you to print this list and read over it daily. Laminate it and put it on your bathroom mirror. Tape it to your refrigerator. Place it inside your daily devotional as a reminder to read it. In the coming weeks we will examine each of these point in light of the Word and learn more about our true identity!

I Am Accepted in Christ

I am God's child   John 1:12

I am Christ's friend   John 15:15

I have been justified   Romans 5:1

I am united with the Lord and one with Him in spirit   1 Corinthians 6:17

I have been bought with a price; I belong to God   1 Corinthians 6:20

I am a member of Christ's body   1 Corinthians 12:27

I am a saint   Ephesians 1:1

I have been adopted as God's child   Ephesians 1:5

I have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit   Ephesians 2:18

I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins Colossians 1:14

I am complete in Christ   Colossians 2:10

I Am Secure in Christ

I am free forever from condemnation   Romans 8:1,2

I am assured that all things work together for my good   Romans 8:28

I am free from any condemning charges against me   Romans 8:33,34

I cannot be separated from the love of God   Romans 8:35

I have been established, anointed and sealed by God   2 Corinthians 1:21

I am hidden with Christ in God   Colossians 3:3

I am confident that the good work God has begun in me will be perfected   Philippians 1:6

I am a citizen of heaven   Philippians 3:20

I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind   2 Timothy 1:7

I can find grace and mercy in time of need   Hebrews 4:16

I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me   1 John 5:18

I Am Significant in Christ

I am the salt and light of the earth   Matthew 5:13,14

I am a branch of the true vine, a channel of His life   John15:1,5

I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit   John 15:16

I am a personal witness of Christ's   Acts 1:8

I am God's temple   1 Corinthians 3:16

I am a minister of reconciliation   2 Corinthians 5:17-20

I am God's co-worker   2 Corinthians 6:1

I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm   Ephesians 2:6

I am God's workmanship   Ephesians 2:10

I may approach God with freedom and confidence   Ephesians 3:12

I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me   Philippians 4:13

Who I Am In Christ

Who are you? OK, what labels did you attach to your name? Mother of...? Wife of...? Did you name your career? Or the school where you got your diploma or degree? Why is it we have to qualify ourselves? Why can't we be just Kate or Jane or Mary? I remember an episode of Touched By an Angel in which Tess asked another angel who she was. The other angel replied simply, "I am Monica." Do we add those labels to our names to give us more importance or to make us unique?

My sister, don't you know that you are already important and unique in the Father's eyes? He has written your name on the palm of his hand. You are His beloved. Unfortunately, so many of us have no idea of what we are worth to Him. We see ourselves as flawed, based on past experience, what society says about women like us, what cruel and hurtful things that have been said about us by our families or others, even by our own selves. Have you ever wished that you were someone else? Wanted to change your hair or nose or your body? (I confess, ladies, I do it too. I color my hair.) Why is that? Why do we want to be someone we are not? I think the answer lies chiefly in what the media tells us is beautiful. She is tall, shapely but evenly proportioned. Her face is symmetrical with slightly round eyes, full lips, perfectly arched brows. She has no wrinkles, scars, stretch marks or liposuction. She is graceful, never wears glasses or braces, has highlights in her hair. Black women are taught that the lighter their skin is, the better, while white women need to have a tan to be beautiful. Even after these women have children, they are back to their pre-pregnancy figure within weeks. They eat salads and yogurt, and the occasional chicken breast. Let me tell you a secret: that is virtually impossible to achieve. And I guarantee those women who achieve those standards of "perfection" still have doubts and fears, the same as us "regular" girls. I have another secret for you: God thinks you are beautiful.

Have you ever thought that you aren't good enough for ministry? That you can't sing or preach or teach so you are just relegated to the back pew, wearing your nondescript clothes, listening to the preacher talk about missions and blessings and thinking that you aren't going to get anything big, you just aren't that important? Maybe you made a big mistake in your past. Maybe you were cast away by your husband or earthly father. Maybe you were abused and bullied. Maybe, like me, you spent time in prison. Oh, my sister, lift your head! You are beautiful! You are important! You are powerful!

Chances are that you are not believing at least some of what I have said. Some of you don't believe any of it. I know. I was one of those women a few short years ago. And then I began to learn what was important: who I am in Christ. Apart from Him, I am nothing. But IN Him... oh I am so much more than I ever dreamed possible. It's a process, it took me a very long time before I even began to believe what the Bible said about me. I want to take you through 33 things that you are in Christ. This should take anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks to do, but we will get there. I know we each want to be stronger, better women of God, more effective in our lives. Learning who you are in Christ is the first step. In the next posting I will list the qualities and the Bible verses that support them. I am so glad you decided to join me on this journey! Let's get started!