well pleased

What is a Christian?

It is a person in whom Christ dwells. Christ in you. It means that you have a personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. You have believed and put your faith in Christ as your Savior. It means your allegiance and loyalty is completely placed in Jesus. And your new identity is now found in Christ. It is no longer found in the world’s systems.

This means you are no longer measured by the world’s standards:

• You’re smart because you make good grades
• Funny because people laugh
• Popular because people want to be around you
• Valuable because someone needs you
• Loved because you are or do something that causes you to be lovable
• Invited to stay as long as you are adequate or satisfy the demands and expectations of others.
• You are a employee because you meet the goals, hit the numbers, show growth, produce results.
• You are a good _____  because you ______

This is what it’s like to be under the world’s systems. But now, in Christ, this no longer applies to you. Is that true for you? Or do you find yourself returning to that old destructive, exhausting system of evaluating yourself, the success/failure of your work, the value of your relationships with others?

Now, in Christ, your value, identity, purpose, adequacy, ability, etc. is NOW completely found in Christ. The world no longer has any say in all of this. It has no authority to label and evaluate you. The challenge we have is we must decide with system will live under:

(1) The world’s system…OR the

(2) system, the light yoke and the easy burden of the Christ…which states you are my beloved son. You are my beloved daughter. Long before you ever did anything to deserve it…or earn it…It is given and placed upon you as a member of the Family.

You are my beloved son/daughter. With whom I am well pleased.  Is that you? Do you believe this? I know, of course you do. But I’m asking you to believe it with your heart, not necessarily intellectually. Do you believe it in the depths of your soul?