you are not what you do

It's a rare occasion
that you meet someone new
and start up a conversation
when they DON'T ask you
what you DO for a living.

You know...
Where do you work?
What's your profession?

And I get that people are trying
to make a connection,
to learn more about us,
in the hopes of finding
some common ground.

But too often, I think
we get tangled up
in doing, rather than being.

I particularly think that's true
within our Christianity.

I mean, haven't you ever
gotten caught up in the
To Do List of Religion?

Like...

• Attend Church
• Read the Bible
• Pray
• Tithe
• Have a Quiet Time

Or whatever else
you might put on your list,
it almost becomes
more like we are checking off
boxes to earn our way
into the good graces of God
rather than realizing that
His good grace was available
before we ever had a To Do List.

And to be very honest,
it's taken me most of my life
to get to the point where I can
wrap my mind around the concept
that God approves of me...
JUST AS I AM.

And just so you don't have to
struggle as long feeling that same way,
until you finally figure it out too,
let me share with you
what God has revealed to me.

When Jesus came to earth
He began life as a baby,
grew up as a boy and had
a pretty normal life until adulthood
so that He could gain the perspective
of what life was like for us...
so He could know how we see things,
how people treat us
and how we feel when they do.

But when it was time to begin
His ministry, and before He had performed
any miracles, or had chosen His disciples
He went to see His cousin
who had been sent ahead
announcing the coming Christ.

Then Jesus came from Galilee
to John at the Jordan
to be baptized by him.

When He had been baptized,
Jesus came up immediately
from the water; and behold,
the heavens were opened to Him,
and He saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and
alighting upon Him.

And suddenly a voice came
from heaven, saying,
“This is My beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:14, 16-17 NKJV

​Now remember, that Jesus had yet
to PERFORM any miracles.
And here He was being baptized,
coming up from the water.

The Holy Spirit came upon Him...
the very same Holy Spirit
that lives on the inside of us.

And then this voice from heaven
proclaimed from the Father God, himself
that He was pleased with Jesus...
BEFORE He had even DONE
one miraculous thing.

God announced that He was
pleased with His Son...
just because He WAS His Son.

That's it...
because of the relationship.
Because the Father God
loved His Son, He was pleased
with Him.

Now let me backtrack a bit to creation.

A couple days ago, I posted
about how God spoke
the world into being.

And I marveled at
the creative power of words.
(click here to read post)

God spoke the world into being..
Day and Night
Heaven and Earth
Land, Sea, and Vegetation
Sun, Moon, and Stars
Birds and Fish
Land Animals

All of those wonderful creations
He made with words;
spoken commands that caused
inanimate objects to obey.
And some that never existed
to amazingly exist from nowhere.

But then,
the spoken commands ceased.
And God moved into a much more
personal form of creation.

For to create man,
He gathered some of His earth...
And the Lord God formed man
of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and
man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7 NKJV

This a more personal creation.
This handheld, handmade, molded and crafted.
This face to face and breathed into...
the very breath of life.

And special enough
to be like Himself...
So God created man in His own image,
in the image and likeness of God
He created him; male and female
He created them.

And God blessed them...
And God saw everything
that He had made, and behold,
it was very good, and
​He approved it completely.
Genesis 1:27-28, 31 AMPC

Wait.
Stop and re-read that last part again.
Because we have read it so many times,
possibly without grasping what it really means.

This is KEY!
And God saw everything
that He had made, and behold,
it was very good, and
​He approved it completely.

Let me ask you...
have you ever made something
all... by... yourself?
Really, anything!

Even as a kid?
Like a science project for school,
a present for your mom on Mother's Day,
a lemonade stand that no one came to
but your Dad.

Or even as an adult?
It could be as simple as baking a cake.
As artsy as writing a song.
As fun as building a fort for your kids.
Or as career driven as completing
a big project at work.

But when you're finished...
you stood back and looked at it
and you realized that it was pretty good.

Then you walked away from it...
and maybe the next day looked again,
and realized...
Hey, that's actually, really good!
I did that!
And you get this pride that swells a bit
because that thing you made or did was good.

Now remember, that's just like
what God said about us.

But probably just a fraction of how God felt
when He made YOU!

God knit you together in
you mother's womb...
a more personal creation.
a handheld, handmade, molded and crafted.
face to face and breathed into...
with the very breath of life creation.

Yes, that's you!
God Created you for His pleasure.
And just like when Jesus came up
out of the water after being baptized
and before DOING or performing
one good thing for Him...
​He approved you completely.

You see, God is not waiting
for us to check off our religious To Do List
to get His approval.

He is not waiting for us to
get our act together,
to straighten up and fly right.

God is not looking for the perfect,
the planned out,
the righteous and holy ones.

God made you and me
the way we are
on purpose,
for a purpose... flaws and all.
And before we can get around
to DOING one thing for, or against Him
​He approved completely.

Because He made us for His pleasure.
He made us,
stood back and
was very glad.

But where we get all messed up
is the lie that we are not enough.
That our flaws disqualify us,
that our sin and shame makes Him
so mad at us that He cannot accept us.

That is a lie.
Because it is exactly those reasons
that He came
as a man to the earth
to sacrifice His life.

He knew all that stuff about us
before the world even began.

Look at this...
For God saved us and
called us to live a holy life.
He did this, not because we deserved it,
but because that was his plan
from before the beginning of time...
to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 1:9 NLT

Did you read the whole thing
really thinking it out?

It's not about pre-destination.
Don't get wrapped up in that.
Or the part about being holy.

Focus on the part about...
NOT deserving it.
We can all wrap our minds around that.

Here, I'll use myself as an example
even though I applies to you as well.

God, who existed before time began,
knew I was going to be created.
And He also knew that He was going
to really love me, but that I would
screw things up for myself by sinning
and then having shame over my sin.

So He planned ahead and decided
upon this whole "saved by grace" idea.

That is the plan that even though
I don't deserve it, God gives me
the free gift of salvation...
the free forgiveness of my sin.

He wipes my dirty slate clean,
just as if I had never sinned
because He took my punishment...
the punishment of death, actually.

And then He miraculously raised from
the dead and gave me that too.
He gave me eternal life with Him forever.

Jesus!
Praise His wonderful name.

And I honestly did nothing.
He planned it all before time began.
Before I could have even done something,
if there had been anything I could have done.

So here's my point.
We are always so wrapped up
in trying to earn our way in life.

And I get that we need to earn a living.
That is the way it is on the earth.
Yes, pay your bills, please.

But in the Kingdom of God,
Jesus paid the bills.
And I don't have to earn anything.
I am free, saved by grace.
I can like and even love myself.
Not pridefully,
but because He approves of me.
He is pleased with me
and I can accept that freely.

Now I am free to ask Him BOLDLY
to work in my life to become
something great for His glory.

And what's awesome
is the Holy Spirit that descended on Jesus
after His baptism, that was within Him
as He walked the earth doing miracles,
is the same powerful Spirit
the lives inside of me...
and inside of you, if you have
salvation in Christ!

So let us accept ourselves today
as God does.
Let us come before God knowing
that He is pleased with us
simply because
we are His children
and we were created by Him.

Word of God
train me today...
To walk with a new spirit of freedom
knowing that I am approved by You, Lord.

To boldly BE the one You created for a purpose,
rather than striving to DO things to earn Your love.