We had the wonderful pleasure of visiting Dallas PBC in Dallas, GA last weekend. We were blessed to hear messages from 7 different elders and I would like to share the thoughts brought forth by Elder Marty Smith.
Paul on the road to Damascas said: Who art thou, Lord? and What wouldst thou have me to do?
IDENTITY: who art thou?
ACTIVITY: what should I do?
When asked "Who are you?" how do you respond? Are you so-n-so's mother, are you a "salesman at XYZ company" are you the "deacon at ABC church"? If that is how you answer, think about the above- is your identity mixed up with what you do? So often now, I identify myself as "Joshua's mom"- how many times have you answered with "I am a child of God"? One of the examples of our identity in the scriptures is "I am my beloved's; and my beloved is mine" What happens when you retire from your job, orwhen you child leaves and cleaves, you have assumed this "activity" as your identity and it is difficult to move beyond that identity after being in it so long... So we need to really examine our identity and realize that we are NOT what we do, but we are HIS in Christ, we are "My Beloved's", we are "Child of God" or "Child of grace" we are so many things in Christ, and once we recognize that, we then need to ask "What wouldst THOU have me to do?"
I in no way did justice to this message, but my feelble attempt in rejoicing in what we heard. I hope to bring you more posts of the other messages we recieved. God Bless!
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2 comments:
I really liked this Kelly. It made me stop and think. So often in this world we "wear many hats" as fathers/mothers, husbans/wives, employees, sons/daughters, friends, neighbors its no wonder we loose track of who we are or become over whelmed with trying to be good at all hats and not mastering any but the wearing of one hat, "My Beloveds" and "what would you have me to do" hat would certainly simplify our lives. Thanks for sharing these thoughts.
Love:
The One Whom God Loveth.
aka Dad
Excellent thoughts! I am reading a book that addresses this very subject. If I become wrapped up in any identity before 'child of God' and 'servant of the Lord' then I am off base. Sadly, I find myself trying to meet the expectations of what other folks think a pastor/husband/teacher/neighbor should be rather than seeking to please the Lord first and foremost.
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