Identity

Who are we created to be?
What is our purpose?

I ask the Lord these two questions all the time.
I now know that our calling is not to be imitators of Christ but to have Christ formed within us.

Don't you know that Christ lives inside of you? I remind myself.
Literally all the power and glory is Christ's and it is within you. Colossians 1:16-20 "And all things were created for Him. For it was the fathers good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him." and all that fullness dwells in us through Him. We have access to the Son and the Father the creator and almighty God. We have access to His power.
We are the temple of God and we are holy ground.

This is really exciting and we haven't even scratched the surface in these revelations yet. Paul only just began the teachings of this gift for the children of God.

I used to look at my life and judge my identity and purpose on what I was doing or how I looked some days or how other people viewed me.
God allowed these false perceptions to run their course in me.
I had big plans for myself starting in high school.
I was created for something real big, something really spectacular and glorious.
Over the course of some life lessons and embarrassing moments that dream died in me.
I thought I was going to be a singer at least to glorify God.
That dream had to die in me too. Also through embarrassing moments and humbling trials.
I slowly started grasping God's wisdom inside of me saying, I AM, and you are i am not.
As I've shared this concept before I will not repeat myself here but the point is I began to understand that nothing inside of my strength and my power or my talent will ever produce life, fruit or success. Only Christ in me has the talent and power and strength and beauty and life giving fruit from hard work. I cannot produce anything. i am not but HE is I AM. Therefore i am because He is I AM in me.

So, in this revelation we ask ourselves, at what point is identity what you do?
Well, identity is never what you do. Our calling, our identity is not to be imitators of Christ but to have Christ formed within us.
That is a whole thing we can talk about for a long time. The revelation of Christ within you. Life lived  through Christ's life in me instead of through my efforts...my death in other words.
Well, I'll stick with what I wanted to originally share and that is our identity.

Christ is the head of the body and we are His body (the church is his body).
Ephesians 1:22-23
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

The lowest part of the body is the feet and yet being the body of Christ ALL that was created is under our feet because of Christ.
We are destined for great kingdoms and rulership. We are destined for reflecting the very glory of GOD.
1 Corinthians 2:9
eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart ofman, te things which god hath prepared for them that love him.
Ephesians 1:17-19
"that the god of our lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him; the yes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his might power....

So as I scrub toilets too many times a day because my house of boys may miss aim, or as my heart still grieving the death of my sweet Jake still ravishes any sense of a former beauty in me, or when I continually stand in the background and cheer on my successful husband and two boys for the rest of their lives as I fade into the background, I can know that my identity is not in what I do. It's not even in who I am but it is in who Christ is within me.
It's actually not what I do at all but it's that i am not but Christ is I AM inside of me. He is doing something mysterious in us in this time on earth. Preparing us pruning us shedding sin in us to prepare us for life for eternity of glory with Him.

These are the things I need in life to break me of my prior dreams. Wanting to be I am for myself. When I wanted to be a singer or do something big and spectacular whatever it was, I wanted to have the glory I wanted the spotlight and the recognition to validate my identity.
When you know that you are a "not" you can rest in His life in you instead of your death.

He has put all things in heaven beneath His feet.
We have great things ahead of us.
I need the humbling and the truth of who I am not while I'm here so I can receive who God is in me for our great rewards in Heaven.