I love how God—as a wonderful Father—calls out our identity (even when we don’t recognize it ourselves). When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, Abba Father said, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” The Father wasn’t distant or indifferent to His Son’s humble life on earth. Nor is He with ours.
Okay, well that’s Jesus, we say—we all know how special to the Father He is. But let’s look at Joseph, Jesus’ step-dad. In Matthew 1:20, an angel of the Lord comes to him in a dream and calls him, “Joseph son of David…” Joseph was a simple carpenter living a humble life in a religious nation ruled by an ungodly government, yet he came from a line of kings. Heaven saw who he was no matter what his trade or status appeared to be, and God had a work for him to do.
We can look at Gideon, too, who was hiding from the enemy, threshing wheat in the bottom of a wine-press when the angel of the Lord said, “The Lord is with you, oh mighty warrior! Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the Midian’s hand. I am sending you!” His response was, “Uhm, think you got the wrong guy here—my clan is the weakest in the whole tribe and I am least in my entire family!” (Jdgs 6) Gideon saw himself through the lenses of his problems and personal lack, but God saw Gideon’s identity in link with Himself and called out his identity as being a mighty man of valor. God saw a son with all of heaven’s resources available to him for the work that He was sending him to do.
No matter what our circumstance, status, or personal lack appears to be in our eyes, Abba Father sees us as kings, as mighty men and women of valor for the special and specific work He has for us to do. He sees us in the light of His ability in and through us as children in His likeness.
Today is the day to see ourselves from His perspective instead of what the world, the flesh, and the devil paint before our mind’s eyes. It’s time to step into who we are in Christ—mighty royal ones in humble places called to do exploits.
“Go in this might of yours. . . I am sending you!”
Abba’s Daughter – “As He is, so are we in this world.” 1 John 4:17b
Pic by crossroadsinitiative.com
LIFE WITH ABBA 