As
I walked into a fitting room, a woman exited a booth on the left and moved to an
end booth. She turned around, facing the door, and started picking through a
cart of clothes. I went into the booth she exited and found four walls with two
hooks. Period. No bench. No chair. Nowhere to put the clothes I would be taking
off or the shirts I had draped over my arm that were not on hangers. Where would
I set my purse?
I
looked out and said to the woman sorting through the cart, “Is there no booth
with benches?”
“Oh,”
she said, “this one has a bench; I’m finished here. Use this one.”
So
I did. When I came out, she was coming out of the first booth I had entered, so
I asked if I could just leave my extra clothes there on a rack. She said, “Just
put them on the end.” Then I asked if I could leave the folded items on her
cart, assuming she was sorting clothes to return to the racks. “Oh,” she said,
“I don’t work here.”
I
was dumbfounded. I assumed she was an employee. I profusely apologized, of
course. I said, “You gave up that booth for me. You are so nice!” “Sure,” she
said, “I am nice to people who are nice to me.” She told me to just leave the
folded clothes on a little bench, and after thanking her again, I went on my
way.
I
had mistaken her identity.
I
just saw the movie “Overcomer,” and it’s all about who we are in Christ.
Sometimes we don’t just mistake another’s identity, we forget our own. In the
movie, Priscilla Shirer, playing the role of a high school principal, led the
lead character to Christ. Then she told her to go home and read Ephesians 1 and
2 and list all the things she learns she is. It shows the teenage girl making a
list.
Don’t
mistake your own identity. You are:
· Chosen by God. I
was always picked last for recess teams in elementary school because I wasn’t
very physically adept. That hurt. But God has chosen me to be part of His
family. What a privilege! I belong. You belong. We need never again feel
rejected by any person or group. “For he chose us in him . . . to be holy and
blameless.” Ephesians 1:4
· Forgiven. I have
regrets. We’ve all made mistakes, done wrong things. We have offended others
and possibly abused our power somewhere along the way. We’ve certainly offended
God in one way or another. But with Christ’s death on the cross, we are forgiven.
No sin is too ugly. No wrong is too great. God forgives us—if we ask His
forgiveness through Christ. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins.” Ephesians 1:7
· Given grace. God
offers grace through every situation of life, the good, the bad and the ugly.
Look at the survivors around you. Ask them how God has been faithful in the
most trying situations. “In accordance with the riches of God’s grace . . . .” Ephesians
1:7
· Given God’s Spirit
of wisdom and revelation. With the Holy Spirit in our lives, He serves as our
Counselor and Friend. He comforts, guides and informs our lives. After my
devotional time, I sometimes write a note to myself from God. I start “Dear
Shirley,” then I write what I feel I’ve drawn from my time of Bible reading and
prayer. Yes, I realize what I write may be my own earthy thoughts. But I do
believe if we are serious about our relationship with God, He is serious about
touching our lives, guiding us, in the here and now. Try it. “I keep asking
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . may give you the Spirit of wisdom
and revelation, so that you may know him better.” Ephesians 1:17
· Created to do good
works. We are not just pretty faces. God has a purpose for our lives. Whether
it’s to our family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances or just people we meet
along life’s way, there’s a way for us to brighten their corner. Shine that
light. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 1:10
Ephesians
was written at a time when commerce flourished as silversmiths sold images of
the Roman goddess Diana while Christians faced harsh persecution. Paul wrote to
remind the Ephesians that they may not be rich in the eyes of the world but
they have spiritual riches in Christ.
I
just got my Real ID. It has a gold star on the corner that allows me to enter federal
buildings and go through airport security. But more important is our Real
Heavenly Identity, which means God walks with us on this earth and assures us
of a place in eternity.
Read
Ephesians 1 and 2, and then praise God for His goodness to us!
