Who I Am

I just started reading "The Bondage Breaker" by Neil Anderson. I've had the book for a few months and it was on my list of books to get to but I hadn't gotten to it. After being spoken some tough words in love by a dear sister in Christ I picked the book up today and started reading. I am only a couple chapters in but a couple things struck me. One thing is in the beginning of the third chapter, it is a list of truths about who we are in Christ:  This list is in the picture to the right. It's a little hard to read, but I like the artistic image.

Who I am in Christ

     I am accepted... 

• I am God's child ~ John 1:12
• As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ ~John 15:15
• I have been justified ~Romans 5:1
• I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit ~1 Cor. 6:17
• I have been bought with a price, and I belong to God ~1 Cor. 6:19-20
• I am a member of Christ's body ~1 Cor. 12:27
• I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child ~Ephesians 1:3-8
• I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins ~Colossians 1:13-14
• I am complete in Christ ~Colossians 2:9-10
• I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ ~Hebrews 4:14-16
  I am secure...
• I am free from condemnation ~Romans 8:1-2
• I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances ~Romans 8:28
• I am free from any condemnation brought against me, and I cannot be separated from the love of God ~Romans 8:31-39
• I have been established, anointed, and sealed by God ~2 Cor. 1:21-22
• I am hidden with Christ in God ~Colossians 3:1-4
• I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me ~Philippians 1:6
• I am a citizen of Heaven ~Philippians 3:20
• I have not been given the spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind         ~2 Timothy 1:7
• I am born of God, and the evil one cannot touch me ~1 John 5:18
  I am significant...
• I am the branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life ~John 15:5
• I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit ~John 15:16
• I am God's temple ~1 Cor. 3:16
• I am a minister of reconciliation for God ~2 Cor.5:17-21
• I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm ~Ephesians 2:6
• I am God's workmanship ~Ephesians 2:10
• I may approach God with freedom and confidence ~Ephesians 3:12
• I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me ~Philippians 4:13

From the beginning of time the enemy has been seeking to deceive - he deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden... he filled her head with lies. Today the enemy still seeks to deceive - he has filled my head with so many lies over time and I have listened to those lies and have lived my life as if those things were true. The statements written above are what is truth and it is going to take work, but I trust that I will get to the place where I will be able to live in that freedom. A quote that really stuck out to me was this, "Affirming the truth of Christ's victory and satan's defeat is the primary step to successfully stand against the enemy's attempts to intimidate you." He also says that as a Christian I reside in Christ and Christ has all authority. I don't have to fight a battle to defeat the devil because Christ accomplished that on the cross. As Neil Anderson says in his book, "We just need to believe it." 
 

The first chapter of the book begins with an example from a young girl who wrote a prayer to God. She cries out to God wondering where He is and how He can watch and see how much she is hurting. She says if He cared He would let her die or make it stop and she told Him she loved Him but He seemed so far away. After writing this prayer she unsuccessfully tried to kill herself. Four years after that she was sitting in church and she sensed God's leading to write this response to her cry out to Him when she was suicidal. This is what she wrote:

I made a copy that I put at my desk at work and another one for my bathroom mirror. I am on a quest for freedom. Galatians 5:1 says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

On a Journey Toward Freedom,

Sherri