Define Yourself - Wendy Blight

So I don't often post other peoples bogs or posts but this morning I happened upon this.  I haven't been reading these devotions lately because I have been spending time studying the book of James instead but this morning I was deleting emails and I saw the title.  The title alone struck me given the areas in which I have been struggling the last couple of days.  It spoke right to me, almost as if Wendy and I had been having a conversation and this was her response.  I felt I would share it with you.

March 2, 2012

Define Yourself

Wendy Blight

"For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

"Define yourself through the hands and eyes of a true artist."

As I closed the stall door in a public restroom, that slogan caught my eyes. It was from an advertisement for a plastic surgeon. Reading those words, I knew this doctor was tapping into longings every woman has: to be beautiful, loved and accepted by others.

But for most women, this is not reality. We don't see our beauty or worth. We look in the mirror and only see faults. We allow others to define us.

Sometimes it is our culture. But oftentimes it is the very people we love...our parents, a friend, or spouse. Their words deceive us into thinking we are unworthy...a failure as a woman and even as a child of God.

Yet God created us to be women of strength and beauty, each with a divine purpose planned by Him before we were born. God alone has the right to define us. No one else.

There is only One true artist and His name is God.

God is the Creator.

After reading that advertising slogan, I felt a burning desire to know a woman's true identity. The Truth I found in His Word was powerful and life changing. Rather than posting these truths on the back of a bathroom door, I wanted to share them with you.

You are:

• Created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27)

• Fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)

• Precious and honored in His sight. (Isaiah 43:4)

• Redeemed and forgiven. (Ephesians 1:7)

• A new creature in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

• Holy and blameless before God. (Ephesians 1:4, 1Corinthians 1:30)

• Chosen by God. (1 Peter 2:9)

• God's masterpiece. (Ephesians 2:10)

• Created with purpose to do great works for God's Kingdom. (Ephesians 2:10)

You are God's creation - beautiful, strong and created with a unique plan and purpose.

I don't want you to rest your head on a pillow tonight without knowing and believing who you are in Christ. I have prayed that God would reveal to you who you really are - not who you are in your parent's eyes, spouse's eyes, children's eyes, friend's eyes, or in the world's eyes, but that you would know who you are in YOUR FATHER'S EYES!

Dear Lord, thank You that You are my Creator. Thank You that in You and You alone I find my identity. Father open my eyes to see who I am in You. Make every Truth I learned today a reality in my life. In Jesus' Name, Amen.