When I was growing up, I was involved in a lot of different activities.  I played sports. I belonged to clubs. I worked jobs.  I went to school.  These were all great experiences, and these experiences help to inform decisions I make today and the way I live my life.  However, they are not who I am.

You’ve probably heard a lot people say that we are merely a sum of our experiences.  Lord, I hope not.  If my identity is tied up in the events of my past, then I have no hope of overcoming how that past has affected me.  But if my identity is tied to something greater that transcends the tragedies, failings, and baggage of my past, then victory is something to be hoped for, after all.

In Matthew 16, the issue of identity comes to the forefront in a conversation between Jesus and His disciples.  Up until that point, they had been called to follow Him, participate in His ministry, and witness incredible miracles, but they had not yet been challenged to respond to Him directly.  He asked them who people thought that He was.  A variety of answers were given, but none that correctly identified Him.  Then He looks at the one called Simon, and asks pointedly, “Who do YOU say that I am?”  How Jesus handled Simon’s response speaks powerfully to the way in which He desires to work in our lives.

In Biblical times names meant something.  Someone’s identity was often tied up in his name, even to the point of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Simon’s name meant “one who hears.”  And yet, deep down, Simon was more then just a hearer of Jesus.  He was made to be a doer, a leader. His name, and therefore his identity, did not reflect who God had created Him to be.  And so the solution was simple. He needed a new name.

What is so powerful about this passage is that it is not until Simon confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and God’s answer to our sin that he received his new name.  It is that confession that opened the door for Jesus to change Simon’s name, to give him his true identity, and to reveal the purpose he was created for. Simon became Peter, and the hearer became the doer.

Names don’t mean what they used to.  People often choose baby names for pretty superficial reasons. While all names have meanings, those meanings are novelties, at most.  And so this passage seems strange to us because we would never think our name needed to be changed. However, the name Jesus longs to change in our lives is not what is on our birth certificate but what is written on our hearts.  It is name that reveals who we truly are in the eyes of God.

If you are struggling to discover who you are, it is not because you need to experience more of life.  Your choices do not define you.  Your relationships do not define you.  Your career, your bank account, and your past do not define you. You are defined by the identity of the God who created you. This is a reality worth running to, because it demonstrates the unconditional love of God that says that nothing you have ever done can get in the way of the life He has created for you. Understanding that identity begins with your answer to a simple question: “Who do YOU say that I am?”

Have you ever felt like you knew someone so well, and yet were so distant? You hear about the married couple that, once all of their kids grow up and move out, find themselves with nothing to talk about because in all of their parenting the marital relationship was neglected.  Or what about the co-worker who you see day in and day out, probably more then you see your own family, but you know nothing about who they truly are, what drives them, and what they are passionate about.  For all the means we have to connect with others, we remain decisively disconnected from each other.

And we were created by a relational God to be relational.  Though we have lost our way, Jesus provides for us the example in John 1. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us,” or to put it more directly, “God became man and moved in next door.”  God desired a relationship with us, and being separated from us, because of our sin, was not acceptable to Him.  And so He stepped into our world and did something about it.

However, His desire was not for geographical closeness with man. Relational closeness was His aim.  The God of the Universe, who could have commanded our loyalty if He so chose, wants so desperately to be invited in. He left His place at the side of the Father in heaven in order to take up residence in the crummy studio apartments of our lives, to show us what unconditional love is, to restore our relationship with our Creator, and demonstrate for us how to have impactful relationships with others.

We aren’t meant to know about Jesus, we are meant to know Him.  If all you ever about Jesus is what you hear in church, on the radio, and even in the Bible, but you don’t KNOW Him, you will never experience the passion and purpose of the ZOE life He has for you.  And when your life comes to end, you will be one of the sad souls that reach eternity and meet Jesus face-to-face, only to hear Him say, “I’m sorry, have we met?”

Don’t treat Jesus like someone else to keep at arms length. Know Him today.  He’s moving into your neighborhood.  Maybe it’s time you invited Him over.

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:57

You’ve already won.

There is no truth more central to Scripture that receives less attention from Christians today than this.  So many of us live life defeated by our sins, our failures, and our circumstance and not the full ZOE life (What is the ZOE life?) we were created for. Maybe it’s because our faith is lacking, or because our knowledge of Scripture is shallow.  Maybe we see those around us being defined by their circumstances, so we allow ourselves to be defined by ours as well.  Maybe, deep down, we know our sin, and therefore don’t feel like we deserve to win.

We are right.  We don’t. But our victory has nothing to do with us.

In Colossians 3 (see passage here), the Apostle Paul tells believers that we are “raised with Christ,” and that we are to “set our minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Put another way, Paul is telling us to quit worrying about the circumstances of this life, because the resurrection is the final proof that no earthly circumstance can ever affect our eternal standing with God or our identity as children of the King. If Christ defeated death, He can surely beat any struggle, hurt, or challenge you face when you choose to make Him Lord of your life.

While you may think I’m not be telling you anything you don’t already know, are you really living as if this were true?  Do you find yourself always anxious about your future? Do you freak out during exam week? Does relationship or friendship drama constantly weigh on your mind? Do the opinions of your parents dictate how you live? Do you keep God at a distance because of guilt and shame over the life you have chosen? If you answer yes to any of these questions, it’s because you don’t live like you’ve already won.

You’ve won because God created uniquely with a purpose for your life.  You’ve won because, despite your sin, God chose to save you through the redeeming work of the Cross, not because you deserved it, but because you were worth it.  You’ve won because, in beating death, Jesus proved there is nothing He cannot overcome when He is allowed to work in your life.  You’ve won, not because of anything you did, but because God found you worth creating, dying, and coming back for.

Living the Christian life is not about going to church, following the rules, and being nice.  It’s walking in the victory the Cross gives us, and the victory it can give to the world.  It’s not allowing circumstance, sin, shame, or guilt to come between you and the God who perfectly loves you.  It’s living the Gospel in a way that will make the world stand up and take notice.

In the eyes of God, you’ve already won.   Who are you to ever believe otherwise?

Then God said “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” – Genesis 1:26

Good luck trying to find a parking sport at the gym for a while.

The season of resolutions is upon us, and for the next two months, everyone will be talking about losing weight, getting out of debt, quitting smoking, and a host of other lifestyle changes.  It’s a familiar list because it is the same list every year.  If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result, then we Americans all belong in the loony bin.

New Year’s resolutions are often doomed from the start because they are rooted in what kind of person we think we ought to be, not in any understanding of who we are.  If you believe you need to lose weight, or read more, or spend more time with family because you want to live up to someone else’s standard, then your resolutions will ultimately fail.

The reality is that if you really wanted to make a change, you would not need to wait for the new year.  You would be doing it already.

What we need is a revolution from within, driven by the knowledge of who God made us to be.  We are made in His image, meaning we carry His stamp, His seal of approval.  We were created for perfection, and although sin stripped us of that, we can experience a taste of the life God intended us to have. It begins by acknowledging God as our Creator, repenting of our sin, and acknowledging that only Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection has any power to restore a right relationship between God and us.

This is merely the beginning, and there is a whole other level many Christians never experience because although they acknowledge Jesus as their savior, they have never allowed Him to be their Lord.  The revolution that must happen in each of us is the decision to give up total control of our lives to Christ.  Most of us would agree to this in theory, but how much do we really see Jesus as the Lord of our life?  Are we willing to let God dictate to us what career we pursue, what we look for in a spouse, or how we treat our family?  Do we really want Him to set the standard for the music we listen to, the media we consume, or the way we spend our time, or even our money?

There is a part of each of us that desperately wants to say yes to those questions.  So this year, be different.  Rather then making a list of resolutions, pray that God would bring a revolution in your life.  Ask Him to show you exactly who you are in Him, how much He loves you, and what He created you for.  When you understand that you are an image bearer of God with a life that matters, your motivation no longer comes from a desire to be more fit, or get out of debt, or do better in school.  A New Year’s revolution will inspire you to be your best for His glory, and that is a resolution worth keeping.

An uprising is brewing in cities across the country.  Young people are taking to the streets, decrying a culture of excess, and focusing their wrath on everyone’s favorite target, the “fat cats” of Wall Street.

Here is the problem: it is all outrage misplaced. We are the ones to blame.

It’s personal greed that drove up credit card balances and used up home equity just as it was corporate greed that led to risky lending behavior and investments in credit default swaps.  A nation that spends more than it takes in as a regular practice is a recipe for economic disaster.  While the Occupiers will make the argument that Wall Street was more to blame because the dollars were greater, in my book, greed is greed.

What we have in America is not a political problem, it’s a spiritual problem. That’s the trouble with greed.  You can’t legislate against it, you can’t develop policy positions to counteract it, and you can’t mandate it of existence.  So much of our capitalist system is based on the pursuit of self-interest, but when that pursuit runs amok, the wheels of our economy will inevitably fall off.

In Luke 18, Jesus encounters the rich young ruler, who inquires on how he might attain everlasting life.  If the accumulation of wealth could have provided this man fulfillment, he would have had no need to seek out Jesus.  However, there was something missing, and Jesus identified it immediately. He tells the young man to give away everything he had before he could follow Christ.  This is not a commentary on the man’s wealth but an indictment of the condition of his heart.  He couldn’t live without his stuff, either because they filled some void in his life, or he did not understand and trust God’s financial system for those who live generous lives.  Either way, he could not bring himself to part with that which he held most dear.

There is an occupation going on at Wall Street, and Boston, and Chicago, and yes, even Toledo. But the real occupation is taking place in hearts across this nation.  It is an occupation of sin, of the need for wealth, status, and possessions.  We worship the gods of consumerism and self-reliance, and, in doing so, have forgotten that God created us for a relationship of dependence on Him, whereby He could shower His love, grace, and provision on us, His favored creation.

The Occupy Wall Street crowd has some grievances, and some of them are valid.  But rather than talking about what and where we are going to occupy, let’s consider what and who is going to occupy us.  We are called to be occupied by God, surrendering our lives at the foot of the cross.  Marching in the street, holding up signs, and sleeping in a park to make your point are all fine, but it does not answer this question: who is going to occupy you?