Day 19

Inner Narrative Pleasing God

Let’s pray for focus and effectiveness.

Father, we desire to give Your presence pleasure. Please lead us in how we are to relate to ourselves before Your throne.

Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:4–5)

Identity Matters because Identity Matters

Imagine that you are nine years old, an orphan, living on the street for the last four years of your life, scrounging for your next meal, avoiding bullies and predators. Now, imagine a well-dressed couple corners you, approaches you, calls you by name and you tentatively respond. Can you envision the amazement you feel when you find out that you were the subject of a nationwide search? The man and woman who called your name are professional investigators. They were hired by your grandparents, uncles and aunts. You’ve been found! You are wanted, accepted, and taken home by those who love you.

Next comes a lengthy time of adjusting to a new reality. You no longer have to live as if every meal might be your last and each moment contains a threat. Deep-seated responses that helped you survive are now counterproductive to new supportive relationships. You have a new identity that must be believed. Your self-identity needs to change because of a new reality.

Welcome to every believer’s life.

Like this child your world has been turned upside down.

You are still adjusting. An identity shift is in process. You no longer have to constantly be defensive. There are warped emotional reflexes that need to be retrained. There is an inner-narrative that must be reordered. Your self-identity needs to change.

Importantly, you no longer live on the street. You have a new address.

Your New Address

Do you realize where you live?

Appraised and prized, you were purchased with the price.

knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (1 Peter 1:18–19)

You’ve been ransomed, redeemed, purchased, and transferred into a different kingdom. And, you are in Jesus.

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, (Colossians 1:13)

You live within the sphere of God’s deep and powerful affection. You are loved by the Father as much as Father loves Jesus.

I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. (John 17:23)

The Messiah’s love is uniquely directed towards you because you are uniquely lovely to Him. God’s Spirit is united to yours. You are God’s temple.

The God who lives within you wants you to know that you are sincerely loved by the God you live within.

for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ (Acts 17:28)

He lives in you. You live in Him. It is like Jesus’ relationship to the Father.

even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, (John 17:21b)

Getting to know this love is the goal and process of the transformation of your inner-narrative. You get to the goal of knowing God’s love through the process of knowing God’s love.

It is like wisdom.

The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom (Proverbs 4:7a)

You are God’s beloved dwelling place and His specific, focused, love for you is your new home. The Messiah, Jesus, commanded you to live in His love for you. He said:

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. (John 15:9)

His love for you is just like our Father’s love for Him. He persistently seeks to make you aware of His love. He wants you to see yourself as loved by God. That is the beginning and end of an inner-narrative that gives God’s presence pleasure.

Who are you? You are a beloved child of God. That is the truth, and the deepest meditations of your heart need to be conformed to that reality. It will give God’s presence pleasure.

Your foundational view of yourself needs to factor in this central reality: you are loved by God to the degree that He determined to live within you.

Although the LORD declares His love, humanity has a tendency to reject it. Israel tended to say, “Where’s the proof?” We tend to say, “How can your love for me be sincere? I mean, just look at me. How can You love that?”

Here is Israel revealed as disappointed and sulking.

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” (Malachi 1:2a)

To the challenge in Malachi, God answers, “This is how”:

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NET)

What about us as individuals? Look what happened when Jesus revealed His goodness to Peter. It was too much for him. Read this:

But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8)

Peter was sought out, called, and his commission was revealed. He had not yet seen himself through the Messiah’s eyes. He was loved and Jesus had an unerring prophetic vision for Peter’s life.

And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” (Luke 5:10b)

I wish that the content of Jesus’ words to Peter would resonate in all of our hearts.

“Do not fear. I have a vision for your life. Do not fear.”

Putting Mercy in Its Place

Let’s review some consequences of being loved by God and how they relate to our inner-narrative. First, let’s examine this: we are under mercy. Those of us who are aware that we have sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious goodness know that we need mercy.

Many tend to view God’s mercy as the pre-requisite for God’s love. But what does the Bible say? This is important. Please read the words to this familiar verse:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (Ephesians 2:4)

Ephesians 2:4 reverses the order many have been taught to anticipate. Most expect to read that He loves us because He has mercy on us. However, the verse does not read like this:

But God was rich in love toward us because of His great mercy.

Read the verse again. Read it slowly…

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (Ephesians 2:4)

Rich in mercy. Why? Because… Paul reveals mercy for a reason. Because of, because of, because of what? God’s great love.

God loves you so much that He showed you mercy. Your inner-narrative needs to reflect this reality. You have always been loved by God. You are loved right now. You are loved so much that He has shown you mercy. That’s true right now.

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22–23)

Why don’t they cease? Why is He faithful to you every day? Ephesians 2:4 gives that answer. He lavishes mercy upon you because He loves you. You are someone who is loved so much that you are surrounded by active mercy. Consider this. It is a meditation that will give God’s presence pleasure.

Please pray in the name of Jesus:

Father, we desire to give Your presence pleasure. Please lead us in how we are to relate to ourselves before Your throne.

May the words of my mouth and my heart’s deepest thoughts give Your presence pleasure.

Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:4–5)

Now, please read the following list of identity-matters. Take note of what really resonates with you and pray about it.

1.  I live in the love of God.
2.  I am loved so much that I have been placed in Jesus.
3.  Appraised and prized, I was purchased with the price.
4.  I live within the sphere of God’s deep and powerful affection.
5.  The Messiah’s love is uniquely directed towards me because I am uniquely lovely to Him.
6.  The God who lives within me wants me to know that I am sincerely loved by the God I live within.
7.  I am loved by the Father as much as the Father loves Jesus.
8.  I am loved by God to the degree that He determined to live within me.
9.  He lives in me. I live in Him.
10.  I am God’s beloved dwelling place
11.  His specific, focused, love for me is my new home.
12.  The Messiah, Jesus, commanded me to live in His love for me.
13.  His love for me is just like our Father’s love for Him.
14.  He persistently seeks to make me aware of His love.
15.  He wants me to see myself as loved by God.
16.  I am a beloved child of God. That is the truth, and the deepest meditations of my heart are being conformed to this reality.
17.  Jesus has an unerring prophetic vision for my life.
18.  Even at my worst I was loved so much that God gave me mercy.
19.  I am a person who receives mercy every single day.
20.  I expect God’s manifested mercy towards me to be the eventual outcome in every circumstance.