Focus verse: Psalm 139:14-15 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Your works are wonderful; I know that full well.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.”

In order to allow the power of God to freely reign in our lives and flow through us, spilling out in ministry, we must accept certain spiritual truths. Over the next few months we will look at seven truths from Scripture that will enable us to experience true success – God’s idea of success - in daily life and in ministry. This month, we will explore the foundational truth of who and whose we really are.

Perceive your true identity

Psalm 139:14-15 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Your works are wonderful; I know that full well.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.”

In order to be who God wants us to be and serve in the way He created us to serve we must first discover just how important we really are to Him. Learning to see ourselves as God sees us – no more and no less – will set us free to serve with joy and passion.  When we begin to understand who we are in Christ His transforming power is then unleashed in us to work through us.

1.  God made me - I am valuable

I love a good sale, don’t you?  When I find a “75% off” tag I consider it to be a sign from the Lord!  (At this writing, my husband has not yet discovered this truth.)  In my quest to be a good shopper I have learned an important lesson. I will save money in the long run if I first check the label for a good name brand. I recently applied this principle when shopping for a new sofa.  With the proceeds from our week-end garage sale in hand, I headed for the nearest outlet store, keeping in mind that I had a certain amount of money to spend and a unique color to match. Slipping quietly into the store, I browsed and compared, dismissing overly aggressive salesmen with a tight smile and the clipped comment, ‘I am just looking.” I finally narrowed the choice down to two sofas, both of which would work in my price range and color scheme. As I stood, contemplating my decision, a salesman quickly approached, smelling a sale in the air.  Before he had time to think or speak, I whirled around to face him.  “If your wife was buying one of these two sofas, which one would you tell her to buy?” I asked.  Without the slightest hesitation he pointed to one of the sofas and said, “This one.”  I was impressed by his certainty and asked how he could so quickly make the choice.  His answer was simple but profound.  “This one is a better name brand, built by a company that has been in existence for years and has a reputation for building quality furniture.  The other one is a cheap imitation.”