Who Am I? (Part One)

Who am I? For me this has been an enduring question in my life. This question should have been answered years ago yet endures to this day. This question, if not dealt with properly, can send me into an out-of-control tailspin.

The enemy tells me I am a failure in every sense of the word, reminds me of my past, and points out my seemingly endless list of transgressions. The enemy tries to identify me by those things. More accurately, he tries to convince me to identify myself by these things.

What starts as an immoral thought, slip of the tongue, or maybe an outburst of anger, turns into a barrage of self-defeating, self-loathing thoughts from the enemy. These thoughts are designed to defeat me (us) and send me into that out-of-control tailspin. This scheme of the devil used to work like clockwork in my life, not so much anymore, Glory to God!

I have learned to recognize these thoughts as a trigger for me. Sometimes however, these thoughts seem to come from nowhere and for no apparent reason. I have found that when I am tired, I have a harder time controlling my thoughts.

It Is good to recognize when we are most vulnerable or susceptible to the attack of the enemy. If we are living out lives for the Lord, we will come under attack; so, we might as well learn how to fight back.

The Apostle Paul in Romans Chapter Seven wrote that he noticed that whenever he did good, evil was there with him. HOW WOULD HE RECOGNIZE THAT?

Maybe when he would pray, and someone received a healing there would be that thought in the back of his mind that told him how good he was. Or maybe when someone would tell him how brilliant he was, he would briefly, in his thoughts, agree with them.

Just thinking. There had to be some way Paul recognized that evil was present. I don't think for a second that Paul bought into that stuff; he knew his source of strength, wisdom and understanding.

The Point is, we will face trials, tribulations and battles. If you don't think we are in the spiritual battle of our lives right now, (August 2024), you are either in denial or not paying attention.

We must fight not only for our spiritual lives but for those around us - our churches and our nation, but as with almost everything, it starts at home.

I started this by asking, "Who am I?" The more important question is, "Who is God?" More specifically, "Who do I say God is, or Who is God to me?"

Our tendency is to make God in our image, or the image we have in our mind. We put God in a box. We limit God by our limitations.

It is a balancing act. Some people believe they can live in obvious contradiction to the Word of God. They twist Scripture to read how they want it to read and by faith confess that it's not even sin.

Some believe that the gifts of the Holy spirit are not in operation in the church today. I don't believe this to be sin, but I do believe these folks are missing the fullness of God.

Either way, God is being put in a box. One way He is limited due to sin, the other due to unbelief.

In "Part Two" of this blog we will look to the Word of God to see who God is as our Creator, who He is to the Church, and who God is to us individually.

Before I can answer, "Who am I?" I must understand who God is and is not.