How to

f i n d y o u r

ide ntit y
in Ch r ist
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Devotional michelle ling
How to Find Our Identity in Christ

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you
might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever

you ask in my name the Father will give you.“

John 15:16

“ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives
in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,

who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Galatians 2:20

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have

passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

2 Corinthians 5:17

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Devotional michelle ling
How to Find Our Identity in Christ

Intro
The identity crisis is a very real thing.

In a age of individualism and in a world where people speak words

over you, it is so easy to forget to armour yourself in the armour of
truth and life, and instead, set our sights on trying to align our
identity with the fickle nature of the world.

Jesus of all people understood what it was like to be judged by

people and have people try to speak over Him and try and tell Him
who He was. He knew what it was like to be praised one day and
crucified and mocked at the next... but He remained steadfast
because His identity was not in this - it was in His Father. And we
too can remain steadfast when we know and believe that our
identity is found in the Father.

And it has always comforted me to know that Jesus was perfect in

every way and was blameless in all ways, and yet, there were still
people who scorned him. This comforts me because I know that
there is no level of achievement I could ever reach that would give
me the approval of every man... and I am not even here for the
approval of man, so it doesn't matter.

To live for the approval of Christ alone frees me to love others

purely with no agenda or false motive because I am not seeking
anything from them in return - I simply want to love them because
Jesus loved me first.

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Devotional michelle ling
How to Find Our Identity in Christ

Our identity doesn't rest in the world or even in ourselves, but in

Christ. We were designed to worship and not to be worshipped. If I
received people's praise or their disapproval as my source of worth,
my view of my identity becomes shaken and inconsistent because
people are fickle and they will say and think one thing one day and
something else another day.

However, when we realise that we were created to worship our

Creator, we should bring any words of praise or disapproval to the
feet of our Father and rest in comfort knowing that He will be able
to handle it all. And it is only HIS approval that you were created to
live for..

No longer do you have to wonder who you are and what you have
to offer because God tells you in every page of the Bible! Love seeps
out from it in every Chapter and He wants you to be a part of His
salvation story. You are an important supporting character to His
grand design for the world.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and

forever." - Hebrews 13:8

It is only HIS Word that reveals to us our unshakeable identity. He

told us through the pages of His Word that we are...

Made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)

Set apart (John 15:19)
Light of the world, a city set on a hill (Matthew 5:14)

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How to Find Our Identity in Christ

More precious than rubies (Proverbs 3:15)

Made victorious (1 Corinthians 15:57)
Fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)
Holder of a glorious future (Romans 8:18)
Worth dying for (Romans 5:8)
Child of the LIGHT (Ephesians 5:8)
Made righteous in His sight (Romans 4:5).

His Word NEVER changes about you.

Even though we do not deserve His love and mercy, and it would
only be fair for Him to turn His back on us, He has showered us with
the riches of His kingdom and welcomed us into His presence.

He crafted you so intentionally and purposefully to carry out His

eternal purpose. And your worth is defined only by the One who
called you by name before others or even yourself had the
opportunity to call you names. You have been set apart by faith
through grace to live a life glorifying Him!

The purpose of our lives is to glorify the Lord-loving Him and loving
people - and as we do this, He reveals how to orignally do that with
what He has so personally and purposefully knitted in each of us.
He guides us along the right path for His Name's sake as we seek
Him FIRST.

With the Words of God as your anchor and your armour, live
knowing that you are who God says you are. While we did not

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Devotional michelle ling
How to Find Our Identity in Christ

deserve it, we were considered worthy in His sight. While we could

never be enough, He deemed us more precious than rubies. While
we are inherently sinful by nature, we were made righteous in
Christ Jesus. So let's live bravely and boldly for He who loves you
and died for you!

This Bible Study

Armed with these truths, here is a Bible Study/Devotional that is

designed to help those truths truly sink in and allow you to really
begin to feel connected with our Father!

For when your identity is in Christ, no matter what comes your way,
on those desert-like days, you will have an everlasting living spring
and on those stormy nights (Isaiah 12:3), you will have God acting as
an anchor for your soul (Hebrews 6:18-19).

Spend time reading the verses, contemplating and reflecting over

them and how they might affect your daily life. Pray over them and
truly tuck it away deeply into your heart because when you
surround yourself with truth, no lie will ever be able to get in the
way of your peace.

But before we begin diving deep with this Bible Study created
specially for Millennial girls struggling with their identity, let us give
a twirl and dance with joy as we pray...

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Devotional michelle ling
How to Find Our Identity in Christ

Let's Pray
Dear God,

You are loving, you are great. You know everything and you are
.everything!

I pray that you will be able to guide us and lead us as we go on this

journey to fall more and more in love with you each and every day.

I pray that you will never cease to remind us how much we need
you and how our fight for control over our lives and our identity by
trying to choose other things above you will never be able to truly
satisfy us.

You know our hearts fully and completely and so you are the best
being in the universe to know exactly what our identity is - so who
are we to fight with you? For even we do not know ourselves as well
as you know us!

Thank you for always never giving up on us even when we refuse to

see your truth and wrestle with you like Jacob.

Now, as we go on this journey to truly and completley give

ourselves to you and create a new identity that is solely in you, I pray
that you will give us a clean heart - one that desires nothing more
than to go after your own heart!

Amen.

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Devotional michelle ling
How to Find Our Identity in Christ

24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till
daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he
touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he
wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is
daybreak.”But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless
me.”27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”“Jacob,” he
answered.28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob,
but Israel,[a] because you have struggled with God and with humans
and have overcome.”29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”But he
replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

Genesis 32:24-29

As Christianity.com puts it; despite sending gifts of appeasement,

Jacob was afraid for his life and family. He prayed to God for help
and sent his family and possessions on ahead of him to protect
them. Left alone in his camp, God came and wrestled with Jacob
until daybreak. Jacob’s struggle with God symbolises his struggle
with his inner self. .

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How to Find Our Identity in Christ

God wanted to enter into a relationship with Jacob, however, he

couldn’t do so until Jacob admitted his weakness of self-reliance,
deceit, and trickery. When Jacob refused to surrender to God, a
mere divine touch on Jacob’s hip forced the young man to
surrender and admit his utter need for God.

Now, in every single one of us, we have a little bit of Jacob. Our fear
of trusting the Lord fully and completely leads us to want to take
control of the situations and circumstances around us. As a result,
we begin struggling with God for our identity. We want ourselves to
be under our control and we want Him to listen to us.

Reflection Time
1) In what ways have you acted like Jacob? How have you wrestled with
God?

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How to Find Our Identity in Christ

2) How did wrestling with God change Jacob's identity? Hint: He

received His original blessing through deception (Genesis 27)

3) Sometimes God causes us to struggle and fall before giving us grace.

Why do you think that is?

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How to Find Our Identity in Christ

Answers
1) Individual answers

2) Before Jacob wrestled with God and received a blessing at the

end of the fight, Jacob had received his previous blessings through
deception i.e. cheating Esau out of his inheritance. However, this
time he received his blessings through prevailing with God by faith.
So through this experience, Jacob learned how to receive blessings
from God the right way - true faith.

3) Sometimes God causes us to struggle and fall before blessing us

not because He wants to make us suffer or that He is reluctant to
bless us, but because it is through the struggle itself that extra
blessings are found. For example, in the case of Jacob and God, it
was through the struggle that Jacob learned true faith. Even
though Jacob was so afraid of coming face to face with Esau again,
sturggling with God forced him to focus solely on Him. And this
struggle forced Jacob out of His anxiety and fear and straight into
the faith that was needed all along to defeat his worries. The
struggle was what allowed him to receive God's blessings on him.

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How to Find Our Identity in Christ

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your
God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my
righteous right hand”
Isaiah 41:10

"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own
understanding in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your

paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made

perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my

weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

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Devotional michelle ling
How to Find Our Identity in Christ

It doesn’t matter where you are on your faith journey and

it really doesn’t matter how old you are, every girl in the world lives
a life infiltrated with lies. And the problem with this is that more
often than not, we build our identity on a pile of lies instead of God's
truth.

This is because the moment Eve allowed the serpent to feed her lies
and saw what the serpent said as the truth, that was when her
identity came crashing down. God was no longer at the centre, their
sinful nature had broken that pure connection that they shared
with God. So as a result, they were both exposed and felt guilt and
fear for the first time in their lives. They were instantly ashamed and
scared – and not just a little bit. They were absolutely shaken and
terrified to their very core.

Now ask yourself, what lies has the serpent been feeding you?

Does it make you believe that you are only worthy if you are
achieving something great? Or maybe your identity is based on
being perfect? Or perhaps it is telling you that nobody cares about
your needs. Regardless of what lies are being told, immediately
throw it to the side and replace it with the truth.

Reflection Time
1) What is the truth associated with Isaiah 41:10?

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How to Find Our Identity in Christ

2) What is the truth associated with Proverbs 3:5-6?

3) What is the truth associated with 2 Corinthians 12:9

4) What lies has the serpant been feeding you about who you are? And
can you find a Bible verse to replace it with the truth?

5) Why do you think Christians still suffer and struggle?

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How to Find Our Identity in Christ

Answers
1) You are not alone. You have the most reliable, the strongest and
most amazing team leader. Even if you are struggling with
something, your pain is not going unnoticed and you have not been
abandoned. His strength is sufficient to take care of even the
biggest darknesses in our lives.

2) We are not sufficient by ourselves. We need our Heavenly Creator

to lead the way as our understanding and our perspective is limited
while His is infinite. He knows all things and if we choose to depend
on Him, He will lead us down the right path for us.

3) Even our struggles are blessings to us! If we didn't struggle, then

we wouldn't be able to witness God's protection over our lives. Sure,
He could give us everything we ever wanted, but He knows that will
not bring us the kind of eternal happiness that we need. When we
rely on our faith in Him, we can always be comforted and feel
content that our Heavenly Father has our back!

4) Individual answers

5) The reason why Christians still suffer and struggle isn't because
God doesn't love us. It isn't because He is reluctant to help us out
and it isn't because He thinks our problems are too minor to care
about. Instead, God allows us to suffer because He knows that it is
actually through the suffering that the true blessing comes.

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How to Find Our Identity in Christ

6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at

home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not

by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from

the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please

him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

2 Corinthians 5:6-9

2 Corinthians 5:6-9 talks quite explicitly about our relationship with

the Lord and how our identity can either go in the direction of the
world or it can go in the direction towards Christ.

When our identity lies within ourselves, we live apart from God. But
when we remain confident in our identity in Christ, we live with Him
(verse 6). We don't live by the what we see in the world, instead, we
live in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s
promises (verse 7). So, knowing what we know, we should live out
each day trying to please the one in whom we put our identity in.

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How to Find Our Identity in Christ

Reflection Time

1) What do you believe about your relationship with God? Do you believe
He loves you?

2) Have you been living by faith or by sight? Please explain.

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How to Find Our Identity in Christ

3) Why do you think that you away from the Lord when you are at home
in the body?

4) In what ways do think you can strive to live for the Lord?

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How to Find Our Identity in Christ

Answers
1) Individual answers

2) Individual answers

3) We are away from the Lord when we are at home with the body
because when we are of the 'flesh', we will not be seeking after
what is of God. Therefore, our identity should not be placed in
ourselves or what is of the 'flesh', but rather, we should be placing
our identity in Christ so that we can remain close to our Father and
receive His everlasting peace.

4) Individual answers

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Devotional michelle ling
How to Find Our Identity in Christ

Thank you!
I hope you enjoy this little Devotional! Every single passage in the
Bible is a living word breathed by our Creator and that's super
awesome! But really digging deep and trying to understand the
word of God so that we don't try and create meaning into text that
already has meaning is definitely a journey! So unless it comes from
scripture directly, test everything that you read (even on my blog
and resources) and keep only what is good! I pray that you will
continue to be blessed and have His guiding hand over you as you
keep being a girl after truth and seek after the One who calls you by
name!

xo Michelle
P.S. Join the Girl After Truth FB Tribe for ongoing support and
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