Who we are in Christ

I'm sending out a double digest of Blogs this week.  See i had something i wrote Wednesday and then on Friday i was reading in Five Minutes with Jesus by Sheila Walsh and came across something else that really got my attention.  I have the book so I'll start with that one and type up what i had written today or tomorrow.  On September 13, 2013 I posted a similar study to what Mrs. Walsh has here so I hunted it down and thought I'd add the link because I think they go well together.  Who are you

So here is the chapter Who We are in Christ

Sitting in the psychiatrist's office, I felt as if my pounding heart were going to burst out of my chest.  

I had been admitted to the Northern Virginia Doctors Hospital the previous evening and was staying in the psychiatric wing.  I have struggled with depression for a good part of my life.  I never called it that, though.  I just thought I had a melancholy personality and that sadness was simply woven into my DNA.  But after months of feeling as if I were disappearing a little bit more every day, I had finally reached out to a friend for help, and this was where the journey had taken me.  

"Who are you?"  the doctor asked.

I thought it was a stupid question.  I could see my name on the top of his legal pad.

"I'm Sheila Walsh,"  I said

"I know your name, Sheila,"  he responded kindly, "But who are you?"  

A trick question! I thought.  "I'm the co-host of the 700 club."  

"I didn't ask what you do, Sheila.  I asked who you are."          

That stumped me.  "I don't know."  I whispered"

"Well,"  he said.  "That's why you're here."  

(this is Zac on a side note yesterday i had a friend Hope Keene ask me as a writer to help her with writing an online dating ad Friday and I used this same line of questioning.  it got her thinking. back to the book sorry.)

My greatest nightmare growing up was that I would end up in a psych ward.  My father was thirty-four when he escaped from the hospital where he was being held and took his own life.  As I look back now, more than twenty years later, I can say with confidence that God's mercy led me to that psych ward.

When we are forced to face our greatest fears, we discover that Jesus is right there with us.  I wrote in my journal that first night.  "I never knew You lived so close to the floor."  For a month I worked through the painful process of peeling back the layers I had created to protect myself.  The opportunity to do so was a gift.  (Zac here again I personally in my life have had times where I have had to peel layers of protection away and learn to trust God and others.)

On the day I left, my doctor called out of his office window.  "Sheila, who are you?"  

I responded with everything in me.  "I am Sheila Walsh, daughter of the King of kings!"  

Sometimes God will take you to a prison to set you free.

Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you.  Deuteronomy 31:6

I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-38

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will but born of God.  John 1:12-13

Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  For we are God's masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.  Ephesians 2:9-10

It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ.  He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.  2 Corinthians 1:21-22