Who are you in Christ????????

Good morning friends! I received an email from a friend that works in a prison. He wrote and told me that he had been giving my devotions to an inmate. Well, yesterday the inmate almost got into an altercation with another inmate and he told my friend that the devotion kept him from punching the other guys in the mouth. I am not sure which one but, I am super glad it helped keep him out of trouble. I would like you to say a prayer for this man. His name is NY. God knows who he is and what he needs. Ok, so yesterday I had a meeting with a pastor from another church about partnering up on a future mission trip. Well, we began share our visions and the topic of Christian life came up. And how some Christians really don't know who they are or what they are supposed to be doing as a Christian. Let's dig into some of the good stuff and see what it says. This ones for you NY!

Bible Verse: Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." 

Before we get to deep. Some may not be sure what condemnation means. Well, here it is. The act of condemning, The state of being condemned, Severe reproof; strong censure. And the root word is condemn which means: to pronounce to be guilty; sentence to punishment. That punishmant is eternity in Hell. But, I believe with all my heart that the key to living a victorious Christian life is to discover who you are in Christ. This is going to be hard to hear for some but many Christians have never discovered this. They remind me of the man who had an identity problem and an energy problem at the same time. He didn't know who he was and he was too tired to find out.

I have heard some pretty disturbing things at times about how people were treated when they came to church (Not my church by the way). I have had people tell me that no one talked to them or people looked at them with judging eyes. Here is the thing it is not the churches responsibility to clean someone up. This is the Holy Spirits job. Here is why.....God doesn't work from the outside in. He works from the inside out. God doesn't modify our behavior in order to change us. He changes us in order to modify our behavior. One of the coolest lines I have ever heard concerning this is. You're never going to purify the water by painting the pump. I don't care if you wear a three piece suit to church if your all jacked up on the inside. People get caught up in legalism, and that's a dead end to discovering who you are in Christ. Let's focus on the inside and finding out who we are in Christ. Do me a favor take your Bible and find the phrase "in Christ." As you find those phrases that apply to your life, write those down. Start the sentence with I have "no condemnation" now that I am "in Christ." I pray you have an awesome day and God blesses you!