Let Me In!
Author Jenifer Jernigan tells her own story of wanting to be “in” – included. More importantly, she desired to be significant; she wanted to matter. She began to seek out purpose and worth in all the wrong places and could never fulfill the desire to belong.
God created this desire to belong, to be part of something more, deep within us; we long to know we matter and we have a purpose.
Often it takes many years, various trials, and countless heartbreak for most of us to figure out nothing in this world can fill the Christ-shaped void within us.
We were meant to find our place in Him.
Visualize
Begin by reading Ephesians 1:3-14 several times to help you Visualize and understand the overall context of the verses.
Embrace
Now read Ephesians 1:3-14 in the New King James Version
- What do you think it means to be “in Christ”?
- Using our Scripture for today and the graphic on page 26 as your guide, write a personal reminder of who God says you are – title it “I Am…”
Here is my personal statement:
- How does it make you feel knowing this is what God says about who you are?
- Share with us your personal statement
Just like Jenifer, we all have a story (or two!) of wanting to fit in, to be noticed, to be accepted.
- Share with us your story and how the truth of Ephesians 1:3-14 helps fill the desire to belong.
To be in Christ – I imagine a picture as much as a definition: a picture of the grafting process of plants that the Bible talks about. I imagine a plant intertwined and growing into another plant. Hope this makes sense!!!
That makes perfect sense, Gina. I often think of the same imagery. Where we are so intertwined with Christ it becomes hard to tell the difference between the two. Lord, may others see You in me!
These are all the markings of an identity. An identity found ‘in’ HIm. The more sit at His Throne the more magnified these will be in my life. My identity is wrapped in His.
I’m not much of a poet but here’s an attempt at expressing my gratitude for my King:
Who am I that You would chose
to redeem me of all I had to lose.
Instead You chose to forgive and call me Yours
and offer an inheritance of love that unceasingly pours.
How wretched I am to deserve such love
to be called blessed, redeemed and sealed from above.
So underserving His mercy upon me,
leads me to humble worship to give thanks to Thee.
Very nice and so true. Some days it is hard to believe that God really does love me because of all the sins I have committed. His love is so great.