A Year 4 Transformation: Day 15-Remembering Your New Identity

Passage of the Day:

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do, Ephesians 2:6-10.

Reflection:

In 2002, the Jason Bourne series began with the film the Bourne Identity. Matt Damon plays a man suffering from amnesia, desperately trying to figure out his true identity. As Christians, depending upon your former way of life, you may struggle to realize your new identity in Christ Jesus. The apostle Paul reminds us today of the lengths God went through to save the world from sin, Romans 6:23. Therefore, you may need to go back to the basics in 2024 to become rejuvenated spiritually.

Prayerful Reflection:

Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. ²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! – Romans 7:20-25

Renewing Your Mind:

If the Devil is the father of all lies as stated in John 8:44, this spiritual enemy will do whatever it takes to prevent you from believing and knowing God’s plan for your life, Philippians 1:6. If you allow your mind to go back to the start: where, when and why you entered into a personal relationship with Jesus, Romans 10:9-10, your mind will be renewed as you remember that you are a new creation in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Song of the Day:

Final Thoughts:

In the summer of 1990, I was living a double life. I was a spiritual leader on campus at the University of Delaware, but each summer I indulged in earthly pleasures on earth. When I went back to the start, I know I had to make a decision: live for God or embrace the world? After breaking my ankle in August of that year, I sat in bed contemplating this decision. The song Go On by Closer from their”Rain album,” kept playing in my mind. At the end, the lyrics quote the old kids’ song, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, “no turning back, no turning back.” May you experience a similar rededication in 2024.

by Jay Mankus