Our Identity and God's Presence

As a follower of Jesus, we can know our identity is in Christ and God is with us! Knowing this, we can accomplish any task that God has for us.

Our Identity and God's Presence

This week's devotions are written by my son, Bryant Forshee, Lead Student Pastor for Cross Church, Springdale, AR campus, and former Junior High Pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, TX.

- Pastor Danny

"Gabriel appeared to her and said,
'Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!'"

(Luke 1:28, NLT)

If you are not familiar with where in the Bible the verse above takes place, this is the moment that the angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her she will deliver Jesus, the Son of the Most High, the One who will reign over Israel, the One whose kingdom will never end, and the One who will be given the throne of David. Obviously, this is very big news to the virgin Mary, and obviously this is a very unique way to be told all of this: an angel appearing and speaking directly to you. It is also very interesting to see what the angel says to Mary immediately upon arrival: "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!"

The two things that stand out are: identity and God's presence. Upon showing up, the angel calls Mary "favored woman" and assures Mary that "the Lord is with [her]!" Before there is any news or a command, there is the proclamation of identity and the assurance of God's presence with her. Mary did not receive the assignment before she knew her identity and Who was with her. Put in another way: Before any news of a virgin birth and carrying and delivering the savior of the world, Mary was greeted with a favorable identity and a confidence that God was with her.

Now, there is an intentional use of repetition in the paragraph above, and the intention was to drive home this truth right here: what was true of Mary is true for us. As we go throughout life and are given specific instructions from God's word, we must remember and believe that our identity in Christ and God's presence go before us! We do not do ANYTHING before we know WHO WE ARE and WHO IS WITH US.

Upon salvation, we are given many identities. Here are just a few:

Child of God (Romans 8:16)
Heir of God and joint heir with Jesus (Romans 8:17)
Partaker of His Divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)
The righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21)
New creature (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Delivered from the powers of darkness (Colossians 1:13)

Before we are told about the great commission, upon salvation, God gives us our identity! Before our assignment, God calls us many wonderful, incredible, favorable names. God wants us to know our identity in Him, and He wants us to know that He is with us. Before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He gave us the command, "Go and make disciples," and in that command, He left us with an assurance of His presence: "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20).

As a follower of Jesus, we can know our identity is in Christ and God is with us! Knowing our identity and knowing God is present with us, we can accomplish any task that God has for us. We can each say, "Because of my identity and because of God's presence with me, I know that I can accomplish what God has called me to do."

May we be people who walk in confidence because of our God-given identity and our God-empowered life!