God Makes You New - September 3, 2013

Genesis 32:28-29, 31
28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.
31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

You don't have to stay the same! In conversion, we're given a new identity. Look at Jacob in the book of Genesis. Once Jacob confesses his manipulative behavior, God gives him a new identity.

Notice three things happen -

God gives Jacob a brand new identity. (Genesis 32:28) Essentially, God says, "I know you've blown it; I know you're conniving, but I see in you a prince. Beneath all your emotional hang-ups, all your insecurities, all the stuff you don't want anybody else to know, I see a prince." God is saying that today to many of us, "Beneath all of your sins and hang-ups, I see a princess/prince. You can be something great. You can be what I made you to be."

God blesses Jacob/Israel. (Genesis 32:29) Deep down, we desperately want God's blessing. If we want God's blessing, we've got to take the steps God requires of us.

God gave Jacob/Israel a limp. (Genesis 32:31) Remember, when they wrestled, God dislocated Jacob's hip. Jacob walked with a limp. It served as a daily reminder to depend upon God.

God does His deepest work in your life when He deals with your identity - who you are, the way you see yourself, your self-perception. You will always tend to act according to the way you think about yourself. So God does His deepest changes in your life by changing the way you see yourself.

He says, "Let me show you how I see you." When you see yourself the way God sees you, it's going to change your life.

Our self-perception and our identity can be determined by multiple things. We can let our identity be determined our flaws, past mistakes, material things, people etc. But when we confess, we are made anew by God, our flaws, problems and past no longer determine and fulfill our identity. Our identity becomes determined by God and the person he sees inside that no one else can. It's no longer, "I am (flawed identity) because of this sin" and it's more "I am (renewed identity) because of God".
Our flaws and past mistakes are forgiven through confession, and through this "renewal" we are given our ultimate identity by God. This new identity can give us a new "foundation" of self-perception through God.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17

Once we come to God with our destructive past, He magnifies the little good that we have onto something greater. From Saul to Paul, God changes those that truly desire it. Then we can become "born again" and relive a new life of Christ. Making that initial change in our lives may be difficult, considering the weight of sin that we may carry. It just leaves me in awe, trying to accurately describe God's love for us. He sees goodness in everyone! Personally, I definitely take this for granted at times. I feel as if I abuse God's love and patience. We have to remember that it's an incredible honour to be loved when there's nothing to love about us. There's no need to feel shame when He'll take us, no matter how great of a sin that we've committed. Our hearts must be on the same page as Him, truly accepting Him as our Lord and Saviour.

For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Romans 6:6.

God forgives each and every one of us for all of our mistakes and sins we have done in the past. He sees something greater in us that no one else has ever imagined. We all have insecurities, flaws, and mistakes we have made in the past, but God washes that all away and gives us all another chance and opportunity to start fresh. He makes us NEW. In my opinion this devotion is saying that we need to go to God and ask for forgiveness, and from there he will give you a brand new start to have a different self-perception of yourself. We need to start seeing ourselves the way God sees us, because our actions are based upon the way we think about ourselves. We should not feel shame for things that we have done in the past, because God forgives all of us for all of our sins. Once we have a better self-perception of ourselves the way God sees us, it will change our lives forever.

Whenever we have our way and everything goes perfectly to our plan, we tend to forget God and start to go independent. God gave Jacob a limp as a reminder for him.
Should we need a reminder?
When our heart is filled with so much of our desires and wants that there's no room for god to take over. Eventhough it's difficult, surrender completely and then he hill be able to work his purpose within you and reshape your life again.
Just like the dramatic change Jacob faced once he opened his heart to God. The meaning to his name changed, he was given a new identity from God. It's pretty much being reborn.

God wants to do great things through you.
~Audrey~

I think this ties together a lot with yesterday's devo, just that yesterday's was more about the act of confession and today's is about the transformation. But the main difference in my opinion is about knowing your identity.

Since we tend to act in the way that we see ourselves, it is important to leave behind the burden of sin and live as a new person.

John 1:12 "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

If we see ourselves, not as hopeless sinners, but as children of God, won't we start to act the part? And that is what will change and define our lives.

I basically got the message along the lines of "look at the bigger picture".
Looking at the small details about what you've done or what you shouldn't have done really don't matter to God. If you're willing to except what he has planned for you and you act accordingly to his word, then you can truly become something special and important.
Sorry it's so short