Shame: we tend to view ourselves through shame glasses,  Jesus bore the SHAME of the cross for us, he bore our shame. I never thougt about the shame of the cross, but he was innocent and death on the cross besides being painful and deadly bore a stigma of shame.

We tend to get our identity from what we think others think, feel,  or believe about us. Jesus took that shame for us so that our identity is in him. God deleted the record of our sins, misdeeds, and shame. He no longer recalls them. Our identity is to be found in what he says about me/you/us. He finds joy in me/you/us.

He knew us before we were conceived and loved us prior to us being born or even having a chance to mess up. He braved the cross and despised the shame of it,  he now occupies the highest seat of dominion to endorse/advocate my/your/our innocence. We find our destiny there.

His death brought about our ability to have life un hampered by the sin nature. Colosians 2:6-11 Your daily walk is no different from the initial embrace when you first understand your divine assosiation in him…it is Christ that God finds an accurate and complete expression of himself,  in a human body!…Jesus mirrors our completeness and endorses our true identity. He is I AM in us….sin’s authority in the human body was stripped off you in him dying YOUR death.”

I’ve been contemplating Romans 5-8 for the past two weeks. It kind was a challenge I was given and taken on. I feel there have been some some really interesting people, events, and things that have been put into my life recently that have made an Impact, a huge impact at that. As of December 28th after seven years I no longer work for T-Mobile. My stability and identity have been pushed and pulled quite a bit.

Previously when asked how are you or what do you do much was plced on vocation. “Why I’m a retail sales manager,”or “I work forT-Mobile and I would truly work for the company. I put in grueling hours and I identified myself as to what I did 90% of the week.

It was a bit of a hit not working there anymore for my identity. Who was I? What or how should I label myself. I had always been a provider, I could always fall backn on that. I’ve been a father and a husband but that to me has been a mixed bag as far as results go (get to that another time).

I feel God had been setting me up. I knew my life was not in my cotrol and I had been feeling like I was losing my grip on whatever was left. Ive been in a spiritual desert since probably 2005 much to my own fault. During that time I threw myself into work. I think I felt that this was something “I” could control and succeed in. So I did. I worked obsessively. I would put in 50+ work weeks and I worked retail hours so it was a helter skelter schedule. During this time I slipped away from relating to not only family but basically everyone. As I said I was losing my grip on my life. I knew I was at a cross roads and I was setting my mind to seek after God. I prayed one of the worst prayers ever to be uttered “God whatever it takes to get out of this desert, do it.” As I mentioned a little earlier I recently lost my job, yeah this was probably a part of the answer to thay prayer. It has been two months since that happened. I have pushed into seeking God. God has put people iny life that have spoken to me on the heart level. I have had resources fall into my lap to feed my spirit man.

Commercial break: if yiu haven’t heard of The Mirror Translation of the Bible I highly suggest you get a copy. (www.mirrorword.net) it is a partial translation of the New Testament that is similar to the Amplified and Message versions put together. Each verse is expounded in and put into wording that makes you take a new look at the scriptures. I use it more as a commentary than a bible. I have two other versions out and add the word going verse by verse reading it in each of the three versions and then pray over each verse asking God to unlock it on a new level and I feel I have had more spiritual growth in a short period then ever before. (Back to blog)

During these past two months I have had to choose to set my heart to dig into Gods plan for me. I’ve had to change my identity or where I found that identity.
Colosians 1:15-17 In him the image and likeness of Godis made visible in human life in order that everyone may recognize their true origin in him. He is the first born of every creature. … He is the initiatorof all things therefore everything finds its relevance and its true pattern only in him. Colosians 2:10 Jesus mirrors oyr completeness and endorses our true identity. He is I Am in us.
I have to see that Christ defines my original design prior to creation. Adam brought sin into this world, he brought about a dependence on reliance on sacrifice and the law. Christ came and laid down his life as a final sacrifice on the cross restoring our innocence. He restored my innocence in that moment, that act. I now find my identity and destiny there.
I have always been one who strives to find my place and work things out on my terms. A couple weeks ago I was on my way to an early morning prayer meeting in Olathe Kansas. On the way there I was riding in the back seat of a Toyota Prius (if you know me this is pretty funny, I’m not a small guy). I was zoning out of the conversation going on in the front and I was praying to God asking him to please let me hear his voice. Remember I have been living in a personal spiritual desert. We arived and I went in and sat down. Historically the way I feel I have heard from God has been by seeing words in my mind or like a semi concious whisper. I heard that semi conscious whisper that morning placement. I immediately started asking for more on it. (You can look back a couple blogs and I wrote about it.) But I prayed and later got another word positioning. I realized that I have always been striving for position, whether it was self gratifying or seeking vocation or title, it was all on me. Whereas placement is me sitting back (but moving forward, not happy style) and letting God lead and place me where he wants. It was moveing away from self reliance and moving into God reliance. I’m not all there yet (I may never be) but I have a vision of what it is not and what it should be. My identity is in him and my destiny is defined in that relationship.

Philippians 3:8 In fact, I have come to the conclusion that every association I have had with that which defined me before as a devout Jew, is by far eclipsed by what I have gained in knowing the Messiah. Jesus is my Master. Religion stinks! Avoid stepping into it!

3:9 So here I am; found in Christ! I was looking in the wrong place all along! My own duty- and guilt-driven religious endeavour snared me in the cul de sac maize of self righteousness, sponsored by the law of works! The faith of Christ reveals my identity; righteousness defines who God believes that I really am. This righteousness is sourced in God and endorses the authority of faith. (Faith is a fairy tale if Jesus is not the substance of it!)

3:10 Oh to comprehend the dynamic of his resurrection! His resurrection is evidence of our righteousness! In the revelation of God’s economy of inclusion, I actually co-suffered with him and co-died together with Christ! (Because I was already fully represented in his sufferings, his death and resurrection, I am greatly inspired when faced with contradictions now!)

3:11 When confronted with death, I actually come face to face with my own resurrection! (The word katantao, from kata + anti, to come to a place over against, opposite another, face to face.) Mirror Bible

Romans 8:10

But if Christ is in you , yout body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.   NIV

The revelation of Christ in yiu declares that your body is as good as dead to sins demands; sin cannot find any expression in a corpse. You co-died together with him. Yet your spirit is alive because of what righteousness reveals.
                             The Mirror Translation

The revelation of what happened to us in Christs death is what brings faith into motion to libetate from within. Faith is not a decision we make to give God a chance, faith is realizing our inclusion in what happened on the cross and His resurrection. The cross was that pivotal point in mans destiny here on earth and push for walking into eternity here on earth. The cross released man from Adams sin curse,  the blood of sheep and goats and the law were superceded with the peefect sacrifice on the cross and resurrection.  Righteousness by Gods gift of Grace! This is not a license to sin without judgement, but a release from the chains of the law. Our sin man was put on the cross with Christ. My spirit mans sin mortgage was paid on that day 2000 years ago. I am not bound to sin, my spirit owes the flesh nothing.

Romans 8 : 11
Our union with Christ for the reveals that because the same spirit that awakened the body of Jesus from the dead inhabits of us, we equally participate in his resurrection. In the same act of authority whereby God raised Jesus from the dead, he co-restores your body to life by his indwelling spirit.
           The Mirror Translation

Our very beings spiritual DNA has been altered. Fear should be past tense,  sin should be past tense,  freedom in Christs gift

Now the decisive conclusion is this: in Christ, every bit of condemning evidence against us is canceled.  (In Christ revelation is key to God’s dealing with man) …this leaves me with no further obligation to the law of sin and death. (The) Spirit has supersemded the sin enslaved senses as the principle law of our lives.

Loose paraphrase of Romans 8:1-2 parsed from The Mirror Translation.

Sin trapped man into legalism, Christs death on the cross brought forth grace.  Not necessarily that we are free from sin but that we are free to be in Christ. We are no longer to be burdened by the things of this world, sin and death have no grounds to condemn or bring about fear.

I can walk in freedom, I am no longer chained to this world but emancipated.  God paid my spiritual mortgage 2000 years ago.  This grace gift gives freedom from sin and death.