Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3
The incessant push to “determine one’s identity” reveals a society which has lost its moorings. God is a God of order. The devil hates this order, this stability; and with his truth-twisting daggers of doubt and lies, he wages continual warfare against the created order of God. More and more, people are being pulled into the devil’s identity-tornado of lies. And the sucking winds of this dirt devil is drawing in not only the unchurched, but also the churched.
This gender-identity crises is the extreme manifestation of the person who has determined that his/her identity can be determined by who they say they are or what they do. It is a false method of identification. A man cannot be a woman just because he says he is, and a woman cannot be a man just because she says she is.
Self-identifying without the moorings of God’s truth is dangerous and a soul-killer. However, the devil is not satisfied with creating and feeding the confusion and rebellion that is more obviously wicked and that makes the biggest splash. Some of his “best” work is performed subtly and strikes more at the heart of what and who he hates. He hates the gospel, and he hates the God of the gospel, and he hates the people of the God of the gospel. Remember his subtlety toward Eve: “Did God really say…., God is holding out on you…, You could be God…., God must have something wrong…., You can make a better decision….”
What did the devil want Eve to believe? He wanted her to believe that she could make her life holy without God, that she could determine what holy was, and that she could be God (It would be perfectly reasonable, therefore, that she should worship herself.). God would no longer be relevant or needed. God might even admire her for her God-ness (And certainly, there would be at least equal footing.). Eve would find her identity in herself, apart from God. She would make her own identity, and it would be sufficient for her spiritual well-being….
Believer, do you see yourself in this mirror? I know I do. I have fallen prey to the subtle temptation of finding my identity apart from God, apart from my Savior. I have sought to clothe myself in the fig leaves of who I am and what I get done or what I do not get done. I have sat with Eve for years and believed the lie of the great deceiver. This is probably why I experienced the roller coaster ride of satisfaction, dissatisfaction, satisfaction, dissatisfaction regarding the work and responsibilities God has given me to do throughout the decades of being His child. If I get the work done, I am happy. If I can’t get it all done, I fret. I have allowed my “successes” and “failures” to subtly identify me as being either “successful” or a “failure”. How long has the evil one and my own sin-nature darkened the truth of who I really am?
The Lord was gracious to shine a great light into this darkness. He caused me to meditate on this verse: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3. What is it to be poor in spirit, I asked myself. It can’t be someone who works at being poor in spirit. It is someone who is poor in spirit. It is who they are. It is someone who realizes he has nothing in himself. Nothing to offer to God - no fig leaves of any kind. It is someone who finds his identity not in who he is or what he can do (or can’t do), but in the Lord Jesus Christ who saved him and clothed him in His righteousness. How this truth shined upon me like a massive beam of light! I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20. Oh, the joy of being poor in spirit. Oh, the joy of truly knowing my identity and in Whom my identity is.
Dear friend, if you are in confusion or darkness in any way regarding your identity, I pray that you cry out to the living God for truth, for mercy, and for light to see and know that God is all-loving and all-sufficient. When He says come to Him as a little child, it at least means coming to Him recognizing that you have nothing to offer to Him, but that you need something from Him. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Discovering what God has for you in this kingdom will be a lifelong joy.
Mrs. Mary Brown, Principal