Far more life requires an understanding of who we are in relationship to God. An unrealistic view of Him or ourselves robs us of the richness He offers. From time to time it is good to stop and reflect on who we are in Christ, how God viewed us before we accepted Christ as our Savior, and what He has promised His children. We can think of it as “shining our spiritual mirror” to remove the impurities — wrong perceptions, false beliefs, faulty thoughts — that have clouded our view. A freshly shined spiritual mirror offers far more life — a clearer image of God and who we are in Christ.
Ephesians is a great “mirror shining” book. The first three chapters remind us of our identity in Christ. The last three chapters tell us how to put that truth into practice. Some friends and I spent last week reading Ephesians, one chapter a day, and sharing our thoughts. We had wonderful virtual fellowship as we shined our mirrors. You can do the same! Recruit some friends to join you on this journey or share your comments here to connect with others pursuing far more life.
Here are the truths about myself and God from those chapters that I want to wholeheartedly embrace and live out:
- I am one of God’s holy people, a saint. (1:1)
- I am faithful in Christ Jesus. (1:1)
- I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (1:2)
- God chose me! Before the creation of the world, he chose me. (1:4)
- I am holy and blameless before Him. (1:4)
- He predestined me for adoption into His family. (1:5)
- He has freely given me His glorious grace. (1:6)
- I have been redeemed, my sins forgiven, by Jesus’ blood. (1:7)
- He lavished the riches of His grace on me. (1:7-8)
- He shared the mystery of His will with me. (1:9)
- I am marked with the Holy Spirit; He is a seal — a promise — guaranteeing my inheritance, a deposit on my future. He will stay with me until I am with God in Heaven. (1:11-14)
- God wants me to know Him. (1:17)
- I have been called to hope. (1:18)
- He has a rich inheritance for me. (1:18)
- He shows incomparably great power to me. (1:19)
- I am part of the body of Christ, His church. (1:23)
- I was dead because of my sin, an object of God’s wrath. But God made me alive with Christ! (2:1-5)
- God raised me up and seated me with Christ in the heavenly realms. (2:6)
- He will continue showing me grace and kindness through the ages to come. (2:7)
- I have been given the gift of salvation through God’s grace. (2:8)
- I am God’s workmanship, His masterpiece. (2:10)
- I was created to do the good works that God prepared for me in advance. (2:10)
- I have been brought near to God through Christ’s blood. (2:13)
- Jesus is my peace, He unites me with others who love Him. (2:14, 16)
- I am reconciled with God through the cross of Christ. (2:16)
- I have access to my Father, God, through Christ. (2:18)
- I used to be an alien and a stranger, but now I am a member of God’s household, His family. (2:19)
- I am part of a bigger group of Jews and Gentiles who have become a dwelling place for God’s Spirit. (2:22)
- I can approach God with freedom, boldness, and confidence. (3:12)
- His Spirit gives me power in my inner being. (3:16)
- Christ lives in my heart. (3:17)
- I have power to grasp God’s love, to understand how wide and long and high and deep it is, even though that love surpasses knowledge. (3:17-19)
- I can be filled completely with God. (3:19)
- God’s power, which is more than I can ask or imagine, is at work within me. (3:20)
So much rich truth in these chapters! Remembering all those truths would enable us to always walk in far more life with a sparkling clean mirror. But our limited hearts and minds may need time to absorb them one at a time and shine our mirrors bit by bit.
I attended a conference recently that helped me shine one corner of my spiritual mirror. I was challenged to think of the theme verse in a whole new way:
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10, NLT)
To bring this verse to life, we were each given a postcard with an abstract picture on it. Each postcard was unique, with different colors and patterns, just as each person was unique, with different skills, interests, and spiritual gifts. But when we put all the cards together, they created a literal masterpiece, an image of a famous painting. The speaker pointed out that each person who follows Christ — from the first disciples recorded in the gospels to the last saints remaining alive when Christ returns — has a unique role to play in building God’s kingdom. But everyone needs to add their part in order for the masterpiece to be complete. We are each important, but we are also part of God’s bigger and more important masterpiece: fulfilling His purpose and bringing Him the glory He deserves. It was a wonderful reminder to value ourselves as God does, not too highly and not too lowly, and to find the work He has planned for us.
We experience far more life when our mirrors are shined so we can see both our immense value to God and our role in His bigger purpose. Both are required to see ourselves and God clearly. Both are necessary for far more life.
Sisters,
Does your “spiritual mirror” need to be shined? Is it showing God and you accurately?
Read Ephesians 1, 2, and 3 this week — alone or with friends — and list the truths you see about God and yourself. (You are welcome to comment here.)
Which truth do you want to focus on absorbing right now? Spend time reading it in different translations, looking up related verses, memorizing it, working through your doubts about it — whatever you need to do to imprint it clearly in your mind.
Enjoy far more life as you see yourself and God through a cleaner spiritual mirror!
-Shari
Copyright 2020, Shari Damaso
Far More Life 