Today we are going to take a posture of peace by not forgetting what we look like.
Posture is a short audible fist bump to remind you God is with you in everything.
Together we're going to be emboldened to take a daily posture of perfect peace.
So we started the week I made mention of James 1 and we're going to go back to James chapter 1
today. I'm going to be reading from verses 22 through 25. It says,
But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer
of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in the mirror.
For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres,
being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
You know, God is relational and we've talked about this before. His primary purpose,
Genesis 126, is to make us in his image and likeness. God's passion is to include us in his
community, to connect us into fellowship with the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And he
desires for us to know how we are known by him, meaning he wants us to see through his perspective.
He wants us to live in his glory. So he put his very spirit in us, Romans 8.11. He gave us
the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2.16. And he's given us precious promises so that we may partner
with and partake of his divine nature, 2 Peter 1.4. And, you know, not only that, but he's given
us his word. He's given a scripture to equip us, empower us to live the life that he has planned
for us. And it's not an easy life by worldly definitions, but it's a victorious one. It's one
of fullness. It's a life of strength. It's one of just not overcoming, but being more than a
conqueror. How do I know this? His word says so. And what James is describing here in chapter one
is an identity crisis, because to read or to hear the word of God is to see yourself accurately.
This is how God sees you. This is how you are known in heaven. This is the true you.
But just to read it or to hear it and not respond, not to put it into practice, not to embrace it as
the truth is the same as walking away from a mirror and forgetting what you look like.
Don't forget what you look like today. You know, James says, when we do this,
we deceive ourselves. We settle for a lesser reality. You sell yourself short.
So let me ask you this. Is there a scripture that just so deeply resonates with you? Maybe it's
what you would call your life verse. Some people call it their inheritance word. Maybe it's
something that you read even recently that you just can't seem to shake. It keeps popping up in
your mind and your heart. Maybe it's a scripture you read recently about peace or healing or
soundness of mind or joy or power or victory or righteousness or love or freedom. And you thought,
I wish this were me. I wish this were true about my life. I want to encourage you.
Plant yourself in that scripture. Embrace it as your reality because it is your reality in Christ.
Meditate on it, rejoice in it, and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in that truth. You know,
years ago, I actually did this with Isaiah 61. I claimed it as my life verse. And I said,
you know, in my heart, this is who I want to be. I want to proclaim the good news to the poor. I
want to bind up the brokenhearted. I want to proclaim freedom to the captives. And I know
many of you know my story that, you know, a few years ago, I was the captive. I was the one
brokenhearted. I was caught up in the chokehold of anxiety and panic. And yet in the middle of that,
I planted myself in Isaiah 61, as well as several other scriptures and promises about
specifically peace that I know I've mentioned before in past.
episodes, no matter what I was facing and my circumstances at that time, I knew enough to know
God wasn't lying. God wasn't lying when he says in Isaiah 61 that they will be called
oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
And now I don't just know this truth, I'm living it. Let his word be your certainty today.
No matter what life is throwing at you, no matter what's swirling around you,
this is who you are and this is who you are becoming. It's a beautiful journey that the
Bible says goes from glory to glory. So today, don't forget what you look like,
plant yourself in the word of God, and remember his reality is your reality.