Welcome everyone. This is Tina with KGM Studio. Thank you so much for tuning in today to another episode. This episode is also based on my book, His Kingdom, and one of the themes in the letter that I wrote about is called Identity in Christ. As I was reading through this chapter again, the first scripture that came to my mind was Matthew 6.33. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. This is one of my favorite verses, quote, when I'm praying for someone, and even in my own personal prayers, I love reminding myself that when we seek God's kingdom and his righteousness first, he takes care of the things that concerns us. When we put him first, he helps bring everything into the right perspective and order. Today I want to talk about how who we are in Christ and the I am statements that remind us of our identity as believers. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Bible tells us that we become a new creation. That's in based on 2 Corinthians 5.17 says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here. We are born again. We are no longer defined by who we used to be, by our mistakes, by our failures, or by the things that happened in our past. Amen. We now have a new identity in Christ. Hallelujah. I love giving this illustration. When you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, it's almost like Jesus places a robe of righteousness over you. And he talks about it in Isaiah 61, 10, where he says, He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness. Think about that. Jesus gives us a new identity. He covers us with his righteousness. And I sometimes think of it like someone handing you a baton and saying, Now it's your turn. Go forward, continue the work, share my love, share my kingdom. Jesus came to this earth and demonstrated the heart of the Father. He healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, cast out demons, raised the dead, and preached the good news of the kingdom of God. He showed compassion and love for people who were hurting, rejected, and forgotten. And now his followers, we are called to continue representing him. Jesus said in John 14, 12, Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these. Amen. That doesn't mean that we become Jesus. It means that we are his representatives here on earth. We carry his love. We carry his message. We carry his kingdom wherever we go because Christ lives in us. Galatians 2.20 says, I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Now let me just have you just meditate on that, that Christ lives in me. Say that personal to yourself. Christ lives in me. This is the identity in Christ. When we are born again, we are adopted into God's family. Romans 8 15 says, The spirit you receive does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again. Rather, the spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship, and by him we cry, Abba Father. Now we have access to our heavenly Father because of what Jesus did on the cross for us. Think about how beautiful that is. We are not orphans. We have a Father in heaven. And because we belong to Him, we can come into His presence in prayer. We can talk to Him in the morning. We can talk to Him at night. We can talk to Him while we're driving, while we're working, while we're walking, or wherever we are. Prayer is not just a religious routine, it's a relationship with a living God. Jesus said in John 15, 5, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. Just like a branch has to remain connected to the vine, we have to remain connected to Jesus. That is through prayer, meditating, and also just believing and reading his word. So one of the things I wrote about his kingdom is that I receive who I am in Christ Jesus, the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. So he took our place for us because we were sinners. So every time I think about Jesus on the cross, I can become emotional. Jesus never sinned, yet he willingly went to the cross for us. How amazing is that? Amen. He gave us his life as a sacrifice so that we can be reconciled to God. He took what we deserved and gave us what we could never earn on our own. Righteousness through him. That is the beautiful love story of the gospel. John 3 16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, which is Jesus, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. That is how much God loves us. He sent his son Jesus Christ into this world for us, for me, for you. And I also think about Mary. God chose a young woman named Mary to carry Jesus into the world. She trusted God even though she couldn't she didn't understand everything that was going to happen. When the angel told her that she would give birth to the Son of God, Mary responded in faith. Luke 138 says, I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May your word to me be fulfilled. What an example of surrender and faith. So to the all the ladies, let's be that um example of how we should be surrendering and walking by faith, believing that God chose us. And I want to speak specially to all of you who are also listening, not just the ladies, but you have been chosen. Maybe you feel like God doesn't hear you. Maybe you've been praying for something for a long time. Maybe you're crying in the morning or crying at night, wondering, God, do you see me? Do you hear me? I want to remind you, God sees you, God hears you, and God knows you. In the book of Psalm 34, 17 says, The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them. He delivers them from all their troubles. So you are not forgotten, you're not invisible to God, and you are not defined but what happened to you. Another scripture that is very important to me, Romans 8.1, says, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Sometimes we keep looking back at our past. We say, This is what happened to me, or this is who I used to be. But when Jesus makes you new, you don't have to live in that condemnation. Yes, you may remember your past, but you don't have to live there. Your past can become a testimony. You can say, Yes, that was my past, but look what Jesus has done in my life. You can say, I was there, but God brought me out. I was broken, but God restored me. I was lost, but Jesus found me. I was bound, but Jesus set me free. That's what it means to walk in your identity in Christ. Romans 8.2 says, Because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit, who lives, who gives life, has set you free from the law of sin and death. And you have access to the Father through Jesus. I also love the fact that Jesus calls us his friends. John 15, 15 says, Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father, I have made known to you. Think about that. Jesus calls us friends. He doesn't just want to know about him. He just he doesn't just want us to know about him, he wants us to know him with intimacy. Christianity isn't simply about performing religious routines, it's about having a relationship with a living God through Jesus Christ and walking with him through the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit lives in us. We communicate with our Heavenly Father. We pray, we listen, we worship, we read His Word, we follow His leading, and Jesus promised us that He would never leave us or forsake us, right? And Hebrews 13, 13, 5 13 5 confirms it. Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. That means when you feel alone, he is there. When you feel like nobody understands you, he is there. Just communicate to him, talk to him, pray to him. And I remember a very personal experience I had at Lake Tahoe in Nevada. I saw that I bel I saw what I believed was a vision. I saw a dove flying over me, and then the dove disappeared. Then I saw a man in a white robe who came toward me, took my hand, and said, Whatever your heart's desire, you can have. I immediately remembered Psalm 20, verse 4. May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. For me, that experience reminded me that God cares about the desires of our hearts, of my heart as well. But more importantly, he desires a relationship with you and me. He wants us to seek him first, he wants us to trust him, he wants us to surrender our plans to him. And when we seek his kingdom first, we can trust him with everything else. That's why Matthew 6.33 continues to be one of my favorite scriptures, just like how he said it in um his scripture, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So today I want to remind you identity in Christ. You are not what someone else said about you. You are not defined by your mistakes. You have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You are a new creation, you are God's child, you are loved, you are forgiven, you are made righteous through Christ, Jesus, and Christ lives in you. So walk in that identity. Put your trust in Him. When we wake up in the morning, remind yourself: I'm a child of God, I'm forgiven, I'm a new creation, I'm the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I am loved, I am called, I belong to Jesus, I am chosen. And when you know who you are in Christ, you don't have to live trying to prove your worth to listen worth and to just listen to the Holy Spirit and let your life become a testimony of who Jesus is, because He lives in you. And when people see your life, my prayer is that they don't just see you, they see Jesus through you. I highlighted several scriptures in my book, um, and I just want to remind who you are because um your relation because of who you are with your relationship with Jesus Christ. And sometimes we forget who we are, right? We allow our past, our circumstances, our people other people's opinions, or even our own mistakes define us. But our identity is not found in what we have done. Our identity is found in Christ. So I want to share some of these declarations with you today as I read them, and I want you to receive them for yourself. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, these scriptures remind you of who you are in Him. So the first one is I am a child of God, based on John 1.12, says that to all who received him who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. I am Christ's friend. Jesus said in John 15, 15, I have called you friends. I have been justified. Romans 5.1 says that since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I am united with the Lord in spirit. 1 Corinthians 6.17 says, Whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. I am free from condemnation. Romans 8.1 to 2 tells us that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set us free from the law of sin and death. I'm assured that God works all things together for good. Romans 8.28 says that God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. That doesn't mean everything that happens to us is good. It means God can work even through difficult circumstances for his purposes. I have been established, anointed, and sealed by God. 2 Corinthians 1 21 through 22 tells us that God establishes us in Christ, anoints us, and puts his seal of ownership on us, giving us his spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Think about that. I belong to God. I cannot be separated from the love of God. Romans 8-5 reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. When you're going through difficult circumstances, remember God's love has not left you. I am hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3 1 to 3 reminds us that our life is now hidden with Christ in God. My old identity does not have to control me anymore. My life is now found in Christ. I am a minister of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5 17 through 20 tells us that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. God has given us the ministry of reconciliation and we are ambassadors for Christ. That means God can use my life to help bring people back to Him. I am God's co-worker. 2 Corinthians 6.1 says that as God's fellow workers, we should not receive his grace in vain. What an honor it is that God allows us to participate in what he is doing here on earth. I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 2.6 says that God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. I am God's workmanship. Ephesians 2.10 says that we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God prepared for us to do. You are not an accident. You are God's workmanship. I may approach God with boldness and confidence. Ephesians 3.12 tells us that in Christ and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. You don't have to be afraid to come before your heavenly Father. You can pray, you can worship Him, you can come boldly because of what Jesus has done. I can accomplish what God has called me to do. Philippians 4.13 says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That's Christ's strength. Through Christ's strength, I can endure any and accomplish what he calls me to do. My hope is in Christ Jesus. I'm a citizen with God's people. Ephesians 2.19 reminds us that we are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household. I receive who I am in Christ Jesus. The righteousness of God, through Christ, I have been made right with God. 2 Corinthians 5.21 tells us that God made Christ who knew no sin but to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. I am a partaker of God's divine nature. 2 Peter 1.4 says that through God's promises we may participate in the divine nature. Through Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, we are being transformed to reflect God's character and nature. I am an ambassador for Christ. 2 Corinthians 5.20 says, We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. When I walk into the room, when I walk into a room, I can represent Jesus. When I speak to someone who is hurting, I can represent Jesus. When I pray for someone, I can represent Jesus. When I show compassion or forgiveness and love, I can represent Jesus because I am an ambassador for Christ. I am kept as the apple of God's eye. Psalms 17, 8 says, Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings. What a beautiful picture of God's protection and care. I receive who I am in Christ Jesus, holy and righteous. Ephesians 4 22 through 24 teaches us to put off our old self, be made new in the attitude of our minds, and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. So I don't have to remain the person I used to be. God is transforming me. And I receive who I am in Christ Jesus, being healed by the stripes of Jesus. Isaiah 53, 4 through 5 says that he took up our pain and bore our suffering, and that by his wounds we are healed. And I want to be careful to rem and I want to remember that healing can be experienced in different ways and in God's timing. We can pray boldly for physical healing while also trusting God in every circumstance. So today I want to encourage you, don't forget who you are. Your identity is in Christ. And when you know who you are in Christ, you can walk differently, pray differently, love differently, serve differently, and live with a different confidence. Not confidence in ourselves, but confidence in the one who lives in us. That is Jesus Christ. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode. I pray that this message encourages you and reminds you of who you are in Christ. Until next time, remember seek first the kingdom of God, know your identity in Christ, and let his light shine through you. In Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you.