Probably the most important thing to thank the Lord for when it comes to valuing myself is the fact that the Lord Himself has come by His Spirit to live in my spirit. This makes me the object of my Heavenly Father’s love and affection twice over. He loves me firstly because He created me and formed me for Himself, and now secondly, because of Christ’s death on the cross, He has ‘bought’ me back from the enemy to be His child and to carry His own presence in this world.
As we said yesterday, how we see ourselves is important as it affects how we see and treat others, so to see ourselves as ‘special’ in God’s eyes is not egotistic or proud but can be, I believe, a sign of true humility. This is because a right understanding of who I am ‘in Christ’ and who Christ is in me, gives Him the glory not ourselves. Like Paul we can say ‘I am who I am by the grace of God’. 1 Corinthians 15:10.
Something amazing happens when we become Christians. We become part of God’s plan to showcase Himself to the world. We become carriers of His glory. Now this is pretty amazing because in Isaiah 42: 8, we read ‘I am the Lord, that is my name, and I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols’. Then we read that Jesus talking to His Father in prayer says of His disciples “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:22.
We probably just need to take a pause there because this is mindblowing stuff!! This is supernatural on another level. We carry the glory of God because Christ is in us and He is filled with the glory of God, and He chooses to share it with us. So Paul writing about this amazing mystery says ‘God has chosen to make known among the gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ Colossians 1:27.
As I live with thanksgiving for this incredible honour, my understanding of who I now am on the earth changes. I can live everyday with the knowledge that I carry the glory of God in this world and that any life that I touch is going to touch something of God. As I thank God for this truth, the reality of it will become more evident and I will find that my talents, gifting, skills and annointings, about which we were talking yesterday, will be increasingly infused with the presence of the Lord Himself.
My giving, serving, prophesying, teaching, administering, hospitality etc, will carry the fragrance of Christ, and so will bless people not just practically but spiritually too. We will be looking further at this wonderful truth, but today let us carry our heads high as we thank Him and remind ourselves throughout the day, that we are carrying the King of Kings into every situation that we will be going into.
