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Speaker 1: Life Audio. This is Donna Jones and you are listening

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Speaker 1: to That's just what I needed. Hey, friend, if you've

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Speaker 1: ever been in a conversation where you've walked away thinking, Wow,

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Speaker 1: that was just what I needed, you know how life

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Speaker 1: giving that can be, Well, that's what this podcast is

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Speaker 1: all about. We're women who want to know, love, and

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Speaker 1: follow God in our real lives, but sometimes wonder just

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Speaker 1: how to do it. So each week we'll talk about

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Speaker 1: what following God looks like in the midst of daily

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Speaker 1: demands and crazy cultural chaos. Because this isn't just what

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Speaker 1: we need, it's actually exactly what we need. Hey, my friend,

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Speaker 1: welcome to the podcast. I'm so glad you're here today.

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Speaker 1: Today we're going to be talking about something that affects

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Speaker 1: every one of us every day. It's something we probably

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Speaker 1: don't think about every day by but it absolutely determines

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Speaker 1: how we live, how we feel, the choices that we

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Speaker 1: make every day. So as we're diving in, let me

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Speaker 1: just ask you a question. When you think about yourself,

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Speaker 1: what is the first word that comes to your mind

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Speaker 1: to describe yourself right now? Think about it for a minute.

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Speaker 1: Was it an emotional state like, oh, I'm busy or

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Speaker 1: I'm tired, or I'm stressed, I'm overwhelmed, you know. Was

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Speaker 1: it some sort of emotional state that came to your mind.

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Speaker 1: Maybe it was a positional state, like can when I

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Speaker 1: think of myself, I'm a mom, or I'm a wife,

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Speaker 1: or I'm a realtor, or I'm a teacher or something

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Speaker 1: like that that's positional. Or maybe it was your relational connection,

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Speaker 1: like I'm single or I'm divorced or i'm married or

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Speaker 1: something like that. What was it that came to your

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Speaker 1: mind when you thought, how would I describe myself? This

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Speaker 1: is actually a really important question because so often our

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Speaker 1: identity gets shaped by our roles, our mistakes, our relationship

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Speaker 1: or our seasons of life, and without realizing it, we

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Speaker 1: start living from those labels instead of from the truth.

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Speaker 1: So today we're going to talk about our identity in Christ,

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Speaker 1: who God says we are, and why that matters more

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Speaker 1: than any label that the world gives us or any

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Speaker 1: label that we give ourselves, because here's the reality. If

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Speaker 1: we don't let God define us, something else will. I'm

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Speaker 1: going to say that one more time. If we don't

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Speaker 1: let God define us, something or someone else will, and

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Speaker 1: our identity, who we believe that we are. It literally

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Speaker 1: affects everything. So let's talk about why identity matters. It's

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Speaker 1: not just a spiritual concept. This concept of identity, like

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Speaker 1: I said, it just affects everything because what we believe

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Speaker 1: about ourselves shapes how we handle failure, how we approach relationships,

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Speaker 1: how we respond to criticism, how we see our worth,

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Speaker 1: how we pursue our purpose. So if our identity is

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Speaker 1: rooted in performance, well then the outcome is will always

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Speaker 1: feel pressure. If our identity is rooted in approval, then

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Speaker 1: will always feel insecure. If our identity is rooted in circumstances,

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Speaker 1: well then it will constantly change. Can you see why

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Speaker 1: really understanding who we are in Christ is so important?

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Speaker 1: And maybe even on the flip side, maybe this is

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Speaker 1: giving you an aha moment as to why if you

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Speaker 1: always feel pressure, like why, well, maybe it's because you're

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Speaker 1: getting your identity from performance. Or if you always feel

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Speaker 1: like I just need people's approval and it's just stressing

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Speaker 1: me out if they're not approving, well, then maybe you're

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Speaker 1: getting your identity from people instead of from God. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I know I can relate to some of this. This

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Speaker 1: is deep. I know. But if we can grasp where

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Speaker 1: we are getting our identity from and then rightly put

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Speaker 1: our identity and who we are in Christ, this is

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Speaker 1: a game changer. This is the path to freedom, which

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Speaker 1: is why this is so important. When our identity is

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Speaker 1: rooted in Christ, it becomes steady. Why because Christ doesn't change.

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Speaker 1: That's why scripture talks so much about who we are

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Speaker 1: in Him. And by the way, it's not just who

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Speaker 1: we are, but who we are in Him. This is

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Speaker 1: all based on the fact that we have a relationship

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Speaker 1: with Christ. And because of a relationship with Christ, it

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Speaker 1: not only fundamentally changes our eternal destiny, it fundamentally changes

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Speaker 1: who we are as people. Identity and this is so key.

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Speaker 1: Identity is received, it's not earned. Wow, this is so

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Speaker 1: different than what we're told in our culture, right, I mean,

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Speaker 1: just think of how the accolades that we get. Oh,

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Speaker 1: I'm the top realator in the state of California. I'm

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Speaker 1: not the top realator in the state of California. I'm

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Speaker 1: using that as an example. Or I got Teacher of

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Speaker 1: the Year, or my kids think I'm the best. It's

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Speaker 1: these titles, these labels, these successes that we tend to

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Speaker 1: think as a culture give us our identity, right, so

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Speaker 1: we tend to think that our identity is earned. But

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Speaker 1: it's not earned, it's given. One of the most fraying

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Speaker 1: truths of the Gospel is this, Your identity in Christ

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Speaker 1: is not something you earn, it's something you receive. Now

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Speaker 1: how do I know that? Well, It's based on God's word.

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Speaker 1: Ephesians two eight and nine says this, Listen carefully, because

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Speaker 1: this is God's word to you, to me, For it

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Speaker 1: is by grace that you have been saved through faith.

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Speaker 1: And this is not from yourselves. It's the gift of God,

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Speaker 1: not by works. So that no one can boast. Now,

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Speaker 1: for many of you, you'll be really familiar with that

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Speaker 1: passage of scripture, and you will rightly so think of

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Speaker 1: that verse as it relates to coming into a relationship

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Speaker 1: with Christ. In fact, that's whenever I talk about the

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Speaker 1: Gospel and how to come into a relationship with Christ.

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Speaker 1: This is virtually almost always the verse that I go to.

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Speaker 1: But it's so much much more than how we come

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Speaker 1: into a relationship with Christ. It really speaks to everything

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Speaker 1: about our relationship with Christ. It's not by works, it's

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Speaker 1: by grace. It's a result of what He did for us,

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Speaker 1: not we can do for ourselves, and our identity is

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Speaker 1: part of that. We don't perform our way into God's family,

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Speaker 1: we don't earn our belonging. We don't prove our worth

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Speaker 1: before we did anything right or wrong. God chose us.

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Speaker 1: That means that your failures don't disqualify you, and your

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Speaker 1: successes don't define you. Boy, is that so counter cultural

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Speaker 1: because we typically do think that our failures disqualify us

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Speaker 1: and our successes define us. But in God's economy, that's

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Speaker 1: not the way it works, because it's all based on Him,

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Speaker 1: not us. So let's walk through some foundational truths Scripture

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Speaker 1: gives us about our identity, because again, our identity is

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Speaker 1: rooted in what God says is true, not just what

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Speaker 1: our feelings say our true or what other people tell

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Speaker 1: us is true. You might want to listen slowly here

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Speaker 1: because these truths are really worth letting seep in. Here's

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Speaker 1: the first truth you are loved. Romans eight thirty eight

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Speaker 1: and thirty nine says, for I am convinced that neither

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Speaker 1: death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present

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Speaker 1: nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth,

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Speaker 1: nor anything else in all creation will be able to

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Speaker 1: separate us from the love of God that is in Christ, Jesus,

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Speaker 1: our Lord. God's love for you and me is not

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Speaker 1: based on our consistency, our productivity, or our spiritual discipline.

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Speaker 1: You are loved on your strong days, you are loved

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Speaker 1: on your week days. Nothing can separate you from God's love.

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Speaker 1: That's what scripture says. A couple of nights ago, I

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Speaker 1: was in Bible study and this is so funny. It's

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Speaker 1: a Bible study called Get Healthy Confidence. I wrote it

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Speaker 1: several years ago, and I decided that I was going

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Speaker 1: to retake it, just not as the Bible teacher, but

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Speaker 1: as a participant. And oh my gosh, it has been

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Speaker 1: so so good just to sit as a participant in

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Speaker 1: this Bible study that I wrote, because I realized how

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Speaker 1: much I needed it. But the thing that we talked

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Speaker 1: about this past Tuesday night was this topic our identity

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Speaker 1: in Christ. And so we looked up versus that God

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Speaker 1: says is true about who we are in Christ, and

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Speaker 1: then we talked about which ones were the most meaningful.

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Speaker 1: And one of the verses that we looked up in

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Speaker 1: this Bible study was Colossians three twelve. Now, we looked

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Speaker 1: at the verse. We read the verse, and then we

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Speaker 1: filled in the blanks in the Bible study and the

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Speaker 1: blanks where I have been chosen of God and I

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Speaker 1: am wholly and dearly loved. And as a group, we're

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Speaker 1: talking about the verses that meant the most to us

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Speaker 1: that we had looked up. Several of the gals around

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Speaker 1: our table said this was the verse that meant the

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Speaker 1: most of them. And the reason it was is because

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Speaker 1: this verse says that we are dearly loved. And we

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Speaker 1: camped on that for a minute, because I think most

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Speaker 1: of us know that the Bible says God loves us,

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Speaker 1: but we were talking about the fact that that word

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Speaker 1: dearly was a word that indicated degrees of love, and

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Speaker 1: we started talking about the fact that God dearly loves us.

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Speaker 1: I mean, we were kind of overwhelmed with the fact

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Speaker 1: that God would say he dearly loves us. So what's

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Speaker 1: true for the group that I was in on Tuesday

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Speaker 1: night is also true for you. Did you know that

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Speaker 1: God's word not only says that he loves you, but

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Speaker 1: that you are dearly loved. Let that just sink in

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Speaker 1: for a minute. Fact you might just want to say

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Speaker 1: out loud, God, thank you that I am dearly loved

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Speaker 1: by you. That's a good thing to say, especially on

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Speaker 1: those days when you're not feeling like you're loved by God,

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Speaker 1: or that you're feeling like you're not lovable. And let's

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Speaker 1: just be honest, don't we all have days like that, right?

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Speaker 1: But the truth is that we are dearly loved. The

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Speaker 1: second truth, and this is also when we talked about

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Speaker 1: on Tuesday night in our group, is that you are chosen.

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Speaker 1: Ephesians one four and five tells us for He that's God,

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Speaker 1: chose us in him before the creation of the world

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Speaker 1: to be wholly and blameless in his sight in love.

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Speaker 1: He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ.

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Speaker 1: What this tells us is that you are not an accident.

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Speaker 1: I am not an accident. You are not an afterthought.

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Speaker 1: You were chosen on purpose in love. Even when you

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Speaker 1: feel overlooked by people, you are fully seen by God.

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Speaker 1: Now how do I know that Well, because He chose you.

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Speaker 1: That was another verse that we looked at. It was

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Speaker 1: different than this Ephesians verse, but there was a verse

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Speaker 1: that we looked at in this Bible study. John fifteen sixteen,

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Speaker 1: where Jesus says, you didn't choose me, but I chose

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Speaker 1: you to go and bear fruit, fruit that would last.

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Speaker 1: And as we were talking about this in our small group,

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Speaker 1: we just started thinking about how precious that makes each

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Speaker 1: of us feel. That Jesus said, hey, you didn't choose me,

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Speaker 1: I chose you, and I chose you for a purpose

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Speaker 1: to go and bear fruit, fruit that would last. So

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Speaker 1: not only does this truth that we are chosen make

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Speaker 1: us feel loved and valued, but it also gives us

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Speaker 1: purpose in our identity because Jesus said, I chose you

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Speaker 1: why to go and bear fruit fruit that would last.

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Speaker 1: God wants us to live a life that's fruitful and

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Speaker 1: purposeful and expands his kingdom. I mean, that's part of

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Speaker 1: the reason that He chose us. This gives us unbelievable identity.

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Speaker 1: Here's a third truth. You are forgiven. Calautionans one thirteen

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Speaker 1: and fourteen says for he that's Jesus has rescued us

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Speaker 1: from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the

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Speaker 1: kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption,

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Speaker 1: the forgiveness of sins. You are forgiven. I am forgiven.

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Speaker 1: Your past does not define you. Shame does not get

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Speaker 1: the final word forgiveness does. That is so important because

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Speaker 1: we shame ourselves when we fail, and you know what's worse,

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Speaker 1: other people shame us when we fail. But you know

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Speaker 1: who doesn't shame us. God doesn't shame us when we fail.

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Speaker 1: Romans eight one says, there is therefore now no condemnation

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Speaker 1: for those who are in Christ Jesus. Yes, there's conviction

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Speaker 1: for sin, but that leads us toward repentance. There's not

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Speaker 1: condemnation that just leads us to shame and spiraling into

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Speaker 1: a dark place that God doesn't want us to be

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Speaker 1: because of the cross of Christ. So if God has

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Speaker 1: forgiven you, and if you belong to Jesus he has

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Speaker 1: you don't have to keep holding your mistakes over your

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Speaker 1: own head. God doesn't. So why are you and you

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Speaker 1: are forgiven? Not because of what you did, not because

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Speaker 1: of what I did, but because of what Jesus did.

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Speaker 1: If that doesn't make us love Jesus more, I don't

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Speaker 1: know what will we are forgiven? Here's a fourth truth.

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Speaker 1: You are a new creation. Tewod Corinthians five seventeen says, Therefore,

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Speaker 1: if anyone is in Christ. Then the new Creation has come.

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Speaker 1: The old has gone, the new is here. Our identity,

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Speaker 1: Your identity is not who you used to be, It's

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Speaker 1: who God is shaping you to become. I want you

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Speaker 1: to think about that for a minute, because that piggybacks

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Speaker 1: on Romans eight twenty eight and twenty nine, where it

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Speaker 1: says God causes all things to work together for the good,

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Speaker 1: for those who love the Lord, for those who are

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Speaker 1: called according to his purpose, and then it goes on

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Speaker 1: to say for those he foreknew, he also predestined to

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Speaker 1: become conformed to the image of his Son. So with

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Speaker 1: everything that happens in our life, He's using all those

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Speaker 1: things to make us more and more like Jesus. That's

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Speaker 1: who we are becoming, the new Creation. So everything about you,

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Speaker 1: everything that's going on in your life right now, if

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Speaker 1: you could just step back me, if I just step

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Speaker 1: back and think, why is this happening? Ultimately to make

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Speaker 1: me more like Jesus. I mean, that's where it's all

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Speaker 1: going to make me more like Jesus, to make you

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Speaker 1: more like Jesus. That's the truth. Growth is often slow,

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Speaker 1: change doesn't happen overnight. But God, God is actively renewing

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Speaker 1: us day by day. Here's the fifth and final thing.

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Speaker 1: You belong to God. First Peter two nine says, but

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Speaker 1: you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

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Speaker 1: God's special possession that you may declare the praises of

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Speaker 1: Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

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Speaker 1: You don't have to earn a place with God. You

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Speaker 1: don't have to prove you belong. You already do. You're

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Speaker 1: a chosen people, you're a royal priesthood, you're a holy nation.

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Speaker 1: You're God's special possession. And that's not just true for you,

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Speaker 1: that's true for every person who has put their faith

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Speaker 1: in Jesus Christ. Yep. Even that person you don't like

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Speaker 1: right now, but she's a fellow believer. She is a

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Speaker 1: chosen person. She belongs to God. That's her identity. So

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Speaker 1: these are the things that are true for us in Christ.

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Speaker 1: But as we all know, there's an ongoing battle for

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Speaker 1: our identity. Even when we know the truth, we still

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Speaker 1: struggle because we compare, we doubt, we forget, which is

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Speaker 1: why Scripture reminds us in Romans twelve to two that

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Speaker 1: we need to keep renewing our minds, it says, don't

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Speaker 1: conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed

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Speaker 1: by the renewing of your mind. So what do we

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Speaker 1: renew our mind with? When we renew our mind with

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Speaker 1: the truth, the truth found in God's word, the truth

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Speaker 1: of what God says is true. So when the voice says, okay,

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Speaker 1: you're failing, you're not enough, you answer with scripture. When

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Speaker 1: culture tries to define you with your position, you return

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Speaker 1: to God's word. This is a daily practice. It's not

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Speaker 1: a one time realization. It's something we have to do

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Speaker 1: over and over and over again, through every stage and

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Speaker 1: every season in our life. Here's why this is important.

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Speaker 1: It's really the shift that changes everything. We don't live

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Speaker 1: for identity. We live from identity. We obey because we're loved,

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Speaker 1: not to earn love. We serve because we belong, not

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Speaker 1: to prove our worth. We grow because we're secure, not

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Speaker 1: because we're feeling. When we live from our identity in Christ,

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Speaker 1: striving gives way to trust and comparison loses its grip.

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Speaker 1: So let me return back to that opening question. When

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Speaker 1: you think of yourself, what comes to mind, success, failure, teacher, nurse, mom, wife,

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Speaker 1: or do you think about yourself and your identity in Christ.

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Speaker 1: I'm a person who's loved. I'm a person who's dearly loved.

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Speaker 1: I'm a person who's forgiven. I'm a person who has chosen.

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Speaker 1: I'm a person who's a new creation. And I'm a

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Speaker 1: person who belongs to the King of Kings and the

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Speaker 1: Lord of Lords. If you know Jesus as your savior,

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Speaker 1: my friend, that is your true identity. Now go live

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Speaker 1: from it. Well. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. I

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Speaker 1: hope you found it encouraging because it's true. So let's

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Speaker 1: live out of the truth of who we are. If

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Speaker 1: you don't follow me on social media, connect with me

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Speaker 1: there would you? You'll find me on Instagram at Donna A. Jones.

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Speaker 1: Hop over to my website Donna Jones dot org. I

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Speaker 1: would love to meet you at one of my speaking events,

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Speaker 1: and if you or your church or your organization need

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Speaker 1: a speaker, I would love to be considered. I'm going

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Speaker 1: to be lots of different places this winter and spring,

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Speaker 1: so check out my speaking schedule and maybe you can

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Speaker 1: be in my neck of the woods where I'm speaking

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Speaker 1: and we can meet face to face. Would that be

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Speaker 1: so fun? I would love it and as always my friend,

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Speaker 1: I can't wait to see you next time, for that's

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Speaker 1: just what I needed.