The Call of Christ
- David Fairchild
- Apr 6, 2008
- Series: Encountering Jesus
TEXT
Luke 9:20-25: "Then he said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?' And Peter answered, ‘The Christ of God.' 21 And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, ‘The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.' 23 And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?'"
Luke 9:51-62: "When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?' 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village. 57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.' 58 And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' 59 To another he said, ‘Follow me.' But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' 60 And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' 61 Yet another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' 62 Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'"
In this series we've been trying to ascertain not only who Jesus is but how Jesus loves and pours out compassion on those He encounters in the Gospels. In this first section of the series, we've been painting a portrait, or you could say building a biography of Jesus. Where we are in Luke is a transition point for the Gospel. Luke 1-8 shows us who Jesus is. These chapters set out to answer the questions, "Who is this man?" "Who is this man who forgives sin? (Luke 5:21, 7:49)" "Who is this then, that He commands even winds and water, and they obey Him? (Luke 8:25)"
When we come to chapter 9, Jesus asks a direct question to His disciples "Who do you say that I am?" (v. 25), which Peter, through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, responds by saying, "The Christ of God" (v. 25). Peter comes to realize that Jesus isn't just another prophet in a long line of prophets and teachers. He's something more than that. He is the very "Christ of God." The one who has broken in and brought God's Kingdom to heal everything that's broken and to right what is wrong with our lives and this world.
This answer is a declaration of Jesus' identity and the flow of the Gospel turns from the question, "Who is this?" to a new question, "What does it mean to follow Him?" The next 9 chapters answer this question. In other words, now that we know who Jesus is, what does it mean to follow Him? This word "follow" is the key word for the next 9 chapters.
What we see in the chapter we're in this morning is a basic outline of what it means to be called by Christ as His disciple. This pattern runs through each Gospel and it runs through the New Testament. If Jesus is who He says He is, what does it mean to be called by Him and live that out?
I'm going to teach on the Transfiguration next week from this chapter so that we come to a fuller picture of Jesus, but this week we're only going to look at two essentials from this chapter to help us understand what a disciple looks like.
To be a disciple of Jesus means that you have 1) A new understanding of Jesus, and 2) A new identity in Jesus.
Both are radically important if Jesus is who He says He is and we're to follow Him.
1-A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF JESUS
Verses 57-62: "As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.' 58 And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' 59 To another he said, ‘Follow me.' But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' 60 And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' 61 Yet another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' 62 Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'"
What is so fascinating about these three men in this passage is that each of these is eager to follow Jesus. They had obviously come to know Jesus in some way, and have some basic understanding of who He is in order to want to follow Him. They seem like they're seeking and moving towards Him don't they?
Jesus' response to them seems odd at best, and rude or harsh at worst. What is He doing? He doesn't seem like He's trying to win over friends and gather followers, does He? Most of us when promoting something we want others to join are so happy that anyone would say yes that we would never give what appears to be a blunt response to their interest. So what is going on? Let's look at each of these men to try and understand what Jesus is saying.
Vv. 57-58: "‘I will follow you wherever you go.' 58 And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.'"
Jesus discerns something about this man that goes deeper than his statement. Jesus is basically showing us that there is nothing wrong with saying, "I'll follow you wherever you go." It's not the statement but the heart that seems to interest Jesus. Making a bold claim like this seems commendable but Jesus knows this man's heart and draws it out by His response to him. There is a wrong motive hidden behind a right statement.
Do we ever do this with God? Do we ever say the right things to Him but with the wrong motives? Sometimes we'll even follow Him and do His will but in our hearts want something different than what He wants. Or we may agree to what He's calling us to but do it with motives that are not for His glory but our own.
Jesus is showing this man what kind of Savior He is. He's not the kind that comes to guarantee us health and wealth. He's not the kind of Savior that comes to give us the comfort our felt needs tell us are most important. He's the kind of Savior that comes to give us what we need and sometimes that need isn't revealed until He takes us through difficulty to show us.
Jesus isn't the kind of Savior that has come to rally everyone together and build His army to destroy all the bad guys at this point. If that were the case, this man, you, and I wouldn't exist. Instead, He's the kind of Savior that has come to bear the sword. He's the kind of Savior that wins by losing, that lives by dying. He's the kind of Savior that is rejected and dies with a broken heart. Jesus is saying "Do you know what kind of Savior I am?" "Do you really want to follow me wherever I go? Even to the cross?"
It seems that what Jesus is doing is bypassing all of the normal niceties and reaching deep into this man's heart and touching his idol. It may be this man has a home and possessions that are incredibly important to him. So much so that it may be that he's made a god, and idol out of them. Comfort and possessions are idols that are powerful and promise us that if we just keep getting them we'll be ok.
Jesus is saying, "Are you willing to lose those things for Me? Are you willing to put me before your comfort and possessions? If not, you're not ready to become my disciple. You're not ready to follow Me."
Then Jesus moves to the next two men. These men don't seem as concerned about their standard of living or their possessions as much as they are concerned for their families. In our thinking, these men would be considered noble and applauded for their commitment to their families. How does Jesus respond to them?
One man says "Let me go bury my Father," and the other says "Let me say goodbye to my family." Both seem not only reasonable but commendable.
I don't think Jesus is saying that there is something wrong with having a funeral for your dad or that there is something wrong with saying your farewells to your family. It's not the act that seems to cause Jesus to respond how He does, but the heart motives behind these right statements.
Jesus sees a wrong heart attitude under the statement. He is saying that something has become so important to them that Jesus isn't first in their life. He's saying, "I have to be first before your family or your possessions. If you're not willing to put Me first before everything, you don't really know who I am yet. Do you know what kind of Savior I am?"
Both of these men are essentially saying "Lord, first let me do this or that." Jesus is saying "No. Me first, then that. If I don't come first above everything that's important to you, everything that you base your security on, everything that gives you meaning, then you're not truly My disciple. I must be your priority over your comfort, over your money, over your family, over your wife, over your responsibilities to bury your own father. If not, you don't really understand who I am and that means you're not ready to become My disciple."
Jesus then shows them how this applies by talking with them about plows and the dead burying the dead.
V. 60: "And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.'"
V. 62: "Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'"
Both of these statements show us that Jesus' concern is for the advancement of the kingdom of God, God's in-breaking rule and reign in this world, His love and compassion, His good news and His healing grace working through His disciples to the world. To be His disciple is to set the kingdom of God as a priority over our own kingdoms. But let's look at what He means.
"Let the dead bury their own dead" certainly doesn't mean that dead people can rise from the dead to bury other dead people. So if He's not talking about physically dead people, what is He talking about? Spiritually dead people.
This statement seems so harsh at first pass. But remember all of the scenes we have of Jesus reaching out to those who are utterly marginalized and cast off by society. He has proven time and time again that He is willing to love and pour out His grace upon those who know they need Him. So this seems out of place. Or does it? If the most loving thing Jesus can do is give us a clear estimate of our need, then His words aren't harsh just to be harsh, but clear and direct and motivated out of love for the benefit of the other.
To be spiritually dead is to be as blind and insensitive to spiritual reality as someone who is physically dead is to physical reality. In other words, Jesus is showing us that someone who says, "I get it! I know who Jesus is, but I can't follow Him right now. I have to get back to that. Let me get this done first, then I'll come back to Him," is spiritually dead. To say, "I finally see who He is, but first..." is to show that you haven't really seen who Jesus is. To put anything first is to misunderstand Him. In the moment that you're putting something first, you don't really know or believe who Jesus is or what He's about. If you understood who He is, you would never put Him off. To put Him off takes a kind of spiritual deadness at work in your heart.
It's deadness to put anything before Him. This statement is really hard to swallow because who hasn't put other things first before Him at times? But we can't miss why He's being so direct. To put something first before Him isn't just a matter of laziness, or apathy, or something else. It's a matter of spiritual deadness at work and therefore can't be simply excused away with our many excuses. We have to come to admit that something other than Jesus has become more important to us in some way that are hearts may be pumping, they may be working, but they may have some atrophy or damage to them because of spiritual deadness.
For some of you, you may not have any spiritual life and what you need is a transplant by being given a new heart to love Christ. For others, you may love Christ but have found yourself unwilling to give up certain areas of your life to Him and we can't get around Him saying to us that it is decay and deadness that is causing it. You have yet to come to believe who He really is, to understand who He really is all the way to the point of life being brought into that deadness.
When Jesus says, "No one who puts his hand to plow and looks back isn't fit for the kingdom," what do you think He's saying? It would be easy to assume that Jesus is saying that you have to make yourself "fit" for the kingdom. But the word fit doesn't mean to make yourself ready, the word fit means "useful". He's saying, "No one who takes His eye off of Me is useful in the kingdom."
In these days you would put your plow next to the line you just plowed and you would walk the plow down the line perfectly parallel. This soil would have been filled with rocks and in order to plow a straight line you had to keep your eye directly on the plow in front of you. You couldn't look to the left or right or behind you or you might hit a rock and either break your plow or you might plow a crooked line. You had to be totally focused on your plow and keep your eye on your plow.
Jesus is saying that His disciples have to be totally focused on Him. Nothing can compete for their vision and attention for first place in their lives. Unless Jesus is the focus of your heart first above all else, the healing power of God's kingdom won't be flowing through you and you'll be useless for the kingdom because you won't be an effective agent for the kingdom or a good ambassador for the King.
Are we hearing who He really is? To understand is essentially to hear with the ears of our hearts. It is more than mere intellectual assent.
Now, I want to speak about your motives because your motives are always mixed. If you wait to come to Him until your motives are pure and unselfish, you'll wait forever and will never come. However, it is important to examine what's moving you towards Him. Like these men, what is the reason and motive that you want to follow Jesus?
You might be at a time in your life when you're experiencing some struggles and need rescuing. You might for the first time be aware of your need for God, for Jesus to come and give you spiritual help. There's nothing wrong with that need. However, it is very easy at these times to approach God to get relief rather than to get God. Are you moving towards Christ to serve God or are you trying to get God to serve you? This is what Jesus is uncovering with these men.
It is a kind of pagan manipulation of the deities to try and get control of God through your prayers or following of Him. It is using God rather than trusting God.
Now, almost all of us begin our journey towards Christ because we want something from Him. But, to mature as a disciple is to begin to want Him not simply for what He can give you or how He can serve you, but for Him alone. To grow is to find yourself more and more wanting Him as the end, not a means to an end. Not to get a girlfriend or a wife. Not for more intellectual tickles. Not for emotional experiences. Not for becoming a good parent or a good spouse. All these things may come but they have to come as a byproduct of getting Him first.
We usually begin our journey in discipleship with Christ thinking, "What do I have to do to get His blessing?" but a mature heart begins to say, "What do I have to do to get Him?" If you don't make that switch, then you are like these three men that all want to follow Him for all the wrong reasons. Jesus is showing these men their motives and then preserving these stories so that we can listen in and learn from them.
As I mentioned, we're going to look at the transfiguration next week where Jesus shows us that He's not just one more in a line of good teachers and prophets who are pointing to something else. He's the One that all the teachers and prophets were point towards.
He's not just a Savior; He's a Lord. He's not just someone who comes to take your sin upon Himself, though astounding and heart warming as that is, He's the One who can say to you "Follow Me" and your only response to this kind of Lord is, "Yes Lord, whatever you want, I give myself fully to you."
It is an all-or-nothing choice Jesus is calling you to. He's not looking for followers who are vaguely interested in His teaching, but a people who have switched their fundamental allegiance to Him alone.
From the first followers of Jesus, their confession was Christos Kurios which means "Christ is Lord." And this confession was set in a time and context when you were required to proclaim Kaiser Kurios which meant "Caesar is Lord." This confession meant that Jesus was the supreme authority over anyone and everything in our lives.
It simply makes sense that if Jesus is Savior, He must also be Lord. If Jesus is Lord, He must be the only One that can save. Bono from U2, in a conversation with Michka Assayas said this about Jesus when Assayas asked Him a question about Christ's identity:
Assayas: Christ has his rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that far-fetched?
Bono: No, it's not far-fetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says, No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me a teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: "I'm the Messiah." I'm saying: "I am God incarnate." And people say: No, no, please just be a prophet. A prophet we can take. You're a bit eccentric. We've had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don't mention the "M" word! Because, you know, we're gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no, I know you're expecting me to come back with an army and set you free form these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he's gonna keep saying this. So what you're left with is either Christ was who He said He was--the Messiah--or a complete nutcase. I mean, we're talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson...I'm not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization...could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that's far-fetched...
If He is who He says He is, what does this mean for you and I? If He is who He says He is, does He seem like the kind of guy we invite into our lives to become our personal assistant? He has to be the focal point of our entire life. He has to be the center of who we are.
If you've intellectually assented to Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord but He's not becoming more and more the center of your life, you have spiritual deadness which only He can chase away if you'll simply trust Him.
Becoming a disciple of Jesus isn't simply having a new understanding of Jesus; it's also having a new identity in Jesus.
2-A NEW IDENTITY IN JESUS
Being a disciple isn't just someone who acquires more facts about Jesus or even bends their will to His will through sheer determination. It's someone who finds a whole new identity in Jesus. We see this is in the first passage.
Verses 23-25: "And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?'"
When you first read this, it seems like He's saying the same thing we just talked about but in another way, something like, "You should want me over everything else." To some degree that's true, but it's not entirely what's being said here. There's more to this than just saying, "I'm your Lord now, follow me before everything." Like I said, it's true that we should do that, but that can only happen if we get what Jesus is teaching us.
V. 24 is a Semitic way of making a point. Jesus says, "whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." The word for "life" isn't referring to physical life. If it we're that would be the word "bios." Instead the word used is "psuchē" which is where we get the word psychology. It's a little harder to define and means something like our "soul" or "self" our inner identity, the real us, who we truly are. It's the center of ourselves.
So when we come to the passage, what Jesus is saying is far more profound than just giving up your physical life for Him; He's saying to give up our inner self so that we can have an inner self, a new identity. Our old way of getting our identity, our self, has to die, and through Him we'll get an entirely new self.
But He's not saying we have no identity like the Eastern philosophies. It's not that we lose all sense of ourselves and we simply merge into everything, we lose our actual identity and have no identity in an Eastern way. Jesus is saying that if we lose the "way" we're getting our self, we'll actually find our "self." I other words, if we stop looking for other things to give us our identity we'll be able to actually have out true identity.
But He's not saying what we might come to expect in our own culture. As Americans, we are obsessed with finding ourselves. And, we think we know how to do it. We think that we find ourselves by finding our deepest desires in our hearts and go fulfill them. Then, then we'll truly find ourselves. But there are several problems with this prescription.
First, our deepest desires are forever changing. The thing we come to find our greatest joy in usually morphs as we get older and it's a frightening thing to base your identity on something that is forever changing and is totally unstable. We can never be sure of our identity because once we think we have it, our desires and aspirations change.
When we're little kids we pursued candy, then we moved to playing outdoors or some sport, then perhaps music or video games, then our looks, then the opposite sex, then becoming a good husband or wife, then becoming a good parent, then climbing the career ladder to get more things, then to be esteemed as wise as we get older. All of these things are ways to get our identity: If I just have this, if I just experience that, if I accomplish this, if I am seen as this kind of person, etc.
We're told to figure out what we really want and go do it. But Jesus is teaching us that we'll never find ourselves by trying to find ourselves. You never find out who you really are by simply looking for who you really are. You have to lose yourself in loving and serving Him and only then will you come to see who you are.
There are some things that only come as the result of getting something else. If we aim for finding ourselves, we lose ourselves. If we aim for finding Christ, we'll not only get Him, which is most important, we'll actually get true selves too! Lasting identity only comes when we find Jesus for who He truly is.
The normal way our hearts think we'll gain a self is by getting accomplishments or stuff. Like the three men we mentioned a few minutes ago, they had their family and stuff and Jesus said, "Nope, you haven't got it yet."
This is why Jesus says, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?"
We're told we'll never become anybody until we get an education, or a good job, or a nice house with lots of stuff. We get our self through our stuff. That's our sense of self, especially in So Cal.
In the Midwest and the South, the values are more traditional and we're told that we'll never become anybody until we get a spouse and have a family. Our family is what gives us a sense of our self.
But what happens when you lose your stuff or your family? You're not just disappointed, you want to come undone. You feel your very "life" is being taken from you and some choose to commit suicide when they lose their wealth, financial stability, spouse or family. Why? Because it was their sense of self and without it they're nothing.
Jesus is saying, "I know you think this will give you your true self, but I'm telling you that nothing in this entire world, even if you gain it, will give you only what I can give you. I am the only one that can give you a stable self. If you build your identity on me, I'm permanent and will never fade or be taken away. You can base everything on me. If you lose yourself to Me and stop trying to gain your self through anything else, you'll finally have a true self. You were built to know me!"
But how does this identity come? It comes from Jesus giving up everything on your behalf so that you can have Him.
Jesus left His throne, His power, His authority. Jesus left His mansion, His possessions. Jesus left the closeness of His family, His Father. Jesus became utterly poor that we might become rich in the things that actually last and matter.
Jesus took on our identity so that we can finally have a true identity. Jesus experienced separation from His Father on the cross so that we will never have to. Jesus gave up His rightful ownership of the whole world, and lost everything so that we can have it all.
Every place in this Gospel, Jesus calls God His Father. The only place He calls Him God is when He's on the cross and He cries out, "My God, My God why have you forsaken me? " Jesus experienced being forsaken and rejected so that we don't have to.
Don't you see that to be a disciple means to come near to the real Jesus? It means that anything that was keeping us from Him has to be dealt with. Our understanding of who He is and who we are in Him has to be transformed. This comes from the very blood of Christ which was shed for us.
Listen to what the letter to the Ephesians tells us about where we were and what God's done for us:
Ephesians 2:1-14: "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision' by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-- 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility."
Did you hear that? He is rich in mercy. He has loved us with a great love. He brought us near with His own blood. He is our peace.
If we believe this, we'll be able to for the first time know who we really are in Him.
The best thing we can do is come to see Christ for who He is so that we can believe God's Word when it says that in Christ...
I am faithful (Ephesians 1:1).
I am God's child (John 1:12).
I have been justified (Romans 5:1).
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15).
I belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:20).
I am a member of Christ's Body (1 Corinthians 12:27).
I am assured all things work together for good (Romans 8:28).
I have been established, anointed and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).
I am confident that God will perfect the work He has begun in me (Philippians 1:6.
I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20).
I am hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).
I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).
I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me (1 John 5:18).
I am blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3).
I am chosen before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4, 11).
I am holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4).
I am adopted as his child (Ephesians 1:5).
I am given God's glorious grace lavishly and without restriction (Ephesians 1:5,8).
I am in Him (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:30).
I have redemption (Ephesians 1:8).
I am forgiven (Ephesians 1:8; Colossians 1:14).
I have purpose (Ephesians 1:9 & 3:11).
I have hope (Ephesians 1:12).
I am included (Ephesians 1:13).
I am sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13).
I am a saint (Ephesians 1:18).
I am salt and light of the earth (Matthew 5:13-14).
I have been chosen and God desires me to bear fruit (John 15:1,5).
I am a personal witness of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8).
I am God's coworker (2 Corinthians 6:1).
I am a minister of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-20).
I am alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5).
I am raised up with Christ (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 2:12).
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6).
I have been shown the incomparable riches of God's grace (Ephesians 2:7).
God has expressed His kindness to me (Ephesians 2:7).
I am God's workmanship (Ephesians 2:10).
I have been brought near to God through Christ's blood (Ephesians 2:13).
I have peace (Ephesians 2:14).
I have access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18).
I am a member of God's household (Ephesians 2:19).
I am secure (Ephesians 2:20).
I am a holy temple (Ephesians 2:21; 1 Corinthians 6:19).
I am a dwelling for the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:22).
I share in the promise of Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:6).
God's power works through me (Ephesians 3:7).
I can approach God with freedom and confidence (Ephesians 3:12).
I know there is a purpose for my sufferings (Ephesians 3:13).
I can grasp how wide, long, high and deep Christ's love is (Ephesians 3:18).
I am completed by God (Ephesians 3:19).
I can bring glory to God (Ephesians 3:21).
I have been called (Ephesians 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:9).
I can be humble, gentle, patient and lovingly tolerant of others (Ephesians 4:2).
I can mature spiritually (Ephesians 4:15).
I can be certain of God's truths and the lifestyle which He has called me to (Ephesians 4:17).
I can have a new attitude and a new lifestyle (Ephesians 4:21-32).
I can be kind and compassionate to others (Ephesians 4:32).
I can forgive others (Ephesians 4:32).
I am a light to others, and can exhibit goodness, righteousness and truth (Ephesians 5:8-9).
I can understand what God's will is (Ephesians 5:17).
I can give thanks for everything (Ephesians 5:20).
I don't have to always have my own agenda (Ephesians 5:21).
I can be strong (Ephesians 6:10).
I have God's power (Ephesians 6:10).
I can stand firm in the day of evil (Ephesians 6:13).
I am dead to sin (Romans 1:12).
I am not alone (Hebrews 13:5).
I am growing (Colossians 2:7).
I am His disciple (John 13:15).
I am prayed for by Jesus Christ (John 17:20-23).
I am united with other believers (John 17:20-23).
I am not in want (Philippians 4:19).
I possess the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16).
I am promised eternal life (John 6:47).
I am promised a full life (John 10:10).
I am victorious (I John 5:4).
My heart and mind is protected with God's peace (Philippians 4:7).
I am chosen and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12).
I am blameless (I Corinthians 1:8).
I am set free (Romans 8:2; John 8:32).
I am crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20).
I am a light in the world (Matthew 5:14).
I am more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37).
I am the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
I am safe (I John 5:18).
I am part of God's kingdom (Revelation 1:6).
I am healed from sin (I Peter 2:24).
I am no longer condemned (Romans 8:1, 2).
I am not helpless (Philippians 4:13).
I am overcoming (I John 4:4).
I am persevering (Philippians 3:14).
I am protected (John 10:28).
I am born again (I Peter 1:23).
I am a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
I am delivered (Colossians 1:13).
I am redeemed from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13).
I am qualified to share in His inheritance (Colossians 1:12).
I am victorious (1 Corinthians 15:57).
This list was found on http://www.persevering.org/perceiv.html.
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