Restore your identity
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5v17
As we continue to pray and fast we are looking today at our identity in Christ. Before we put our faith in Jesus we are not just bad, we are spiritually dead. Jesus didn’t come to back bad people good, He came to make dead people alive. He came to make us a new creation. He has given us a new identity as sons and daughters of God. Yet often we can forget that.
It can be easy to go back to the old habits, to the patterns of our former life from before we knew Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Though right now there are things you are fasting from it can be very tempting once we reach the end of this season of prayer and fasting in a few days to let them straight back into your life. There are many things you could be fasting from at present that aren’t necessarily sinfully bad, yet they are not the best use of your time. Hopefully during this season of intentionally freeing up time to meet with Jesus daily you have found that to be a better use of your time than yet another Netflix binge. So the challenge is to carry forward the lessons you have learnt during this fast into the rest of the year ahead. To live out the new creation life and to let go of the old ways.
Jesus came to free us from the power of sin. He came to give us a new identity. We are no longer bound to the ways of the past. They no longer have a hold on us. We no longer have to carry round the guilt and shame. Our enemy the devil may try to bring up your past to try to bring you down, but we know the cross has covered it. We are now a new creation if we have trusted in Jesus. Today, as you pray and fast, remember what your identity is. You are not defined by your past mistakes; you are defined by the cross. The things that tripped you up in the year that is behind you need not continue to keep you bound in defeat this year. Jesus came to break every chain that entangles us and to set us free to live out the new creation life. Remember your identity as a beloved son or daughter of God today.
Prayer Point
Maybe you need to seek God’s forgiveness for sinful habits. Today is a great day to ask Jesus to wash you white as snow and receive your new creation identity by trusting in Him, for the first time or the first time in a long time. Maybe you need to ask the Holy Spirit to help you trust that you are forgiven and that the old has passed away. Maybe there is a family member you want to receive that realisation and you need to pray for them today.
