MONDAYS WITH KERRI
I met a dear friend, Denise, for coffee before catching a flight home several years ago. As soon as we sat down and I looked her in the eyes, she started to cry. She shared with me how alone she feels, how overwhelmed she is, and how she doubts that her life is making a difference. She is weary. I heard her heart and I saw her pain. She is where so many women live. Bombarded by an arsenal of lies, it was as though a cauldron of deception was holding her captive. Shame was starting to set in, tempting her to focus solely on herself. Fear was holding her in its paralyzing grasp. During that hour and a half conversation, the Holy Spirit reminded her of all that she knew to be true and all that belongs to her in Jesus Christ. She reclaimed her identity as The Beloved and vowed to verbally reject the lies, fear, and shame in her life as soon as she returned home. By the time we stood to leave I saw the light of hope in her eyes.
As Denise drove me to the airport, she marveled at how such a quick encounter had so radically altered her mood, attitude, and perspective. I agreed with her and praised her for being so open to the Holy Spirit and responsive to what He was asking her to do in her time alone with Him. I thanked her for being willing to identify and rebuke the weapons of the enemy that were assaulting her and choosing to claim truth in their place. Then, completely out of the blue, as we neared the airport she asked me if I wore jewelry and I affirmed that I did. One hand on the wheel, she slid her gorgeous sapphire ring off of her hand and handed it to me. “Try it on,” she urged. I gently placed the ring on my finger to admire it but didn’t slide it all the way down. “Doesn’t it fit?” she asked. “Well, it will, but I don’t want to take the chance it will get stuck on my finger if I push it all the way down.” “Kerri, it’s yours,” she said, “put it on your finger!” As I did, I thanked her repeatedly for her generosity. I then, gave her a quick hug and jumped out of the car to catch my flight.
On my flight home, the cabin pressure began to make the ring tight, so I decided to move it over to my left hand-my ring finger-and when I did, I literally felt a chill run down my spine. I stared at my hand. What had just happened? I felt the significance of it but I could not understand it. Then, above the roar of the jet engine, something struck me for the very first time. I felt the full weight of being chosen by The One who created me. I did not feel chosen because of the ring on my finger, but because I felt His presence and His ownership in a powerful new way. I experienced that I am His Beloved.
In that moment I understood for the very first time that we, as His daughters and sons, were created as the ring on His finger. We are the precious jewels through which He intends to show His glory to a dark and hopeless world. Just as a married person cannot look at the ring on their finger without remembering The One they chose, He has made us that ring for Himself. We are constantly on His mind, written on His heart and on the palm of His hand. We are His Beloved. We are precious, adored...priceless-His treasured one. Like a wedding ring, we are made glorious so that we are equipped to send His love message to the world. Like a bride, we are The Ones He has chosen. Therefore, we are not available to be loved in the same way, or to the same degree, by another. You and I are the ring that adorns His finger, and in turn He adorns us with His love.
However, somewhere along the line we have allowed ourselves to be defined by our human relationships. Instead of remembering that we are His ring, we allow ourselves to be defined by a ring, or lack thereof. We have lived our lives backwards, we have been deceived, and we have walked away from the truth. We are suffering from an identity crisis and floundering as we seek to find ourselves in other people; we live as The Betrayed. The Truth that sets us free is simple: we can only find who we are in Him. We are His Beloved. We are His ring. Haggai 2:23b says, “I will treat you like a signet ring on my finger, says the LORD, for I have specially chosen you. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!" In this verse Haggai is speaking to Zerubbabel, who reestablished the kingly line of David. He became a patriarch in the line of Jesus; his family continued until the Messiah was born of his lineage. Therefore, everything promised to him is also promised to us in Jesus Christ. God called Zerubbabel and chose him to be a Signet Ring as a seal of the covenant He made with him. He didn’t just seal His covenant with Zerubbabel with a ring, He made him the ring!
//Questions//
Is your identity found in Him alone as The Beloved, as THE SIGNET RING or has human relationships warped your understanding of your position?
Because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross we have been sealed in a covenant forever placed in right standing before our Heavenly Father. Is there any part of you that finds this position hard to believe? Confess it now in prayer and receive God's perfect love for you.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see if you have allowed yourself to be defined by your human relationships. Others opinions and attitudes towards us can alter our identity, but if we choose to believe what God's Word says about us we can be completely transformed. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to truth in His Word today and speak that truth over yourself.
God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because you Gentiles have become his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, and now you can call God your dear Father. Now you are no longer a slave but God's own child. And since you are his child, everything he has belongs to you.
Galatians 4:5-7
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