Who am I? I am dirt.

Who am I?  I am dirt. Good dirt. Jesus gives me the identity of good soil.

The seed of the Gospel fell on me and took root. It germinated and has been growing a long time.

My back has been plowed many times by the Sower to loosen up the soil of my heart. To plow under and cover the weeds that threatened and sometimes choked out my life.

In times of drought, the Sower irrigated my dry dirt with His life-giving water causing me to spring to life again when I was parched and wilted.

The roots from the Gospel seed extend deep into me.

Who am I?  I am dirt.  Good dirt. Good soil.

The Sower came along and sowed His seeds. The seed sowed into me germinated, took root, grew, and produces a harvest.  That's good dirt. It's what dirt is and is supposed to do.

When the howling winds of storm came, the strong roots of the Gospel weren't pulled up because I am good dirt where the roots can grow deep.  Nothing shallow about my dirt! No granite rock underneath my dirt.  Just good, rich soil.

I am not the Georgia red clay in the hills either where the rain runs off in torrents washing everything away.  I am like the soil my dad used to talk about and my ancestors farmed. It's South Carolina low country dirt that soaks up the rains and produces a bountiful harvest. I'm good dirt!

The seed sowed into my dirt is a seed like none other. It is a divine seed. All other seeds are human seeds that germinate into weeds. Weeds that grow and take over everything. Good for nothing.

I am blessed that the Sower chose to sow His divine seed in my field. Furthermore, it is not a seed that perishes. It is imperishable.  It is the living and enduring word of  God. The seed implanted in my dirt grows now and forever.  Imperishable. Nothing can kill the plant growing from the seed in me!  Wow!

This divine plant growing from the seed planted in me always produces fruit.  The seasons do not matter. Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter. Even in the dead of winter, the plant from the divine seed is producing. 

 

In the awakening of Spring, the plant in my good soil produces joy. Joy to feel the new life pushing through into the sunrise. The joy from the wonder of life coming from winter's dark death. Spring produces life and renewal causing the seed in my soil to burst through death into life. What good is the implanted seed if it doesn't die and come to life raised in an immortal, glorified body?  The seed dies and does comes to life!  It comes alive in the Spring and produces the fruit of eternal joy.

In the warmth of the Summer sun, it produces love. Lots of love that pleases the Sower.

In the glory of Fall's brilliance, the plant reflects the glory of the Sower who generously gives His glory to a world that is drab and dull.  He lights it up with a harvest of color. The red apples.  The orange pumpkins. The yellow corn. Beautiful. His glory shines in brilliant splendor grown from the implanted seed of the Word that just grows and grows into the glorious image of the Sower.

In the Winter, the plant grows the patience of faith in those hard, freezing icy times. Patient faith to know that Winter is temporary and that Spring's renewal is only a few months away.

God made Adam from dirt, and He made me dirt.  

Who am I?  I am dirt.  Good dirt.  Good soil. The Gospel seed germinated, took root, grew, and produces and produces, and produces good harvests in every season.

That's pretty amazing to me. Dirt. Good soil. So I will give all praise to the Sower and glory in His grace for choosing my dirt to plant His seed and grow a harvest in my rich soil!

Who am I? I am a sheep.

Who am I?  I am a sheep. That's not a bad thing. As a sheep, I am intelligent because I have sense enough to stay with the flock for protection from predators. It's harder for a predator to pick me out if I stay with the flock, the true church.  A stray sheep is easy pickings.

As a sheep, I need a leader, a dominant sheep to follow.  In my case, my leader is the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd protects me from predators with His rod.  His rod is a comfort to me.  He can beat off a predator. In fact, He destroyed the predator, that wolf, who seeks to devour me.

My identity comes from who I follow. I follow the good Shepherd. He gives me my identity as His sheep. That's a good thing to know who I am.

I am in the fold of the Good Shepherd. He leads me to green pastures beside the still water where I drink the Water of Life. I can feed in abundance from the green pasture He provides which is life and nourishment for me. I never want.

I am content and happy.  I run and play in the pasture where he leads me. I am happy and filled with joy because I know the Good Shepherd looks after me and has my best interests at heart.

If I stray, he pulls me back into safety with His staff. And, His staff has rescued me from those times I strayed and fell off a cliff into a ravine.  He leaves the ninety-nine and pursues me until He finds me. He is not willing that I perish. When He finds me, he is happier about finding me than the ninety-nine that didn't wander off.  That's how much he cares for me!

I love my Shepherd. Why would I want to follow anyone or anything else as I have sometimes done seeking approval from others and wandering away like I once did?  I wanted to be a successful pastor.  A big shot pastor. I tried to be in their flock, but the Good Shepherd had other plans. That's not who I am. Now I know His plans for me are best!

I am thankful He never quit seeking me and that He found me and brought me back into His flock because He chose me to be His sheep. I am His sheep. Content.  Happy. Grateful to be who I am.

Moreover, the Lord has called me and made me a shepherd, a pastor, and given me a small flock to care for and tend.  Together, we follow the Good Shepherd who leads us, provides for us, protects us, and loves us. He is the Paschal Lamb who gave his life for me, for us, that we might live in His abundance and live forever!

Who am I?  I am a sheep.  I worship the Good Shepherd with gladness. I sing joyful songs. After all, He made me.  He knew me before I was even born!  He called me.  I hear His voice, and He opens the gate to let me into safety for the night.  He watches me in the night and keeps me safe. What have I to fear?

I come through the gate He opens for me with thanksgiving and praise for my Good Shepherd! He is good to me.  He is always faithful to me unlike others I have followed who abandoned me when I needed them the most.

Who am I?  I am a sheep. O praise His name. Glory to the Good Shepherd. His love for me endures forever!  

Who am I? I am salt.

Who am I?  I am salt.

My identity does not come from within me. It comes from outside me.  I am not defined by what I do.  By my job, my education, my family background.  I am not defined by my successes or failures.  Those are not who I really am.  Those are within me.

My identity is defined by Christ who is beyond me yet is in me through his Holy Spirit.  He tells me who I really am and makes me who I really am.  The answers to who I am and why I exist come from Him. After all, He is the Creator (Colossians 1:16), and he is the One who created me.  Therefore, He knows who I am and why I was created!  He holds the solution to the mysteries of life, being, and belonging,

Jesus says I am salt. The  salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13).  And He put the saltiness in me!

Salt?  That's rather strange and something I've overlooked as how I am salt.  I've always considered salt of the earth as seasoning for the world, but it's more, much more, than that. Salt is seasoning  that adds taste for people whose lives are bland. They exist but do not live.

Salt adds the taste of holiness, purpose, comfort, power, and many other delectable qualities to those who exist but do not live.  Salt brightens their day with the smile of encouragement, the presence of a fellow traveler and pilgrim, and preserves family and friend relationships.

I bring seasoning to unsavory situations. Love to those rejected by others.  Comfort to those who grieve.  Counsel to those who are downcast. Hope to the hopeless. I am all of these tasteful qualities that Christ freely gives to salt. Amazing!

What is bread without salt?  Yuk!  But, a half teaspoon of salt added to the dough makes the bread delightful. Moreover, it only takes a sprinkle or two to light up broccoli, a salad, and innumerable foods.  A little salt flavors everything it touches.

And, what good is salt sitting on the shelf?  It has to be used!  In the same way, my life is to be used. When I sprinkle my salt around, then I am useful and beneficial. My identity is in usefulness.  I fulfill the purpose for which the saltiness of salt is given to me. Salt is made to be used.

I am salt whose saltiness is created by Christ. I am just a little dash of salt, but I flavor everyone who I touch. That's pretty neat now that I meditate on it.

The identity Jesus gives me takes the bland and hum-drum out of life including mine.

Jesus puts the saltiness of salt in me making me a blessing to others and tasteful for service in His name.   This makes my life valuable because of the identity Christ gives me in pronouncing that I am salt!

Without salt, the body dies.  Plants, animals, and humans have to have salt to live. Without salt, relationships die, the soul dies, and even the world dies.

Christ puts the salt in me so that I live and not exist.  He gives me the taste for life which I am to sprinkle around and share with everyone.

Salt is good, necessary stuff. Who am I?  I am salt.  Wow!  Praise the Lord! Glory to God!

Who am I? I am light.

Who am I? I am light. The light does not come from me. It is given, a free gift by the Light - the Father of lights through the Light of the world.

The darkness that was in me has been overcome by the Light. I was confused, depressed, and filled with dark despair not knowing who I am.

In the darkness, I blindly searched for my self and was lost. I tried to find my selfhood in others. I wanted their accolades, praise, and well-done. I searched for something I could never have. It was a tortuous search. The darkness closed in around me.

The darkness told me I was a failure. All I could sense was the rejection from others that left me bruised and battered from stumbling around in the dark tripping over things I could not see.  Confused. And groping for something to hold on to. I wasn't in a good place.

But the Light was in me all the time. It was like having a switch to a light in the blackest night that went unused.

Finally and thank God, faith switched the Light on and flooded my soul making me light from the Light of life.

I do not produce that light. Rather, I am like the moon receiving light from the Father of lights through the Son.

The Light showed me who I am. Brilliant. Shining. I am light shining. No more darkness in my soul, emotions, or mind.  Nor more stumbling and falling. The Light shows me the way how to live and shows me who I am.  It is a blessed state.

The Light produces the fruit of righteousness and truth and enables me to see what pleases The Lord.

That is my purpose. It is not in pleasing others and seeking their approval like I tried to do in the darkness.

Not only has the Light been switched on to reveal my misguided search for self hood, but the Light makes me light. The light of the world flooding the darkness to show others the Way, the Truth, and the Life even as the Light showed me who I am and shows me the path to follow.

The Light keeps me in the place of peace. No matter where I go or what circumstances surround me. I know who I am. I am light because I now live in the Light. Nothing can extinguish it. It is everlasting because the Light is forever shining in me and on me.

 Who am I? I am light. Oh praise the Light. Glory be to the Light for God is Light. In Him is no darkness!

Who am I? I am a branch.

Who am I?  I am a branch. I am a branch attached to the Vine.

 

That's my identity. It's who I am. It helps explain the mystery of who I am and why I am here.

 

The Vine gives me life forever as long as I am attached. Why would I want to break myself off and wither up and die?

 

From the vine, I get the nutrients for life and sustenance. I get water. My leaf is always green with life. I produce fruit from the life given by the Vine. The fruit of patience.  I can only produce the fruit from the Vine as long as I am attached.

 

Through the Vine, I, the branch, righteousness is produced in me.  I am right and I do right.  The fruit of peace and gentleness flows into me from the life-giving Vine. 

 

The fruit of love, kindness, gentleness, joy, faithfulness, and self control is produced in me from the life-giving Vine. I can't produce this fruit apart from the Vine. All I have to do is abide- remain attached-and the Life of the Vine flows through me giving me true life, meaning, and purpose.

 

Amazing!

 

The Husbandman prunes off the spurious growth.  Pruning is sure painful but necessary to keep me at maximum production. It's not fun to be cut on. I don't like to be cut. To be pruned. But after the pruning, I am better. I am made fit to produce more and better fruit. To have a better quality of life rid of the spurious to continue to be fruitful and of value to the Husbandman and to myself and others who are blessed and nourished from my fruit produced by the Vine and disciplined by the Husbandman.

 

Quite remarkable!

 

An untended branch grows crazily producing little or no fruit. But I am tended and pruned so I can have direction and power in my growth and in producing good fruit that pleases the Husbandman. 

 

Yes, I am a branch attached to the life-giving Vine. Why would I ever want to detach from the Vine and fall on the ground to wither up and die and then be gathered and piled up with the rest of the dead branches for burning.

 

Now that would be painful!

 

Praise to the Vine!  Glory be to the Husbandman!  Hallelujah!  I am a branch!

Who am I? I am Christ's slave.

Who am I?  I am a slave. A slave to Christ. "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life" Romans 6:22).  

 

Christ bought me on the auction block of humanity. It was not because of anything inherent in me. I had nothing to offer him but me and my broken emotions and spirit. I was quite worthless to anyone including myself. The only reason he bought me is because he loves me. He paid a high price for me. The highest price that could ever be imagined. He bought me not with money. Not with silver and gold. But he bought me with the price of his precious blood poured out on Calvary. 

 

I am His slave. He is my Master. He owns me.

 

He is a benevolent Master providing everything - I mean everything - I could ever need or want.  

 

He provides the food I eat.  The house I live in. The clothes I wear. He provides the joyous and faithful companionship of my dear wife. He provides.

 

He provides protection from the evil one and from those who sought to destroy me and my ministry for Him. He is my fortress and my deliverer. My shield against the fiery darts of the wicked one. I am kept safe from all harm. 

 

Since I am secure in my being, I am at peace. My Master provides that. Nothing can separate me from my Master. No one or nothing can steal me away from Him. 

 

I am whole and well mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I drink from Living Water. My food is His bread. His broken body that purchased me.   My Master provides this slave my food and drink - His very body and blood. 

 

As the slave of Christ, I do what he tells me to do.  His commands are not grievous!  He directs my thoughts and actions. Thus, He gives me purpose and I know who I am and why I am here. 

 

It is a blessed state indeed to be. To be Christ's slave. Why would I want to run away?  Why would I want to leave?  

 

Who am I?  I am Christ's slave. O praise His name!  I glory in His ownership of me!