Tonight I am again pulling my material from Josh McDowell's Youth Devotions 2. The biggest thing that I personally got from this devotional is the key verse, but I am relaying the whole devotional to you because I know that someone out there needs more than just the key verse.
Break Free From Those Flimsy Chains
Ephesians 1:3-8 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.
You don't have to wonder why many kids grow up with a warped sense of their worth to God and to others--and a twisted sense of their true identity. Parents, teachers, the media, advertisers, and marketers can pummel into you the idea that your identity depends on how good you look, how well you perform, and how well you succeed. You can know better than that and still have a hard time shaking the thoughts that put you down or control how you act.
We're like the circus elephant whose leg is held to a stake with a bicycle chain. How can a flimsy chain control such a brawny animal? The elephant is locked up by a memory. As a baby, the elephant tried to break loose but wasn't strong enough. It hasn't forgotten that lesson. Even though the elephant could break the chain with a small yank, he rarely tries. He's conditioned to captivity. But notice this: If he does break away, he is almost impossible to control again.
How you think of yourself works the same way. Most of us are trained to think that how we look, perform, and achieve is all-important--so even when we know better, we're chained by that dumb idea. But God wants to set you free from the flimsy chains that keep you from realizing your full potential as God's unique, valued creation. God's truth is stronger than those chains. You can break free to be--and be glad to be--who God mae you.
An important part of understanding who you are involves getting into your head what God says about who you are.
First God tells you that you are his child. John 1:12 says, "To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God." Try putting yourself in this verse: "I have believed God and accepted him. He has given me the right to be his child." Write these words on a card and place it where you can see it when you feel put down.
Then God says that you are chose. Ephesians 1:4 tells us, "He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." Personalize that verse too: "I was chosen by God, before he even created the world, to be holy and blameless."
When you let these Scripture truths dig their way deep into your heart, you see yourself afresh. You're bigger than the chains that bind you.
Who shouts louder--the people around you who hand you a warped view of who you are, or God with his true view of you? Why?
Say thanks to God for what he has shown you about yourself.
I think that this is an important lesson for everyone to learn. Like I said, my favorite part of it is the key verse: Ephesians 1:4. It really makes you think. YOU were chosen BEFORE God even created the EARTH to be HOLY and BLAMELESS in His sight. Wow. If that doesn't make you feel loved and wanted, I don't know what will.
I give this ongoing challenge: Try to see yourself as God sees you. You are His child. A person that He loved SO much that He sent His only begotten son to shed His blood on a cross for YOUR sins. Nothing gets any more powerful.
God Bless,
Taylor
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