By Guest Blogger Billie Jauss

I’m feeling old. “Life flies by so fast.” I hear myself saying this more and more often now that I am ‘over 50’ and my baby boy just turned 21 and is heading into his junior year of college. It seems that I have seen a lot of the past flash by in front of me. Panic creeps deep into my spirit. I become focused on the past and what I think I have lost, not the truth of who I am. I focus on me, not on Jesus.

The yearning to change my focus sent me on a spiritual journey to rectify my panic, my selfish spotlight. Being a consummate list maker, I began to list the positive truths of who I am now.

Who am I? I am a child of God. I know this to the core of my being. I am strong and confident because of my faith. I am a proud wife of an amazing husband I love dearly and like most of the time! He is the man God has given me to dance with through this life.

I am a writer. To admit this to me was much harder than the writing process. I began to embrace the gift God has given me and use it to glorify him. I am a mother, a mother who no longer needs to oversee every aspect of my children’s life. I am a mother, a mentor and guide for my kids through the young adult years of their lives.

Identifying who we are, begins with trusting God with who he has created us to be. Understanding above all the chaos and confusion he has a plan and hope for our future. He has gone before us to prepare the way. When the seasons of our lives change and we question who we are, we turn to him for our identity. Standing strong and confident in who he has created us to be, to glorify him, guides us to use the gifts we have been given to continue to move forward.

We are his.

We are strong.

We are living life to the fullest.

As seasons change and life continues, we grab onto our faith and let God pull us along. Life can take us into places where our identity is displaced. God has been there before us. Knowing who we are in him helps in the changing seasons defining our lives. We can trust God has a plan and hope for our future.

 “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

1Corinthians 5:18-20

The old self, our spiritual self before we believed, was a slave to sin and death. Our new self is forgiven and free, given the gift of grace. Our sinful spirits have been destroyed; our slates have been wiped clean. Sin no longer controls us, his spirit does. Even though our past has been wiped clean, we have to choose every day to live in the freedom of knowing Christ was sacrificed for us.

The definition of reconciliation is a restoration of friendly relations. Isn’t it what we want with Jesus, a friendly relationship? If we are to have this type of relationship with an almighty God, we need to cleanse our hearts of the past and choose to live in his love and forgiveness. Getting rid of our old selves and walking in the new self is a gift of our faith.

“You are my portion, Lord; I have promised to obey your words” (Psalm 119:57). He is our portion. Jesus satisfies our needs better than a bigger house, a name brand dress or any amount of money. When the Lord becomes our portion, he moves in powerful ways. Remembering God is our portion isn’t always easy. God meets us where we are. He cleanses our hearts to be more open to his desires.

The evaluation of the heart reveals the malfunctions can be asymptomatic until we find ourselves where we never intended to be, in critical condition, complacent, lacking the desire to grow deeper with Christ and experience the abundance in him. The evaluation of our heart increases our desire for a permanent pursuit of God, not of personal focus.

Billie is a North Carolina girl married to a Chicago boy living the baseball life. Her husband is a coach with the Pittsburgh Pirates. They have been in Professional Baseball for 30 years. They have three ‘young men’ who are still her babies. The boys live in Australia, Chicago, and New York. She blames the vagabond lifestyle of baseball for their love of adventure.

Website: www.billiejauss.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/billiejausswriter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/billiejauss
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Check out the other fantastic posts by the Summer 2017 guest bloggers!

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