As you begin reading, you may wonder how this is going to turn into an article about knowing who I am in Christ.  About knowing who YOU are in Christ.  But let’s get to it.

The truth is, I just can’t trust my slippers anymore.  But why wouldn’t I trust my slippers?  What could possibly have gone so wrong with something designed solely for comfort??

A lot.

I was in the house on a cold, dry evening, making dinner.  While wearing my slippers, obviously.

My boys came running to the door to get me to come outside and take a look at something.  Now, if you live on a farm and you have boys, you will know that if they’re excited to show me something outside, there’s a good possibility that that something is disgusting, and they were just trying to gross me out.  And that’s 100% what was happening on this particular evening.

God is invisible.  No one in human history has ever seen him.  Well, anyone except Jesus.  Today, I want to introduce you to Jesus.  Today we’re going to answer the question “Who is Jesus and why is he important?”

Understanding who God is has the potential to completely shift your life, your beliefs, and the way you view yourself and the world.  There’s a lot to say about who God is… and it’s all such good news.  But for today, as we dig into understanding who God is, we’re going to focus on these 5 truths about who God is:

1. Creator
2. Father
3. Redeemer
4. Sanctifier
5. King

As followers of Christ, we need to be transformed by the renewal of our minds.  But what does this look like practically?  And how can you actually and practically be transformed by the renewing of your mind?  This is something that I feel the need for so strongly in my life.  I KNOW that I need this renewal, and that it is something I need to actively practice daily.  The following is what I have found to be very helpful steps to renewing your mind.

Silence.  My silence, God’s silence… I really wasn’t sure.  But I think it was mostly my silence.  My prayer life was dry. Dusty, broken… nearly non-existent.  I knew this wasn’t what a healthy prayer life was supposed to look like or feel like.  I allowed myself to become complacent, lazy, and more involved with myself than pursuing a close relationship with God.  But there’s one thing that kept pulling me back, and that was God’s word.  That’s when I realized that praying scripture could be the answer to my all-but-abandoned prayer life.

—-Keep reading to find your free scripture guide!—-

Staring out the window at the clouds and the grass, a war is going on within me.  I feel like I need to get words out, but I’m not even sure what those words need to be.  I feel compelled to write, but I don’t feel I deserve to write.  At least, I don’t deserve to write about Jesus.

That’s the funny thing, though.  Jesus is exactly who I feel compelled to write about.  But how could I?

I’m not a theologian, and despite my deepest desire, I’m no prayer warrior.  I love the word, but I’m far from an expert.  But still… I’m compelled to write about Jesus.

“December 7.”  That date meant I was late for advent.  I kept repeating the day in my head as I pushed open the barn door to my office and walked towards my mis-matched chair and desk.

I had every intention of starting the advent activity, from Focus on the Family, on time with our children.  Our 3 kids, ages 6, 4, and 2, were excited about building a nativity as we slowly approached Christmas Day.  Wait… slowly?  Who am I kidding?  Time was rushing by and life was a complete blur of school, work, youth group and coaching.  

December 7.  This would be the day we would start the advent activity.  It had already been a few days since I had sat in front of my computer trying to decide if it would be more economical to print the activity at home on my own printer, or in town at the print shop.  I decided it was probably cheaper at the print shop.

Even with that decision made, I pictured the scene of making one more trip into town, getting the kids out of their car seats and running door-to-door in the cold, north-east winds.  That thought alone made me shiver, sigh, and press print.  After the printing was complete, I gathered up the papers so that I could review them and cut out the first few days worth of cards.  We had some catch-up to do.