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Issue 38

By Cailin Henson Leave a Comment

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ASK A QUESTION ABOUT CHRISTIANITY

newidentitymag

Most often I hear a blessed Christian life describ

Most often I hear a blessed Christian life described as one where we derive our joy from God himself. So, from this perspective, what God the Father wants to give us is not stuff, but himself. If you want to feel the joy, you are going to have to get your feet wet. You are going to have to get out there and bump shoulders. Life is about living it, and God wants us out there knocking around. ⁠
Christ has said, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) ⁠
God does not force you to do anything. This joy comes from freely performing God’s will. It feels good to do the thing that God wants us to do and that he would do.⁠
So let’s do it.⁠
{Tom Koel}⁠
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✍🏼: Tom Koel in “Happiness & Blessing” | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: Photo by @Snapwire from Pexels⁠

Life cannot only be about the journey. In such a m

Life cannot only be about the journey. In such a metaphor, the destination matters. An enjoyable journey towards an unpleasant destination is not a good trip. The journey cliché fails to provide a full picture of meaning and happiness because we know that as humans we do have a purpose. “The apostle Paul said it is only in God that we find life and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Deep down we know that we are meant for something more than the proverbial journey. ⁠
{Jeffery Porter}⁠
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✍🏼: @jefffrelatable in “Life Is Not About The Journey”| Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: Photo by @Tobi from Pexels

God chose to identify himself to us in a way that

God chose to identify himself to us in a way that will make us think of our earthly parents. He did this, fully knowing that everyone has parents that make mistakes, and many have parents that are downright abusive and damaging. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). For every negative trait parents may pass down. God will be able to help her overcome it and put on a new character. ⁠
{Alyssa Rickert}⁠
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✍🏼: by @lyssalurick in “To Be God’s Child” | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio

Keep a journal for ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Keep a journal for ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Begin this Sunday by answering:⁠
1. Has God brought a person into your life that has altered your direction? ⁠
2. How have they altered your direction? ⁠
3. Do you think this was for the better or for the worse?⁠
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Verses: ⁠
"Where there is no guidance, people fall, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety." (Proverbs 11:4)⁠
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"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)⁠
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It is possible that your plans were biblical in their intent, but not God's plan for you. You see that as Paul is redirected on his own journey towards Asia. His desire to spread the Gospel was Good. God had another location in mind. God opens doors, and opens a way by bringing new people into ones life, but then there are closed doors too. God rewrites plans and closes one door, opening another in a whole new DIRECTION. Humans plan, but God establishes the steps to take in that new direction. ⁠
{Gary Vandewalker}⁠
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✍🏼: by Gary Vandewalker in “When God Closes A Door, Does He Open A Window?” | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: @TolgaAhmetler from Unsplash ⁠

Without the fire-the Spirit in God-firewood will n

Without the fire-the Spirit in God-firewood will not in itself produce a waning flame. Jesus quoting Deuteronomy, gives “the greatest commandment” as the call to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Deuteronomy 6:4-7, Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:30-31, Luke 10:27) It’s in our design to ask and answer questions about God, ourselves and the world. ⁠
{Tim Keller}⁠
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✍🏼: @sclimk in “What is Theology & Why Do You Need It” | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: Photo by @EmreKuzu from pexels⁠

We have become obsessed with ourselves and our per

We have become obsessed with ourselves and our personal image in how we compare to those around us. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s spirit dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple are you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). There is much to be said about wise use of our resources in the Bible, and our bodies are some of these important resources; and there is much that could be said about wise living and taking care of our bodies.⁠
{Greg Whyte}⁠
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✍🏼: by Greg Whyte in “The Temple That Is My Body” | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: by @MaxRavier from Pexels

Prayer is designed to interrupt the chaotic rhythm

Prayer is designed to interrupt the chaotic rhythms of life. Prayer is an opportunity to embrace our daily challenges. To identify and sort out the things in your life that are broken. “Seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). {Lindsey A. Fredrick}
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• ✍🏼: @lindseybeharry in “Identify: Advice on Life. Faith & Relationships” | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio 📸: by @NajmulHasan from Pexels

God is not just present in our quiet times alone w $God is not just present in our quiet times alone with him. He is present when we shower, eat breakfast, pack up for the day. He is present when stay-at-home parents can’t seem to find a moment of quiet amidst the chores, meals, and caring for kids. He is present during work meetings and lunch breaks. “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from your present?” asks David in Psalm 139:7. “If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” Certainly then, wherever the rush of our every day takes us, God is there. {Bethany Cummins}⁠ ------------⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ ✍🏽: @bethany_kathleen in "God of the Everyday" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠ 📷: Photo by @mrwson from Pexels⁠$

Stories are also how we connect with one another.

Stories are also how we connect with one another. They are our social currency that we freely trade amongst our closest friends and complete strangers. It is through stories that we describe ourselves. I am not just a list of physical traits, but a person, complete with my own story. Ultimately, stories help us understand the world around us and help us connect with others in it. Yet, if we want to understand these things, we must dive deep into stories, especially fictional stories, that can help us learn to empathize through imaginary characters in imaginary worlds and discover new ways that their stories may reflect our own. {Brandon Hurlbert}⁠
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✍🏽: @brandonhurlbert in "Savoring The Summer With Stores" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by @imsreenadh from Pexels⁠

The Bible says to both revere Christ in your heart

The Bible says to both revere Christ in your heart and be prepared to give an answer for the hope within you (1 Peter 3:15). So perhaps we can learn both from those who wear their faith on their sleeve and those who keep it closer to their heart. The key is to be comfortable enough with your faith that you can share it in ways that express who God is, through how he made you. Faith is not relative. But as long as we hold fast to scriptural truths, how we share can be.{Lindsey Beharry}⁠
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✍🏽: @lindseybeharry in "Coming Out Christian" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by @jonathansborba from Pexels⁠

Christians were considered closed-minded in the ea $Christians were considered closed-minded in the early years of the faith. They didn’t participate in the pagan festivals or sacred orgies, and they didn’t burn incense to the Emperor as if he were a god, partly because they insisted on only one God, but also because their faith in this one God was such that this God called them to a higher standard of morality and ethics. And I think it’s important to reiterate that as Christians, we should want to honor God in this way. It’s not rule-keeping, list-checking behavior to stay on his good side, but it’s out of respect and honor for the God we love so deeply that we do or don’t do the things we do. Viewing it like a checklist or boasting in the things that we do is like a mug demanding praise or favor from its potter because it can hold water, even though the purpose of that mug was to hold water. The potter made it to hold the water. If it can do what it was meant for, who deserves the praise? The mug? No, the potter who made it. It’s the same with us; the expectations laid out in the scriptures are a picture of the kind of life which God designed us for — what God intended for his humans and for the rest of the Creation. The fact that things are broken and that it seems more “natural” to do things which go against the original design means that it often takes more effort to do what is right. But that’s where the Holy Spirit comes in: as Christians, we have faith that because of the power given to us by the Spirit, and because of the new chance at life that we have been given because of the gospel, we can now be empowered to begin living the way that we were meant to from the beginning. That’s why we are not saved by what we do or don’t do. However, if the Cross of Jesus means anything to us, if we are those who bear his name, and if we are grateful for the new chance at life that he has given us, don’t you think we would want to live lives that bring him honor and pleasure?{Greg Whyte}⁠ ------------⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ ✍🏽: Greg Whyte in "How Dare You Judge Me!" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠ 📷: Photo by @kun_fotografi from Pexels⁠$

Conviction is something that comes from the knowle

Conviction is something that comes from the knowledge of our sin. One of the biblical definitions of sin is to “miss the mark” or target. Conviction is an acknowledgment that we have not hit the mark of God’s righteousness. That being said, conviction doesn’t leave us there to wallow in our imperfection, it motivates us to hit the mark. Conviction is the inner drive to do what is right. Conviction is what makes a liar stop lying. Conviction is what makes an adulterer become faithful. Conviction is what makes a thief become generous. {Ramon Mayo}⁠
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✍🏽: @mayotron in "A Fork In The Road" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Lum3n from Pexels⁠

I welcomed opportunities to take up my cross becau

I welcomed opportunities to take up my cross because I thought that it would make me a better Christian. All throughout high school I thought I was suffering when I didn’t get invited to parties or when I got up early once a year to pray around a flag pole. I put myself in these situations with zeal. But what I didn’t realize was that it was a privilege “to choose” to suffer in these ways, which, while uncomfortable, were not really suffering at all. Worst of all, since my idea of suffering was so small, I lacked empathy for my friends who were going through deaths in their family, generational poverty, and racial discrimination.⁠
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I am not sure if I missed something or if it was never taught, but I never made the connection between actual pain and suffering and the type of self-inflicted martyr-complex I developed in my youth. So when I sat with my close friend after his mom passed away from an aggressive form of cancer, or when my own marriage came to the brink of collapse, I didn’t know how to relate these experiences to the biblical and theological traditions about suffering. {Aaron D. Conley}⁠
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✍🏽: Aaron D. Conley in "The Art of Suffering" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

I’ve been learning about what it means to be gen

I’ve been learning about what it means to be generous. It’s difficult for me to ask for money from people, and I was blown away by the response I got, both financially and through prayer, towards this trip. I realized that my own generosity was very limited, because I was always holding back to make sure I had a safety net for myself. As I grow in faith in God and hope that he will provide, generosity becomes an act of love, not obligation. I’m trying to look at every resource, whether my time, my car, or my money, as an opportunity to serve others. {Lisa Gagnon}⁠
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✍🏽: @lisagagnon27 in "Faith, Hope and Love" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Lum3n from Pexels⁠

I was a daughter of God that didn’t know she was $I was a daughter of God that didn’t know she was a daughter. The love deficit was the root of all of the performance in my life and it wasn’t something I could fix or satisfy on my own. With deep grief I laid down my performance one day at a time and started receiving God’s love without earning it. I was ready to learn if God really loved me without all of the striving and as scary as it was, I laid down full-time ministry and serving in any capacity to heal the root of this problem once and for all. {Chelsea Swecker}⁠ ------------⁠ ⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ ✍🏽: @chelsea_swecker in "Building A Better Me" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠ 📷: Photo by @hngstrm from Pexels⁠$

As all spiritual gifts have the ability to point b

As all spiritual gifts have the ability to point back to the God who gives them, the gift of generous giving is a powerful way to proclaim the generosity found in the kingdom. Have you ever stopped to think about how generous God actually is?⁠
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God the Father is so generous that he sent his Son, Jesus to redeem us from sin. God the Son is so generous that he left heaven to come to earth and save us. God the Spirit is so generous that he fills and dwells in all of God’s people. The gospel of the kingdom is so generous that it welcomes all, regardless of their gender, age, skin color, or previous history.⁠
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Being a generous giver means that someone gives abundantly, freely, and in a completely unselfish way. {Luke Geraty}⁠
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✍🏽: @lukegeraty in "Limitless Love" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Lum3n from Pexels⁠

Perhaps some Christians worry that if they really

Perhaps some Christians worry that if they really dig into all of Scripture, they will be forced to agree with, and behave like, some particular Christian group or people they know of that are not particularly likable. We all know of some Christians that are not very likable, and who wants to be like that? But just look at the Christian church as a whole. Between the Catholic and Protestant churches and all the various denominations across every country of the world, there are a lot of ways to exercise the Christian faith. The whole world can see that the Christian church has a lot of room for personal and cultural differences, preferences, and even room to wrestle with and interpret Scripture. {Tom Koel}⁠
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✍🏽: Tom Koel in "The Instability of Faith A La Carte" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by mali maeder from Pexels

"Which study Bible you have is not as important as $"Which study Bible you have is not as important as the fact that you have one which you regularly use. I recommend these study Bibles: ESV Study Bible, NLT Study Bible, NIV Study Bible, Swindoll Study Bible (NLT), Ryrie Study Bible (NASB, KJV), Scofield Study Bible (NIV, NKJV, KJV), Wiersbe Study Bible (NKJV). The best translation to use is the translation you use! The same is true for study Bibles. ⁠ Regardless if you are a seminary professor who has been teaching the Bible for fifty years, or a new believer that is just looking to purchase your first Bible, it’s a great idea to get a study Bible. I encourage you to study it, meditate on it, and live it." {Christopher L. Scott}⁠ ------------⁠ ⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ ✍🏽: @the_christopherscott in "What Is a Study Bible and Why Should You Have One?" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠ 📷: Photo by Retha Ferguson from Pexels$

In the Christian life, doubt is common and natural

In the Christian life, doubt is common and natural, something all Christians experience. You should not feel ashamed or guilty for questioning. God doesn’t look down upon you for asking questions. He loves you and doesn’t want you to suffer with distrust. A season of doubt is a chance to grow in your spiritual life, not a reason to despair. {Brandon Hurlbert}⁠
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✍🏽: @brandonhurlbert in "Doubt of The Mind and Doubt of The Heart" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠

For me, the confidence I have in the Bible and the

For me, the confidence I have in the Bible and the God which it brings us into contact with, comes from wrestling with the text and from a history of interacting with that same God through prayer and community. My own personal view of the Bible is rather complex and I’ve come a long way in my own faith. And probably because I’ve been in and around the church since I was a kid, my view is that it is sometimes better to present the complexities as they really are, especially to new Christians, because later in life when the going gets tough, people want to cling to something that has real substance, something that has been fought for, not necessarily something that is easily packaged. When it comes to the Bible, a good foundation of its origins should not be neglected. Knowing how the Bible has come to be, especially since Christians focus much of their spirituality on this book, is an important aspect of our faith. {Nathan Rutan}⁠
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✍🏽: Nathan Rutan in "How Did The Bible You're Reading Come To Be?" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Yogendra Singh from Pexels

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