06 18 08 Identity Theft

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
(John 10:10 NKJV)

In this day and age there are people who make it their job to steal your identity! They seek out your personal information, such as credit card information, social security numbers, driver’s license, etc. They don’t want to be you, they just want the privileges your name and information gives them…access to your money!

We as Christians have access to certain privileges because of what Christ did on the cross for us. He imputed (placed in our account) His righteousness to us when He suffered, died, and then rose from the grave. Much like a bank account deposit, Christ’s sacrifice replaced our sin with His righteousness. The sin was withdrawn and the righteousness of Christ shows on our statement! We must believe it however and live like it. We are redeemed sinners, saved by the unmerited favor of Christ (grace) and recipients of His mercy (we don’t get what we deserve for our sins!).

So here we are (if we truly are believers) walking, scurrying, and sprinting through life, redeemed from the hell we deserve, free to serve the living God, and we allow a thief to take away our identity right before our eyes! At times, we freely give our identity away and take back the identity of a sinner! Oh yes, we have alarm systems on our cars and homes, pictures on our credit cards, and locks on our computers, but what about our character? Is our reputation protected? Is our testimony safe? Is our witness secure? Why would a convicted criminal, now set free, choose to go back into that prison? Why would a millionaire leave is check book, credit cards, and banking information open for anyone to access? We need to protect our spiritual identity! God has invested plenty into our lives!

Peter told us that we must:

“…be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil
walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
(1 Peter 5:8 NKJV)

Satan simply struts around picking and choosing whom he can ruin. He wants to lie about who we are and Whose we are, much like he did to Adam and Eve. “Are you sure you belong to God, after all you’ve done?” He puts doubt in our minds concerning what we can do and ways we can serve God. “You can’t possibly believe that God will allow you to do that do you?” Finally, he gets us so confused we begin to doubt if we’ll even to make it to heaven. “You know sinners aren’t allowed in heaven”, he whispers.

We must be careful each day to strengthen our faith through prayer, the reassurance of Scripture, and the encouragement of friends in the faith. Satan just can’t stand a Christian willing to walk by faith, despite what things may look like. We have to see spiritually, not depending on physical eyesight! Our faith is the security we possess to protect our identity with Christ. Each day, we must remind ourselves, that though we walk on this earth;

“…our citizenship is in heaven,
from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Philippians 3:20 NKJV)