If You Really Are...

Remember those taunts in the schoolyard at recess? A big bully daring you to prove something you'd said. Those taunts and challenges that sometimes shook your very identity:

If you can run faster than me, prove it!

If you're really NOT adopted, prove it!

If you really can walk that fence, then prove it!

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Jesus faced those same kinds of taunts from his enemy. "If you really are the Son of God, then jump off this building and prove it."

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Ever hear those kinds of taunts echoing inside your heart?

"If you really are a child of God, then you would wouldn't mess up so much."

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"If God really loved you, He wouldn't have allowed this in your life."

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"If there really was a God, wouldn't He....?"

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Just as those schoolyard bullies loved to watch you quake in fear, so does the enemy of your soul. He watches for any sign of weakening, any hole in your fence that he can slip through and attack your identity, your strength, and your future.

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Our only recourse is to follow our example: Jesus. When his very identity as the Son of God was attacked, he didn't take up the argument and try to prove otherwise. He merely responded with the ageless truth of God's Word: "It is written..."

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If you're trusting in the death and resurrection of Jesus to pay for your sin, then you are a child of God and nothing the Devil says about it makes a bit of difference. The Creator of the universe knows your name, loves you, and has a plan for your life. No amount of ridicule or taunting from the Enemy will change that--and he knows it.

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If you're finding yourself stuck in the valley, pelted with stones, doubting your identity, respond as Jesus did: "Satan, it is written..."

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"...there is therefore now NO condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus..." (Rom. 8)

"...the Lord has not given me the spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind." (2 Tim. 1)

"...I am a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus..." (Gal. 3)

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Just as those schoolyard bullies fled when the principal showed up, so will your bully leave in the presence of God's living Word. Lies quake in the presence of timeless Truth.

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And as he flees, give him a parting kick in the pants for me, will you?
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