Who He Is and Who You Are

“But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.” (Deut. 4:20, NIV).

Yesterday I shared with you how I kept speaking my son’s identity over him during a difficult season.  Today, I want to invite you to reflect with me how God does that for us. Let’s start by reading today’s Scripture meditatively, taking it into our hearts.

He says to you and me that we are His inheritance. What is an inheritance? It’s something of great worth, something precious that comes to us upon the death of a loved one. In this case, His precious Son died, and you are His inheritance. 

The definition of inheritance also includes LEGACY, bequest, endowment, heritage, bestowal, bequeathal, and benefaction. You are God’s legacy. You are His gift, His benefaction, His treasure. You have been bestowed on Him by the precious blood of the Lamb. The life of Jesus, the very highest price, was given in exchange for you belonging to Him.

He also reminds us in this verse that He has taken us out of Egypt. Slavery to sin no longer defines or marks who we are. Instead, this is who we are: His chosen, cherished possession; His recompense; the objects of His favor and lavish love.

Just as He spoke their identity to the hearts of His people then, He speaks the same to our hearts now. As He does so, He anchors our identity into His identity. A few verses later, He shows us who He is as the basis for who we are:

“For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” (Deut. 4:24, NKJV).

God’s jealousy is not the selfish, fleshly kind. He burns with holy, all-consuming love. He knows that we were created to be all in, to be all His. He knows that we will not be truly fulfilled in life until we are wholly surrounded to Him. He burns with passion to bring us into that fullness He made us for. 

He also reveals this about Himself in this same passage:

“(For the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.” (Deut. 4:31, NKJV).

Pause and take that deeply into your heart. Your God is a merciful, merciful Father. He loves mercy. Merciful is one of His primary characteristics. When He looks at you, He is gazing through eyes of mercy. His heart towards you is mercy: mercy in every moment of your life and for every circumstance you will ever face.

A beautifully jealous God. An all consuming fire. A merciful, faithful Father who will NEVER forsake you and NEVER forget His covenant loyalty to you. This is who He is.

And you? Made to be all His. Made to receive mercy continually. Made to be God’s cherished legacy. Made to belong to Him forever. This is who you are!

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Do you know who you are? Do you operate out of who you are?