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Living Like Royalty — Today, Not Someday · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey y'all, it's friendly. Welcome back to In the
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  Stillness. Happy Tuesday.
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  I am so expectant for today's episode.
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  I really feel like this is one of those passages that just
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  lights me up, and it's honestly one of my favorites because it
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  reminds me of who I really am in Christ.
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  And so I pray it does for you too.
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  Let's go ahead and jump right into today's scripture.
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  We are going to be in first John chapter 3 verses one through 3.
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  Look with wonder at the depth of the Father's marvelous love that
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  He has lavished on us. He has called us and made us His
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  very own beloved children. The reason the world does not
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  recognize who we are is that they didn't recognize Him.
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  Beloved, we are God's children. Right now, however, it is not
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  yet apparent what we will become.
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  But we do know that when it is finally made visible, we will be
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  just like Him, for we will see Him as He truly is, and all who
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  focus their hope on him will always be purifying themselves,
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  just as Jesus is pure. OK, this one is so powerful and
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  there's so much here. First of all, your identity,
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  your worth, your value as a Christ follower is rooted in one
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  thing and one thing alone, God's love.
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  It is not your performance, not your appearance, and not what
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  you have or don't have. It is anchored in the fact that
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  you've been adopted into God's family.
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  And I love that John makes it so clear.
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  This is not just something for later.
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  It's not just something that we get when we get to heaven.
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  This is now. You are God's child right now.
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  So we don't wait to claim that identity.
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  We actually get to step into it today.
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  Humbly, yes, but also with authority, with boldness.
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  So that leads to a real question.
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  Are you living like royalty? And I don't just mean outwardly
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  like money, appearance, status. I mean inwardly in your heart,
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  because if you are a son or a daughter of the king on the
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  throne of the universe, you don't just go anywhere.
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  You don't just participate in anything or align with
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  everything in the world because you know your title and you
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  carry it with dignity, elegance and with grace.
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  Of course, not perfectly, but carefully and intentionally.
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  And knowing where your identity is found changes how you live
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  because it frees you from chasing what the world chases.
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  So you're not looking to lust or temporary pleasure.
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  Money or materialism. Obsession with your appearance
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  or with your body. Gossip, Approval of man,
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  Comparison. Because your worth was never
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  there to begin with, it never belonged there.
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  As royalty, you already have access to what you truly need.
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  You have the King's presence all the time, and you have the
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  Father's lavished love. There is no lack in God, there
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  is no insecurity that He does not cover.
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  So you don't need to run to the same things that everyone else
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  is running to because you already have privilege.
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  And I don't think that we sit with that word enough, the
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  privilege of being called a daughter or a son of God.
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  Now, John also uses the word lavished that communicates that
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  it's not just a bare minimum or just enough.
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  It means overflowing. Think of feast.
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  It's in abundance. God did not just save you and
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  stop there. He brought you in.
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  He gave you His name, He made you family, and He invited you
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  to share in what is actually His.
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  So that should leave us in wonder and in awe and fear of
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  God. And if it doesn't, I just want
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  to encourage you. Ask Him for that again.
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  There have been seasons where my heart has felt a little
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  calloused and numb to this, and I've really just had to pray.
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  Lord, would you soften my heart again?
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  Would you make it tender and keep it tender and allow me to
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  feel the depth and reality of your love?
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  Because it is real and there is truly nothing like it anywhere
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  else. And then John shifts our
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  perspective even further. He reminds us that this world is
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  not our home. It's not the end.
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  We are not made for this world as it is now.
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  We are being made for something greater.
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  So you don't want to peak here if this is not what truly lasts.
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  We are in a constant process of becoming more and more like
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  Jesus, this sanctification process.
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  And one day we're going to see him face to face.
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  We will be like him. We will be radiant, glorious,
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  Holy Y'all. That is God's design for us.
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  So I just want to ask, do you believe that?
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  Because even right now, we only see a glimpse, A sliver.
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  But one day the fullness will be revealed.
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  And here's where I think it gets super practical.
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  John says that those who have this hope purify themselves.
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  This hope is not passive because it transforms how you live in
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  the modern day, in the present moment.
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  The kind of purification he's talking about is continuous.
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  It is a daily choice, saying I want to live in a way that
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  reflects Jesus, not out of pressure, but out of love and
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  anticipation for his return. Because when your gaze is truly
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  fixed on his face, you become less focused on yourself and
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  preoccupied with things of this world.
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  You become so captivated by his beauty instead.
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  And this connects so beautifully with Jesus's words as He is
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  giving the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 verse 8, He says
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  blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
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  So purity is not just about behavior, it's about vision.
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  It's about a heart that is surrendered to Him and set on
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  seeing Him clearly and rightly. So I want to leave y'all with
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  this thought. If you truly believe that Jesus
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  could return at any moment, He could return today, tomorrow, or
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  in a few weeks. How would you be living?
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  Because that kind of hope is what purifies you.
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  It shifts your choices, your thoughts, your priorities, how
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  you make your schedule. You start asking, OK, what do I
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  want to be found doing when I come face to face with my
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  Savior, my Lord and my King? So I just want y'all to sit with
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  that as I'm reflecting on it myself, and I'm going to bring a
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  few questions to you guys before I close out in prayer.
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  First off, am I truly living from my identity as a child of
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  God or am I still seeking worth from the world?
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  Two. Do I recognize and receive the
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  lavish love of the Father or have I grown numb or complacent
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  to it? And three, what do I want to be
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  found doing when Jesus returns? So let's go ahead and close out
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  in prayer. Dear Father, we just thank you
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  for your love that you have so freely lavished on us.
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  You did not just save us and give us salvation, You adopted
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  us as your own. Would You help us to truly live
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  from that identity today? I pray that our hearts would
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  really reflect Jesus. I pray that you would create in
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  us a clean heart and purify our thoughts.
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  Give us a steadfast right spirit.
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  God, fix our eyes on you. May we be so in awe of your love
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  and rooted in the hope of what's to come, the hope of glory.
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  We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
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  OK y'all. Well, that is what I have for
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  today's episode. Praying that you guys have a
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  wonderful rest of your day and I will see y'all on the next
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  podcast.