Hi everybody, Pastor Vince here. Thanks for joining me in this Monday edition of Life Lifters. Our whole purpose is to give your life a 'lift' through a five-minute-blast of encouragement and scripture.

Now, this week, I'm actually doing something I've not done with Life Lifters; I'm actually going to be doing the same theme for two weeks. That means we're going to talk about this very same theme this week and next week for a total of 10 days, not just five. Why? Because I found 10 things that come from an important passage. I'm going to look at Ephesians 1 and we're going to stay there for the next two weeks. I want to talk to you about this important subject—your identity in Jesus Christ.

Here's what I mean by that. When you become a Christian, you have a brand new identity. Now, your social security number doesn't change and your address may not change either, but your destination and your relationship to God does. You are a new person in Christ and when you become a Christian, God instantly does a number of things in your life that are amazing. In Ephesians 1, to my understanding, I'm not aware of any chapter that tells you more of what God has done in your life the moment you become a Christian. Isn't that exciting? All the things God has done in your life... wouldn't you like to know what God has done in your life? Then join me every day for the next two weeks.

I want to begin today with the first thing that God does for you according to Ephesians 1, your new identity in Christ, which is this: you are blessed. You are blessed. I get that from Ephesians 1:3, where the passage starts "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." Once you are in Christ, you become a Christian. He has blessed you. Now we use this word blessing very cavalier. We hear a lot of people say, like athletes "Oh, you know what? I perform well today and this is the blessing", or, "I have a great team, it's a blessing". But what does a blessing mean? It means you're given divine favor by God. It's interesting that the word blessing (and if you look at the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, you know, the eight blessings... blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the meek, etc)... that idea, the word 'blessed', that means divine joy, perfect peace and inner satisfaction that is independent of outward reality. You might be going through stuff on the outside, but you can still be blessed because you have divine joy, perfect peace and inner satisfaction. In short, you have divine favor from God. What an amazing thought. Think about that! Your identity in Christ is that you have divine favor with God; you are blessed. Blessed. God's hand is on your life. You've got favor. He's doing something and you are blessed. What an amazing thought.

People say, you know, "tell me a little bit about you". Well, I grew up in Rochester, I grew up in Gates, I went the Gates Chili... Here's one, tell them this. "Well, a few years ago, I'd done been blessed." Blessed, you are blessed. You're given divine favor from God when you know Jesus Christ! The first thing is you are blessed. It doesn't matter what's going on around you because on the inside, God has given you the opportunity to pursue divine joy, inner satisfaction and perfect peace. And because you're blessed, you are blessed. Do you realize you're blessed? You are. Stop operating in negativity and start operating in the fact that you are blessed by God. It's a great, great thought and you're blessed to be a blessing since God has declared you blessed when you become a Christian. Be a blessing, because you are blessed to be a blessing.

Let's pray. Father, thank you so much that our first identity in Christ, according to Ephesians 1, that we are blessed. Thank you for blessing us. We didn't deserve it, but you've given it to us. Help us appreciate that we're blessed, and in turn, be a blessing to you. A blessing to everyone we possibly can. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Hey, you're blessed!