Today's Verse: 1 Peter 2:10

Excluded. Rejected. Discarded. Abandoned. Forgotten. Pushed aside. Not picked. Each of these describes an aspect of feeling like you are a nobody. Satan gives our sinful flesh the tools and the opportunities to speak these words of self-condemnation to ourselves. God, however, has extended his mercy and grace to us. "But now…" are two of the greatest words of hope in the Bible. "But now" we can trust that God has loved us in Christ, brought us into his family, and given us a purpose. We are now part of the people of God! We have been chosen for the victorious team of teams. We have received mercy! Grace has washed over us, and the love of God has adopted us into his family. Peter is reminding maligned and persecuted believers that they can choose to see themselves as "nobodies," or they can choose to see themselves by their new, God-shaped identity. Thankfully, Peter's words speak to our hearts, too. You, dear friend in Jesus, are God's child. You are part of his eternal and conquering people - like Moses, Esther, Paul, and Mary Magdalene. Mercy has reversed the power of sin and failure in your life and has graciously given you a new identity, empowered by the Holy Spirit's presence. So don't live today as you once "were"; live today as you are in Jesus: one of God's special people who "declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9).