I Am Royalty
Royalty
[Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by contributor Maria Drayton (read her last devotional here). Congratulations to Maria on her new book, The King and I: Steps For Living In Today’s World Through Intimacy With the Lord available now on Amazon!! This post is a great tie-in to that book. God’s children ARE royalty.]
“Do you really understand your position?” I found that to be a tough question for me to answer when I was asked by the Holy Spirit. I thought I did. But honestly, I was unable to fully comprehend my true position. My true position in Him, that is. Sure I can understand my position as a mother. I am learning to understand my position as a wife. I’ve nailed my position as an insurance counselor. But do I truly understand my position in Him? Perhaps I really didn’t understand my position. In fact, at the same time I heard this whisper in my spirit, “you are royalty.” I even had a quick response to this. “Yes Lord, I know that in “your house there are many mansions.” (John 14:2). Yet, I had to seek His meaning to my position to get a clearer picture. He wasn’t speaking of inheritance but position.
1 Peter 2:9, tells us, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
Being the researcher that I am, I decided to break this scripture down and dive into each of these words so that I could get true understanding. Chosen by definition means “having been selected as the best or most appropriate.” Whoa!!!! I thought to myself. I never really looked up the word “chosen” I never thought to clarify or understand its meaning. But now that I did, I felt even more humbled than before. Royalty defined “people of royal blood or status”, and Royal, having the status of a king or queen or member of their family. Holy, dedicated to God. Special, different from what is usual. Possession, the state of having, owning or controlling something.
I’ve never thought of myself in any grand way in fact I’ve always seemed to struggle through life not expecting the best but only enough to “get by.” My thought was, “if I don’t expect good things then I won’t be disappointed when I don’t get them.” Now, I am now being challenged to elevate my thinking and my expectations. Not only to “expect good things” but pursue them. I’m not perfect and fall short every day but I do have a desire to grow, learn and change. And “no”, change is not easy for me.
Here’s an example, I love thrift and consignment stores. I’ve had to rely on them for a lot in my lifetime. It is always so great when I can pay $3 dollars for something and then make it look like it cost $30 or more. I really love it. Every year (two times a year) a consignment store in my area has sidewalk sales and every year I call the store to make sure to put the event on my calendar so that I don’t miss out. Everything clothing/jewelry item you can stuff into a small bag they hand out, you pay only $20 dollars for the entire bag of contents! I loved it and got a real rush every time I waited in that line for the doors to open. I would bring my own rubber bands so that I could make sure to be able to take advantage of every space in the bag.
Once those doors opened, I rushed in with the crowd, collected everything “I could make work” and found my corner. I would roll each clothing item then rubber band it to ensure I got full use of the bag. This year, I forgot about my favorite event and when I remembered I thought, “Man! I missed out! I can’t miss the next one.” I even called the store to ask them when the next event would be so that Iso that I could mark it on my calendar. A few weeks passed and that’s when the Holy Spirit began to deal with me about “position” and “royalty.” He even said, “You didn’t miss out, I’m elevating your thinking….you don’t have to shop at thrift stores anymore and get other’s hand-me-downs.” I sat contemplating this because for so long I’d been waiting on the “other shoe to drop”, waiting on “the bad thing” and though I was now in a “position” to buy new, I still had my old mindset and still strode to the clearance and sales racks when I couldn’t shop “thrift or consignment.” Don’t get me wrong there is a time and place for “thriftiness” but I guess not all the time. So I am learning and growing.
So my “position” is not situational, it’s not a location, it’s a state of mind.
Here’s the thing that I didn’t understand. Royalty acts a certain way. They go to certain places and they do not go to others. They don’t lose their titles when they leave the palace, they are still Princes and Princesses everywhere they go and act accordingly. I was beginning to understand what He meant.
With this new found understanding, I am learning to accept my “position” in Christ Jesus, I am royalty.
We do have to wait to get to heaven to get our inheritance. But inheritance and position are two different things! I’ll wait for my inheritance but right now I’ll enjoy my “position.”
1 Peter 1: 3-5, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Maria Drayton, originally from Seattle, Washington is a graduate of Washington State University and has a degree in Communications with an emphasis in Journalism through the Edward R. Murrow School of Communications. Maria currently resides in Deptford, New Jersey with her husband and son. With a passion for the Lord, she desires to bring a young, fresh, new look into intimacy with the Lord. Purchase Maria’s newly released book, “The King and I: Steps for Living in Today’s World Through Intimacy with the Lord” on her website: www.mariadrayton.com !