“Identity Crisis”

Note:  The following is a series I am teaching  in Wed.’s Word Studies w/ Pastor.  I pray it will be an encouragement to you as well as a directive.  We are who we are because of who God says we are…we can do what we need to do because God says we can.  Never believe differently.

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“Identity Crisis”

I firmly believe that one of the main reasons that many Christians remain in captivity after salvation is because of an Identity Crisis.   A crisis that is brought on due to… # 1 Failure In Realizing Who They Are In Christ # 2 Accepting Who They Are Based Upon What The Word Says.  Hosea 4:6 says,   “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge….” 

It doesn’t matter who or what others say you are… it doesn’t matter what the devil says you are… It is what the Word/God says.  In truth it doesn’t matter what or who God says you are…if you don’t accept it you will continue to fight the same battles you have been fighting for years.

I. Let It Go: The first thing you must do after salvation to be able to go forward is to …..let what was stay what was not what is….just let it go!

You say “but you wouldn’t say that if you knew my past.   I would say what God would say…”What past?”

According to God, the Creator, you don’t have a past…5 2 Cor. 5:17,  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

II. The Word Defines Us:  God’s Word concerning each of us is irrevocable.

Deuteronomy 4:2 “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take anything from it”

Proverbs 30:6″Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar”.

Revelation 22:18-19, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

III. The Word Says…

*I am complete in Him Who is the Head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:10). “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”

*I am alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5). “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),”

*I am free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

*I am far from oppression, and fear does not come near me (Isaiah 54:14). “In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.”

*I am born of God, and the evil one does not touch me (1 John 5:18). “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.”

*I am holy and without blame before Him in love (Ephesians 1:4; “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,”

What I Have…Because of Him:

*I have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16, “For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”

*I have the peace of God that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

*I have the Greater One living in me; greater is He Who is in me than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

*I have received the gift of righteousness and reign as a king in life by Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17, “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)”

*I have received the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, the eyes of my understanding being enlightened.  Ephesians 1:15-18, “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,”

*I have received the power of the Holy Spirit to lay hands on the sick and see them recover, to cast out demons, to speak with new tongues. I have power over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm me.  Mark 16:17-18,“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

*I have put off the old man and have put on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of Him Who created me (Colossians 3:9-10, “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,”

What Is On The Horizon….

“I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” Lk. 12:49

The Vision…

A few weeks back, while n prayer in the sanctuary at MC, I was shown what is on the horizon for the church.  The hungry church…the praying church…the purified church…the hearing/seeing church.

(A Note of Clarity:  The Church = each born-again child of God who understands and knows that we r who we are because of Jesus’ birth, death, resurrection and ascension.  He is now and will forever be the only way to the Father.)

“I saw a pile of smoldering embers; as I looked closer I could see the white dust, a residue of what had been, proof that in the past a fire had once been there but had lost something to burn and seemingly left nothing but the proof of the past fire.  But then I felt the urgency to look closer, under the proof of the past fire, the dust, I saw some glowing ember, .some very small particles that still had the fire in them.  As I stood gazing at the smoldering embers a wind began to blow across ‘what was’, the dust of the past fire, the dust was blown away, the wind continued to blow upon the small glowing embers and suddenly a fire burst out.  As I stood there the fire began to grow in intensity. As it grew I began to see people start noticing the fire and were drawn to it’s flames.  The higher the flames grew the further away it could be seen and it became like a magnet to those who saw it.  People began to come from far away places…large crowds of people…they came to see and experience the fire.

This morning, 7/17/18, my spirit was drawn back to that vision and I heard these words…”It will begin with a gentle breeze and will then grow n intensity”.

To the hungry…the thirsty…Pastor or parishioner…get ready the gentle breeze, if it hasn’t’t already started blowing, it is about to begin and then the Wind.

(If this resonates with your spirit…share it with others.)

“Doing Whatever It Takes”

There is no doubt a great future is ahead for those who follow Christ; seeing people turn to Jesus, national and international revival, signs following those who believe, miraculous interventions (ElShaddai manifestations), those sick healed are but a few of what is possible.  The question is…are we willing to “Do Whatever It Takes” to see these things happen?  I pray the following will give a some insight into what we must do…  

 Phil. 3:13-14, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” 

He, the devil, isn’t threatened by your past…but by your future!  He knows the best is yet to be!!   

I. Aims/Goals – ‘I press toward the goal’:    ’if you aim at nothing you will hit it every time.’

Until we can see what we are aiming for the journey there will be impossible to achieve.  

Goals/prizes are the impetus for what we face and have to go through to get to the award day.   

II. Achieving What You Are Aiming For:   Practice….practice….practice!  

a.  “I have not apprehended”.…  None of us have arrived.   We are and will always be in the process of becoming.  

b. ‘forgetting what is behind’.  

1. Forgetting the accomplishments of our past pursuits. 

The end of anything is the beginning, the open door, of something bigger and often better but not often easier.  

2. Forgetting the pains of the past and especially those who inflicted the pain.  

It is hard to forget as long as there is a face to put on the pain.  But we will never move beyond the moment of the pain until we begin the journey of forgetting.

c.. ‘I press (strain) toward (facing forward…refusing to live life looking in a rear view mirror)…’  

In the pursuit of anything of value pressure is an inevitable part of the process but the reward by far out weighs the pressure.  

Conc. What about you?  Is there something you want enough that you are willing to practice…practice…practice…to  go through  “Doing  Whatever It Takes?”

It will not always be easy but it will be possible.