Identity
What do you believe?
Why? Because our behavior is dictated by our beliefs.
If we believe we are strong, we will do things that require strength.
If we believe that we are weak, we will hide in the shadows of and watch others achieve greatness and success.
If we believe we are sick and depleted, we will not experience good health - we will use that as an excuse to live below our capacity.
If we believe we can do anything, we will push ourselves to do everything that is meaningful to us.
So what do we believe about God?
Is He our Savior? Is He our healer? Is He our life-changer? Restorer? Our Peace and Protection? Is He the Strong Tower who hides us? Our Defender? Is He our Comforter? Do we find Rest in Him? He is our Provider? Our Deliver from all that binds us and traps us?
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE? Because what you believe about yourself - who you are - determines where you go, how far you go, and how long it’s going to take to get there!
Our beliefs either challenge the Truth or align with the Truth. Just because we believe something, doesn’t make it true - it may create your reality, but that doesn’t change the truth.
No matter what we believe, our identity is in Christ!
Our identity in the fabric of Christ. We cannot exist without Him - we can’t take a breath without Him; we can’t move without Him. However, we can do things without him, like choose what we believe, but only because He gave us the ability and opportunity to do so. Why? Because we cannot be like Him and not be creative at the same time.
“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27). “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15). Everything in heaven and earth, dead or alive, is derived from and hinges on Jesus Christ! The Bible says that nothing that was made exists without his fingerprint. We are the manifestation of the Word of God through Christ Jesus the firstborn of all creation! This is the Gospel - it’s good news. Living from the place of knowing who we are makes all the difference. The devil seeks to destroy our identity - he’s an identity wrecker. That’s the power we give him - We have to go on the offense and attack the attacker with our belief and our faith of who God says we are. In other words, we must pull down the strongholds, imaginations and mindsets that trap us into thinking and believing we are less than what God says.
I Corinthians 10: 3-6 reminds us, “though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled”. From this scripture we understand 3 main principles:
Walking in the flesh means we experience life on a daily basis and what that may entail, but we don’t react to the experiences in the flesh. Instead, we war through the spirit because it’s an attack on our spirit - our identity, our present and future.
Our weapons are mighty - they work! They pull down strongholds. What is a stronghold? A fortress, a type of prison. It can be a fear or presumed weakness or mindset. They cast down arguments and thoughts that go against the knowledge of God.
3. Once we get our minds straight, we are ready to punish ALL disobedience.
I love the way The Message Bible expresses this same scripture:
The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.
So let me ask again, what do you believe?