Week 3 Identity

David’s stomach turns with disgust and rage as he overhears Goliath mocking God and all of Israel.  The young, shepherd-boy responds not by shouting back empty threats, but by withdrawing quietly to gather a few smooth stones. 

As David crouches down to select his preferred munition, he holds back his fury for the appropriate moment and grimly whispers to himself: “No one talks that way about my God. Today, this Philistine dies.”  

David is now ready. He approaches his mark with a slingshot, a stone, and God in his heart. As David takes his position on the battlefield, he releases the rage that’s been stirring in his soul, rushes Goliath, and fires the stone from his slingshot with velocity and accuracy. The rock makes contact and sinks deep into Goliath’s skull.

The upset hushes the crowds.  

As David stands over the 400 lb. corpse, he thinks to himself, “Dead isn’t enough. Crushing the Philistine’s dreams won’t do. We must break their spirits and give them nightmares.”

David draws Goliath’s sword and decapitates the Philistine. Courage explodes in the hearts of the Israelites and they surge forward with a rebel-yell. A wave of vengeance consumed the Isrealite forces. The Philistines flee, leaving the dead strewn along their escape route.  When the Israelites returned from chasing down their enemy, they plundered their camp.

David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem and he decorated his tent with the Philistine’s weapons.

David:  Son of Jesse, man after God’s own heart, savage.   

What motivated David to model such courage?

It wasn’t his clothes, or lack of military armor.

It wasn’t his career and reputation as a shepherd boy.

It wasn’t his position, or role as defined by his neglectful brothers and father.

It wasn’t his future crown or kingdom.

What motivated David to push through the impossible was God - The Lover of His Soul.

After David spent so much time singing, dancing, and playing the harp for his Lord, his young-heart couldn’t help but to merge with God. In the same way metal bonds to metal in a smoldering furnace, David became one with God in a shepherd’s field. 

David destroyed Goliath because God was in him. David knew that he and God were one, this knowledge was stoked by intimacy.    

David was confident of this truth:

“I am more than a sheep herder, I am more than son number-eight, I more than a boy who can’t fit into a grown man’s suit of armor – I AM A CHILD OF GOD.”

Who you are is more than can be expressed within the bounds of your ethnic identity, occupation, personal history, physical ability and personal accomplishment. Yet, we bind our identities to the finite under the illusion that these things make us who we are.  On the contrary, your identity should be firmly anchored in Jesus and His accomplishments, not yours; His strength, not yours; His performance, not yours; His victory, not yours. God has no rival. And when you fix your identity to the unshakable truth that you are co-heirs with our Warrior King, you will approach each battle with a giant-slaying confidence that is not only revolutionary, but contagious.        

Because you’ve been born again, you belong to The King who freely gives you the promise of the Father. The Holy Spirit reminds you that you belong to God, heirs of the Kingdom. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, created by the hand of God, to receive an inheritance that will never fade, or perish. The enemy, who is already defeated, cannot steal your identity.  However, he can deceive you. Satan attempts to cover your true identity with the addictions, abuse, abandonment, shame and rejection you are currently experience.     

Knowing who you are in Christ is a beautiful, ongoing journey where the Holy Spirit reveals how much the Father loves and values you. The closer you draw to Him the closer He draws to you. In the midst of drawing closer to each other, courage replaces fear and a deeper revelation of love springs forth. 

Go into your battles with the revelation that you are God’s most beloved possession. Face your giants with the confidence that you are child of God. Push through your fears knowing that God loves you as much as He loved Jesus.

Remove all the lies the enemy has planted in your head by washing it with the word of God.

Read this week’s scriptures and make these truths your battle cry!

Process & Reflect:

Play back through your life. Who and what has assigned you identities? Think about it in a way that each time you accepted what someone spoke over you, you received a membership card. i.e. Somebody said, “you’re weak”, and you accepted that as truth, so you now have a weakness identity card. Or, your culture tells you, “you’re supposed to be a freak”, so you accept a sleep around membership card. Let God walk you though those moments in your past, where you accepted a card that didn’t belong to you as a son of God. Let God dig through your membership card wallet, and show you some identities you might not even know you had. Then, visualize God tearing those cards up. You’re not going to go back to those places in your life. You don’t need those permissions. If you haven’t already, allow God time to build intimacy and place his mark on you. An identity lovingly applied over time, that won’t wash away. An identity that gives you access to the unlimited storehouse of peace, power, courage, and the provision of Heaven.

Daily Scripture for Week 2

DAY 2 | SCRIPTURE  

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].

Process & Reflect:

Does a new car smell like an old funky one off the assembly line? Nope, there is a reason why the new car smell is a thing. You are made a new creature, you don’t have to report all the wear and tear on your spiritual CARFAX report. God wiped all that legally and forever, because you are made new with Jesus’s power and love. You can move forward as a BRAND NEW - FINE TUNED performance vehicle of the Holy Spirit. Know your worth! It’s listed in the Bible blue book, take some time today to allow God to speak that over you.

DAY 3 | SCRIPTURE

Romans 8:1

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Process & Reflect:

Your enemy can’t wait to remind you of who you were. Imagine you’re in court. Your bitter enemy is shouting for justice! The final verdict… not guilty, no punishment, no shame. Even though you know you’re guilty, NOT GUILTY. When you make the decision to truly live for Jesus, and to believe in Him as personal Lord and Savior, He took all of the blame for your past on Himself. Then, He destroyed it all. Just as He is blameless, He makes all who repent blameless, too! Make a list of what you feel you are guilty of in your journal. Repent for each one, in private, out loud. Then strike through each one as you go and proclaim, NOT GUILTY! Then, for good measure, tear that sheet out of your journal… and BURN IT. < observing local fire safety codes > The next time the enemy comes to speak blame over you for those things, say out loud, “I don’t remember that was destroyed because of the work of THE CROSS.”

DAY 4 | SCRIPTURE

Galatians 3:26

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Process & Reflect:

If you are born-again, you have been reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and sanctified. You are not set apart for your own plans, though. You are set apart for His purpose as a son. The amazing part of that purpose is that it comes with full rights and privileges of The Father! What do you face today that will require the supernatural provision of God to accomplish? If there isn’t anything, then find someone else to agree to fight with and lend your faith to help intercede for their fight.

DAY 5 | SCRIPTURE

Romans 6:11

Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Process & Reflect:

You can’t have an active relationship with something that is dead. Your relationship, and any obligations you had to it, are broken when it dies. You’re becoming a veteran in this fight. Don’t go to the enemy’s dead to make friends. Instead celebrate in the unbroken fellowship with God. Share war stories with Him. He is with you, alive. Take time to share some of the wins you’ve had with Jesus. “Hey, remember when you ________ and I __________, that was amazing….”

DAY 6 | SCRIPTURE 

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Process & Reflect:

Jesus took the best shot Hell had on the cross, then unleashed the power of Heaven and won the fight for the ages in one fell stroke. Jesus shares that crucifixion and resurrection life with us when we accept Him. We die a spiritual death in faith daily, to live a godly life here on earth in the power He gives us through His resurrection. We access that life daily by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting in that loving sacrifice. Tell someone, anyone, about that exchange… bonus points if it is a non-believer.

DAY 7 |  DISCUSS IN SMALL-GROUP

1.       In Ephesians 1:4-5 it says, “just as [in His love] He chose us in Christ [actually selected us for Himself as His own] before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy [that is, consecrated, set apart for Him, purpose-driven] and blameless in His sight. In love 5 He predestined and lovingly planned for us to be adopted to Himself as [His own] children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the kind intention and good pleasure of His will.” Discuss: Have you ever experienced that kind of love?

2.       What identities did God shred in front of your eyes?

3.       Why does God allow false identities to be given to us? Here’s a hint: Redemption and Choice

4.       What would you accomplish if you got an infinite credit card with your name on it, and God’s signature on the back?