Identity Theft

KNOWING YOUR IDENTITY

Identity theft is the number one crime in the world.  There is always a criminal trying to steal your personal information whether it is your social security number, your bank account information, any passwords, etc.

The enemy of your soul has commited identity theft. Most of the human race don’t know their identity, and are floundering in life because of that.

As believers, we have been given a new identity. We must know who we are in Christ, in order to walk in His authority and confidence on a daily basis. Our relationship with God is key. Daniel said, “Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.”  Daniel‬ ‭11:32‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Religion has stolen the concept of a relationship with God.  It has told us to live by regulations, and obligations and duty, rather than to have a full-fledged intimacy with God.. It has told us to perform instead of respond, to follow a formula, instead of a Person, to go through the motions, instead of getting in motion with Him.

How do you define yourself?

So many people are searching for their identity and falsely find it in their occupation, their social status, the car they drive, or the house they live in. You might say, I live in Texas, but that is not who you are, that is just where you live.  Or I have a PhD, but that is not your identity, that is just an accomplishment.  Maybe you are an engineer, or a carpenter, or a CPA, but that is only an occupation.  So who are you? Your true identity is you are a son or daughter of God.

How do we gain our identity?
   1. We spend time with God.. He’s the best friend you could ever. Have.
   2. We spend time in His Word.  “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His   law he meditates day and night.” Psalms‬ ‭1:2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
   3. We seek Him for counsel and understanding.

Look at us!

When Peter and John were on the way to the temple, they encountered a man who was crippled,  Peter along with John did two significant things.

1. They said “Look at us.” (Acts 3:4) Notice they didn’t say “come to our church,” or even “look to Jesus,” but “Look at us!”  Their identity was in Jesus.  They were so in Him, that they could say, “Look at us.”  (Their identity)

2.  They said, “Such as we have.”  They offered the man the power and influence that was in them.  They didn’t say, “such as we’ve learned” or “such as we know,” but they said, “Such as we have” (Their influence).
   

Later, some itinerate Jewish exorcists tried to cast a demon out of a man, and they said, “We exorcise you by the Jesus Paul preaches.” (Acts 19:13). But even the demons recognized their lack of identity,  “And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?””  “Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”

You have become a key!

If you have ever gone into a hardware store to have a key duplicated, you will notice there are hundreds of blank keys on a carousel.  To me, they represent new Christians.  They are new and clean and shiny,—redeemed!  However, they are blank.  Until God does a work in us, we are blank keys.  The problem with blank keys is they can’t open anything.
But the employee in the hardware store, takes the master key (get it?) and lines it up with the blank key and makes it just like the master.  As God works in us, we are being made just like the Master.  Although there was a “grinding” process while the key was being duplicated, the result was an identical key.

That is why Peter and John were able to say “Look at us.”  They were going to unlock the man from his condition.  With our identity in Him, we can unlock people.

‭‭The devil asks for our old identity.

‭Yes, the devil wants to steal our identity.  A perfect example is in Luke 22.
 “And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.””
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Notice that Satan didn’t ask for Peter (the new man), but he asked for Simon (the old man).  The devil wants to steal your identity in Christ and bring you back to depending on old selves, instead of what God has accomplished in us.

David’s identity was threatened three times.

In I Samuel 17, we find the story of David and Golathe.  His identity was threatened three times.

1. His brother Eliab.  “Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”” I Samuel‬ ‭17:28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

David’s response was simple and direct.  “And David said, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?”” He shook it off.  There will always be a family member or aquaintance that will try to challenge your identity,—especially as you are following Jesus.
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2. Saul. “And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.””

Saul looked at David’s size and youthful appearance and declared him unqualified to defeat Goliath.  But again, David shook it off and pulled out his resume, telling how he defeated both the lion and bear.  We all have to deal with lion’s and bears in our lives.  They both represent battles in our flesh.  The lion speaks of raging things.  Lusts.  Temper. Anger, and many more.  The bear speaks of emotional battles,—discouragement, frustration, fear, and many more.

3. Goliath.  The last one to challenge David’s identity was Goliath himself.
“So the Philistine said to David, “ Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
‭‭David threw off Goliath’s intimidation and gave him a  “prophetic word”, before he killed him.

There is so much more in that story, but once we know our identity, there is nothing that can intimidate us.

I challenge you to seek the Lord and receive your identity in Him.  He has given us His Name, and His authority.  Choose Him.  Choose to live in him.(Acts 17:28).  Choose life every day!  (Deuteronomy 30:19)
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