YOUR IDENTITY
Beloved, it amazes me to discover how many Christians don’t know their identity. – That is, the fullness of their identity. In this new Mercy season God is leading each of us to know who we are in Him beyond a general knowing of our natural inheritance in Christ – we’ve had an abundance of teachings on this subject, but what I'm talking about goes deeper and reaches further than the basic rights and privileges we inherit as God’s children (such as healing, deliverance, prosperity, etc.) which are givens, non-negotiable givens for each one of us across the board. No,I'm talking about very specific knowledge of who we are as individuals in Christ and what our individual callings, gifts and purpose are. I was surprised at a recent conference I attended to see the number of Christian leaders who couldn't answer the question of their personal identity – they couldn't say who they were in terms deeper than "I'm a counselor," or I'm a this or a that ... Oh, they knew the Word, knew God’s promises, but they did not know where they fit in His eternal plan as individual human beings with individual wants, needs, desires, temperaments, goals, and the like.
Why are you the way you are? Why do you have the passions and interests you have? A good test to give yourself is to ask what makes you really, really upset or angry. That is, what upsets and angers you that hasn't got a direct bearing on your life personally, like say something you read in the newspaper about someone you don't know – or you hear about a situation that really riles you up. What is that certain thing? Chances are that thing that riles you up, gets you really upset has something to do with your calling. Look for the fingerprint of God in your world and you’ll find yourself.
What gifts and callings are yours? You may be good at something, but it may be you're busy being good at the wrong thing! You were born to bring pleasure to the Lord, and in the light of that truth, we discover that the life of purpose and intention is a powerful form of worship. God wants you to move in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but even more to exhibit the fruit, which are the essence of Himself. Your identity is wrapped up in His essence. Ultimately, you were born to live with fierce intentionality bringing the magnificence of God to this world. Let me quote Madame Guyon:
It was my practice to rise at midnight for worship. God came to me at that precise time and awoke me from sleep that I might enjoy HIM. He seemed to pervade my being. My soul became more and more attracted to Himself like the waters of a river which pass into the ocean and after a time become one with it. O, unutterable happiness! Who could have thought that one should ever find happiness equal to this!
Hours passed like moments, when I could do nothing else but pray. It was a prayer of rejoicing. of possession, when the taste of GOD was so great, so pure, so unblended that it drew and absorbed the soul into a profound state of confiding and affectionate rest in God, without intellectual effort for I had no sight but of Jesus only.
These words are the beginning steps of discovering our identity in Christ. From this place of intentional adoration of the Adorable One, we pour out all we are. In a supernatural exchange, He then begins to open up in us a sense of acceptance of our own pluses and minuses, and we are given the ability to see ourselves as He sees us. I'll talk more on this in my next Prophetic Word. Meanwhile hear the Lord whisper in your ear right now how beautiful you are to Him, how much He loves and enjoys you. Truly, you’re a treasure in the Kingdom of God. Tell yourself this truth. Live it.
Keeper of His Word,
Marie