For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Pet.1:23)

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Rom.6:4)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor.5:17).

Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. (Gal.6:15)

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph.4:22-24)

As I said in my last blog, your identity or your self-image is essential to living the life that God has ordained for you. We live up or we live down to the expectations we have for ourselves and our identity determines those expectations. Typically, our biggest hindrance to being like Jesus, other than our fallen nature, is our past which was directed by our fallen nature. This isn’t true for every believer but is probably true for the vast majority. Somewhere in our past is a trauma or a season of sin that defined us in our own minds. Whether we see ourselves as a gross sinner, a victim, an addict, a loser, etc. that self-image was created in the past and the enemy whispers confirmations of shame, accusation, condemnation, and rejection daily in an effort to reinforce that broken, inadequate view we hold toward ourselves. When we carry that identity into our Christian life we never feel adequate to serve or worthy of blessing.

The first thing you must settle on in your heart is that when you came to Christ you were born again and that the only power your past has over you is the power you give it. You are a new creation. In Christ all things are new. But we must also understand that the “newness” is in the form of potential. Many things come to us in the kingdom in seed form. That seed of a new creation has to be watered, nurtured and prayed over. That new creation will begin to blossom and bloom when we do the things that nurture spiritual life – Bible study, quiet times with God, obedience, prayer, fellowship with people who encourage us and stretch us, and stepping out in faith to do scary things in the name of Jesus. Those are the things that water and nurture the capacity in us to leave our past behind and become a truly new creation.

Many of us continue to do what we have always done except for an hour of church on Sunday morning. Doing what we always did will not cause this new and transformed life to emerge. Doing what we always did reinforces our old identity rather than enforcing our new identity in Christ. Even ceasing to do what we used to do will not change our old ways of thinking and feeling. We must actually take on new ways of doing things and new ways of thinking in order to overwrite our old habitual lifestyle.

God wants us to take on a new, vibrant identity but it takes some effort. Here’s the thing. God will not do that for us but will do it with us. Just know that because the Spirit of God lives in you, the capacity for a brand new life and a break from your past is present. It won’t take years. You can experience that in months but you must take God at his word and then do the things needed to nurture that new life. Remember – Jesus called us to be doers of the word not just hearers.

Your past has no legal claim on you. Being born again is a positional promise in the sense that God has actually delivered you from the dominion of darkness into his kingdom of light. You have a position of being a new creation but your condition will need to come alongside that position. A slave, even though released, will continue to feel like a slave until he begins to act and speak as a free man. The beginning of your new identity in Christ is to declare each day that you have been born again, that you are a new creation, and that your past no longer has a hold on you. You are free to walk into your destiny because when “the Son sets you free, you are free indeed” (Jn.8:36).

On several occasions I have talked about the essential need to know who we are in Christ. Our view of ourselves – our self-image – either places limits or lifts the limits on what we believe we can do in life or even receive in life. There is a concept in social sciences called “ the self-fulfilling prophecy.” It is the idea that we act in ways that confirm our already existing beliefs about ourselves.

For example, if a young woman grows up in a home where she is ignored or even abused she will likely believe that there is something wrong with her and that she is unworthy of love or success in life. Otherwise, why would her parents or other significant people in her life have neglected her or treated in in such hurtful ways? Because she experienced so much rejection at home she will anticipate experiencing the same rejection in all of her relationships because, as a child, she will believe that she is the problem rather than broken parents.

Lets say that she carries that view of herself to her first day at school. Believing that others won’t like her and fearing some level of rejection, she will probably find a seat in the back, she will avoid making eye contact with the kids coming in her class, she will be anxious and her “non-verbal’s” will telegraph those feelings. She will probably look unhappy or sullen. As the other new kids come into the room they will sense all of that but will interpret her actions and her body language as someone who is unfriendly and maybe a little hostile. From their perspective all those things say, “stay away” and they will probably honor that message. They will avoid sitting next to her until no other seats are available and may not even start a conversation with her when they have taken their seat. At the end of the day, she will go home having her beliefs confirmed that something is wrong with her and that she is unworthy of love and friendship because the other children were “so unfriendly” to her. In actuality, she was the unfriendly child but her own preconceived beliefs about herself caused her to act in ways that confirmed those beliefs and she is now even more convinced that her destiny is to be friendless and loveless.

On the other hand, if a young girl grows up in a home where she is affirmed and encouraged and given lots of opportunities to face appropriate challenges and succeed, she will go to her first day of school with entirely different expectations. She will expect others to like her and value her and will expect to do well in school. Her openness and confidence will invite others to start conversations and even sit next to her so that at the end of the day her positive self-image will also be confirmed in her mind. We act in ways that confirm our beliefs about ourselves so that belief becomes more ingrained than ever.

How we view ourselves and how we feel about ourselves sets us up for success or failure in many arenas of life. Our view of our worth, our significance, and our competence will encourage us to embrace life or hide from it. It’s not that a negative self-image or identity cannot be overcome but it must be overcome in order to fulfill our God-given potential. Knowing that, God has said many things about us that are intended to shape our identity or our self-image in Christ. For the next few blogs, I want to explore some of the specific truths about who we are in Christ to help us further accept the identity that is ours in Jesus Christ.

In my next blog I will begin with the truth that we have been “born again” and that we are “new creations.” If we can believe that, then who we used to be no longer has power over us. More about that on Monday. Be blessed and know who you are in Jesus.

He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” (Matt.13:33).

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.   “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matt.5:13-16)

In both of the above scriptures, Jesus spoke about the influence of believers on the world. If we are to make disciples of all nations, we must not only share the gospel with the lost but we must influence culture and nations as well. The enemy has had dominion over culture and nations since the Garden but Jesus commanded his church to take back those things so that the values of heaven are lived out the earth. Even our prayers should reflect that mission. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Unfortunately, too many Christians have interpreted that statement from the Lord’s Prayer to mean that once Jesus returns to establish his kingdom on earth, then and only then will God’s will be done on earth. But the Great Commission which commands us to make disciples of nations establishes a mandate to effect cultures and territories before his return. Until he returns to personally sit on the throne we are to be expanding the kingdom not only in individual hearts but also as salt, light, and leaven we are to be making our influence felt whenever and wherever we can support and promote righteousness. With mid-term elections just a few weeks away, we have an opportunity to be God’s salt, light, and leaven in America. To withdraw from political involvement because it is “too worldly” is to abdicate our responsibility to be an influence for good is this world.

We all know that morality and spirituality cannot be legislated and faith cannot and should not be forced on others by law or coercion. Yet God’s intention for government is that governments should promote good and restrain evil while the gospel is having its way with the hearts of men. Governments should be “under God” and see themselves as instruments of his purposes. As these mid-terms approach, I hope that every believer will choose to vote as a representative of the kingdom of God who is representing God on the earth by being, slat, light, and leaven in America and in her voting booths.

I do not presume to choose candidates for people but every believer should know what is at stake in an election and vote for those whose values and platforms are most closely aligned with the values and goals of heaven. I’m not saying that we only vote when platforms are perfectly aligned but we must support the candidate or the party that is closest to those values. Prayer is always essential and is also a powerful way of influencing our culture and nature. Since I don’t always know the heart of a man or a woman, may I suggest a prayer as we approach these final two weeks of campaigning?

            Father in heaven, I ask that you continue to have mercy on this nation. We have strayed and we have often sinned against you. But Father, I ask you to remember the faithful in this nation now and the faithful of this nation who have served you in centuries and decades past. I pray that you restore faith in this nation and exalt your name and the name of Jesus once again in America. Lord I simply ask that you remove every leader who has no regard for you or your commands. I ask that you remove everyone from authority who has no fear of you and no love for you. I ask that you remove all favor from those who are enemies of the cross and that you totally confuse the counsel of those who oppose you and your church.

            And Lord I ask that you raise up courageous men and women of faith who regard you and love your name and who will not fear man but only you. Lord give them favor even among their opponents and undeniable wisdom in their words. I pray that you will put your people in high places of leadership and authority so that your will may be done on earth as it is in heaven in this nation. And Father, may your Spirit lead me as I step into the voting booth or have conversations with friends about America. Lord you said that righteousness exalts a nation so by your Spirit and by your mercy will you make America a righteous nation again. I ask these things in the name of Jesus. Amen

Where there is no vision, the people perish. Prov.29:18 (KJV)

In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters

will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  (Acts 2:17)

Vision is central to the life of a believer. Proverbs tells us that people perish where no vision exists. Other versions translate that scripture to say, “Where there is no vision, the people throw off restraint.” The idea is that without a driving vision in the heart of a people they lose direction, have no sense of purpose, and often drift away from their faith which may lead to death.

In his sermon in the temple courtyard on Pentecost, Peter quoted Joel and applied his prophecy to the launch of the New Testament Church, which had just been commissioned to make disciples of all nations. He said that one manifestation of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit would be dreams and visions. Not only does the church need a vision for world evangelism but individual churches and individual believers need a vision for their part in the Great Commission as well.

Individual believers who do not have a vision for how God will use them in significant ways typically drift through their Christian life without making much of an impact for the kingdom. Typically, moral living, regular attendance, and occasionally giving to good causes define their mission in the Kingdom of God. Those are not bad things but God has much more in mind for every believer. According to Psalm 139 and Ephesians 2:10, God has a hand in the creation, giftings, and destiny of every believer.

I believe it is impossible for God to ordain an ordinary destiny for any one of his children. Being average or ordinary is not in God’s nature. It is not in his nature to plan average or ordinary events. Therefore, I believe he has destined every child of God to be highly significant “impact players” in the Kingdom. Because many of us have no vision for our lives beyond the ordinary, we live without passion and simply slide into a mediocrity of living that we hope is barely acceptable to the Father. The danger is that we may eventually drift away and live without restraint because we have no compelling vision that we will not risk by giving into temptation or risk by becoming careless in our spiritual lives.

I have had seasons of my Christian life driven by a clear vision of what God was calling me to do and I have had seasons where the vision was blurred or vague. When the vision is clear I am much more intentional, much more energized, much more focused, and much more committed to maintaining alignment with the Father than at other times. Vision makes life matter and makes life fun. The vision I’m talking about is not a vision for getting ahead in the world or finding your perfect match on E-Harmony. I’m talking about a vision of how God is going to use you to change lives and heroically push back the borders of darkness. It is a vision of walking in some set of powerful spiritual gifts that make the demons tremble and make heaven shout.

How do you get such a vision? First of all, hang around others who have a vision for their own life. You can’t adopt their vision for your life because you have a distinct destiny. However, being around believers whose lives are fueled by a vision will make you hungry for the same kind of thing in your life. Secondly, ask God to begin to stir your dreams and give you a vision for your life. That was the promise Peter quoted on Pentecost and that promise was for every believer. Third, get busy discovering your spiritual gifts because God has already equipped you for the destiny he planned. Those gifts may still be in seed form but ask other believers what gifts they see in you, take spiritual gifts assessments, and involve yourself in various ministries until you demonstrate some spiritual capacity or feel a flame of passion flare up in a moment when you are serving. Pursue a hunger you find in your heart for certain spiritual gifts and press in to receive or develop those. Begin to daydream about what you would love to do for the Lord that is far beyond the ordinary and ask God to take you there.

Vision is critical. If you don’t have one get one or return to a vision you let fade away some time in your past. It will reignite your spiritual life and give you a focus that will make you an impact player for the King of Kings. Be blessed!

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:10-11)

Many of us are hungry for spiritual gifts. That’s the way it should be because Paul encourages us to “eagerly desire spiritual gifts” (see 1 Cor.14:1) in his first letter to the church at Corinth. It has been my experience that we do not necessarily receive the spiritual gifts we desire and ask for immediately. There may be several reasons for that but Peter’s admonition above is worth considering when we are pursuing or even wanting a stronger anointing for a spiritual gift.

First of all we must use the gift God has given us or begin to pursue and learn about the gift we desire. Many gifts come in seed form and we will not experience them in powerful ways in the beginning. Often we will have to exercise the gift with little impact or effectiveness in the beginning. We will need to risk a little embarrassment at first, continue to ask for a greater anointing, ask those who have a developed gift to teach us or pray for an impartation and then we will have to continue to learn through our own experience. If we wait for a full-blown gift before we use it, we may be waiting a very long time. If we have a gift that is developing, it will not increase unless we are using it. So the first principal is to use the gift even though it may not well developed.

Secondly, our goal should be to serve others rather than ourselves through the exercise of the gift. If we desire the gift for status, power, the rush of the supernatural, affirmation, or any other self-focused motive we have missed the mark. Motives are important in the kingdom of God and our primary desire must be to exercise the gift for the benefit of others – typically out of compassion. We may need to pray for the heart of Jesus towards others before God will pour out his gifts in abundance.

We also need to exercise the gift with the sense that we are simply being conduits of God’s grace to a fallen world. We are not the source. He is the source. A water line is of no use unless water is flowing through it. We are simply a line that that remains hollow and useless unless the Spirit is flowing through us to deliver God’s grace to those who need it. It’s interesting that Peter calls on us to “faithfully” administer that grace as well. That carries the idea of being diligent in doing so as well as being obedient to the promptings of the Spirit when he directs our attention to someone or some situation. Faithfulness also implies integrity in our stewardship of God’s grace so that we do not exercise it carelessly or for personal gain.

Finally, Peter reminds us that these gifts are also signs and the signs should always point to God rather than to ourselves, our church, or our ministry. We are simply representing the Father and as representatives we should speak and act as Jesus himself would if he were standing in our place. A focus on God and on others rather than ourselves seems to be one critical element for receiving a gift or for God giving an increase to a gift we already possess. In a moment when we forget ourselves, our wants, our needs and even our dignity we are most like Jesus. As we pray and administer God’s grace in it’s various forms, we may want to remember that principle so that our heart is always positioned to receive so that we can quickly give away what God has entrusted to us.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life (Gal.6:7-8)

There are a few basic principles repeated throughout scripture that would profoundly change lives if we would truly believe God’s word. The scripture above is one of those. It is essentially about decision-making and outcomes. We make hundreds of decisions each day and many produce long-term consequences. Those decisions can touch a number of areas in our lives.   Some of those decisions might be encompassed in the following questions: How will I spend my time? How will I spend my money? How will I treat my relationships? Will I follow biblical principles or go my own way? Will I stay in a sinful relationship or will I get out? Who will I yoke myself to in relationships or business agreements? Will I take personal responsibility for my failures or blame others?

The list goes on but ultimately all of my decisions boil down to one question: Will I do it God’s way or will I do it my way? Paul phrases that question in terms of being led by the flesh (the natural, worldly nature) or the Spirit (the redeemed part of me that heeds God). The tendency of the immature in Christ is to give in to the promptings of the flesh and then hope for good outcomes. The law off sowing and reaping, however, is about as certain as the law of gravity. You might violate the law and escape harsh consequences by the grace of God on rare occasions but most of the time you will absolutely harvest what you planted.

Paul begins his statement regarding this “law” by saying, “Do not be deceived.” Satan’s greatest snare is the notion that we will be the exception and that God’s clear word will not apply to us. Remember his deceptive language in the garden” “You will not surely die.” But Adam and Eve surely did. They immediately became subject to physical death and immediately experienced separation from God in the spiritual sense. They were deceived and so are many believers. The enemy spends a great deal of time subtly suggesting that we can give into the promptings of our flesh without consequence while he also suggests that doing it God’s way will not answer the needs of our life.

But Paul says that such belief is deception and confirms that with the statement that God cannot be mocked. That word means to ridicule, to make fun of, to demean, to diminish or to not take seriously. To disregard this principle is to not take God at his word. It is to live as if God is a permissive parent who threatens consequences but never follows through. In reality, God doesn’t even have to be part of the process. He simply tells us the inevitable outcomes of certain behaviors. A good parent tells a child that if he jumps off the roof or sticks his finger in a fan pain will be the result. The parent does not cause the pain. He or she simply is telling the child the natural or spiritual outcomes of his actions.

Ultimately, the law of sowing and reaping says that whenever you decide to do something God’s way, there will be a life-giving outcome and many decisions that are Spirit-led will create a harvest or an accumulation of positive, life-giving outcomes. When we choose to ignore God’s word and warnings and do it our way then we begin to accumulate destructive outcomes. Paul suggests that this law is as certain as the law of gravity and we should not think we will escape bad decisions (especially a series of bad decisions) without consequence.

If we truly believed this basic law of the spiritual realm, we would make better decisions and create a life built on better outcomes. Negative consequences are intended to be God’s great teachers. But Satan always has another trick up his sleeve. When we have made our decisions and experience the hurtful outcomes, Satan follows up with the accusation that God did that to us so he doesn’t love us and isn’t fair. When we entertain that demonic thought, instead of learning our lesson and making better, godlier decisions in the future we stomp off angry with God because he didn’t suspend this spiritual law for us. We act like children who jumped off the roof and are mad at out parents because it hurt when we hit the ground.

We really need to take God at his word and make our daily decisions based on the consequences that God has promised. Do it his way – good outcomes. Do it our way – hard times. If you want life to work out, quit giving in to the flesh and start trusting the way of the Spirit. Truly believing this one principle would redeem a multitude of broken lives.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”

(2 Cor.10:4-6).

These verses are essential to our understanding of spiritual warfare and to our ability to gain victory over the enemy. Even those of us whose church homes are “Spirit-filled” need to be reminded of the truths imbedded in this brief text. We need to be reminded because there is something in us (and me) that constantly wants to default back to the perspectives of the natural man whose eyes are on the world and the solutions the world offers.

In these verses, Paul echoes his thoughts from his letter to the church at Ephesus that our real struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers (see Eph. 6:12). Like the proverbial iceberg, the part of the battle we can see is the smaller part. The greater part resides in the unseen realm and because the critical battles are going to be fought in the spiritual realm, worldly weapons and strategies will not save the day. Jesus spoke about his followers being in the world but not of the world. Paul parallels that thought when he says that although we live in the world we do not and should not wage war as the world does. In these few words he alerts us to the fact that even the saved often look to the world for answers before searching out and employing the divine weapons of prayer, declaration, deliverance, confession, repentance, faith and so on.

The truth is that the church as a whole is not well versed in the use of divine weapons. Most believers run to the help the world offers before finally resorting to fasting and prayer and the exercise of spiritual authority which they should have run to first. Think about it. How often do churches refer crumbling marriages to secular “professional” counselors or to counselors who are Christians but who have been trained only in secular approaches to counseling? Does he church not have wisdom to bring healing to these marriages?

For a number of years I served on a visiting committee that helped to evaluate the Marriage and Family Department at a well know Christian university in Texas. Once a year we would meet with graduate students who were finishing the program to ask them about the training they had received and their experience at the school. Year after year we heard positive statements about the faculty and the school but also heard them voice disappointment that they had not really learned how to do Christian counseling with a spiritual emphasis on using the Word, prayer, emotional healing ministered by the Holy Spirit, and spiritual authority exercised by believers over the forces of evil. Nearly every student sensed a need for such training but did not receive it.   The head of the department agreed that such training could be useful but told me on several occasions that in order for their graduates to receive licensing from the state to be a professional counselor, so many state-mandated courses were required that their was no room in the curriculum for the training most students were asking for. Once again, we let the world shape and determine our approach to helping and healing broken people. And once again we act as if the strategies of the world are superior to anything the kingdom can offer.

So, year after year, this Christian university and many others train believers to use the weapons (strategies) of the world but not divine weapons. And yet, Paul clearly states that the weapons of the world are ultimately ineffective. In his letter to the church at Corinth, he scolded the believers there because they were taking each other to court over matters that should have been handled by the church. He said, “Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers” (1 Cor.6:3-5). The same should be true with marriage issues, emotional healing, and addictions. The church has the wisdom and the power of Jesus Christ deposited in us through the Holy Spirit. The world should be coming to the church to learn how to heal relationships and broken hearts rather than the church going to the world.

I am not opposed to medicine and many things the world offers in terms of therapies and support have some value. I believe the grace of God has given the world doctors and counselors. I’m just saying they inevitably fall short if they don’t address the spiritual realities behind many of our conditions. Worldly strategies teach us to manage our issues rather than gaining victory over them. Divine weapons are the most powerful and most effective approaches to human struggles and yet we often only go to those when we have exhausted everything the world offers.

Paul’s letters remind us that we have the resources of heaven at hand and should always go there first. Where there is bondage or deep wounds that lay havoc to marriages or individual lives, strongholds exist where the enemy has found a opening in our souls and has dig in deeply to exploit our pain and make it worse. Only divine weapons can tear down such strongholds. Let’s remember that the power and strategies of God should be our first approach to every issue and not our last resort after the world has failed us once again.

I’m rereading Dutch Sheets book, Intercessory Prayer (everyone should read it), and have been reminded of some critically important principles about which we can become careless to our detriment. Let me quote from him.

“Many Christians believe that protection from accidents, destruction, satanic traps, and assaults, etc. is automatic for the Christian – that we do nothing to cause it – that it is based on the sovereignty of God alone. In other words, when God wants to protect us from these things, He does; when he chooses not to he allows them to happen. This belief simply means that whether or not we are delivered from destructive things is based entirely on God, not us….Whether or not God directly controls every event in the life of a Christian can be answered by stating that the basic laws of sowing and reaping, cause and effect, individual responsibility and the free will aren’t negated when we come to Christ. All promises from God are attached to conditions – governing principles. Most, if not all, of these conditions involve responsibility on our part. Protection is no exception” (p.81-82).

I would add to Sheets’ thoughts the admonition from James that “we have not because we ask not.” In addition, Jesus taught us to pray, “and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” In other words, we need to ask God daily for protection from the enemy – not only for ourselves but our families, friends and spiritual leaders as well. Satan is not indifferent toward us. He plans, schemes, and lays traps for God’s people. Because of that God counsels us to put on his armor, to be alert, and to pray in the Spirit at all times (see Eph.6:18).

I’m reminding you and myself that we have been instructed to pray for protection and for the wisdom to detect the schemes and traps of the devil. We have been given authority over the enemy but we must exercise that authority in our prayers and other settings for that authority to do us any good.

We are living in a season of heightened demonic activity. Inevitably, what we see going on in the natural realm is a reflection of activity in the spiritual realm because our primary struggle is not against flesh and blood. Across the globe there is unprecedented persecution against Christians. Hatred against Israel is on the rise again. Even in America there is clearly a war being waged against Christianity and biblical truth. When a nation’s leaders legislate to remove the name of God and the commandments of God from the public realm, when they deny that Jesus is the only way to the Father, when they call evil good and call good evil then they release the demonic over a nation.

School shootings, child trafficking, beheadings in Oklahoma, domestic violence, murder, rape, natural disasters, and the rise of Isis with crosshairs on America are not primarily political, social, or environmental in nature. They are primarily actions and conditions prompted by spiritual forces. Weapons or strategies of the world cannot resolve those forces and influences but only God’s divine weapons (see 2 Cor. 10:4) can overcome them. As we pray for solutions to these huge issues in the world we must not forget to pray daily for the protection of the Lord because the enemy has been released in our nation.

The psalmist declares that the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear the Lord and promises protection as we dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. But that protection comes when we are obedient to the Lord and when we consistently and persistently intercede for ourselves and others asking God to keep the evil one from us and to build walls of protection around us. Pray for protection from the enemy, from his snares, from wicked men, from disease, and from poverty. Pray and pray everyday. It is God’s will and his counsel.

Jesus came not only to save us but to transform us as well. Understanding how transformation occurs is essential for us as believers who want to become more and more like Jesus. Obviously, and entire book could be written of the process of transformation but from time to time God gives us a nugget related to radical change in our lives. One of those can be found in Genesis 32.

Remember Jacob and Esau the quarrelling twin sons of Isaac. Jacob and Esau were not identical twins and were very different in appearance and character. Although Esau immerged from the birth canal first, Jacob was holding on to his heal as one who wanted to take his brother’s place as the firstborn. At it’s Hebrew root, Jacob can mean “supplanter” or deceiver. To supplant means to replace and Jacob certainly took his brother’s place by treacherous deception. If you read Genesis 25-32, you will see that Jacob beat his brother Esau out of his birthright (a double portion of the inheritance) and later posed as Esau before Isaac who was old and essentially blind and received “the blessing” that should have been declared over the older brother. After defrauding his brother, Jacob fled for his life. He went to Haran where his uncle Laban lived and settled with his family there. During his time with Laban, Jacob married Leah and Rachel, but was often swindled by his uncle in business deals and deals relating to his wives. Jacob certainly reaped what he had sown. The deceiver was often deceived.

Finally, Jacob had endured all the fraud he could take from his uncle and decided to take his family and his fortune and return to the land of his father. Only one problem stood in his way. His brother Esau still lived in the land and the last time he saw his brother, his brother had murder in mind.

The night before he would encounter Esau, Jacob sent his family and his servants ahead of him to form a buffer between Esau and himself. He stayed behind and encountered a man who wrestled with Jacob throughout the night. Initially, Jacob may have thought this man was a wandering thief or a scout sent ahead by his brother. But apparently, as the night wore on, Jacob began to sense that something supernatural was in the air and that the man with whom he was wrestling might not be a man at all.

Jacob wrestled all night and clung to the stranger but as sunrise approached, the stranger asked Jacob to let him go. “But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me’” (Gen.32:26). Then the man (apparently an angle of the Lord) asked Jacob what his name was. Angels come on assignment. They don’t just wander around picking fights with strangers. The angel undoubtedly knew Jacob’s name so why did he ask?

I believe he asked because Jacob needed to face himself. Jacob knew that he was facing an encounter with his brother in a few hours that could be deadly. Undoubtedly, he had been doing some serious soul searching in the days leading up to this moment and the final challenge was to consider his name which meant deceiver. Biblical names reflect character. Fraud and deception had defined Jacob’s life and had set some very serious consequences in motion. Before God could bless him, Jacob had to face himself and his failings as a man.

Too many of us want to run on to the good stuff in our conversion process without truly facing our sinful nature and our failings. We try to come to Jesus without acknowledging how badly we need him. But Jesus himself said, “He who is forgiven much, loves much” ( Lk.7:47). To love much, we need to be aware of how much has been forgiven. Facing ourselves honestly and humbly before the Lord can bring us to a place of blessing.

The blessing Jacob received was a new name, Israel, which also indicated a new character. It means “triumphant with God” and spelled a turning point in his life. A new name launched a transformation from a man of deceit to a man of godliness. It began with an honest evaluation of his own brokenness, sin, and failings. That kind of honesty before God brought a blessing and launched him into a critical process of transformation. Our own transformation will require such a self-evaluation and an honest look at who we have been with a hopeful perspective on where we are heading.

God keeps bringing me back to our great need to understand who we are in Christ. I have been involved in pastoral counseling for over thirty years and with few exceptions every problem I have seen (including my own) can be reduced to broken identity and shattered self-esteem. Notice Adam and Eve’s response to a loving Father once they had broken the covenant by eating from the tree. Overcome with a never-before-experienced sense of shame, they both hid themselves and tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves. In response to the Father’s questions they immediately began to blame God and one another for what had happened.

Shame was the driving factor for Adam and Eve. Guilt is the sense that we have done something wrong. Shame is the unrelenting sense that there is something wrong with us that makes us unacceptable and unworthy. Once Adam and Eve had been overrun by that feeling, their assumption was that the Father would no longer love them and would abandon them to a hostile world.   So they hid, covered up, and tried to shift responsibility to everyone else in the Garden. Most of us live with our own sense of defectiveness and do the same things as our forefathers. Additionally, we creatively find a number of ways to medicate our own self-loathing and fear of rejection – drugs, alcohol, sexual addictions, serial romances, affairs, power, fame, money, etc.

We could go on but you know the issues that flow out of that empty hole in our soul and all the ways that man has attempted to fill it. God understands our dilemma and so has gone to great lengths to restore our identity – our sense of self – and has placed us in a process of once again becoming who we were meant to be. Paul declared, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor.3:17-18). God made us in his image. Sin distorted that image but, in Christ, we are in the process of having that image restored.

God’s goal is to reclaim his children not just in a legal sense but to make us again into his glorious representatives on this planet. When the Logos entered this world through the womb of a virgin, he became Jesus, the Son of Man. He came to represent man as he was meant to be. In Jesus, we see not only the Father but also Adam before sin distanced man from God. As a believer, God has placed his divine nature within you through his Holy Spirit and his Spirit is now transforming you into the image of Jesus Christ.

As a child of God, born again as a new creation, you are no longer the person you used to be. Whoever you were before Christ you are no longer that person. You are now an adopted child of your heavenly Father, an ambassador of Christ, a royal priest in the household of God, the temple of the Creator of the universe, the light of the world, the salt of the earth, the carrier of God’s divine presence as a living Ark of the Covenant, the righteousness of God, one who tramples on snakes and scorpions, the beloved of the Father, and the bride of Christ. (That’s just a start)

God speaks those truths to his children day after day but the enemy hurries to snatch up the seed before it can take root and form our new identity within us. Too often we listen to the enemy and the world and reject God’s truth for us and go on unchanged by the power of God because we have little faith that his truth is for us. Jude encourages us to “contend earnestly for the faith.” To contend is to fight, to battle, and to go to war for the faith. That not only includes doctrines but truths that we must claim for ourselves and plant in our hearts.

Beyond the gospel, our identity in Christ is the most transformative truth I know. When we and the rest of the church understand who we are and the glory and authority that rests on us in Christ, the gates of hell will certainly not prevail against us. Meditate on who you are in Christ, memorize who you are in Christ, pray that the Holy Spirit will give you a deep revelation of that truth in your heart and begin to relentlessly say about yourself the things that God says about you. Contend for that truth and it will change your world by changing you. Don’t contend occasionally or for a few days but commit to contend for the truth of who you are until it is unquestionably in your heart!