WHO ARE YOU?
(First part)
Memory verse (John1: 22-23) “ Then they said to him, Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself? He said: I am The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the LORD, as the prophet Isaiah said.”
One of the greatest crises of this world is the identity crisis. Multitudes walk this journey of life for years and years and they hit their graves before discovering who they are. We are born and grow up as strangers to ourselves. The society calls us every kind of things, every kind of names, every kind of people and so on.
Jesus asked his disciples what the society called him, some said he was Elijah, others said he was John the Baptist who had risen, others thought he was Jeremiah, while others argued that he was one of the prophets and yet all of them were wrong! Amazingly, many people run their lives by what people think about them! What a tragedy to live by what people say about you and all their opinions about you are wrong.
The leaders of the Jews sent a delegation to go to John the Baptist and found out who he was and took the report to them. John raised a lot of questions and suspicions among the Jews. His lifestyle, his preaching, his boldness, his baptizing, this was a new doctrine they had not seen anyone practicing. No one seemed to understand him. Some thought he was the Christ, others thought he was Elijah, some thought he was a prophet. I can imagine the arguments that used to be among the Sadducees and Pharisees. They could not agree on who he was, so they decided to send people to him to know from him. So, they came to him and asked him, are you the Christ? He said no. Then are you Elijah? He said no. They continued, are you the prophet? He said no. Then who are you?
When you don’t know who you are, this world will call you anything. It’s amazing that even our very fathers and mothers many times don’t know who we are. Isaac got twins Esau and Jacob. Isaac loved Esau but God loved Jacob. Think about such a conflict. He gave him a wrong name, Jacob, but the day God met him he told him your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel.
We will continue this teaching tomorrow.
(Second part)
Memory verse (Matt 16:13-14) “ When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? So they said, Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets ”
You are not what men say you are. Don’t live by men’s opinions. No one knows who you are and it’s not their responsibility to know who you are. Sometimes people call you because of the things they see in your life positive or negative. You’re more than your weaknesses and you’re more than your strength. And this world is funny; people want you to be what they think of you. This world does not want you to be what you were created to be. When Jesus told the people who he was, they hated him for that. He told people that he was the Son of God and they said, look he’s blaspheming. The world crucified Jesus for telling them who he was. Even today, Satan does not want you to know who you are and even when you do, he tells you not to speak it out because people don’t want to hear it. That’s why whenever you boldly confess who you are in Christ people say you are proud. People feel threatened by people who know who they are in CHRIST.
My brother/sister when you ask the world to tell you who they think you are, they will tell you all kinds of things and you don’t stone them for that, but when you tell them who you are they pick up stones. So, understand that becoming what God created you to be is warfare. Stand and boldly confess who are. As long as you fear to declare who you are, you will never be where you are supposed to be in life. John said am not what people say am, am what the word says, it’ s written of me in Isaiah (Is40: 1-11). I’m a voice crying in the wilderness. You are what God says you are and you’ve got to tell the world what God says you are. Never mind what Satan and the world would think about you, or say about you, even what they will do when you tell them who you are. Jesus turned to his disciples and asked them who they thought he was. Peter said to him, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt16: 13-16). Don’t fear when people call you what God is calling you. God said of Jesus, this is my beloved Son. Only your maker knows who you are. You’ve got to consult him and his word to discover who you are.
Tomorrow’s subject: “ What is your name”
(Third part)
Memory verse (Luk1: 59-63) “ So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. His mother answered and said, No; he shall be called John. But they said to her, There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name. So they made signs to his father—what he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, His name is John.”
A name is what people call you on a daily basis. And when you study the Bible, you’ll discover that a name is vital element in defining what a person is. A name is more than a label on your head. A name is more than what people call you. A name defines your identity. In the Hebrew traditions, names have meanings, and this is true in all cultures of the world. The meaning of the name goes far in defining what you will be in life. Jacob means a surplanter, or one who cheats. Jacob of the Bible did exactly this. He was a perfect conman.
But he said: “ Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing ” And Esau said: “ Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing! ” And he said: Have you not reserved a blessing for me? Esau said of His brother, that he is rightly named. His behaviors confirm his name. In other words, he is what people call him or named him. Some parents make great mistakes in naming their children. And Satan is crafty; in many cultures the father of the child does not have the right to give names to their own children it’s done by the elders in the family, clan. You can see what was happening to John the Baptist, when it came to naming him; other family elders came with their names. The mother had a name from God but they could not accept it until they consulted the father, because the name had been given by God. Many people’s lives have been messed up by the names they gave them. Jacob was paralyzed by a wrong name, when God met him in his mercy; the first thing God had to do to deliver him was to change his name. He gave him a new name Israel, and his destiny was changed. Find out the meaning of the names your family and the society calls you and cut off your life every wrong name and ask God to give your right name.
Tomorrow we will continue this teaching.
(Fourth part)
Memory verse (John1:42): “And he brought him to Jesus.
Now when Jesus looked at him, He said: You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas ” (which is translated, A Stone).
God, who created everything and gave it’s name, has been in the business of renaming men and women whom men mistakenly named. He changed Abram’s name to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, Simon to peter, Saul to Paul and so on. In fact, some people God gave their names like; Samson, John the Baptist, Jesus etc. By the way, get me right, am not making a doctrine about names, the point am making is that we need to get in God’s word and have an intimate relationship with God so we can discover our true identity. This world can call you anything and it matters what people call you. Many people are negatively affected by what people call them; others get misled in life by what people call them. This world calls some people drunkards, prostitutes, feeble, failures, foolish etc. I have seen parents calling their children all kinds of things, foolish, dense, mad, etc. And we have no idea what damage we’re doing by calling people wrong things. So many believe what people call them and that’s what they life by.
Many people discovered their true identity when they had personal encounters with God. When Abraham had an encounter with God, God told Abram his true name and his wife. Nobody told Abraham that God has sent me to tell you your name. Abraham heard it from God’s mouth himself. He believed God word and they stopped calling each other the older names. Jacob had a whole night encounter with God, and in that intimacy God changed Jacob’s name. He heard God for Himself not through another. We all need divine encounters with God. The door into the throne room of God is open to every born again child of God, what are you waiting for? You don’t need an angel to usher you in, Jesus himself went through the door by his blood and left it open for all his followers to follow him even into God’s holiest place of intimacy. Please, come to a place where you stop hearing what people call you and begin to hear what God calls you. You need a divine revelation not only about God but also about yourself. You need God to reveal you to yourself. Jesus told Peter: flesh and blood could not reveal to you who I am but my Father who is in heaven (Matt 16: 17). Revelation is key to discovering who you are.
We will continue this teaching tomorrow.
(Fifth part)
Memory verse (Matt16: 17) “ Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven ”
One of the greatest blessings of being born again, a child of God, a new creation is that we are able to discern the kingdom of God. We have the right of knowing the mysteries of the kingdom of God (Mark4: 11). The Holy Spirit begins to reveal to us the secrets of God‘s kingdom, including secrets of God about our lives (Jn3; 3-6, Jn1:12, 1Cor2: 6-12). Paul prayed a powerful prayer for the believers of the Ephesians’ church, that God would give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in their knowledge of Christ (Eph1: 15-22). Revelation is the ability of the new man, your spirit man, to discern the spiritual kingdom of God. Jesus told Nicodemus that only those who are born again have the ability to see the kingdom of God and then enter it and begin to walk and live in it (paraphrased) (Jn3; 3-6).
Every believer has a privilege of enjoying a dynamic, fervent, vibrant, exciting, fulfilling and healthy intimate relationship with God. The door is wide open for every child of God who has accepted Christ as his Lord and savior. You can come into his presence with boldness because of Jesus sacrifice. God is your Heavenly Father, in his presence you can cry, laugh, sing to his honor, worship, listen to him, and talk to him. Your Father is ready to show you so many things about himself and yourself. He made you and he knows who you are and what plan he has for your life. He is the only one with the blueprint of your life.
As you develop this intimate walk and relationship with your heavenly Father, he is going to begin revealing things to you. It was in such intimacy, that God said to Abram: you know Abram, your father Terah misnamed you. Your name is Abraham and your wife is not Sarai but Sarah (Gen17: 5,15). It’s exciting to begin hearing God’s voice. When you begin a relationship with God, you’ve just gotten on the journey of surprises and wonders. God has always amazed those who have walked with him. God will begin to speak to you things you’ve never dreamt. God went and found Gideon hiding, and God humorously said to him: Hi mighty man of valor! Your day has come for God to speak to you things that are completely opposite to what this world has ever spoke you.
Tomorrow’s subject: “ You are what God’s word says you are ”
(Sixth part)
Memory verse (1Peter 2: 9): “ But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light ”
The Bible is the word of God and it’s the creator’s manual (2Tim3: 16). We are what it says we are. The Holy Scripture is the mind of God about everything God created, living or none living. Here, Apostle Peter began to say powerful things that define who a believer is: we are a chosen generation. Being born again, is a divine choice (Ephe2: 8). We are chosen by God to inherit eternal life. You have been asking all kinds of wrong people to tell you who you are. Here you are now. God’s word says you are his chosen child. We do nothing to be chosen by God. (Rom9: 16-18). The scripture tells us that God chooses whom he chooses; he has mercy on whom he has mercy. It’s not he that runs. Jesus summed it this way: you did not choose me but I chose you (Jn 15:16). The text goes on to say: you are a royal priesthood. God has chosen you and transferred you into his kingdom and given you a purpose to live for. You are a priest in His kingdom. Your purpose is to minister to God through worship and to minister to the world through the love of God. He goes on to say incredible things about you: you are God’s own special people.
My friends, these things are too good for some believers to be true, but this is the truth anyway. There is no other truth. And we don’t walk by what we know, we don’t walk by what we feel, We don’t walk by what people say about us, not by what we see, but the just shall live by faith. When God said to Abram, “ never call yourself Abram again, your name is Abraham ”, Abraham believed God’s word; he was the first one to call himself Abraham. Nobody could know that he had become Abraham until he said it. What God’s word says about you is who you are. Believe it and be the first to tell yourself who you are now. Now, it’s your turn to begin telling the world who you are. Wake up everyday and tell yourself and the world things like this: am blessed am not cursed, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not lack, am the righteousness of God In Christ, by his stripes am healed, am a child of God, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, am more than a conqueror, am a joint heir with Jesus CHRIST etc. What you call yourself is what the world will call you, so tell them who you are.
Enjoy your weekend in Christ.
