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Still on the issue of identity and the power that resides therein. Knowing that I am a child of God, and I am loved by Him is the bedrock of my faith. Knowing that I am loved by God, not because of what I have done, but because of who I am, because I am His child is the substance that living faith is made of. The Bible tells us in John 1:12 that “to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”. Ephesians 1:5 says, “he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” So, I know I am a child of God. As a child of God, the most high, I have some authority because I am heir to the kingdom. When we don’t realize who we are in Christ, our faith is not standing on two legs, in short, our faith is crippled. We need to know who we are for our faith to be properly and deeply rooted. If you don’t feel worthy to exercise your authority in Christ, then you won’t be doing it in the fullness of faith and will lack assurance.
Satan works diligently to program people’s minds to feel unworthy and unable to walk in the power and authority of God here on earth. Not knowing and not walking in the power that is available to us as children of God is one of the most popular strongholds that plague us today. That song by Sinach says, “I am walking in Power, I am walking in miracles”, and we all love the song, but, if we want to be able to walk in the power and miracle and favor of God, we will need to know exactly who you are. The Bible makes several declarations about who we are and it is a good starting point for us. As our relationship with God also improves, the Spirit of God will also begin to bear testimony of who we are.
I believe my Bible when it tells me that I am God’s child (John 1:12), a child of the light and a child of the day, I neither belong to the night or to the darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:5), I am the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13), and I have been justified by faith (Romans 5:1). I belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:20), I have been established, anointed and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21-22), I possess the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16), and my heart and mind is protected with God’s peace (Philippians 4:7). My Bible also tells me that I am victorious (I John 5:4), I am set free (Romans 8:2; John 8:32), I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me (1 John 5:18), I am more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37) and I am delivered (Colossians 1:13). My God knows my end from my beginning and that is why I am chosen and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12), I am chosen before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4, 11), I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20), I am hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3), and I am in Him (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:30). These are the strengths of my identity in Christ.
I also know that I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7), that I am forgiven (Ephesians 1:8; Colossians 1:14), that I am healed from sin (1 Peter 2:24),that I am born again (1 Peter 1:23), and therefore I am a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), I am no longer condemned (Romans 8:1, 2), I am redeemed from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13), I am holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4), a holy temple (Ephesians 2:21; 1 Corinthians 6:19), I have redemption (Ephesians 1:8), and I am therefore qualified to share in His inheritance (Colossians 1:12). I am confident that God will perfect the work He has begun in me (Philippians 1:6), because I have purpose (Ephesians 1:9 & 3:11), as a part of God’s kingdom (Revelation 1:6) and have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). There is strength in my identity.
This is my confession. Now, I urge you to speak these declarations out loud to yourself too. The power of life and death is in the tongue, so it is important that you confess the truth with your tongue. It can make the difference in whether you are walking in the light of His power or in the ignorance of His saving grace. When we know who we are, we know the power we carry.
October 31, 2021 – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya
