Who We Are

The Father restored all that was lost in Eden through His son Jesus. Yet, many of us still live working for our inheritance and the right to be in the Father’s house.

Who am I? and Why am I here? From life’s outset, we find ourselves on the prowl, searching to satisfy some inner, unexplained yearning. Our hunger causes us to search for an identity and listening to how the world defines us. And in our desire for acceptance, for people to love us, to gain praise from others, we drive minds and bodies harder and further, hoping that because of our sweat and sacrifice others will appreciate us more. We choose to spend our whole lives searching for something the Father has simply placed on us – his love for us.

One of the subtle lies of The Devil we usually ignore is the question: “who are we?” – that is our identity (Matt 4:6)

One of the cruelest tricks of the devil is that he tempts us and cripples us with our own fears. He uses parts of our stories where pain, abandonment, or rejection became our daily bread and then reminded us of those memories, of how we felt in those times. He leads us in to a conclusion that God is not who he says he is. His suggestions are meant to confuse us. The enemy will always try to change God’s periods and exclamation points into question marks. He turns God’s loving boundaries and instruction into a question of intention. And If we allow God’s statements to us to change into questions about us, we will lack confidence. Our curiosity will lead to confusion, and eventually our enemy will corrupt what God said about us.

When we’ve been left by loved ones, people we trusted once and heard the name “Unworthy.” When we’ve been drowning in discouragement, living in a seemingly never-ending crisis and heard the name “Forgotten.” When we’ve had our hopes up and our hearts open only to be brought down by closed doors, and we’ve heard “Rejected.” When we look for infinite affirming love through lesser physical fleshly versions and when we give it away or when it was stolen and we hear “impure.” We hear “garbage.” When we go to other vices to ease our pain and we hear “addict.” We hear “forever broken.”

When we feel like we’re living in the shadow of someone else’s calling, and we hear “second place”

When our pain cripples us to a point where we don’t even know how to let others in, and we hear “lonely.” When our past seems too gross for others to forgive, and we hear “disgusting.”

Today, we will make a declaration that the enemy’s victory ends here. Our victory begins here. “Who we are” is a declaration. An exclamation point and not a matter of a question.

Today, when the enemy tries to tell you something different from what God say’s about you – introduce yourself and speak the truth. Speak truth to those who have hurt you. Speak truth to those who speak lies to you.

Yes, indeed God saying something else about us that is different from what the world’s voice telling who we are. We know His Words. He has given us His Words and here are the names God has given you.  

John 15:15 He calls me “friend”

1 Thessalonians 1:4 He calls me “chosen”

Ephesians 2:10 He calls me His “workmanship”

He calls me His “art”

He calls me “hand-made”

He calls me “purposed” and “fashioned for good things”

Corinthians 6:19 He calls my body “a temple”

He calls it “the residence of the Holy Spirit”

Acts 1:8 He calls me His “messenger to the world”

Galatians 3:26 He calls me His “child”

Romans 5:8 He calls me “greatly loved”

John 8:36 He calls me “free”, “free indeed”

2 Corinthians 5:17 He calls me “brand new”

2 Corinthians 6:18 He calls me a” daughter”

It is amazing how the names God has given us are different from the names some of us are used to listening to. And in my journey to discover who I really am, in my battle to uncover the truths about myself, I’ve learned something new about my name.

My name is not the name the world calls me. My name is not the name my past calls me.

My name is not even the name my own mirror calls me. But my name, my God given name is the only name I will answer to. So we can choose today from this moment forward to answer to a new name or listen to the old names we are used to.

I once thought, I had to wait out, push through, and endure all these old names, all these old hurts, and all these old identities until I died, and then—finally! I would get all the new things. Then a verse drastically changed my life. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus is teaching His disciples how to pray. It’s a very simple prayer. Amongst the few requests to God that He gives them, Jesus prays: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6: 10 NIV) It must be intentional—the specific words Jesus, the Son of God, includes when teaching His people how to address our Father God. It must be deliberate—anything He mentions in this model prayer. It must be important—to pray that God’s kingdom comes and His will is done on Earth as it in Heaven. Here we find that it is possible for aspects of what we wait for in Heaven to be brought down to manifest during our lifetime on this planet. Here we find that perhaps we don’t have to wait until death to experience the joys that God has for us in a heavenly realm. Here we find the posture in which we can approach God and approach our time here on Earth.

We are, sons and daughters of God.