WHO TOLD YOU?

Genesis3vs11------------'And He said who told you that you were naked?.Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?'

From the time of the fall, when man inadvertently gave authority to the devil, mankind has struggled to obey the word of God, particularly as it concerns who is God to us and who we are in God. Particularly in this century, in the face of many alternatives , we have come to easily replace the Almighty I AM that I AM to the little I' which is self. And beloved whether we like to admit it or not self  when you really need it will fail you. We should all take a cue from the apostle Paul that there is nothing good in the best of us. What we call good in us the prophet said -------- that is our righteousness is as filthy  rags before God. A beloved pastor recently said you are not partly good and somewhat bad , you are a sinner period. There is only one that is infinitely good 'God Almighty'.

My generation of believers have bought into the lie of the enemy that ''there is something inherently good in the human nature' .It's nothing but deception,  if there is anything remotely good in the human nature then why is there so much evil, destruction, wickedness, confusion in our world?.  Like Adam and Eve our progenitors, when we take our eyes off from God the I Am, to the over bloated image of our selves what we see is nakedness and shame and ugliness . The glory of God ,the very Shekinah  presence of God was their covering, they never knew what nakedness was until,they chose to trust another, believe another for who they are.   Today with all our advancement in technology, we still depend on what others say,  or our environment to define who we are. And since our environment is never perfect,  technology is moving faster than us, our identity for the most part is confused and as some one once said 'out of whack',  simply meaning out of place. It is therefore no longer a surprise that more and more Christians have joined the long queue at the psychiatrist
,psychologist  and so many other mental health specialists offices.

Mental health is a serious matter and am not taking it lightly, but as all the prophets from Isaiah to Jeremiah asked God's people of all ages and seasons  'Is there no balm in Gilead ? So why are God's people not healed, why is there so much confusion about who we are, our identity. Isaiah cried out God's pain and anguish in Isaiah 1vs3 'the ox knows it's master the donkey his owner's manger , but Israel does not know , my people do not understand ' And this is the reason why in verse4;the prophet continued------they have forsaken The Lord , they have spurned the Holy One of  Israel, and turned their back on Him'. When we are confused about whose we are, we will also be confused about our true identity.  The story was told about a little girl who had a conversation with one of her mother's friends who jokingly said to the little girl that they share the same name. This little girl three years old was confused at first, then she thought about it with a frown on her face, and after a while said to the lady my name is ---------- calling her full names including her surname. At the time the only girl in her family, she in effect told her mothers friend 'am the only miss XYZ, she said with such pride and triumph that every body busted out in laughter. She was bold to tell the woman her true identity not by anything else but her relationship with her dad. She was little but she knew whose she was, she was her fathers daughter. Do You Know Whose You  Are?.



The knowledge and awareness of who you are is a function of your relationship and who you listen to. There was no confusion for Adam and Eve as to their identity until they listened to another voice.They knew they belonged to God,  He fellowshipped with them in the cool of the day. However they also listened to the devil long enough for them to begin to doubt God, His word to them and who they were in Him. Because the deceiver told them they could be more than who and what God said about them.But he lied because he had nothing better to offer them, he even stole from them what they had received from God.  Both Adam and Eve fell for the lie, and today both men and women of faith are still falling for the lies of the enemy. Who are you listening to child of God?, because the tendency is to believe the dominant voice in our lives. And for many of us in this generation the dominant voice is no longer God, but the voice of men, our environment, our cultures, our achievements and so many such things that we use or allow to define us. We have forgotten that  we are much more than what we see, feel,touch, we are essentially  spiritual beings who live in a body and have a mind.

As  believers we ought to be counter cultural, our society should not define us,our bodies as important as it is for our sojourn on the earth should not also define us; but today a lot of believers are caught up on their possessions,status, achievements,beauty and all the other things that consume those who have not come to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus.  Church, we have an identity crises on our hands . Whose report about you have you believed?. In the gospels, our Lord when faced by His accusers about taxes, asked to be shown a coin to which He asked whose image and superscription is this and they answered Ceaser's. And came the famous answer 'give unto ceaser what is ceaser's, and unto God what is God's.  Every thing about me belongs to God, i remind myself constantly that i live in God's world, His times and season, but most importantly i bear the image and superscription of God, the great potter and designer who has fashioned me according to His holy word fearfully and wonderfully. There is no mistake about me, i am unique and one in a million.

I have chosen to believe the report of God about me, He knows am a work in progress, He is still working on me, so you will see  imperfections all about me, but not to worry the Perfect craftsman is at work with this mass of clay that is my life, He is forever making additions and subtractions, don't be in hurry to judge me or make conclusions about me,
I promise you when He is through with me you will like what you see. I agree with Job that when He is done i will be more beautiful, brighter than the purest gold.  You and i know by experience that the process is messy and most times hard on us. There is nothing beautiful about the birthing process, the child comes covered in blood, mucus, if you do not have a heart you can not stand it, the sight is simply messy and ugly, most men faint or throw up. Inside that bundle of mess is your future and  what will later fill you with such joy and pride. So also is the spiritual process that will bring  you and i into the fullness, the stature of the son of God. That is God's master plan to see Christ like people dotting the entire world on this side of eternity.

So I declare with the apostle Paul, 'i am who am by the grace of God'.Beloved who we are  and will be in Christ  is and will always be a mystery, it is to this effect that the word of God assures us as it is written' it does not yet appear who we will be, but when He appears we will be like Him, for as He is so we are in this world.'  Beloved am excited at this prospect and expectant that He who has begun a good work in me will complete and perfect it.   Many of us are like Jacob, struggling through life with the identity of Jacob, a cheat, not trust worthy,fraudster, all the while Israel was inside seeking to be revealed.

Jacob came out as God intended him to, reaching out and holding to what was his, he was passionate, zealous man even at birth, but men did not understand the will and plan of God for his life so they labelled and defined him by the circumstances of his birth. Rebecca his mother tried to correct it but in her human wisdom, her attempt further complicated his true identity. Praise be to God who never gives up on us. God was determined to reveal Israel the prince of God and men.  Beloved of God your day of revelation is at hand. Trust God, surrender to Him alone, believe Him alone. There is an Israel in every one of God's children, but you must allow Jacob to be crucified, killed by a daily surrender to Jesus Christ the Lord of whose you are.

The veil of Jacob has covered you long enough, it must be torn asunder in the presence of God. Daily look in to the mirrow  of  God's word and see truly who you are, when you see Him, you will also see yourself. The prospect is exciting to me. For many years i believed the lies of enemy, i was told every day of my life as a young adult that i was no good and will never amount to anything. I became timid, fearful, worthless in my own eyes. I can't remember the countless times i fell into gutters and scrapped my legs, because i always walked with heads bowed. Believing that i was not worth loving. I have so many scars to show for it.  Recently my 14 year old daughter said to me on our way to an event, 'mom stop, raise your head straighten your shoulders, don't bend your head ever again when walking, you are beautiful, and i love you,  Habits die hard don't they?. But it hit me, that I needed to be reminded often that  'that He has taken away my shame, and He is my glory and lifter up of my head.

It is not my degrees, or my achievements that lifts my head from shame and a sense of failure, But Christ Jesus the lover of soul who loves not because, not if, but love period according to Josh Mcdowell in his 'Givers,Takers, and other Kinds of Lovers'. Fathers and husbands, give of your self to your family, particularly to the women, until the love God through drive away every fear of insecurity, low self esteem, timidity. Model the sacrificial love of God to your daughter, because they are watching, the saying that every girl marries a man just like father is often true. Let your daughter know how precious she is to you, she will never allow anther man treat her less than you did. she will have self respect and confidence.  Mothers teach your sons to respect every woman, if they respect the women at home they will respect women period. Let love cover the multitude of our weaknesses at home and in the church.

Every young woman need to understand that no man can love you like God, therefore let God love you and complete you, not a man no matter how good he is, after all you must at all times remember that he is a work in progress just like you. Therefore if anybody tells you any thing other than what God says about you, you have the Lord's permission to reject it and declare who you are in Christ Jesus.  Remember the trials of this life are just a means for Israel to prevail and be revealed.

Who told you young woman you need an extreme make over to be beautiful;, or that you that you need to be size zero,and suffer from eating disorders  to be beautiful and accepted. Young christian man who told you, you have to a six pack to be handsome? Do you know how much those who suffer from bulimia and anorexia pay to see mental health specialist every year?. But if we listen to the word of God that is medicine to our bones, marrows,minds, heart  and body, it will not just be a make over but a transformation, a renewal of every thing about you. Make overs are temporal and on the surface, Jesus called whitewashed sepulchers, it's beautiful on the outside but inside are dead men's bones. Do not be conformed but be transformed.