craigmanderson

Prayer and Mentoring 08-08-12

Jesus was secure in his identity.

He was the only one.

Identity is everything.

If Jesus is not God then he died in vain and we are lost. Almost all false religions and cults deny the deity of Christ. It is essential to our faith.

Jesus was and is and always will be the great I AM.

He is very God of Very God, very man of very man.

He knew who he was.

The Pharasees tried to tell Him who he was…

(John 8:52-59 ESV)

The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’

But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

What Jesus believed about himself was His identity. It wasn’t vague to him, it was sure. He knew who he was. All through his ministry life he had people telling him who he was and who he wasn’t.

1. The devil – “If you be the son of God”
2. Pharisees – “You have a devil.”
3. Disciples – “God forbid that you would suffer and die”

What have people been saying about you?

As a young person, how many teachers, coaches, parents, leadership figures in your life made a negative assessment of you?

Think about it?

“You’ll never amount to anything.” is a very popular saying.

Maybe you deserved it sometimes, but will you let that statement define you???  Haven’t you changed now? If you’re my age you have changed!!

Your believing is everything. What you believe about yourself will determine what you achieve in life.

My Teacher – “You’ll never amount to anything Anderson.”

A significant pastoral leader in my life – assessed me as disloyal.

These kind of words can make a wrong picture in your inner world.

These kinds of words can limit you if you are stuck in the picture of how others have defined you.

Jesus asked His disciples, “What do men say of Me?” You must never do this. Don’t be defined with what men say of you. You are defined by what God says of you.

(Matthew 16:13-18 ESV)

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

We must never ask who do men say that I am.

We must always ask – who does God say that I am.

All of us are messed up to some degree.

Like Gideon

But what are we capable of?

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” (Judges 6:12-16, 21, 22 ESV)

Establish your identity. Who you are in Christ.

You must declare it! You must speak it out and determine that you will believe it.

How inspiring is Nick Vujicic?

What must he believe about himself? – “Life without limits”

What are your limits? Your believing!

Shake off the negative assessments others have made about you and declare what God says about you!

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

He has made me the head and not the tail, I am above and not beneath.

I am more than a conqueror through him who loved me.

Use the verses in the who I am in Christ notes.