Pastor Dan’s Blog

Stinking Thinking

Identity equals Destiny.

If we lose our identity we lose our destiny.

What is identity? Identity, according to Webster’s Dictionary is the state or fact of remaining the same regardless of varying aspects or conditions. In other words, who we are does not change according to circumstances or situations in our lives.

The wisest man to ever lived penned the words in Proverbs 23:7 that “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Solomon’s revelation was that the heart was the center of our ability & faculties to ascribe, to calculate and estimate our value. Your heart determines who you are and how you think.

45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. ~ Luke 6:45

If our thinking determines who we are then it stands to reason that the most powerful thing is a thought. The most important thing is the source of that thought. Our thoughts are powerful. They can create. The source of that thought is the most important.

A source will transmit an idea or image, that word or image becomes a thought in our mind. Thoughts conceived become ideas that give birth to ideologies. Ideologies then become beliefs. Beliefs evolve into convictions that produce philosophies. Philosophies become lifestyles that ultimately produce your destiny. It all starts with a thought.

Wrong source . . . wrong destiny. Correct source . . . correct destiny.

That is why Jesus first words He preached were . . .”Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” Repent means to change your thinking. Contrary to popular belief, repentance has little to do with being sorry. It is a 180 degree shift in thinking that changes your direction.

Who we are will never change until our thinking is changed first. That thinking will not change until we adjust our ears to the proper source.

Who are you listening to today?

Tags: Destiny, idea, identity, thinking, thought

The Reborne Identity

Have you ever seen those identity theft commercials from Citibank where there someone is speaking but the voice doesn’t match their body? Identity theft was a 54 billion dollar problem last year and is only growing. However, identity theft did not begin in the digital age; it started way back in the beginning.

Satan’s initial attack was on the woman’s identity, self-worth & self-esteem. His proposal was that eating of the tree would make her like God. His implication was that there was something lacking in her; that she didn’t measure up. His attack on her identity was tragic in the fact that she was already like God! She was created in the same image of God that Adam had been.

Our identity equals our destiny. If we lose our identity we lose our destiny.

In the Hebrew culture your name was more than a moniker, it was your identity, a description of your character and a prophetic declaration of your capacity and potential. Each father carefully chose the name for his children based on this knowledge. When Jacob’s youngest son was born, his mother named him Ben-Oni (Son of my sorrow) as she died in the laboring process.

Imagine going through life with the label and constant reminder that you killed your mother? Jacob, whose name was changed from Jacob (trickster or deceiver) to Israel (Prince of God) after wrestling with God, knew the power of a label. He would not allow his son to be labeled as a source of sorrow and changed his name to Benjamin (Son of my right hand). Jacob changed his son’s destiny. Like Jacob we have the power to change the destiny in people’s lives by the names we call release over them.

Adam was given dominion and authority to name all the animals in the garden. Whatever he named them, that is what they were recognized as. He had the God given authority to ascribe identity and value to each living creature. However, he never gave the woman a proper name until after the fall. The woman was looking for identity . . . a name . . . more importantly . . . a destiny.

Eve lacked identity because Adam failed to release her potential with a name. All he calls her is woman in Genesis 2:23, but no personal identity, no prophetic destiny. It is not until after the fall is her personal identity given and potential released.

²⁰ Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. ~ Genesis 3:20

Before this time Eve had no children . . . after Adam’s declaration she begins to produce and have children. They could not fulfill God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply” until Adam released the potential inside of the woman and called her “Eve”. When we receive and accept our God given identity we too have the power to fulfill God’s commands.

It doesn’t matter what label the world, your parents, your ex or your enemies have placed on you. God’s intention for us is greatness, influence & impact. God wants to give you a Reborne Identity!

Tags: capacity, Destiny, identity, identity theft, name

Ability To Press On - Part One

The life of Joseph, the dreamer, teaches us foundational truths to assist us in reaching our dreams. His personal challenges, sibling rivalries, blatant temptations and false imprisonment would cause a lesser man to throw in the towel and give up. I am convinced that change happens by choice not by chance.

 

I heard a quote recently that stated, “If your memories are bigger then your dreams, then you are already dead.” Throughout the stages in Joseph’s life he relied on his dreams to keep him moving forward from the pain of his past. He made a choice to give his best regardless of the path that brought him there.

 

Joseph had:

 

1.  Ability To See:  Vision

2.  Ability To Speak:  Confidence

3.  Ability to Believe:  Faith

 

Lastly he possesses the . . .

 

4.  Ability To Press On:  Tenacity

How do we continue when life has knocked us to the canvas of life? How can we keep moving forward when every step seems to create a new problem?

 

In Joseph’s life we see how the enemy tried to strip him of the hope of the dream. Satan could not take the dream away from him because he did not give it to him. He could however, attempt to take his hope away and in essence cause Joseph to give up on his dream.

 

We must identify how the enemy works:

 

1.       He Will Attempt To Use Those Closest To Us To Discourage The Dream.

It amazes me how very few parents or siblings actual support the dreams of others today. Like Joseph’s brothers, they want you to settle for life like they have. It is not always out of hate but from loving protection that a parent will unknowingly discourage the dreams of their children. I am not implying that your family is the enemy but I am saying that they can be sincere and still be sincerely wrong.

 

2.       He Will Strip Us Of Our Identity

The enemy must remove our identity in order to void our destiny. On three different occasions Joseph’s clothing is removed. First, his coat of many colors given by his father is taken by his jealous brothers. This was an attempt to take his favor. Second, his house coat of authority in Potiphar’s house is ripped off him by Potiphar’s wife in an attempt to sleep with him. She was not pulling on his coat; she was pulling on his destiny. Lastly, his prison garments are removed as he prepared to stand before Pharaoh. His graduation day came, today was his day of promotion. His days of trouble are now over.

 

3.       He Tries To Place Us Under The Bondage Of Another

This one is very interesting. Once in the pit and his murder reconsidered, his brothers sell him into slavery to their distance cousins the Ishmaelite. The one with a promise is held captive by those without the promise. It is amazing that the son of promise is sold into bondage to what Galatians 4:22-23 calls the, “human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise.”

 

You see Ishmael the first born of Abraham was not considered the son of promise because it was a human attempt and his mother was a slave. Isaac was the son of promise because he was born of a free woman, with a promise and it was “God’s own fulfillment of his promise.”

 

How many times are we held captive by those without a promise on their lives? Our bosses, supervisors, spouses, parents or siblings words of doubt have taken us captive. Joseph’s body may have been in bondage but his spirit, integrity and mind were free to dream!

 

To his credit, Joseph continues to serve with honor. I can’t change the circumstance so I will control what I can, me. He does his best to serve with honor & excellence.

 

Make a choice today to remember the enemy didn’t give you the dream, so the enemy can’t take it away.

 

 

Next, how to respond to setbacks.

Tags: bondage, change, choice, discourage, dream, identity

Know Then Grow

The book of Luke tells the story of the young boy Jesus delaying in the Jerusalem temple while his parents started their journey home. A day into the journey they realize Jesus is not in the company that they are traveling with. In a panic they search frantically to find him. When they finally do find Him, He is sitting amongst the teachers asking & answering questions.

 

Just because Jesus was without sin did not mean He never got in trouble. When approached by His parents as to why He would do that to them He simply replies, “Why are you panicking, you should have known that I’d be in my Father’s house.”

 

His answer was simple, this is my purpose. Named Jesus, as instructed by the Angel to Joseph, He was reminded daily of His purpose each time His parents called His name. Jesus meant “savior”. Every mention of His name reinforced His purpose on earth. Imagine as a child already knowing your God given purpose. Jesus’ greatness lied in His ability to identify & embrace His purpose at an early age.

 

What if we instilled the identity & purpose into our children at an early age? What if we released daily prophetic declarations over their lives? Declaring what God intended them to be not what we see. If we do so to our husbands, wives, children, family, friend, co-workers and even enemies we can release them to live their purpose.

 

The kicker is in Luke 2:52, upon knowing His purpose Jesus grows in wisdom & stature, favor with God & favor with man. There is a divine connection between knowing your purpose and growing. You see we don’t grow first then establish our purpose, we acknowledge our purpose then we grow. Purpose promotes growth. Growth does not promote purpose. When you know your purpose it will provide the motivation to grow.

 

Know then grow.

Tags: growth, identity, purpose

Things Are Not As Bad As They Seem

And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.”

 

Have you ever faced a time in your life that has overwhelmed you? A place where all the promises of God have faded into problems. Where the hopes and promises of yesterday have become blurred by today’s misfortunes? In this time of economic challenges, personal crisis and moral failures, it is easy to become soured on life.

 

Jacob had faced some pretty tough things in his life. His favorite son is gone, famine has ravaged the land of his inheritance, Simeon his son has been incarcerated in Egypt and now they want to take his youngest son Benjamin. Jacob exclaims what many of us have felt throughout out lives . . . “All these things are against me!” or “Stop the world I want to get off!”

 

Keep in mind:

 

1.       The reality is things are never as bad as they seem.

You see in the midst of Jacob’s overwhelmingly difficult circumstances the reality was that Joseph was alive, as was Simeon and what seemed like a death sentence was really a new lease on life. The famine in the land actually reunited Jacob with his son Joseph.

 

2.       The famines in our lives are not to destroy us.

The famines are to reveal & restore that which was lost. Like Jacob what seems to be destruction is about to become salvation. Hang in there Jacob! You are about to turn the mourning into dancing and the tears into cheers. You are about to get back all that was taken & then some!

 

3.       Remember Jacob, you have received a new identity.

You are not Jacob anymore. You fought this fight already and were given a new name, a new identity. You are Israel. You are the prince of God. The trials of life try to steal your identity of who God Himself has called & made you to be. You already won this fight. We do not fight for victory but from victory.

 

Don’t give up. You are on the verge of spiritual promotion. God is about to accelerate your promises. The things that are against you are building the spiritual muscle & endurance that you need to accomplish the task. The things you thought were dead are actually alive and kicking.

 

Get ready for promotion!

Tags: endurance, identity, overwhelmed, perception