by Barbara Latta
Who are you? Are you a wife, husband, father, mother, friend
or companion? Are you a doctor, nurse, teacher, lawyer, clerk, bookkeeper,
librarian, housekeeper, or sales person?
Do you identify yourself with what you do or your relationship
with others?
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| Identity theft steals the benefits of being you. |
We hear a lot about identity theft. Some of us may have
experienced having credit cards or bank account information stolen by someone.
A year ago, my husband and I went through this disaster as someone in another
state was using our card numbers, but we had never been in that location at
all. We had to go through the steps of clearing our cards and getting our money
back.
These crimes are labeled as identity theft, but what the
criminals are really doing is stealing the benefits of being another person.
Even if someone could look exactly like you, steal your
driver’s license, credit cards, and social security numbers, they still are not
you. A DNA test could prove who you are
and that the other person is an imitation of you. They merely enjoyed the
benefits of being you for a season. Our physical DNA cannot be changed.
The devil can’t steal what Christ has given us, but he can deceive us into believing his
lies; therefore, we don’t find out what we have and we don’t use God’s power
against him. Adam and Eve found this out the hard way and lost the benefits of who they were made to be.
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| A talking snake deceived Adam and Eve. |
When Satan said, “did God really say?”, he was getting them
to question their relationship with God. God had already made them perfect and
complete with nothing missing, but a talking snake convinced them God was withholding something. Satan wanted the benefits of what God had given
them and they lost their authority and dominion on the earth. But Jesus came to
give back what mankind lost in the garden.
The devil tries the same strategy with us because he has no
new tricks. If he can keep us deceived and ignorant, we are powerless to stop the
evil he uses to destroy lives.
The dictionary definition of identity is:
- The state or fact of remaining the same one or ones.
- The condition of being oneself or itself and not another
- Condition or character as to who a person or what a thing is.
- The state or fact of being the same one as described.
When we are born again, that is who we are—the same one as
described. The same one as Christ. We are not a deity, as He is, but He is the
One in us; the One the devil sees when we use the name of Jesus. We learned
last week about our three-part being. The spirit part of us is what is born
again when we accept Christ. Our identity is here because everything Jesus has
is deposited into our spirits and we become like Him.
Our true identity is not found in our career or
relationships. Christ is our identity and our
status can never be taken away
because the spiritual DNA of Jesus is in us now and cannot be changed.
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| Our DNA cannot be changed. |
But it is up to us to dig into the Word of God and arm
ourselves against the wiles of the devil so we can enjoy the benefits of being
children of our heavenly Father.
The next time a condemning thought enters your mind, refuse
it, and instead tell yourself you are the righteousness of God in Christ—because
you are.
Tweetables
What is your spiritual DNA (click to tweet)
What about you? How do you feel about knowing who you are?
Amen, Barbara! Even after 33 years with Jesus, I'm STILL learning to grasp these truths you shared.
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