“Who does God say that I am?”
There is an aspect of living a prophetic lifestyle that has been helping me connect with the Lord in new ways over the last couple of years and that is identity – specifically prophetic identity. For me, for there is one question that encapsulates identity from a Kingdom perspective – “Who does God say that I am?”
So, what is identity? The Oxford dictionary says, “identity is the fact of being who or what a person or thing is”. Simply put, identity is who we really are. Graham Cooke says, “identity is the practice of that which brings us into harmony with the life that the Father has chosen for us”. I love what the Message Bible says in 1 John 3:1. “What marvellous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it––we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are.” First and foremost I am His child, His son. That is who I really am. As God’s children, we each have an identity which originates in the heart of our amazing Father.
As I have looked at the life of Simon Peter from the perspective of identity, I’ve received some fresh revelation I would like to share with you:-
- Jesus called out Peter’s true identity long before his life reflected who he truly was (Matthew 16:18-19). God is speaking our true identity over us all the time and is calling us to partner with Him to be those who speak our Kingdom identity over one another.
- The name Simon means “broken reed”. The world had done its best to form Simon Peter’s identity, but this was not the end of the story. Jesus called him Peter which means “rock”, someone whom God would use powerfully to bring heaven to earth and to build His church. No matter how our identity has been moulded by the world, what Jesus says about us is the truest thing in all the universe.
- Peter’s true kingdom identity required supernatural activation. Peter received a “supernatural jump-start” into a new level of identity and sonship. This occurred most dramatically in the upper room as the Holy Spirit wind from heaven released a supernatural sound that resonated with Peter’s spirit, activating him to walk in his true identity (Acts 2:1-4). We each need this kind of identity activation through ongoing personal encounter with God. Just like Peter, no matter where we find ourselves in life, we are only one God-encounter away from being activated into a level of identity. We are all “world-changers in waiting”. That is who we really are!
There are times when I still hear the whispered lies of my old world-formed identity. There are days when the voices of fear, rejection, insecurity and competition seem louder than the Father’s voice over me. On one of those days, I cried out to my Daddy. I didn’t consciously know it, but what I desperately needed was an identity activation. Holy Spirit said to me clearly, “stand up”. So, I stood up. Then He said, “step back into your sonship”. As I physically took a step backwards, I could sense my Father placing afresh my sonship identity around me like a robe. In this place I was secure, loved, fully accepted and powerful. I had stepped supernaturally into a new level of my true identity and I’ll never be the same again. There is only one letter different between the words “robed” and “robbed”. The letter is “b”. Daily we get to choose; will we be robed in sonship or robbed of our true identity? Which one will it be (pun intended) for you?
The Word of God is full of truth about who God says we are. I am an overcomer (Romans 8:37). I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). I am a child of God (John 1:12). This is what Derek Prince calls General Revelation. This is truth about our true identity. True for all God’s children, all the time. However, our God-formed identity (who we really are) is also absolutely unique – a blend of awesome characteristics shared fully by no one else in the universe but me.
One of the most powerful ways that God communicates with us is through prophecy. I have discovered that the prophetic words that have been the most important in my life always contained a strong identity component. The Father was calling out my unique identity. When I hear the Father saying who I really am, this resonates powerfully with my spirit. I love how Graham Cooke says it, “Prophecy upgrades identity and empowers us into the next dimension of God’s purpose.”
When talking about prophetic identity, Dano McCollum suggests that we go back over all the prophetic words we have received and extract the identity elements. We can then compile these identity elements into an identity statement – who God says I am. I would then suggest running this statement past an experienced prophetic voice in your life to help you bring things together. Nowadays, I find myself going back to this identity statement again and again. Here is a part of my identity statement, “I am a prophetic father and shepherd leader. I am an administrator of spiritual storehouses and releaser of heaven’s resources – hope, wisdom, revelation, clarity, life, dreams and excellence. I am a ground breaker, trailblazer and pioneer.”
This brings me back to the question I asked at the beginning, “Who does God say that I am?”. What is your answer? What is your unique prophetic identity?
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