The following is from a daily devotional by
Jerry Sevelle
and had been taken from:
http://www.jerrysavelle.org/your-identity-determines-your-future/
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Your Identity Determines Your Future
For as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV).
If you want your future to improve, the first thing you need to do is change your identity, meaning what you see yourself to be. Your life today is a result of how you have viewed your identity in the past, and you will never think, speak, or act in a way that is contrary to your identity.
Gideon transformed from being a coward into a man of great courage the moment he took on a new identity (see Judges 6). When God called him a mighty man of valor, Gideon received his new identity and went on to become a strong and courageous leader. The only thing that changed that day was Gideon’s identity; he saw himself as God saw him.
Gideon could have been a mighty man all along, but God had to bring him to the point where he identified with God’s might rather than his own cowardice.
If you’re fed up with being the way you are and dealing with the same old problems, you can become a new person by taking on a new identity. You can throw off the old identity that you took on from other people, circumstances, and the world. Then you can take on the identity that was given to you by your loving heavenly Father, and become the person He always intended you to be.
When you made Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, your position became “in Him” or “in Christ.” Now that you are in Him, you have access to the future God has prepared for you—a future that overflows with success, fulfillment, and prosperity in every area of your life.
But let me offer a word of caution: If you cling to your old identity you’ll never experience life to the full. I’ve seen people who have been saved for forty years and still have not discovered who they really are. They still they they’re losers who will never amount to much.
Just as Gideon had to receive his God-given identity, so you must receive your identity in Christ. Choose to identify with Him and to enjoy the abundant future that God has determined for you.
Confession: In Him I am a new creation. I am victorious, an overcomer who can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. My future overflows with success, fulfillment, and prosperity in every area of my life.
Author: Jerry Savelle
