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Identity Thieves

In this day and age it’s very easy to lose your identity.  I’m not talking about identity theft in the sense that someone steals your credit cards, social security number, passport, or any of your credentials.  I’m talking about your identity in the sense that you allow people to say things about you so much that you begin to believe them.  It’s easy to forget who you are then.  I know.  It happened to me.
From the time I was a small girl I was continually being molded into the person everyone else wanted me to be.  I get that as a small child, nurturing parents are to guide and direct the paths of their little ones, teaching them to become great adults.  And I’m not saying that my parents or my family weren’t nurturing.   Just most often it wasn’t very positive.

As a child grows they need to be encouraged.  They need to be loved.  They need the reassurance that they have the support of their mother and their father.  Of course they will encounter negativity in the world.  But they need a safe haven to come to when life throws them a curve ball.  They need a safe place to run and loving arms to wrap around them and tell them they are loved and to encourage them to try again.  They need a family who will teach them the love of God so they will trust Him as they grow into adulthood. 

Not all children grow up like that though.  I was one of the unfortunate ones who did not.  Instead, I was pulled in many different directions continually told what I would become, what everyone else expected me to become, reminded of every malady and illness that ran in my family and what I could expect to happen to me as the result.  I was given very little hope for my future.  Yet, I still had hopes and dreams.  I was excited about the prospect of trying to attain those dreams, but discouraged by what others said to me.
For way too long I listened to every negative thing said about me and to me.  Sadly, for over forty years I believed I was everything others said I was which wasn’t much.  Oh, but there’s a really big “BUT” that comes behind this.  But then God came along and showed me exactly who I am and surprisingly it was nothing like what I had been told all those years.  It was so much more than I could even comprehend and it was the most beautiful thing I ever discovered.

Dear, sweet, lovely one, you are so much more than you know.  There is a beautiful promise for you from God.  He wants you to know Whose you are.  You’re His.  When you realize that, you will begin to realize that everything else that everyone else has been saying to you and about you are lies straight from the enemy, Satan.  He doesn’t want you to know your true identity because once you do you’ll step up to another level and things will begin happening that he can’t stop. 
If the devil can convince you right now of all the negative things people say about you, he can keep you from becoming the awesome person God created you to be.  If you forget who you are, then you’ll never operate in your special gifts God has reserved for you.  You’ll never help someone else who was meant to help someone else.  They’ll never rise up and be the awesome person they were created to be.  The chain of events will be broken and the enemy has kept God’s people from doing what they were called to do.  The identity thieves have caused a number of people to forget who they are.

I don’t know about you but that makes me mad.  How dare the devil infringe on my inheritance!  How dare he think he can prevent me from the royal priesthood that I was adopted into.  Oh, here’s where it gets really interesting.  He can’t prevent you.  He has absolutely no control, no power over you.   Are you aware of that?  The devil has no power over you!

You have been given special privileges, dear one.  The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, too.  Think about that for a minute.  Let it soak in.  I’ll wait…
… You were meant for more than what others say of you.  Look instead at what God says about you.  After all, He created you.


Shelley Wilburn
 

Shelley Wilburn has been writing since the age of twelve. She loves stories and adventures, and often finds herself getting into mischief with any one of her six grandchildren. She has written several articles and devotionals over the years for various newspapers, women's magazines, and newsletters. She has also co-authored devotionals. Shelley began writing full-time in 2012 after being healed of over 40 years of depression and anxiety. Using her love of writing, and wearing mismatched socks, Shelley has developed a unique ministry of encouraging others using biblical truths and stories from her own personal life. When not writing, you can find Shelley and her husband of over 30 years, D.A. zipping down the road in their newest adventure-maker, a bright orange, Mustang convertible Shelley has laughingly dubbed The Pony.

  • Lanna Ewell says:

    Excellent post! So many struggle with their identity and don't even realize is. SO grateful the Lord has shown me who I am. For making me who I am. 🙂

  • It's awesome to see people realize their identity and to reclaim it from the one who stole it.

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