What if they judge me? What if
they take it the wrong way? And just like that, God suddenly spoke to my heart
and here it is- "freeing yourself from people bondage".
As I write this blog, I am
reminded of a time that I struggled with people bondage- worrying too much of
what people might think of me. Will they like me? Will they approve of me? Do I
speak or write the way their human minds will allow them to agree? All of these
are examples of being in people bondage.
I am not in any way perfect and
as I grow in my faith, the Holy Spirit continues to mold and shape me like a
clay in the potter’s house. The Holy Spirit is gently molding me into the image
of Christ, reshaping the clay that was once broken or out of shape.
Do you know this verse?
“You saw me before I was born. Every day of
my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single
day had passed.” Psalm 139:16
Your journey is
meant to shape you.
The Bible tells us that God knew us
before we were formed in our mother’s womb, and He knows what each one of us
are capable of being in this world. He created us to be the best we can
possibly be. But in order for us to receive the blessings that God has promised
us, we must understand that our journey is meant to shape us. Maybe you’ve been
criticized and judged all your life. You grew up in a neighborhood that gave
little to no encouragement. You were considered the child that will never
amount to anything, you were adopted, your parents left you when you were still
a baby, your family constantly criticizes you. Whatever it may be that you’ve experienced
or might be experiencing, know that your journey was meant to shape you. You
can allow your past to either make you bitter or better. You can decide today,
to no longer be in bondage to the voices of those around you and tune into God’s
voice instead.
Do you know these verses?
"When Jesus came to the region of
Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son
of Man is?”
“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some
say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of
John, because my Father in heaven has
revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that
you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build
my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”
Matthew 16:13-18
Do you know who you
are?
I am reminded that just a week ago, as I was doing my study
on Genesis, I became intrigued at how God changed Abram’s name (exalted father)
to Abraham(father of multitudes) and Sarai(quarrelsome) to Sarah(mother of many).
We take note of the above verses, here we see God, questioning His disciples
regarding identity, He questions them on His own identity and without hesitation,
Simon declares, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
And at that very moment the Lord blessed and changed
his name from Simon (He God has heard) to Peter(rock).
As I continued on my Genesis study, I began
questioning my own identity in Christ and what significance does my name have
to do with it. My name Osatohamnwen, means ‘God has mercy on me’, but that
moment I had no clue of the meaning of my middle name ‘Lillian’. I soon became
distracted and forgot to look into it. Later that day I had these dead roses
that needed to be thrown out and before I throw them out, I said a prayer over
them declaring they “come back to life.” The next day Brian(my husband), went
on his usual hike up the mountain to pray, I gave him my prayer request as
usual, I said “pray for a revelation of confirmation”. He came back a few hours
later with the must prettiest Lilies I have ever seen, and I was excited to see
them. Brian then said “God wanted you to have these”. It was a revelation for
me in so many ways including how I’d prayed just the night before for resurrection
upon those dead roses and here I am looking at new flowers from God with the
exact color as the dead roses. But then I thought, well, why didn’t God send me
roses? Why Lilies? And at that very moment
it dawned on me, that there was a significance in the meaning of Lily, and my
name Lillian is tied into it. So I went looking up the meaning of the name.
Lillian is derived from the flower Lily, and it is the symbol of innocence; purity;
beauty.
These are the main revelations I
want you to take from this:
1.
In order to know your identity,
you must acknowledge who your Savior. You must declare just like Simon Peter
that “God is the Messiah and the Son of the living God”. And believe in your
heart that He is your Lord and personal Savior.
2.
You should read the word of God
often, and by doing this you are gradually being molded into a new creation in
Christ. All of your old will be left behind and God will gradually form you into
a new being, in the image of Christ.
3.
If you are not being shaped into
the image of Him, your identity will be submerged into the world, thus you have
no identity- you are just another statistic.
4. Just like Sarah, You
can choose to accept the identity of your name and in her case “quarrelsome” or
you can allow God to step in and tell you who you are, “mother of multitude”, “prophet
to the nations”, “the head and not the tail”, “fearfully and wonderfully made”,
“Daughters and sons of God”.
Remember that no matter what anyone thinks of you,
says about you, that you are still God’s chosen one, anointed one. Even if your
boss thinks you are incompetent, remember you are still God’s anointed one and
true knowledge comes only from above and not man. This is not to carry an
attitude of bitterness towards anyone but rather being secure enough to know
that even in your failures, the Lord still has a better plan for you and for
that reason, you should rejoice for every opportunity of growth.
Do you know
these verses?
“So
we can say with confidence, "The LORD is my helper, so I will have no
fear. What can mere people do to me?” Hebrews 13:6.
“Obviously, I’m not
trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my
goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” Galatians 1:10
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It
is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body
by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
Live for God and not humans.
Who are you living for? Whose approval do you seek? Who do
you put your trust in?
As believers, our old self is no longer alive in us, but Christ
now lives and dwells inside of us, everything we do is to glorify Him. Even if
your mother, sister, uncle or teacher doesn’t approve, remind them that you are
only trying to please God and not them.
“I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” Matthew 10:35.
Do you realize that Christ didn’t save you for the sake of
you returning back to bondage of your mother, father, in-laws, or co-workers?
Your salvation and the molding of your new being is meant to tear you away from
the rest of the world, If the ones you love, brothers or sisters are tearing
you down for living out your faith, then you must free yourself from their
bondage. This doesn’t mean you make them feel below you, but rather, you stand
up for your belief in Christ and you stand firm upon the foundation of His
word.
A few years ago when I was truly saved and understood that
my salvation wasn’t to be taken lightly- possibly radically, I was met with
adversary from family members and friends. Did I care? Yes, I did, but as I continued
to grow in Him, I began to not care what they thought. No I don’t want to
listen to Beyoncé, go to the bars or watch the real housewives. Why? Because it’s
all a waste of time and it will slowly take away from you rather than add to
you. Why would I listen to something, or watch something that will take away
from my spiritual life that I now consider more important than my physical.
Yes, I also gladly block and hide Facebook friends that constantly post
nonsense on their Facebook walls because I do not want them creating a stumbling
block for me. I had a friend send me a message last year, she said “you’ve
changed, you are so different.” And yes of course I’ve changed, If I was still
the same person as before then how can I truly call myself a Christian? I don’t
have the power to change anyone, but what I do have is the power of God working
in me; when people see me, they should be able to see the power of God working
in me. Therefore, a change can possible spring forth towards them.
Place your faith in Him, and as always, acknowledge Him in
all your ways and He will make all your ways straight. Free yourself from the
bondage of this world by acknowledging Christ as your Lord and Savior and begin
to declare His word upon your life. Tune out the noise of the world and spend
more time with the Father.
Father in the name of Jesus, I pray that the person reading
this be immediately filled with the Holy Spirit. May the Spirit of the Lord,
take captive anything that is holding them back from their divine calling. According
to Romans 12:2, may the Spirit renew in them a new way of thinking that will be
pleasing and acceptable to the will of God. May You give them strength,
courage, and patience to deal with the obstacles in their lives. May the favor
of the Lord be upon them only as they seek after You, Your kingdom, Your
wisdom, Your knowledge and righteousness. In Jesus name amen
