The World Has an Identity Problem.

I believe there are two reasons people give their life to Christ. One reason is to pursue relationship with Him. The other, is to avoid hell. I can talk to anyone and within a few minutes of hearing their life story and seeing the way they live life, I can tell you which direction they're living from. But what they don't know is that God is more concerned about achieving relationship with them than helping them avoid hell. Because as we pursue sonship with the Father, hell has no hold on us. But if we view the Father as a critical, judgmental figure in our lives, (which I believe majority of people unfortunately do) relationship will never flourish and we'll make decisions that have higher chances of not flowing towards the Father. This is why the world, including Christians, struggle with life.

Along my own journey, I have been in both directions. The first part of my life was spent in fear of going to hell. I lived in fear of rejection, abandonment, and vulnerability. The Father was a rule-keeper and sin-collector who looked at me with complete recollection of all my faults and mistakes. Our relationship was slave/master, not son/father. Because of spending most of my life not knowing how extravagantly loved I was, I had an identity crisis. I thought I was a slave. And I see that the world has an identity crisis. Even many Christians today don't know who they are and Whose they are. My goal is to change that. But it comes with continuing my own journey of restoring my identity in Christ, knowing and believing that He is pursuing me everyday. He's not a father who demands perfection and orders me around when I come home, He calls me over to sit on His lap and discuss my day, my passions and my struggles. He embraces me with loving arms.

Sin is a result of not knowing who we are, hence, having an identity problem and making choices based off that. I have close friends who make poor choices like I do when it comes to their identity. It shows up in many ways--sexual immorality, pornography, gossip, lying, cheating, controlling behaviors, etc. In this season that is filled with so much restoration and healing, God has left one thing still tender---my heart. While my heart is stronger than ever before, He has shown me that it will never be immune to the hurts of the world. My heart breaks for people who don't know who they are. My heart breaks for those who don't know how loved they are. My heart especially breaks for those struggling with sexual issues (sexual immorality, homosexuality, infidelity, premarital sex, etc). While I may be a virgin, I have struggled with sexuality like everyone else. I've been addicted to pornography in my past. I know what it's like to be internally tormented. I'm not saying that the Lord made me insecure, but He definitely used it in my favor. Years ago, I almost slept with a girl, but due to my own inner torment, I put a stop to it. Sure, if I was a little more confident, I would've gone through with it. While I'm thankful I didn't sleep with her that night, I still sinned all the same and still struggled just as much. I believe that a heterosexual couple having sex outside of marriage have the same heart issues as those people struggling with homosexual thoughts and behaviors. And I believe they should be cared for in the same way and not treated any differently. In my personal experience, I can say that much of our current issues and struggles are a result of the way we were raised and past experiences and traumas. My views have changed from a "Don't do that because the bible says so" point of view to a "I know how you feel and I hope you will soon know how loved you really are" point of view. 

I was praying last night and asked the Lord why some people struggle more at getting free than others? Why do some people get miraculously healed and set free from addiction and some people have to go through a long grueling process of getting and staying free? I've come to know and fully believe that when we get healed in a certain area of our life, we're given an authority to heal others in that very same area, but now I believe that our healing anointing can be different, but for the same end result. Some people are meant to have a immediate healing and some are meant to have a longer process. If I was to have been set free immediately from all my inner torment from being sexually abused as a child, chances are I wouldn't have spent the last year and the current pursuit of understanding people and how we are affected by our childhoods. In the last 3 weeks, I've read six books (the fact that I'm reading that much in general is a miracle). I wouldn't have the backing for it all if I didn't want the freedom for myself so badly. Quite honestly, I'm so thankful I'm in this process because I know that the things I am currently learning about the effects of trauma and the orphan spirit will change the world. 

I am going to destroy the devils work.

I believe my calling is to restore identity to the Father's children. 

I am being restored everyday. I will never be completely done until I sit with God in Heaven.

Let's take a walk together on this journey.

Love you all!

Photo Cred: Clifton Peches @_cliffy_