Identity Theft

𝟤 𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒽𝓎 𝟤:𝟤𝟣 – 𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒸𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒶 𝓊𝓈𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝓋𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓁 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓃𝑜𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓅𝓊𝓇𝓅𝑜𝓈𝑒𝓈.

That verse this morning in my Freedom book brought back a flood of memories.  The Lord gave it to me back in 2000 when I was a victim of injustice and then a prisoner of its effects.  The question on the page was no question at all, it was really a memory that asked the question “Weren’t you embarrassed that as a Christian you were living this way?”  It wasn’t posed by the writer but an internal question that the Holy Spirit was asking me to reflect on from a season that I lived in chains.  I had to close my eyes like I often do when I need to block out the distractions and then I asked the Holy Spirit to 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 and focusing on my life twenty years ago.

Of all the memories I had from that moment and that season an image came forth that best described what happened.  The vision I got was that someone came at me with a huge open hand directly to my face and snatched my face right off my head.  That probably sounds strange but it’s the best depiction I could use to explain how it felt.  It was as though the trauma brought on by a person being influenced by the enemy said, “𝐍𝐨, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞.” Trauma re-routed plans in my life, put a ring in my nose and said, “𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞.  𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞.  𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞.”  Harsh, I know, but if you’ve ever had pain deep enough you stop fighting it and submit because you want to keep the memory buried.

While there are many problems with that, the big issue is that when we submit to that idea, then everything we do from that point forward, even an upcoming assignment from the Lord, must be consulted with the enemy of our soul.  Can I do this?  Should I do this?  Do I have what it takes?  Let’s compare what I’ve done or not done in the past that qualifies me to do this now.  More times than not we will negotiate ourselves out of the majority of things we should be doing because that agreement we made with the lie is somehow still tethered to our soul. 

But that is a lie because your identity is your identity in Christ and that cannot be stolen or taken from us.  When we were in our mother’s womb the Holy Spirit was with us.  Psalm 139 says that 𝐇𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬, 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬, 𝐇𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧, 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐢𝐦. Most importantly it also says that the days of our lives were already written out before we were even born.  God is telling us that though He gives us the freedom to choose whether we will follow him, ultimately, He has a calling and a destiny for our lives.  The gifts He gives us cannot be revoked, He watches His word to see it to completion and He doesn’t lie as a man would lie. 

I say all this to say that though the enemy slay me, yet will I trust Him.  I took a stand in my spirit to stop agreeing with the enemy and started agreeing with what God was saying about me.  I exposed the lie and brought it to light.  I trusted a small circle of strong Believers who were not intimated by schemes, who wanted holiness and to honor God more than they needed the affirmation of men who share the “unwritten code” to just close their eyes and allow others to remain a victim of someone else’s stronghold and prison. 

That’s when the Holy Spirit reminded me of the promise God gave me many years ago. “𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒸𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 (𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁) 𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓃𝑜𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓅𝓊𝓇𝓅𝑜𝓈𝑒𝓈.  𝐼 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃’𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝓁 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓎𝑜𝓊; 𝐼 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃’𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓅 𝓇𝑒𝓅𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒶.  𝒟𝒾𝒹𝓃’𝓉 𝐼 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 ‘𝒲𝑜𝒶𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓂𝓈 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹?  𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶 𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓃𝑒𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝒶?’  𝐼 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓉𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝒹𝒾𝒹.  𝒟𝒾𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝒸𝑒𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓃𝓃𝒾𝒶𝓁 𝑔𝓊𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑔, 𝓊𝓃𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓊𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒸𝑜𝓈𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒸𝓊𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓉𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊?  𝐼’𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝒶𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝓎 𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝒥𝑒𝓈𝓊𝓈.  𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓈, 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓁 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝑜𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓃 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝒷𝓎 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑒’𝓈’ 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒷𝑜𝓃𝒹𝒶𝑔𝑒.  𝒟𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃’𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝑒𝒻𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝓊𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓃𝓊𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃, 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎.  𝐼𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝓎 𝓋𝑒𝓃𝑔𝑒𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒹𝑒𝒻𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓂𝓎 𝓅𝒶𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓂𝒶𝑔𝑒 𝒽𝑒’𝓈 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊.  𝐼𝓉 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓊𝓂𝒶 𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒, 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒸𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝑜𝓁𝓎, 𝓈𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒾𝓃 𝓃𝑜𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈.”

So, even today, twenty years later, I see 𝟤 𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒽𝓎 𝟤:𝟤𝟣 verse and remember the sweet promises that The Lord gave me many years ago.  𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 .