Holy City

  So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. 11 “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. Jesus here likens the kingdom of God to a wedding banquet. It says that the wedding hall was filled with guests—both the bad as well as the good. The king noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, “How did you get in here without wedding clothes…?” This passage contrasts for us the difference between the Old and New Covenants. It was not the goodness of the good that qualified them; it was not the badness of the bad  that disqualified them. What counted at this wedding banquet was wedding clothes. And so we as the sons of God let’s put on the new identity o...

  “My old identity has been co-crucified with Messiah and no longer lives; for the nails of his cross crucified me with him. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that he gave himself for me, and dispenses his life into mine!  Galatians 2:20 TPT   Paul is speaking to the Galatians assuring them that when they gave their lives to Christ in essence they died with Christ and rose with him. When they died with Christ, their old self, the flesh that was born by their human parents no longer lives, it died with Christ. It is now Christ who lives in them by faith. The same is true for all of us believers, everything changed with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we receive/received Christ everything changed. when we receive the gift ...

  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. I     Corinthians 5:17 NKJV   This portion of scripture describes an appeal from Paul to those in Corinth, He says for the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Paul has written that Christ's death for sin has changed the way he regards people. Instead of looking at each person as a mere human being, he must view those who are in Christ as something entirely different. Those "in Christ" have become something they were not before. Their identity has changed from being the fallen version of themselves, to being associated with the righteousness of Christ. That's who t...

Many believers do not know who God has called them to be, we don't give ourselves any room for grace - the grace to be human and the grace to make mistakes. We base our identity on what we have failed to do. We fail to believe that God wants to put our shattered pieces in His hands and He can mend us back together again. Growing up as children, we learn to do chores around the house, learning from our parents and guardians. One of the chores we learn is washing dishes. Oftentimes whether accidental or through mishandling there were broken dishes. I have come to learn that there's a brokenness of heart that tears cannot mend and we find ourselves taking on this brokenness as our identity. Our identity should be based on Christ. Our identity as believers or children of God is in Christ. And that’s something we should understand. The bible says in Psalms 139:14 &15 that we are fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, His eyes saw ...

    As believers, we sometimes base our identity on our looks, we base our identity on our appearance or beauty. Social media definitely has played a role in this. As we scroll through our feeds, we are bombarded with countless photos of the seemingly perfect faces, appearances and looks. Beauty is a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight. Appearance is the way that someone or something looks. “The degree to which a person's physical traits are considered pleasing or beautiful. Examples of what beauty entails are a slim body, flawless skin , our height, our weight, our body shape, our skin color, our hair. Dora found herself believing things about her appearance. Things that her classmates spoke to her. Words were thrown carelessly in her direction but they landed on the fertile soil of her soul? She had based her identity on her physical appearance. A boy in her class had told her...

  Building awesome relationships is great and God wants us to love one another. Danger comes when we base our identity on these connections, networks or relationships. We tend to think that we are complete with the connections and people who we know. Sharing life with other people is not bad but we shouldn't base our identity on it. It’s a dilemma we have as human beings. We forget that God’s love frees us to even love others fearlessly. But when we base our identity on earthly relationships, we cannot live a free and  fulfilling life. We strain our relationships when we base our identity on our loved ones. Every trouble starts because of our self-centeredness. Basing our identity on our connections hinders us from giving ourselves away for the sake of the Good News and in turn we end up not knowing what it means to really live. The top relationship goal we may have on our minds right now probably might be finding or ...

  He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.  Ecclesiastes 5:10 NKJV   Many believers base their identity on their material possessions/wealth. We tend to think that attaining riches and possessions is making it in life. Loving riches, money and possessions is a dangerous thing, a very dangerous thing. We most times forget that God knows our needs. And as a Christian, we must believe that God works out everything for our good! So we must stop chasing what we think may satisfy us here on earth, and start looking toward heaven and place our focus on God. We become workaholics all  because of desiring more and more because our identity is based on that. Steven Covey, in his book: “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, introduces a concept he calls “Sharpening the Saw.” Sometimes the most effective thing we can do is to rest. Though it seems counter-intuitive, it really...

But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there. Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king’s country. So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died. Acts 12:19-21, 23 NKJV   There was once a king named Herod who had an announcement for his kingdom. His people thought he did such a good job that they began to honor him as a god. He was a great orator and he highly esteemed this talent and he neglected to tell his people that God was the source and He deserved all the glory. ...

  I   cannot even begin to tell you how many times we believers have brushed off God's description of his view of us. Many times, instead of behaving in a way that is in agreement with what he says, we carelessly dismiss it as something that might be true for our neighbors, friends, siblings, relatives, workmates but not for us. In absence of God, left to my own materiality, we are all of those things we think of ourselves, timid, unskilled and worthless, but with Him, our purposes, and potentiality completely change. Many  believers belittle or find themselves on the receiving end of downgrading, hurtful remarks. Many have been told that they are not good, that they will never make it in life, that they are not intelligent, that they are not talented and can’t handle anything. So we find that believers base their identity on what humans say about them. Many believe that everything that happens in their lives, being conscious of their human nature, everything is in th...

  Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon said to Him, “O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” Judges 6:11-15 NKJV When the curtain opens on Gideon in Judges 6, Israel’s brut...

  Human potential is not equal to what men have told you, what the media says, and it's definitely not reliant on what the education system and political system say, because these put a limit on what you can accomplish in life. This book is relevant to us all because it will help take away the consciousness we have towards our human ability and nature. If we are only tapping into human ability, then we shall be limited because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.   When it comes to the identity we embrace we need to develop a sense of urgency, and do it now and not later or someday. John.C.Maxwell says “The best time to plant a tree was twenty-five years ago. The second best time is today.” There is no time like the present to become an expert at  your craft. This is why we need to embrace our identity in Christ now and not later.   The idea of embracing Christ’s identity fascinates me, life was tough growing up, we didn't have much, my parent...

In the study of identity, we learn that who we are is not about anything we have done, but who God is and what He has done for us. When our identity is wrapped up in our workplaces, school, home or circumstances, we will be disappointed and discouraged when those things change. When we lean into an identity that is rooted firmly in who God says we are and what Jesus has done for us, what happens around us will not change or challenge our joy and peace. Mary was a teenager waiting to get married to a carpenter. God revealed himself to Mary, and he has also revealed himself to us. He is the God of the impossible; he always has been. He is the God who called us to receive Him, to abandon fear, to release our dreams and embrace His.  So what will be our answer? Mary’s was a resounding, “Yes!” “Behold the maidservant of the Lord!  Let it be to me according to your word.” She proclaimed herself fully belonging to God — his slave, his servant, his handmaiden, one with no rights of he...