Our Identity in Christ sets the tone for we do and become.

It is really important for us that we come into a place of being settled about who we are in Christ and who we are not, and what God is doing to us to bring us into our true identity.

We must come to terms with these 4 things!

1. God is really really really for real or He is not.

2. By His stripes we are healed

3. My sins are forgiven and gone, past present and future.

4. Through the cross He purchased all my junk, worry, fear, anxiety, bitterness, hatred, lust, and so on. So He basically took away the opportunity for me to experience those things.

2Corinthians 5, beginning at 14.

For the love of Christ constrains us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Isn't that an amazing concept? He made him who knew no sin to become sin, so that we could become the righteousness of God. And that's really what we're learning; the old man of sin, behavior, thinking, perception, language, all those things rooted in our experience of the world have all now been done away with and we're all having a perception and thinking, and language coming to us from the kingdom of heaven that's now within us.

So, we are in a place where we are saying yes to that learning and no to that expression of life. We're not taking anything from the old into this new relationship. We're doing away with that and we're learning God is making all things new. So, in every situation you face, the one thing that God faces you up with all the time is what's new for you in this situation.

There is a new way to think. There is a new way to see this. There's a new way to talk about it. There's a new way to stand. There's a new way to walk because you're learning to walk in newness of life.

And so, what He's saying to you right now is time out. What He's saying is everything has to become new. So, I'm doing a new thing in your life. That means you face situations in a new way. You're learning how to think about them the way that I would think about them, see them the way that I do.

So, we're being trained exclusively in the new man so that means then that we are breaking a spiritual tradition of focus on the old. And that's really important because you can't do both, because that is classic double-mindedness, and a double-minded man is unstable in everything.

Because here's the thing, when someone get set free from their past, now they need to know what their future is going to look like because we are present future people. This is who I am now, this is who I am becoming, and all of that is the new. All the old has passed away. Everything is new and God wants you to know who you are and how He sees you.

How many times does God say the same thing? What are the key phrases? What God is doing when He gives you a prophetic word, He's describing how He sees you. He's describing who you are becoming.

And then, what we're doing is we're saying, "This is the word, therefore, this is the outcome. Here you are in the present. This is the outcome that God says that He's moving you into." So, this is this next timeframe is about you becoming that person.

So, the question when you get a prophetic word is, what kind of person do I need to become in order to see that word fulfilled? God takes care of the destiny. You take care of the identity. So, the Holy Spirit works with you to enable you to become that person.

So, in between now and the outcome, every single thing in your life, every situation and circumstance is to teach you how to become that.

You're going to learn confidence, you're going to learn certainty, and you're going to learn how to leave from the inside to the outside. And so, you're going to learn how to gather yourself. You're going to learn how to stand. You're going to learn how to press in. You're going to learn how to take authority. You're going to learn how to declare and how to proclaim. All of this is part of the training in the new man.

So, Colossians 3: 9-10 says, "Don't lie to one another since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices and you put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him." So, you're being made in His image. So, what that suggests to me is that there is a knowledge of God at a base level and there is a true knowledge. And it's really important that we, as we are learning newness of life, we're coming more and more into an unfolding revelation of who Jesus really is and what God is really, really, really like. I'm learning how to walk in that. We're learning how to walk into the fullness of that.

Ephesians 4:20-24 describes that process as we've said.

Lay aside the old, be renewed in how you see yourself, put on the new man. Every single situation is about you following that process. When God lays out a process, it's a process you use until it becomes who you are, and you automatically do it. You automatically, when you come in to a situation, lay aside the old, you'd be renewed. Lord, what does this mean? What must I do? What does this mean about my relationship with you?

One of my favorite questions is, "Lord, what is it you want to be for me now that I have this situation that you couldn't be before I had it?" In other words, what are you choosing for me in this situation? What's the upgrade for me personally?

Remember, we don't deal with the situation before we've established the identity issue. What's my identity upgrade now that I've got this situation, because I don't want to go through it and not change? I want to go through it and become somebody. I don't want to go through it and not be different, which means I'll have to go through it again.

How many times have you gone through the same situation more than three times? Who's ever gone through a situation more than three times? Who’s gone through a situation at least six times. What does that mean? We've not learned how to become new. And so, that situation has to come back around because the critical issue in every circumstance is you; not the situation, it's you. God designed this situation to empower you to become new.

So, there is some newness of identity that it's so important for God that you pick up. And that's your priority. And as you pick that up, that new identity, you get a new picture of the situation, you think about it differently, you start to pray differently, then, you are in a situation where you have the power in the situation; the situation does not have power over you.

And then, it's a whole new ballgame. That's like going from baseball to football right there. It's a whole new playing field. It's a different game. And that's the point of the new man. He makes all things new. So, the new man can make your situation new. The new man can make you circumstances new.

What that means for many of us often is that we're being followed around by the same type of circumstance, keeps on reoccurring. And it will keep in reoccurring. All the time you're dealing with it in an old way, it has to come back around, right, because you've given it house room. This sucker is going to live with you until you realize it's dead. Yeah?

It's like having a security system on your house, but letting a burglar live with you in the spare room. Yeah, slightly weird, I know, but there it is.

So, we're learning how to be a new person. That new person sees this situation differently than the old you. And so, it's not reacting to the situation, it's responding to God. That's the essential difference. I'm a new person. All the old things passed away. I don't have to do anything old in this situation. I have to do something new. What is the new thing that you need to do in your circumstances today?

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. God's made all things new.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free Galatians 5:1. So, we have to think -- when we think new, we're thinking in the way that releases freedom. You don't want to keep going through the same circumstances; you want to get victory over them. So, we're learning initially to get victory over that situation. And then, we're learning how to be an overcomer in that situation. An overcomer means, gradually, you approach those situations differently. When it comes, you're happy and excited because you know you're getting an upgrade in terms of who Jesus is.

Before, you had to fight off depression or unbelief, or doubt, or fear, or anxiety. You had to get victory over those things. You know victory is the least thing that God wants to give you. What he really wants is to make you more than a conqueror. So, at some point, you have to grow up from needing victory. And you do that in newness of life by coming to a place where you are an overcomer. That means when a situation comes, you own it.

This is my situation. And you detail to the situation, "This is what you're going to do for me. You're going to help me discover who I am in Jesus in a new way. So, you're here because I need to see something. This situation is here because I need to think about God and myself in a new way. You're here because I'm getting a language upgrade." Yeah? So, an overcomer thinks like that. An overcomer has converted that problem into a possibility, right, because there are no problems in heaven, right? Jesus came talking about possibilities. So, an overcomer is someone who now traditionally thinks about this situation the way that God would see it.

Someone who is more than a conqueror gets to the place where the enemy stops bringing situations to us because he's running out of resources and he's not working, and he doesn't really know what to do with us. And so, he fails to show in situations, and more than a conqueror, then begins to affect the world around them in ways that they haven't imagined before.

So, you become the new man in you becomes the force to be reckoned with.

The kingdom deals with possibilities.

So, overcoming is, you convert the problem into a possibility because that's what we're dealing with, right? All the old things have passed away. All the old thinking, seeing and so on. So, an overcomer would convert a problem into a possibility. Someone who is more than a conqueror would never see a problem, would instantly see a possibility, would be excited.

A little like Caleb, when he's looking at giants, he's like "OMG, there are giants here. This is so cool." He went with 12 guys and they're all the roughest guys. You know, each tribe did the kind of military version of American Idol. Yeah, each tribe had competitions to see who was the roughest, toughest guy we could send on the Special Forces Team.

So, all the guys are coming, you know, and they're rough but only two of them really knew how to walk with God and 10 didn't. These 12 rough, tough guys went out there and 10 guys were completely unmanned by what they saw.

But Joshua and Caleb saw something different. They didn't see anything out there to worry them. That's the difference between the old and the new man. Caleb had a mindset based on majesty. And so, when he saw a giant, you get mixed messages. The enemy gives you a message. “He's too big for you. He's too strong for you. You're not good enough. You're strong enough. You're not powerful enough. You can't take him. You're going to die. It's over. They're going to kill you. They're going to walk all over you. You can't possibly take that person. Really, compared to them, you're like a grasshopper.”

The Holy Spirit shows up and he says to Caleb, "See that guy? See how big he is? By the time we're finished on this level, you're going to be his size and he's going to be your size. You are going to swap places." That giant is actually a doorway into a whole new realm that belongs to you now, Caleb. And we are showing you that giant because we've already dealt with him. And now, you're stepping into our victory. And so, he comes back saying, "There are giants out there, but God is with us, they will be our prey." What's that? That's the voice of someone who is an overcomer. Yeah? And that's what the new man.

You're learning to pick a fruit of the spirit for the situation you're in. So, what if God wants you to be joyful in this situation? So, what if He wants joy to be your strength? What if he wants peace? You know, God allocates the fruit of the spirit to us all the time. Like He says, My peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give, don't let your heart be troubled. Receive peace. John 14:27

So, we're learning the new nature, the new man is always peaceful, always joyful, always restful. The new you, the true you, the real you, is not stressed. So, stress belongs to the old man. So, he will come saying “I’m really stressed”. Time out. The new you is not stressed. The new you is learning how to rest and how to be peaceful. Here's the thing. We cannot cater to the mindset and the emotional upset of somebody who died in Christ.

You understand what's happening here? See, whatever God is, He is relentlessly. And He is relentless about teaching us how to live in the new man. And so, He's not actually -- if you want to go and act out in the old man, He will just say, "Okay, well, I'm here when you're ready to come back, but he's not going with you because that will be counter culture to heaven. And also, that would mean him treading on the foot the cross of Jesus. What He's saying is you have the Holy Spirit who is a counselor right now, you need to listen to Him.

They wouldn't be coming to you saying, "Well, you have to accept my old nature in order to have a relationship with me." No, I don't. You have to change up into your new nature so that you can relate to people differently. Yeah? We can't be double-minded.

So, I'm pretty clear. I do not want a conversation with a corpse. Let's have a conversation with who you really are. Yeah? Let's at least have a conversation about how you actually move from that place to the new place, but I'm not going into that place with you because I've already been there and it wasn't nice the first time around.

So, in John 16 tells us that the focus of the Father is developing our identity in Jesus. Let me read you this, John 16:13. But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide us into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak and He will disclose to you what is to come. That means He knows what's coming up in your own development and he wants you to know this is what we're making you into next. Really, every one of us, if we're being mentored and discipled, we have an action plan about what we are learning in the new man.

So, when we leave this place and get in a place where we're learning how to process life differently, you can create an action plan for how you will respond to the Lord and how you're going to live, who you're going to -become next, who you are right now, and understanding that every situation in between is about your development. That means every situation is potential.

The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. He will glorify me, He will take of mine, and we'll disclose it to you. All the things that the Father has are mine. Therefore I said that He, the Spirit, takes of mine and we'll disclose it to you. John 16:14-15

And He uses the word anagelo and it's actually used as a same word three times and it's only used by Jesus in the scripture. It's only used by Him. And what He's saying is that there is a secret truth available. What does that mean? I will disclose who I am to you. What it means is that the secret truth is God knows who you're going to become next and He has engineered a situation to enable that to happen. Therefore all of our situations and circumstances, they're all locked up into God's intention for us.

It's like He says, "Okay, so, how can I get to this place really quick? Why don't we create, engineer this situation, and as he steps into it, it's going to be a radical change, moment for him. And we love where This is in thinking and this mindset and perception, and so on, so we know that he knows how to do the work. Now, we can speed up his development. So, let's engineer a situation that would cause him to be catapulted into a new level of relationship with us."

You know what God thinks? God thinks like this. Because here's the thing, hand on heart, most of us would say "I know I'm behind the time of my own development. I should be further on than I am”. Ah, no blame, no shame. What it means though is that at some point, a quickening spirit is going to visit you. God's going to quicken your situation. God is going to redeem time in your life. How does he redeem time? He speeds up your development.

So, when you start to learn exclusively how to look at every situation through the new man, what happens is, there's a divine acceleration that rises up and takes hold of you because you learn your lessons quickly. You've unlearn from doing things that way. Now, you're focused a lot in alignment with God in terms of "This is how He is doing it and I am partnering with Him. I'm focused on the new man”. And what happens is an acceleration takes place.

And you can make five years growth in 12 months. That's Jesus redeeming time. And honestly, that's where we're at; we're in a place where we need time to be redeemed. And so, the new man has all of that redemptive quality about them.

So, God is not dealing with sin. He's establishing righteousness. Romans 6:6 says The body of sin is done away with. Roman 6:10 says God is dealt with sin once and for all. Roman 6:11 says Consider yourself dead to sin. So, let's just end the argument on that; that we don't have to go there because God has put us here, and this is where we're going. And then, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says He made him who knew no sin to be made sin on our behalf so we could become righteous. We could become the righteousness of God in Him. So, God is only dealing with your righteousness.

So, we don't deal with fear. We actually receive perfect love and perfect love coming in casts out fear, deals with fear. Yeah? So, the antidote into the old man is the new man. So, we don't try and work on this so we can become that.

Jesus has dealt with it. He has dealt with sin once and for all. You're not dealing with it again. And so he's not dealing with your fear. He's teaching you how to be the beloved. And I think that's actually what you're learning with your man, too. You're learning it in Christ and you're learning it in your husband. Perfect. So now you've got an opportunity, you've got a possibility to upgrade your potential to something actual.

1 Corinthians 1:30 says By God's doing, you are in Christ, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. All of these things we are following up on in the new man. So, there is an old knowledge of God and there is a new knowledge of God in Christ. And that new knowledge is the new man changes everything. He changes your vision of God and yourself. He changes your mindset. He changes your language.

The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. He takes everything that belongs to Jesus and He discloses it to us. There's a reason why we're in Christ and Christ is in us, and the Holy Spirit is disclosing everything that belongs to Jesus, and showing it to us.

So, he's going to show you a better way to think. It's his job. Let him do his job. He's going to give you a whole new vision and perspective of God and yourself, and your circumstances. Let him do his job. He's a genius at it. And then, he's going to give you a language to go with that mindset and that projection. That's his job, too. He's going to teach you how to talk like Jesus would talk. So, you talk about it the way that Jesus would if he was in you.

Oh, but wait. He is. and He'll teach you how to live from the inside where God is present, to the outside, so that what's in you changes the situation and the circumstances and even the people around your own life. Remember, we don't become a new person by changing our behavior. We discover who we already are in Jesus and we step into the identity guided by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus took away our sin so that now, He is our righteousness. So, he took away one thing and he brought the opposite into our life. So now, we're learning. God is establishing us in righteousness and where the enemy is tempting us to sin, the Holy Spirit is attracting us towards holiness. Yeah?

And here's the thing too is because the old man is dead and therefore sin is dead, we do not have a sin nature anymore, we just have a sin habit, and habits can be easily broken. Yeah? You are not a sinner saved by grace. You were a sinner and you were saved by grace to become a saint.

So now, the requirement on you is to think like a saint would. Think like one of God's holiness. Like one of God's holy ones. You're a saint. You don't have a sin nature. You may have a sin habit and habits are being broken. Our new man always lines up with Jesus, always.

The bible says that God himself is kind to evil and ungrateful man. Why? Because this is who I am, I am the Lord. I don't change. I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, the God that encourages you today will encourage you tomorrow, and the day after, the year after, and the decade after, and so on. I am the same always. I change not.

And so, when we learn to live in the new man, we're learning to live in the unchangingness of who God is And that's what is incredibly confusing to the enemy because the enemy is trying to make you like him and God is trying to make you like Him.

The enemy is a wannabe God. He wants to make you in his image; angry, fearful, worried, harassed, stressed, bitter, resentful, easily offended. He wants to make you exactly like him. But God wants to make you like him; loving, kind, peaceful, gracious, full of joy, endlessly patient, generous. He wants to make you like Him. So, this is how you show up regardless of circumstances. So, what we're doing is we're identifying our language through how God sees us. And I love the way that my language has changed over the years. I love what I'm seeing in Jesus. I love the freedom that I have to be new. I love the fact that I get to confuse the enemy.