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Identity Changes Everything! LIVING FREE: You Were Meant For This – Part 2 September 20, 2015 • Chris Goins

Freedom isn’t the absence of SOMETHING. It is the presence of SOMEONE!

2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV), Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

FREEDOM is the ability to ACT and REACT in life as the person I was created and redeemed to be. 1

Our Upside Down Approach To Change LEVELS of CHANGE 2

1. LEVEL ONE: ENVIRONMENT

1 Bob Hamp, Think Differently, Live Differently: Keys to a Life of Freedom (Kindle Locations 541-543). Thinking Differently Press. Kindle Edition. 2 I became aware of the “Levels of Change” model via Bob Hamp’s message, “Levels of Change.” Hamp’s message on “Levels of Change” can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/30752155. The concept was originally introduced by Robert Dilts and his use of the work of Gregory Bateson. Dilts referred to it as “Logical Levels of Learning.” A brief history of Robert Dilts’ approach to “Logical Levels” is available here: http://www.nlpu.com/Articles/LevelsSummary.htm.

Philippians 4:12-13 (MSG), I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. 2. LEVEL TWO: BEHAVIOR

FREEDOM PRINCIPLE: What I SEEK FIRST will

ORGANIZE every other area of my life.

Matthew 6:33 (ESV), …seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 3. LEVEL THREE: CAPABILITIES (Skills and Strategies)

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Romans 12:2a (NLT), Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. 1 Corinthians 2:16b (NIV), …we have the mind of Christ. 4. LEVEL FOUR: BELIEFS + VALUES

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV), Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Two Categories of Belief:

• What we believe about God

• What we believe about ourselves 5. LEVEL FIVE: IDENTITY

FREEDOM is the ability to ACT and REACT in life as the person I was created and redeemed to be. 3

Freedom is not about what you’ve been set free from, it’s about WHO YOU ARE being SET FREE to BECOME!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV), …if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Colossians 1:13-14 (NIV), For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

3 Bob Hamp, Think Differently, Live Differently: Keys to a Life of Freedom (Kindle Locations 541-543). Thinking Differently Press. Kindle Edition.

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Luke 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” John 8:36 (NLT), So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. 6. LEVEL SIX: SPIRIT

Romans 8:11 (NLT), The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Romans 8:14-17 (NLT), For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.

OUR NEW IDENTITY I am completely accepted… I am a child of God (John 1:12; Rom 8:16). Because I am God’s child. I am an heir of God and a co-heir with Jesus Christ (Roma 8:17; Gal 4:6-7). I’ve been accepted by Christ (Rom 15:7). I am a disciple and a friend of Jesus Christ (John 15:15). I have been justified by faith! When God looks at me He says me, just-as-if-I-had never sinned (Romans 3:24; 5:1). I have peace with God because of Jesus (Romans 5:1). I am united with the Lord and one with Him in spirit (1 Cor 6:17). I have been bought with a price and I belong to God (1 Cor 6:19-20). I am part of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27). I was loved and chosen by God before the creation of the world (Eph 1:4, 11). I have been adopted into the family of God’s (Eph 1:5; Rom 8). Because of Jesus, God has poured out His glorious grace on me (Eph 1:5, 8), I have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred to the Kingdom of God’s own son who purchased my freedom and forgave my sins (Col 1:13-14). I am a new person. The old life is gone. A new life has begun. The past is forgiven. The old life is forgotten. Everything is new (2 Cor 5:17).

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I am complete in Christ (Col 2:9-10). Because of Jesus, I have direct access to the “throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:14-16). I am a part of a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and God’s special possession (1 Pet 2:9-10). I am a saint… God calls me a saint (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2; Eph 1:1). I am totally secure… I can live free from condemnation because I belong to Jesus Christ (Rom 8:1). The law of the Spirit of life has set me free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2). I can be sure that God works all things together for my ultimate good and His great glory (Rom 8:28). Because of Jesus, nothing — absolutely nothing — can separate me from the love of God (Rom 8:31-39). I can stand firm and have been anointed, commissioned and identified as God’s own (2 Cor 1:21-22). I have been raised to new life in Christ (Col 3:1). My life is hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:1-4). I am confident that God will finish the good work He started in me (Phil 1:6). I am a citizen of heaven (Phil 3:20). I have not been given a spirit of fear or timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline (2 Tim 1:7). I am born of God and the evil one can’t touch me (1 Jn 5:18).

I am deeply significant… I am the salt of the earth. (Matthew 5:13)

I am the light of the world. (Matthew 5:14) I am branch connected to the true vine. Christ’s life flows in, through and out of me… If I remain / abide in Him and He remains / abides in me, I will produce fruit. In fact, In fact, I’ll produce a lot of it. He is the source. Apart from Him I can’t do a thing (John 15:1-5). I’ve been chosen and appointed by Christ to produce fruit (John 15:16). I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms (Eph 1:3). I have the mind of Christ. He enables me to make right and wise decisions (1 Cor 2:16). I am a Holy Spirit empowered agent and witness of Jesus given the mission of telling everyone possible the good news. (Acts 1:8) I am the temple of God. The Spirit of God lives in me (1 Cor 3:16). I am an ambassador / representative of Christ and a minister of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). I have been raised up and seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). I am God’s masterpiece… His work of art… God workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). I can come into God’s presence with freedom, boldness and confidence (Ephesians 3:12). I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).

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I am what God says I am… I am forgiven (Eph 1:8; Col 1:14). I have a purpose (Pro 16:4; Jer 29:11; Eph 1:11; Ps 33:11). I have hope (1 Pet 1:3-6; Ps 39:7; Jer 29:11; Rom 5:4-5; ). I have peace (Eph 2:14). I’m a member of God’s family (Eph 2:18). I am a servant of the gospel (Eph 3:7). I am not alone and will never be abandoned by God (Heb 13:5). I am growing deep roots and strong in truth (Col 2:7). I’ve got a prayer partner who never fails. Jesus is always interceding for me (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25). I have been marked and sealed with promised Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13). I am one of God’s co-workers (2 Cor 6:1). I am dead to sin (Rom 6:11; 1 Pet 2:24). I’ve been buried with Christ, and raised up and made alive with Christ (Eph 2:5; Col 2:12-13). I am born of God and overcome this world (1 John 5:14). I am more than a conqueror through Him who loved me (Rom 8:37). I have been saved and called by God to live a holy life (2 Tim 1:9; Titus 3:5). Because I have been made holy, Jesus is not ashamed to call me a brother (Heb 2:11).

God has given me everything I need for living a godly life. He has given me great and precious promises that are making me more and more like Him (2 Pet 1:3-4). I am healed (1 Pet 2:24; Isaiah 53:5; Ps 103:3). I am, right now, a child of God. You can’t see what I will be, but when He appears, I will be like Him. I will see Him just as He is (1 John 3:1-2). I can overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb, through the word of my testimony because I don’t love life so much that I shrink back in my commitment when I’m faced with death (Rev 12:11). Greater is who lives in me than He who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

I am a king and priest unto our God. (Rev 5:10) I am not the great “I am” (Exod 3:14; John 8:24, 28, 58), but by the grace of God “I am what I am” (1 Cor 15:10). “The more you reaffirm who you are in Christ, the more your behavior will begin to reflect your true identity.” —Dr. Neil Anderson, Victory Over the Darkness