The Ultimate Identity Thief

Identity theft is a major problem worldwide.  Advances in technology have helped us to reach out and touch one another -- but not always in a positive way.

People go to great lengths to protect their identity from crafty thieves who, in turn, go to great lengths to circumvent the systems designed to thwart them.

It's a never-ending battle of wits and will.  But, no matter what dastardly tricks the identity thieves have up their slippery sleeves, nothing they can do compares to the ultimate identity theft--the theft of our true identity in Jesus Christ.

"The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy..." (John 10:10a)  One of the most crafty ways he does this is by confusing us about who and whose we are.  Satan is famous for rewriting our life's story into something contrary to God's divine design.  He will tell us that we were born with a short temper, a bad attitude or wayward desires.  Even worse, he will tell us that these things are inescapable, unavoidable and represent the final word on who we are and what we are to become.

The enemy will even go so far as to have some of us believing that God made a mistake in designing our bodies or in designating our gender.  Based on half truths and whole lies, some of us submit to the surgeon's scalpel to "correct" God's "mistake." 

What happened? As the apostle Paul asked in Galatians 3:1, "who bewitched [us] that [we] should not obey the truth?" With our mouths we exclaim that Jesus is Lord of our lives--our Saviour and Lord.  But, with our actions we actually declare allegiance to the world.

Have we forgotten?  We were bought with a price--Jesus' shed blood on Calvary.  And, even though we were all born in sin and shaped in iniquity, we should not believe Satan's lies that claim we cannot be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  Furthermore, the rest of the scripture from John 10:10 says that Jesus has come that we "might have life, and that [we] may have it more abundantly."

Even if we have had challenging or tragic situations that detoured or deterred us away from God's loving and perfect will, we can always--yes, always--turn around.  We don't have to accept the false, distorted identity that either forces us to live a lie or call God a liar with regard to who we truly are.

Sooner or later we will come to realize that the feelings and voices inside us tormenting us about who we really are may not be coming from our "true" selves but from a cunning identity thief tempting us to echo the serpent's question to Eve in the garden of Eden, "did God say....?"

Remember, from the beginning the serpent was "more crafty" and knew how to get Adam and Eve to rebel against God, question God's directives, and forfeit their God-given identities. 

Our emotional and spiritual immaturity, pain, and loneliness are perfect tools for Satan to use in crafting the pseudo identities that we naively exchange for the ones God had in mind before the foundation of the world.

"...and they exchanged the truth of God for a lie...." (Romans 1:25)

If you realize that you have fallen for Satan's lie about who you "really" are, acknowledge it to God, repent and ask God to reveal to you the true and truly awesome plan He has for your life.  I have a pretty good feeling that God's plan does not involve any of us being angry, addicted, bitter, controlling, promiscuous, confused, misused or abused.

We will know when God's plan is in operation in our lives when our lives line up with God's Word--not against it.  We must remember that our lives have been crafted to be beautiful masterpieces that give God glory, something God would proudly out His signature on. 

Take a moment to check the authorization signature on your spiritual ID card.  If God's name and seal are not clearly all over it, you just might be an unsuspecting victim of the ultimate identity thief....

BNcouraged!

Rev. Karen