And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
(Luke 2:52)

The greater your Word intake, the more Christ will be manifested through you. Mark Hankins

I believe when Jesus was ten, eleven, or twelve years old, He found out who He was by reading it in the scriptures. Jesus identified with the Word as He read Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”

Many people, not just teenagers, have an identity crisis. They search for it in some psychology book or by trying to mimic a movie star. They comb their hair like someone they see on TV. They watch some cowboy movie and think they are John Wayne, or they see a motorcycle rider and think they need a motorcycle and a bandanna around their head too!

You will find your identity in the same book as Jesus did — the Bible. You do not have to spend your entire life searching for your identity. You are a new creature in Christ — your identity is now In Christ!

Confession: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me. (Galatians 2:20)

He quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. (Romans 4:17)

When Jesus came to preach the Gospel to the poor, He didn’t just pass out a bunch of fish sandwiches!
Mark Hankins

The story of Gideon is another classic, yet radical identity change that took place in the Bible. He was living in a hole in the ground and hiding out from the enemy. Every time Gideon tried to do anything, the Midianites destroyed it. In the midst of his hole-in-the-ground existence, God sent an angel to Gideon with a message, “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour!” (Judges 6:12) God has a sense of humor because at this time in Gideon’s life, there was no evidence of valor!

God’s Word will cause nothing to become something. Gideon chewed on God’s Word to him– “You mighty man of valour” — until he finally swallowed it. Then with trumpets, pitchers, lamps, and a cry of the sword of the Lord, Gideon and his three hundred-man army whipped the enemy. (Judges 7:20-22) Any time you get involved with God and His Word, He will totally change the way you see yourself and the way you see life!

Confession: It is God that worketh in me both to will and to do of His good pleasure! (Philippians 2:13)

Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. (Jeremiah 18:2-4)

God is the original “people person”; He specializes in making people over again and giving them brand new identities. Mark Hankins

God can give you a new identity. He made you, so He ought to be able to remake you. God is not someone who just does repairs. We are talking about the One who creates people. God creates people out of nothing. No scientist has ever figured out how to make people because God is the manufacturer!

God told Jeremiah, “You go down to the potter’s house, and I am going to show you that when people have defects in them, I will make them over again.” God is in the business of changing people’s identities. He remakes you from the inside out. When you are born again, your spirit is recreated. Then He builds from the inside out — changing your mind, renewing it, rebuilding your thinking and attitudes, and then changing your body and your actions.

Confession: God has given me a new identity. He is rebuilding me from the inside out!

Therefore, if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new being! His old life has passed away; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17 20th Century)

You became a new creation in Christ the day you were saved, but it won’t become a reality to you unless you walk in the light of the Word. Mark Hankins

You can get a whole new identity when you see who God says you are and what God says you have. Your self-esteem will go right through the roof!

The devil wants to destroy your dignity and self-esteem. But when you see your value in what God has done for you in the death and resurrection of Christ, you will hold your head up high and forget those things, which are behind.

God made provision for you to be in Christ even before you were saved, but this new identity did not become yours until you exercised faith in Him when you were born again. You’ll have to feed on the Word, get it engrafted on the inside of you, receive revelation knowledge of the Word, and let the Holy Spirit help you to see your new identity — who you are in Christ and what you have in Him.

Confession: My old life is gone and a new life has begun. God has given my life value in Christ!