Priscilla Shirer: How to Find Your Identity in Christ

listen to me you are not defined by your

past you are not defined by your

behavior you are not defined by your

failures you are not defined by your

struggles you are not defined by your

feelings you are not defined by your

circumstances you are not defined by the

here today gone tomorrow false

ideologies and philosophies of our

current culture you are who God says you

are Point Blank

period that doesn’t

change

Lord Jesus we your sons and your

daughters we are literally sitting on

the edge of our seat in anticipation of

what you came to say to us tonight

father we are so glad that each other is

here but we didn’t really come to see

each other we came to see you so speak

father we are listening in Jesus name

amen I will tell you that I was a little

bit of a mischievous

teenager I gave my parents of the four

of us I gave my parents a run for their

money I was the one that was always

coming up with stuff to do as a teenager

and one of the things I decided to do

was my freshman year in high school I

decided that I would change my name I

came up with a little nickname and I

decided to change my name now just to

give you a little context for that

choice I went along with my three

siblings we all went to a little private

school around the corner from my parents

house the house they still live in to

this day bralo Christian School was the

name of the school and we went there

from kindergarten to e8th grade then our

freshman year we transferred to the

neighboring Public School District so

just to give you context here the

largest my class ever was in this

private school was about 20 kids at its

largest by the time I got to our eighth

grade year there were about 13 kids in

my eighth grade class ninth grade year

so I transfer to Duncanville High School

it is one of the largest school

districts in Texas actually it’s more

like a college campus really than a high

school when I transferred from 13

students at Rallo Christian School to

the freshman year at Duncanville High

School there were

753 kids in my freshman class not the

high school just the Freshman Class of

753 kids so it was a completely

different context for me and these were

going to be people who most of whom did

not know me I didn’t know them so I

thought this would be a fun opportunity

to change my identity entirely I would

change my name give myself a brand new

name I had heard of a student that I’d

met through other acquaintances is at

another school her initials were DK and

people called her DK I thought it was

clever so I adopted this nickname my new

name was

DK now I remember telling Nicole my

friend from youth group at church we had

grown up in church together she was

already in the Duncanville High School

school district so I remember telling

her about my plan she’s the only one

that knew about my little plan because I

knew she was going to be the connective

tissue between me and most of the new

friends I was going to be making so I

said to her listen girl when you

introduced me me to people at this new

school don’t introduce me as Priscilla

go ahead and introduce me as DK she said

girl

what I said yes introduce me as as DK

and so I remember showing up that very

first day of school I remember walking

into this brand new huge New World this

new campus and I remember her

introducing me to people she would look

at me inquisitively to make sure I was

still still down with this this was

still my plan before she began to

introduce me one person after the other

as DK I introduced myself to my teachers

and my new friends as DK and to make a

long story short it caught on for the LA

for the four years that I was in school

there was not one student there was not

one teacher there was not one school

administrator not one principal not one

athletic coach that did not refer to me

as DK most people didn’t even really

know that my name was Priscilla

everybody called me DK in fact just

anybody in that whole season of my life

so people or Co coaches from other

schools where we would sort of compete

with them in different capacities they

all called me DK it was monogrammed on

all my athletic uniforms it was

monogrammed on my Letterman’s jacket

every single person in that season of my

life called me DK in fact still to this

day if someone refers to me as DK on

social media or someone yells across the

mall hey DK or across the aisles at the

grocery store if anybody refers to me as

DK I automatically know it’s somebody

that knew me in that season of My Life

because everybody called me DK now this

didn’t bother my parents too much they

didn’t really say anything about it

until one day I remember getting sick at

school I had a fever so they had to call

my mom to come pick me up I remember

laying on that little cot behind the

curtain that they pull in the nurses

station and I remember hearing my mom

come up to the to the counter there at

the nursing station I remember hearing

her say I’m here for Priscilla and I

also remember the nurse saying

who I remember hearing them toggle back

and forth for just a few moments before

they decided that she was here for DK SL

Priscilla so my mom took picked me up

took me home she didn’t say anything to

me for the first uh evening because I

didn’t feel well nor the next day nor

the next day she waited till I was 100%

until she hemmed me up in the corner

with the mama eye y’all know what I’m

talking about when I say the mama eye

and she said now Priscilla I want to be

clear about something me nor your father

have minded this whole little nickname

business it hasn’t bothered at all we

know it’s just been a little high school

experiment no big deal it’s been all in

fun but she said I want to be clear

about something graduation is coming and

when graduation comes they’re going to

have a ceremony somebody’s going to have

a microphone in their hand they’re going

to say your name and your name is going

to be Amplified in that room she said

not only that but they’re going to hand

you a piece of paper and she said when

they hand you that piece of paper there

better not be a d or a k anywhere in

[Laughter]

sight and she said here’s the reason why

she said the reason why is because it

doesn’t matter what everybody else calls

you it doesn’t even matter what you call

yourself there’s only one or two me and

your father who have the right and the

privilege to give you your name only the

one who gave you life has the authority

to identify

you I came

tonight flew over from Dallas Texas

earlier this afternoon because I want to

tonight just speak a word of identity

over you I want so much to remind you

who you are I want you to know that it

doesn’t matter what other people have

called you that it doesn’t even matter

what you’ve called yourself there is

only one who has the right and the

authority to tell you who you are I want

you to know that other people aren’t

qualified to name you and circumstances

they may have made things difficult for

you but they actually aren’t powerful

enough to Define you I want you to know

that your history may have marked you

but it is not authorized to label you I

want you to know that what your mama

called you or what your daddy did to you

it may have hurt you and it may actually

take real emotional work and years to

kind of come up out of the the unhealth

that it rooted into your life I

understand that but I want you to know

that it does not have the power to shape

the totality of who it is that you’ve

been called to

be listen to me you are not defined by

your past you are not defined by your

behavior you are not defined by your

failures you are not defined by your

struggles you are not defined by your

feelings you are not defined by your

circumstances you are not defined by the

here today gone tomorrow false

ideologies and philosophies of our

current culture you are who God says you

are Point Blank

period that doesn’t

change your your father has given you a

name did you know that he has said that

you are a chosen race you’re a royal

priesthood you are a person that has

been redeemed and chosen adopted and

qualified you are not a mistake you are

not an afterthought you are not a

liability you have been created in the

very image of God that means every

aspect of your physicality it means the

skin you’re in it means the hair texture

that is on your head it means the

structure of your body every unique

aspect of your physicality and my

physicality has been made in the very

image of God that means that any person

or any system that seeks to diminish the

value of the uniqueness of who I am is

actually anti- God because I’m an

expression of the creative genius of

God but not only that it not only means

that physically you’re created in the

image of God but did you know that even

your personality is a unique expression

of the creative genius of God you are

made and fitted with the uniqueness of

your personality and your temperament in

the image of God you are not introverted

by mistake you are not extroverted by

mistake you are who God created you to

be even your weaknesses aren’t a

liability they are actually a unique

fitting by God because your weaknesses

just be become a platform for the

strength of God to be displayed through

your

[Applause]

life and then when we surrender all of

who we are physically and in our

personality when we surrender all we are

to God and place faith in his son Jesus

Christ and give him our body and our

personality to be used as tools as

instruments for his glory well now the

holy spirit of God takes up residence on

the inside of us so then we are now

becoming

temples of the holy spirit of God God’s

actual presence lives on the inside of

me that means that with this presence in

me well now I’m an overcomer is what I

am I’m an

overcomer this issue of identity y’all

is so important because the enemy wants

so much to twist and turn your identity

your image of who God has created you to

be because you will either live up to or

you will live down to whatever you

believe to be true about who you are so

this issue of identity is so critical

that it is one of the theological

threads that we see threaded all the way

out throughout the pages of scripture

from the beginning of to the end there

are some uh theological principles that

relegate themselves to one sliver of the

Bible maybe one book or one Testament

but not identity identity is all the way

from the beginning in Genesis you read

about it all the way to the end all the

way to the maps at the end of the book

you see this issue of identity from the

very beginning we see God call an

obscure man named Abram pluck him up out

of an obscure town and the very first

thing he does when he finds this man is

change his name he changes his name from

Abram to Abraham and after he changes

his name y’all he changes the GPS

coordinates on his

Destiny cuz that’s what happens when God

changes your name he changes where

you’re headed he changes where you’re

going to end up he changes Abram’s name

and he says Abraham I am now going to

create out of you a brand new group of

people they will be mine and I will be

theirs I will set them apart they will

now not be who they used to be they will

bear my name my provision and my

promises and my blessing will be their

staple they will be mine and I will be

theirs If Only They will choose to align

themselves with their new identity if

only they’ll think in alignment with

their new identity if only they’ll

behave in alignment with their new

identity not how they feel not according

to their circumstances not what other

people are saying about them but if they

will just act like who I’m calling them

is who they really are they will see my

blessings explode in their lives but the

children of Israel in the Old Testament

are exactly like us if you read

throughout the Old Testament you see

that over and over again y’all they’re

seduced by the idols of the culture over

and over again we see the children of

Israel running in fear from foreign

enemies over and over again we see that

they keep on forgetting who they are

they don’t live up to the standard of

who God calls them to be they keep on

bending and bowing and settling and

living below the standard that they were

called for that they were freed from 400

years of slavery to receive the

blessings of God they don’t get to enjoy

them we literally find in these two

verses that I’m going to read to you in

just a second we find the children of

Israel actually on the land of milk and

honey they are on the real estate of

Canaan can’t enjoy the blessings they’re

in the place where God’s blessings are

supposed to abound but they can’t en

enjoy them simply because they didn’t

get this identity issue straight and so

y’all we live in a day and age where if

you have not noticed where the enemy is

running rampant with this issue of

identity we can tell this because

everything is being redefined the things

that God has already given definitions

to everybody’s trying to

redefine but you are who God says you

are you are who he has created you to be

but everything for the children of

Israel and everything for you can

completely

change when God meets with one person

and reworks their view of their identity

it’s the hinge that changes the course

of a life y’all let’s pray Lord Jesus

thank you so much for your word I thank

you that it is living and active and

sharper than any two-edged sword Lord

you have come to speak to us and so I

ask father that you will I pray Lord

that the words of my mouth and the

meditation of my hearts will be

acceptable I love what Miss Joyce prayed

last night father she saido not let me

say anything that is not

exactly what you want your daughters to

hear Speak Lord in Jesus name

amen as was mentioned um I have the

privilege of raising three sons Jackson

is 16 and then Jerry Jr is 14 and then

we have Jude I’ve told y’all before Jude

is he’s 10 years old now but he’s our

surprise boy we still don’t know how

Jude made it here and um we named him

Jude on purpose cuz that’s as close as I

could get to Revelation cuz honey it is

finished that is the end of the line

Jackson Jerry Jr and Jude I took them

earlier this year to the movies that’s

one of our things we like to do is go to

a movie when one comes out that’s really

what we want to see and um it’s kind of

our thing and so we went to the movies

we saw it in 3D so we sat down we um are

all together at this Disney movie and

and we we we started the film and after

the film was already well underway I’m

talking we’re 15 20 minutes into the

movie Jude the youngest looks over at me

and Taps me on the shoulder and says Mom

I don’t like this movie and I said buddy

why don’t you like the movie and he said

I cannot see it it is blurry why did

they make a movie in 3D but the whole

thing is blurry since the beginning of

this thing I haven’t been able to really

clearly see anything and I looked down

at him and I said buddy did you take the

glasses did did you take the glasses out

of the package you know they gave you

those little glasses and he said these

and I said yes buddy those put them on

he put the glasses on that he had

neglected to put on at the very

beginning and he said this is awesome I

can see I can see I love conferences

like this one opportunities like this

one because y’all what it really is

about is fitting you with the spiritual

eyewear that you need to see your life

from the perspective of how God sees you

and the story that he’s crafting through

your life and through mine the movie

that I took them to go see was

Incredibles 2 Incredibles 2 I’m not sure

if you saw that one but it was man just

as good as the first one and I loved the

storyline so much in this one uh Mr

Incredible and his wife elasa girl you

know they’re in the throws of taking

care of evil and sort of coming out of

of retirement in order to do that but it

Incredibles too it’s elasa girl that

takes the Forefront she’s the one that’s

sort of at the helm of fighting dangers

and evil in the society and the children

end up having to get much more involved

this time man they are running across

powers that they never knew they had

they’re being set in scenarios that are

a little bit dangerous a little bit

risky lots of adventure uh that they are

called to sort of uh be a part of and

you know alasa girl she’s she’s got a

mama’s heart and she’s watching her

three babies in the throws of all of

this and at one point she turns to her

husband Mr Incredible and she says

they’re just

children and he says they’re children

but they’re children with

power and because they have power that

makes them

special and then he said whether or not

they choose to use the power is up to

them but either way they’ve got it it

occurs to me in a room this size with

women that are actually daughters that

have plac faith in Jesus Christ we’re

children but y’all we ain’t just

children we’re children with

power that the holy spirit of God has

given you power so that whatever place

of danger or risk or Adventure that you

may have been called into you need to

know that you’ve got the power to

sustain you into that place in which you

have been called and and but but here’s

the deal whether or not you choose to

use it now that’s up to you what I don’t

want is to get to the end of my days

only to look back and realize I had all

that power but never took advantage of

it it is at least in part to that end

that I believe that there is a portion

of scripture that man over the past year

it has spoken so clearly to me and been

a blessing in my life I want to share it

with you it is in Luke’s gospel if you

have your Bible and you want to turn

there with me you can if you know if you

actually still use a Bible with paper

Pages like I do or your iPhone your iPad

pad any manner of iness we’ll get you to

Luke chapter 9 I think they’re going to

put it on the screens as well I want to

read verse one and two then I’m going to

jump over to verse 10 I’m going to read

verse 10-1

17 Luke chapter 9 verse 1 and 2 says

this it says and he called the 12

together that’s Jesus he called the 12

together he gave them power and

authority over all demons and to heal

diseases and then he sent them out to

proclaim the kingdom of God and perform

healing listen to that again this is the

disciples going on their

adventure and Jesus called he called

somebody say he called he called he

called the 12 together and then he gave

somebody say he gave he gave he gave

them

power and and he gave them

Authority then verse two says and then

he sent somebody say he sent he s he

sent them

out verse 10 says and when the apostles

returned they gave him an account of all

that they had done and taking them with

him he withdrew by himself to a city

called Betha and the multitudes verse 11

says they were aware of this so they

followed Jesus and welcoming them he

began speaking to them about the kingdom

of God and curing those who had need of

healing verse 12 says and the day began

to declin the 12 came and said to him

Jesus please send this multitude away

they need to go into the surrounding

Villages and Countryside and find

lodging and get something to eat for

right here I don’t know if you’ve

noticed or Not Jesus but here we’re in a

desolate place but Jesus said to them in

verse 13 He said uh-uh you give them

something to eat they said come on Jesus

we have no more than Five Loaves and two

fish unless perhaps we go and we buy

food for all of these people Luke wants

to make sure you know that there were

5,000 men there I love the physician

Luke because he wants to tell you the

details he says 5,000 men because there

were women and children there so

Scholars say there were likely 15,000

there on that patch of Stony ground that

day Jesus said have all of them recline

in groups of about 50 verse 15 says so

they did that had them all recline and

Jesus Took The Five Loaves and the two

fish and looking up to heaven he blessed

them and then he broke them and he kept

giving them to the disciples to set

before the multitude in verse 17 says

they all ate and they were all satisfied

and then they picked up the leftovers

and when they did they discovered that

there were 12 baskets full of leftovers

and this very familiar story that many

of us probably have heard or and are in

some way familiar with is a story of a

multitude of people who are being fed

they are hungry they are empty they’re

in need of nourishment and they are more

in need of an encounter with Jesus and

Jesus gives them both but I want us to

turn our attention away from the

multitude and really focus in on these

12 disciples the disciples those who

walk with Jesus and talk with Jesus

those who are in relationship with Jesus

those who follow him those who want to

learn of Jesus the disciples the one who

fly halfway across the country to come

to the conference to learn more about

Jesus the

disciples I believe that this story this

well-loved story and encounter

miraculous encounter that Jesus had in

the scriptures man I believe that it is

it is uh starts not just when the crowd

gets hungry I really do believe that it

starts in verse 1 and two we find that

the disciples the 12 have an up close

personal Encounter With Jesus we find

more out more about this particular

encounter that they had in Mark chapter

6 you don’t have to turn there but this

exact same story is told in Mark chapter

6 what I love so much about the first

three books of the New Testament is that

they’re called the synoptic gospels

Matthew Mark and Luke synoptic meaning

that there’s Synergy in the stories that

are told the tone in which they’re told

the way that they uh that the writers

wrote those particular encounters

and the more you read them the more

layers of insight you can gain about

what happened in that particular story

in that particular encounter that Jesus

had we find this same story found in

Mark chapter 6 and when we read Mark

chapter 6 it gives us some texture to

the story it’s kind of like if someone

offered you some chocolate cake and they

gave you an option you could either have

a one layer chocolate cake or a seven

layer chocolate cake well I don’t know

what y’all going to do but I’m going to

choose the seven layer chocolate cake

every single time because the more

layers there are the more rich and

delectable The Experience becomes Mark

chapter 6 is our layer of chocolate cake

what we find out is that this is the

occasion where God Called Jesus called

the disciples together and do you

remember he sent them out in pairs he

sent them out two by two to the

neighboring towns and the neighboring

communities they he sent them out with

an with an assignment their assignment

was that every everywhere they went

every person that they encountered

should walk away with a more clear um

picture in their head of who Jesus

really is that they were supposed to go

out in power and authority to preach and

to teach and to perform miracles for the

purpose of authenticating that Jesus was

who he said he was and that Jesus could

do exactly what he had said that he

could do the whole point of the

disciples coming together and then being

dispersed was so that the power and

authority with which they would live

their life would mean that every person

they encountered every interaction that

they had would leave the people who they

had encountered knowing that Jesus must

be the real deal what’s the point of Us

coming together if after we leave this

place every person we encounter does not

know that there must be a god somewhere

and his name is Jesus Christ

so they go out in

pairs and I mean they handle their

assignment with Integrity they are fully

entrenched Mark chapter 6 tells us in

the task that is at hand and after they

finish the

assignment they come back to Jesus and

they give him an account for how they

handled the assignment that they had

been given how they handled the ministry

that had been entrusted to them I want

to make sure that everybody in the room

knows that they are in Ministry if you

have named The Name of Jesus Christ you

are in Ministry don’t let someone else

or the enemy convince you that Min

Ministry is relegated to standing on a

platform behind a Podium with a little

microphone attached to you Ministry is

the place where you’ve been called to

serve in the assignment that you have

been given every one of us are

representatives of the King of Kings and

the Lord of lords you are in

Ministry it’s a mother of small children

don’t let anybody tell you that you’re

not in Ministry every single time you

sit around that dinner table with the

casserole that you prepare the new way

that you figured out to make chicken for

dinner

tonight and you figured it out

successfully one more night and you sit

those kids around the table and you pray

over them and you teach them a Bible

verse before they go to bed don’t let

anybody tell you that that ain’t

Ministry at high school student when

you’re walking down the corridor of that

high school that you attend and you’re

the one that stands for righteousness in

the midst of the darkness don’t let

anybody tell you seventh grader eighth

grader freshman sophomore that you are

not in

Ministry a university student like Mr

Dave’s niece that he just told us about

University student when you you are the

only one in the philosophy class where

the professor is telling you things and

teaching you things that are left of

center of the truth of God’s word and

you’re the only student in the class of

300 that raises their hands and takes

them to term and lets them know that

there actually is a truth a standard

that is the word of God you are in

[Applause]

Ministry and corporate man or woman when

you you sit around that boardroom table

and you’re the only one that when

they’re talking about their projections

for the future but they lack a smidge of

Integrity or character and you’re the

one that stands for righteousness and

calls people back to the truth of God

don’t let anybody tell you that that

ain’t

Ministry every single one of us has an

assignment and just like the

disciples the day is coming coming where

we’re going to have to give an

account the day is coming sooner than we

think but we’re going to look our savior

in his face and we’re going to have to

give an account for how we used our time

and how we used our talents and how we

uh used the gifts that he entrusted to

us and how we took care of the

assignments that each and every one of

us have been called to he’s not going to

ask me about her assignment he’s going

to ask me about

mine and he’s not going to be interested

in how many Instagram followers I had he

will not be interested in how many

people were my friends on Facebook are

liked the tweet that I put up he’s only

going to ask me number one did I know

his son Jesus

Christ and then I’m going to have to

give an account for the assignment that

he called me

to and when I look my savior in his

face I want to tell you that I am

looking

for well

done anybody interested and well

done I want to hear well done which

means that my main priority can’t be to

please

you your main priority cannot be to

please me our priority collectively

cannot be to Garner the Applause of

people our interest has to be in Garing

the Applause of

Heaven because the day is coming sooner

than you think well we’re going to have

to look at our savior and give him an

account um I was being a bit nostalgic

as I was here last night listening to

Bishop Louie bring the word to

us but I was nostalgic because it was

about two decades plus ago that I was in

Atlanta and I was sitting in a

conference that was about the size of

just this one section right here on the

floor for a group that at the time was

called the impact movement and as a

little arm of Campus Crusade for Christ

that would gather together a group of

young people in

Atlanta high school and college age the

last years of high school and the

beginning of my college Years I would

come to the impact movement in Atlanta

and sit just like you are and someone

that had walked the road a little bit

longer than I had would stand on the

platform and tell me that I was going to

be an

arrow that the Lord would shoot

out that the impact that my life could

have if I would just follow Jesus would

be an impact the likes of which I could

never

imagine I came to Echo what it is that

that Lou has said y’ y’all don’t even

know what it is that the Lord has in

store you can’t even imagine I’m trying

to tell you that whatever is in your

mind right now about what what God might

do with your life it is too small for

what he’s actually planning to

do too

small you cannot fathom what God has in

mind for you the reason why I can say

that with that much

boldness is because while there are 30

plus thousand of us that are gathered

together in these three Arenas and then

those that are on the other side of the

screen in their

homes 30,000 sounds like a big number

unless you consider the fact that with

7even plus billion people on the planet

the fact that he’d let us be the ones

that are recipients of what he’s done

over these last few weekends really it’s

just or last few days really it’s just a

drop in the bucket 30,000 sounds like a

lot but in the grand scheme of all the

people that could have been here y’all

he chose

us that means he intended for you to

know you’re an

arrow that your expectation is that

you’re getting ready to go places the

likes of which you could never

imagine I’ve asked the Lord to put an

exclamation point on our on our uh

conference together in this last session

to just seal what it is whatever it is

he’s been doing in your heart that he

wants to continue to do and I’m going to

ask him to do that in Jesus name would

you bow your heads with me Lord I Thank

you so

much for this privilege I thank you that

you speak and that we your daughters and

sons have the privilege to hear I thank

you Lord for the great gift that it is

to know that you have allowed us to be

arrows in your hands and we say right

now collectively wherever you send us we

will go whatever Mission you send us on

Lord we’re we’re gain for it father we

surrender to you and now Lord do what

you always do open up the windows of

heaven and come in here and speak to us

father we’re so glad each other is here

here but we didn’t come to see each

other we came to see you and so father

speak somebody say Speak Lord speak say

Speak Lord Speak Lord we are your sons

we are your daughters and we came to

hear a word take this simple message

would you divide it about

35,000 different ways so that every

person under the sound of my voice will

know that today they have been in the

presence of God in Jesus name everybody

agreed when they said amen amen amen oh

I like y’all y’all talk back to me I go

to that kind of a church where they talk

back you know I go to the kind of church

where if the preaching gets really good

to us we might throw something at the

pastor a shoe a baby anything might go

flying up

there y’all are my people y’all came to

have

church so I have three

boys um it’s a little bit scary to me

that they are nearly will be very soon

in the next few years we’ll be about

your age three sons the distinguishing

characteristic about my boys is that

they are giants they are huge boys my

15-year-old is 6’2 in tall he wears a

size 14 men’s shoe my 13-year-old is

about 61 he wears a 13 men’s shoe and uh

they Tower over me I have a 9-year-old

who’s coming up in the ranks with his

brothers they are tall boys somebody

come help me feed these

people and one of the distinguishing

characteristics about or or what makes

their size work for them rather is that

they do love sports so whatever sport is

sort of in season that’s what we’re

playing at the time my second son for a

lot of years he’s into basketball now

but for a lot of years baseball was his

thing and I enjoyed that I enjoyed

baseball season I liked going out there

for Spring ball I liked Spring ball

because you go sit in the cool of the

evening while your kid is practicing I

remember all those years of of little

league when he was just coming up and

we’d sit out there in the cool of the

spring evening Under The Lights of the

bleachers watching and practice and

enjoying just uh that that whole

atmosphere I like Spring ball so much

the only problem with Spring ball is

that it is going to become Summer Ball

and I don’t know what happens where you

live wherever you’re coming from but I

can’t tell you in Dallas Texas which is

where I still

live and where I was born and raised in

Dallas Texas in the summertime it

doesn’t warm up

slightly it gets hot I’m talking about

slap your mama hot that kind of hot the

kind of hot where you feel like the sun

must be mad at you about something like

you did something to the sun and the Sun

is trying to get you back all summer

long that’s what it feels like and

you’re sitting out there at a game

trying to enjoy your kids game and it

really still is okay when there’s just

one game the problem is that at the end

of every season there’s a tournament so

you got to be out there on a Thursday at

8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. and noon and

2:00 p.m. and and then depending upon

how your kids team did you’re going to

have to come back on Friday at 8:00 a.m.

and 10:00 a.m. and then they give you a

little lunch break but you got to come

back for the 2 p.m game the 4 P.M game

and then if your kids team had the nerve

to do well you got to come back again on

Saturday for the 8: a.m. game and 10:00

a.m. and and noon and 2 and man you’re

sitting out there under the blazing sun

trying to be happy that your kid is

doing

well really you’re wondering if it’s

ever okay to pray a lose so you can go

home

I will never confirm nor deny that I

have ever done that but I will tell you

that we were sitting out there at a

tournament so several years ago sun was

Blazing we were so excited for the lunch

break just because that meant we would

be able to go to a restaurant where

there would be air condition and ice

water that actually had ice in it we got

refreshed we came back we drove our SUV

up into the parking lot opened up the

back of the SUV so that we could pull

out all the gear that we needed to go to

the next game in the tournament we were

3 days into the tournament hot sweaty

they were doing well we were trying to

be excited about it ready for the next

game I was walking behind my son to get

from where we had parked the car over

toward the Dugout where the next game

was going to be played and so I gathered

up all the stuff you know the ice chest

that you have and the um the umbrella

that you might have to go over your head

and you know the water bottles the the

backpacks the The Baseballs the mitts

all that stuff and I was following

behind my son my second son Jerry Jr is

a fairly gregarious personality he’s

outgoing he’s excited for a challenge so

I could see that in his step as I

followed behind him I could see a skip

in his step his chin was up his

shoulders were back he was excited about

the next game and I got to tell you he’s

pretty good in baseball he has a natural

knack for it I remember at 10 years old

was the first time he got a good hit and

sent it sailing over the fence line at

10 years old and I think it’s partly

because of his size just a lot of power

behind his swing great as a first

baseman so we were really excited about

his success in baseball and and I

watched him as he kind of hopped and

skipped over to the next game just

excited about the next challenge in the

tournament but because I was following

behind him I had my eyes glued on him

and I could see when something changed I

could see that as we took the short walk

from where we parked the car over to the

Dugout I could see that his shoulders

started to hun over and his head hung

down I could see that that that skip

that had been in his step had changed he

was kind of walking like he was nervous

he was ringing his hands a little bit I

saw that he was looking around his eyes

darting and looking a little bit sketchy

I was trying to figure out what happened

to my boy it was a short walk from where

we parked the car over to the Dugout and

all of a sudden his countenance had

completely changed so I started looking

around trying to figure out what was

going on why did he look so insecure and

fearful all of a sudden

I realized that as we were going toward

the Dugout we were walking past some

kids from another team they were all

laying on the grass underneath the shade

of an oak tree getting ready for the

next game as I passed them I could see

this was the team we were about to play

next kept walking and I kept getting a

look at these boys and when I looked at

them I realized what my son’s problem

was we had faced this team before we had

faced them earlier in the season and

when this team had played my son’s team

earlier in the season they had

annihilated us it had been a complete

embarrassment a complete upset this team

right here y’all they were serious

baseball players you know the kind of

players that had the serious

parents ain’t nobody got time for all

that these are the kind of parents you

know when they gave birth to their son

they put a m on one hand a baseball in

the other they’ve been waiting for this

their whole lives and these boys were

good they’ve been playing since they

were toddlers I mean really little this

was one of those Elite teams they were

amazing and so my boy saw this was the

team he was about to play in the closer

he got to The Dugout the more he passed

them and realized that they were the

players I watched his countenance change

in response to that but we had to walk

right by them to get to The Dugout as we

walked past there were two players they

were talking to each other one was

whispering to the other I think he

thought he was whispering but we could

hear him he leaned over to the other one

and he said there goes that big kid from

the Red Sox team is he the one that hit

the ball and it went over the fence yeah

he was the one at first base the one

that caught any of the outs that we got

in the game that was him so that’s Jerry

shy when my boy heard his name cross the

lips of the opposing team members that

was shoulders that had been hanging down

all of a sudden I watched them pop back

again I watched his chin go up I watched

him get a little swag back in his step

as he headed over toward the

Dugout in fact we had to bring him down

a few notches before the game started

it’s amazing really how your countenance

changes when you really overhear and

understand what the enemy thinks about

you when he sees you coming it doesn’t

mean that the challenge goes away it

means that in the face of it you’re

different your stance is different

because you recognize that when the

enemy sees a daughter or a son of God

coming his way he’s shaking in his boots

not because of you but because of the

holy spirit of God that lives on the

inside of

you I came to tell somebody today that

even if you don’t believe what it is

that the word of God declares to be true

about you you need to know that the

enemy does he knows that every single

thing that God’s word declares to be

true about you every word that has been

declared over you in these last few days

of this conference even if you’re not

convinced about it the enemy is he knows

that you have been forgiven he knows

that there is therefore now no

condemnation for those of us who are in

Christ Jesus he knows that you have been

given the victory he knows that you have

been made competent by the spirit of God

he knows that there is therefore now no

condemnation for you or for me no shame

no guilt he knows that you have not been

given a spirit of fear but of power and

love and of a sound mind and y’all he

knows that in the end we

win and I’m saying what ashamed it would

be for the enemy to believe more about

your potential than you

do what a shamed it would be for us to

go out of here with all of this

inspiration that we have been given this

investment of God’s word that he has

gathered us together over the course of

these days to Worship in spirit and in

truth and to hear his word declared true

over our lives what a tragedy it would

be for us to walk out of here and still

live like we were before we came through

these

doors so what the enemy will do is

scatter challenge in front of your life

cuz listen you going back home to

challeng y’all do know we going back

home in a little while right and don’t

we wish we could wake up to this every

single day don’t we wish that we could

have God’s word spoken over our lives

with this much Authority and power every

single day and be in the presence of

leaders who can lead us into the

presence of God and worship every single

day like this but the reality is we

going back home the challenges of your

University campus the challenges of your

home your relationship ships your

friendships on your job those challenges

will be sprawled out in front of you

when you get home and let me tell you

something what the enemy hopes is that

the sight of them will cause you to

shrink back in so much fear and

insecurity that you’ll never step up to

the plate of being who God has called

you to be listen if you’ve placed faith

in Jesus Christ I hope you know that the

enemy understands he cannot destroy you

he knows his chances are over of

destroying you so he is going to spend

the rest of his time and the rest of his

energy just trying to discourage you

trying to distract you so that you’ll

shrink back in fear and insecurity and

not step up to the plate and be who God

has called you to be