This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on October 30th 2022  by Navaz D'Cruz. For the audio & video please click here. To listen to the worship please click here.

HEALING A BROKEN IDENTITY

INTRODUCTION

What are the two questions everyone wants to be answered? Who am I and why am I here?

We can our identity from possessions, position or place. I want to tell you that we get our identity from a person – His name is Jesus. Our being or identity is NOT connected to doing something but knowing someone.

WHAT CAUSED THE BROKENNESS AND FRACTURED IDENTITIES?

We need to go back to Eden. We need to understand what happened there to deal with the roots. Today we are doing root treatment.

God created Adam and Eve He was their Perfect Father. They were created to have a perfect relationship with him of love, trust and intimacy. But for there to be true love and trust, there needs to be the ability to choose. So, there were these 2 trees. 

We have another character in this story. His name is Lucifer. He lived in God’s presence and was the chief worshipper but he was cast out of God’s presence which was marked by love and intimacy. He lost that forever. He became an orphan. When he saw that God made man in His own image who were enjoying the intimacy he once had he turned his hate toward mankind and was on a mission to steal, kill and destroy man’s identity, intimacy and inheritance in God.

His biggest battle is against you, a child of God. He knows that when sons of God realize and live in their identity, the earth that is his dominion will be dispelled of darkness, as sons and daughters of God shine as light and regain their lost glory because of the fall. 

GOOD NEWS

Praise God our lost connection with the Father is restored in Christ, through the cross. Jesus came to reveal the Father, and His primary mission was to reunite us with Him. We live in a fallen world and none of us escape its effects. The fall fractured our relationship not only with Father God, but with our fellowmen and nature. Man, woman and the ground were cursed.  Jesus came to restore us to the Father and heal our wounded hearts and relationships.

Yet why do many Christians struggle with this.?

The Bible tells us that when we are born again, we become children of God. We are adopted into His family.

‘The Spirit you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him, we cry, “Abba, Father.”’ (Rom 8:15) 

SO, WHAT KEEPS US FROM LIVING SECURE IN OUR IDENTITY?

Salvation is in an instant. The Cross brings about restoration and renewal of our body, mind, and soul is a lifelong process – we are being changed from one degree of glory to another. We must partner with that renewal process. 

So, while we are born again and we are new creations in Christ, there is still a ‘sin habit’ we have to put to death. We carry some old habits into it the new kingdom. The orphan spirit is one of them. It is not cast out; it needs to be replaced. It gets replaced by truth, the truth that transforms the way we think which affects how we behave.

THE ORPHAN HEART

Satan using the orphan way of thinking to keep us from realizing our full potential

 An Orphan way of thinking affects our thinking, perception and behavior. Deep down, they struggle to understand that God loves them and that HE is good. Whenever we feel God is not looking after our best interest, we feel jealous, envious and bitter towards others which is a part of orphan thinking.

We need to recognize it, repent and replace those thought patterns with Christ-like ones. It is a daily ongoing process of renewing the mind. We have to choose to embrace sonship i.e what we have positionally we now need to walk out experientially.

Let us look at the story of THE PRODIGAL SON. Both the sons operated out of an orphan spirit? The younger was overtly rebellious, independent and self-willed.
The older son was the religious, law-abiding one but was also functioning from an orphan spirit. He seemed to be obedient, and dutiful. But he had no intimacy with the Father or else he would have known that everything the Father has was there for him to enjoy.

He tried to earn favour from duty. The religious spirit is like this. We live driven by rules rather than relationships. This spirit does not understand grace and mercy and therefore cannot celebrate another person. The older son is offended by grace. We can function like this in our families, with friends, at work and at church. It is an internal heart default position that affects how we view the world and God.

For some of us, this orphan is further compounded by bad experiences in childhood – abusive home, alcoholic parents, divorce, early death of a father, and physical and or sexual abuse by people who should have protected you.

For some, it is a deep FATHER WOUND.  There has been a steady shift in our culture and even around the world in the past few decades. Never have we seen the issue of fatherlessness in our life experiences as we see today. Fathers are absent because they have fathered children but not out of covenant. Fathers are absent because of addictions that they are enslaved to viz alcohol, gambling, drugs or promiscuity. Fathers are absent because of a job where they work long hours and sometimes seven days a week. We have fathers that are emotionally and mentally absent from the home.

We all carry a father wound that was knowingly or unknowingly inflicted upon us by our earthly fathers. And we have all been deceived by the Father of all lies and been wounded by him– the devil.

Several things could have happened to us during our growing up that could have tainted our view of the Father.

Type OF Father	Effect on the child
Distant and uninvolved	Independent and self-reliant
Angry man	Fear guilt and shame and had to manage his anger.
Negligent in providing	Insecure and with a poverty mindset and grabbing.
Cold and distant	Bonding issues
Lack of affirmation	Struggle with identity and approval seeking behavior
Critical	Fear of failure, lying, cover up, blame game
Physically or sexually abusive.	Fear, shame and a deep distrust for authority because the one that should have protected you violated you.
Showed approval only when you did things right	Acceptance is based on performance and would work hard to please and earn his love.

God wants to heal that wounded heart and reveal his Father's heart to you – that is for you, that loves you with everlasting love, that gives you more than you can ask or imagine, his love is unconditional.

All of us display several of these and need to learn to replace these patterns.
Look at the list below. It is not exhaustive but indicative

ORPHAN SPIRIT	SPIRIT OF SONSHIP
operates out of insecurity and jealousy.	functions out of love and acceptance.
is jealous of the success of his brothers and cannot celebrate it	is committed to the success of his brothers.
serves God to earn the Father’s love.	serves God from a place of acceptance and favor.
deep-rooted trust issues and doubts the goodness of God	walks in security and trusts living in surrender to God.
is driven by the need for success and to stand out. Does not feel accepted and feels the need to prove their worth. This may result in: Seeking to hide their limitations Perceiving the strengths of others as competition Secretly taking satisfaction in the weaknesses of others Needing and seeking attention.	The spirit leads the mature son into his calling and mission. Our Father’s invites us to a place of unconditional acceptance and rest in our unique, God-given identity. (1 Cor 12:18) Sons and daughters embrace both their strengths and weaknesses—comfortable both with who they are and Whose they are
displays anger and fits of rage as fake power.	rests in the Father’s ability to control and guide the situation.
in competition with others. Performance-Orientation The spiritual orphan feels rejected—therefore believing that he or she must compensate by working hard or performing well to be recognized. This may result in: A constant drive to perform well Judging the weaknesses or performance of other team members or leaders Having feelings of mistrust towards others—feeling they are going to be ‘punished’ at any time. Looks for someone to blame.	The spirit of sonship is always blessing others. It wants another to succeed and is not threatened by another’s success.  Takes responsibility for one's actions: I did something wrong versus ‘I am wrong”
The orphan spirit lacks self-esteem. Fear and Insecurity The spiritual orphan is unsure of his or her place in the family. Orphans also feel uncovered and unprotected—therefore their instinct is self-preservation. This may result in: A constant need of reassurance by leaders [2] Lack of confidence in their spiritual gifts, and any ministry position they have been given. They need to prove themselves. Being protective and territorial about their ministry areas	The spirit of sonship walks in the love and acceptance of Father God. Our Father’s invitation is to a place of security in His love, care and constant oversight. (Matt 10:29-31) They can trust in Father’s faithfulness even when changes or trials occur in church life. Our Father’s invitation is to experience the fullness of His undeserved grace and favour. (Eph 1:6) Sons and daughters generously extend grace to others’ failures. This is because they know the fullness of the Father’s grace towards them.
primary identity through material possessions, physical appearance and activities.	The spirit of sonship is grounded in the Father’s affirmation.
walk around with a spirit of rejection. Hence, they are hyper-sensitive and have an unconscious assumption that people are against them.	knows he is accepted and loved by the Father.
Numb pain with pleasure i.e., drugs, alcohol, pornography, sex etc.	Takes his pain to God and allows the Holy Spirit to heal them from within.
Distrusts authority and finds it hard to submit
Feels the victim and lives a powerless life. Is often caught in a drama triangle where they play the Victim.	Is powerful and live above circumstances and take responsibility for their actions and choices.
Use control to mask their fears	Is aware of their heart and trusts God in trails
Has boundary issues	Can have clear boundaries with people
Self-reliant, and feel they need to do everything on their own. Afraid to show any vulnerability	Not afraid to be vulnerable and trust others
Feels entitled therefore grabs and looks out for number one	Knows God as the provider and therefore can live in peace and surrender.
Struggles with forgiveness and generosity	Can forgive and give freely.

It was for freedom Christ came to set us from – to set the captive free, the bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom. The beautiful thing in the Kingdom is that then the ones who were broken now help heal others. We have all been broken. But we have experienced healing and restoration in the cross. 

When we have intimacy with the Father, we get identity. From identity, we get our inheritance and with our inheritance, we make an impact on this planet.

ORPHAN: I Do – I Have – I Become

SON: I Am – I have – I do

When we learn to cultivate a relationship with Jesus, we will also grow close to the Father, because He and the Father are one. Remain in him. Develop intimacy with the Father as Jesus did.

If you want to start your journey of renewal and walking away from orphan thinking and behaving – you first need to acknowledge it. God gives graces to the humble. God will come in and heal those wounded places in your heart. 

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.  

Enjoying God in 5 G - Finding True Joy in Jesus.

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on June 26th 2022  by Lasya. For the audio & video please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

 ENJOYING GOD

FINDING TRUE JOY IN JESUS

If I were to ask you - what do you enjoy the most, what would you say? For me - swimming in the ocean, eating good food, chatting with a friend/ 2 over a nice cup of coffee, waking up to a beautiful view, having my cat sleep on me… The list goes on. So we all know the feeling - of enjoyment, of delighting in something that is good. But somehow when we say that we enjoy God in the same breath it feels like we are being too religious/ weird/fake. Why do you feel that is? Is it even biblical to enjoy God? Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart”

George Muller, the great evangelist said “the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day is to have my soul happy in the Lord.” he says “the secret of all true effectual service is joy in God, having experiential acquaintance and fellowship with God Himself”

How can we love and enjoy God in our daily lives in a way that is authentic, powerful and based on scripture? We’re in the series on the tag line of Word of Grace - Enjoying God, Making Friends, Changing Lives.  I’ve entitled this message, Enjoying God: finding true joy in Jesus.

Last week Navaz shared about the overwhelming, never ending, amazing love of God. So we know that God loves us and he demonstrated it on the cross and by being with us now. But for any functional relationship, you need reciprocity. (why do we love God?)

As John Piper says “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him”

The entire Law is summarized in this that you Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and that you love your neighbor as yourself.

(How do we love God?)

Love is a choice and often we can think of loving God as choosing between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But in fact, God said to Adam and Eve in the garden, you can eat from any tree in the garden but one. In the same way, enjoying God is a multifaceted activity and we can enjoy him in every part of life.

Have you heard about the 5 love languages? All of us receive love mainly in 1 or 2 ways. But God loves and receives love perfectly. Think of it like your mobile data.(1G - 5 G illustration) So how can we grow in loving him? Today we are going to explore 5 ways in which we can love God and enjoy Him.

Loving God in 5G: Gather, Grow, Give, Glow and Glorify.

1.    Gather to his Presence (Touch):  Every time we meet at Word of Grace, we worship. Have you noticed? The Greek word for worship that is used again and again in the bible is proskuneo Which means to kiss/ to kneel to physically express reverence. Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst”. That is why I feel this is most like the love language of touch. In the OT each time the Israelites would worship God in an acceptable way, it says that His glory would come down so people would have to back down and make room for him. 1 Kings 8:11 “And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.” Experience of Physical manifestation of God in worship at Living Room. If you feel like he’s not responding to you, he is not answering your prayer, you can't feel anything…Just keep coming! Examples of Mary and Martha… choose the better thing.

AP - Take every opportunity to gather - GYM meetings, Sunday Meetings, Living Room, Mens meetings - come and let us gather to Jesus.

2.    Grow in intimacy (Quality Time): Quiet time, learning to listen to his voice. Psalm 111:2: “Great are the Works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.” Illustration - youversion audio study. Why do you have a quiet time in the morning? A relationship with Jesus cannot be built on just ritual. (Illustration - dinner table talk) Theology means the systematic study of God - it comes from the word Theos meaning God and logos, meaning discourse, or simply put, conversation. How do you move from being a servant of God to being a friend of God? John 15:15 “ No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” If public worship is the only time you’re intimate with God, you’re missing out on enjoying God. Our public worship is just an expression of our private devotion. Don’t be a bystander in the house of God, be involved, be intimate with Jesus.

AP - Spend time alone with Jesus, take at least 15 mins to study His word, learn to hear His voice… have a rich conversation with God.

3.    Give (Gifts): Matthew 6:21 “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. If you’re struggling to enjoy God, the first checkpoint is - am I giving faithfully, generously and gratefully. Somehow, the physical act of giving, has an impact on the posture and attitude of our hearts. Even God so loved the world that he gave…

AP - Give more, give regularly, give sacrificially, give gratefully, give everywhere.

4.    Glow (Acts of Service):Matthew 5:14- 16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”  John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Eph 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” Our jobs, our society, our community - these are all lampstands on which we are supposed to glow and it is one of the ways we express love to God. We can get caught up in the big works of God - the calling- but our good works are all around us. Matt 25: 40 “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,] you did it to me” It’s on the path of loving God and serving that we stumble upon our calling. It is a call to service and laying down our lives.

AP - serve diligently at home, serve at the church (Sign up for set up, clear up etc. - testimony) serve well at work, get to know and love your neighbors… WWJD

5.    Glorify (Words of Affirmation):Prov 3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” We love God through the stories we tell each other. testify of the nature and works of God in your life. After the entire nation of Israel crossed the river Jordan, God instructed Joshua to take 12 stones for a memorial in Joshua 4: 6-7 Joshua says “When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ Then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.””

AP - Take every opportunity - sunday meeting, GYM etc. to praise God and testify of his goodness.

So let’s see which area we can grow in and love God well!

The way to fulfill your calling in Christ is to first and foremost love him well. The world is broken but Jesus is so attractive. When we love him authentically, we invite people to do the same. Then you don't have to keep questioning what your purpose is. Our purpose always flows from our position and our position is lovers of God.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.