Leon Fontaine - 4 Keys To A Rock Solid Identity
Hey, welcome! It's so good to have you with us in the program today. We're gonna talk about something that is so crucial to the Christian life. It is so basic, yet at the same time it is so powerfully deep. And so few people I run into seem to understand it. I'm gonna talk today about helping you anchor your identity and develop a self-worth that is truly biblical. So many people anchor their identity in their looks, their achievements, their skillsets, what they've learned. We have an entire nation who has learned to look good, look like you're under control, look confident, be able to walk through life with a mask of confidence rather than true confidence. To be able to walk through life like you are secure in your self-worth. But if your self-worth is in the wrong thing, you are going to hit a brick wall. You're going to hit storms that you'll have a hard time getting out of. I give you an example.
So many people are confident because of their looks and maybe their parents taught them their manners. So you go into school and high school. You're sharp looking guy. You're beautiful looking woman and the looks get you along for a while, but at some point in life, if gravity happens to us all, others are gonna come along better looking which will challenge your looks. If you've developed skills. You're very intelligent in school and so you rise to the top and your security, your identity, and your self-worth is in your scholastic ability. And from there, you're able to get a great job and you rise up with finances. You could go a long way for a while with your identity in the wrong thing. But no, when your identity is in the wrong thing, it will never last. There will be certain storms that will come along that will leave you emotionally struggling. It will leave you with deep insecurities.
And I've talked to so many great leaders. I've talked to talented people. I've talked to wealthy businessman. I've talked to people who, they're so gifted that they've risen to the top but somewhere in there they'll hit a storm and they just struggle. Many of them nosedive. They lost their careers, their relationships. Many of them begin to struggle with depression, emotional issues, etcetera, etcetera. And when they get counseling, if the person doesn't know what they're doing, they're trying to solve problems but not deep enough. For example, you know, if I look at a tree and every leaf on that tree is a problem and I pull all those leaves off, a horrible thing happens if that's a problem in the spring. The roots make it all come back and that's when you deal with symptoms instead of with problems.
So as we talk about identity, what should we look at for our identity? And by the way, it's not wrong to develop a confidence in your abilities, to develop a confidence in what you look like instead of being so insecure about every little issue. My legs are too short, and my hair is too short and it's not straight enough. Some people can get so messed up there. But let's go to the most basic of basics. What do you look at for your identity? And you must look at God. There is nothing else that is secure. That God loves you. That He cares about you. You must focus on God. And then many Christians have a problem because they don't believe the truth about God. They believe that God could, you know, do things to them, allow things happen to them. So they've never trusted God. They believe in God. They revere God. But they don't trust God because what if this is the marriage. He's gonna allow things to happen to my business, my kids, my marriage.
And so you must begin to look at God's love. And then as you do that, that key that really anchors believers' hearts is in understanding the cross. So His death, Jesus burial, His resurrection, and His ascension to the throne, to the right hand of God in the throne room. Now, these are crucial to believers who don't have an understanding of what Jesus did for them. They will always focus their identity on wrong things. It will help you in some areas depending on what you focus on to succeed for a while or even for a part of a lifetime. But if you want to build something that's generational, families, and the purposes of God, etcetera. Then today, what I'm gonna cover with you is gonna be a stunning revelation for you as you focus on where do I get my identity so that I can build rock solid self-worth.
Now, the Bible teaches us in John 14:12, I tell you the truth, Jesus says, whoever believes in Me will do the same things that I do. So Jesus very clearly saying here that He's an example of what a normal Christian should look like. A normal Christian should be able to function like Jesus. And Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus has been given to us to be empowered as well. So we've got to understand that our behavior always follows our deepest heart beliefs. And so if we don't have correct heart beliefs, it's gonna move our lives in so many areas whether it's behavior with money, behavior in relationships, behavior sexually, behavior with drugs and alcohol, behavior... All behavior comes out of the deepest beliefs of your heart. So we've got to make sure that we cover what I'm talking about today, and that is to understand Jesus and what He did for you and I. To not understand this is to struggle as a Christian for the rest of your life.
Now, the doorway to the kingdom of God as a Christian, to walking in kingdom principles and the culture of God's kingdom. He says for the kingdom of God is not meet and drink but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. So He's saying here that to walk in the kingdom of God which is to walk in the power, the peace, the joy of God. It isn't about external things like food and drink. It's about internal things. The kingdom of God is not meet and drink, external. But righteousness which is internal, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So the doorway to walking in the kingdom of God with all of its advantages is a heart that believes, not a mind that is inform.
Now, as you look at the church today, you'll notice that much of the church looks at God and scriptures. They're trying so hard to get everything together. But all of the teachings of the Bible are literally anchored in Christ, in Him. And so your faith has to be in Jesus. People say, "I believe in the Word". I understand what you're saying. But the Bible says that our faith should be in Jesus. He is the Word. But in what He's done for us because it gives us a look at who we are and who God is. So we must understand the finished work of Jesus. And if you begin to focus on that, begin to meditate on that, confess that. You will literally begin to believe at the deepest levels in your identity.
And I'm telling you, there are mature Christians listening to me right now. That if you'll practice what I'm gonna show you in the next couple of sessions, today and the next one. You can, whether you're a brand-new believer or whether you're a pastor who's taught the Word your whole life but yet missed this. There is a peace. There's a joy. There's an ability to understand righteousness and to move with Holy Spirit in hearing His voice, operating in the gifts of the Spirit that you've never been able to rise up in. So, let's just dive in for the first couple. Here we go. The first thing to understand is Jesus death on the cross.
Now, in 2 Corinthians 5:19, it says, "For God was in Christ, making peace between the world, reconciling the world to Himself. In Christ, God did not hold the world guilty of its sins or count their trespasses against them. And He committed to us this message of peace and reconciliation". Jesus on the cross dealt with the sin situation. He dealt with, yes, all the sins you've committed, you know, in your whole life. Someone say, "Well, He dealt with the sins that I committed in my past". Well, when Jesus died on the cross for you 2.000 years ago all of your sins were in the future. And when you cover verses that talk about, you know, how sin separates, how sin... You can't allow the enemy to use the word like that because the devil loves to take the Bible out of context. He used the Bible on Jesus. He could take out of context and he'll make you feel guilty.
Now, sin is things that you do that are not God's best for your life. And whenever you sin, it's got a real impact on your relationships down here on your mind, your heart, everything. But between you and God, Jesus secured the relationship between you and God through Jesus' actions. He lived a holy life. He died and He exchanged His righteousness literally for yours. There is a great exchanged that took place on the cross. And so wherever you go to believe who you are, the enemy will try to tell you who you are through your failures. What failures have you had? What sins have you committed in your past? The enemy will be trying to tell you that your identity is in your mistakes.
Now, all your classmates may never let you forget that you're a drug addict. They might have had... Your nickname might had been Druggie. Your classmates might had never forgotten what you function like sexually in high school or college. And so they've got a name for you there. And they'll even try to use nicknames or things. And the enemy will use it as well. This is who you are. And what you have done does not determine who you are. I could sit here and bark. It doesn't make my identity a dog. Even though I am barking, and it looks like I'm a dog. Okay, or sounds like I'm a dog. So Jesus dealt with the sin question, not just the acts that you did but He dealt with sin at its very nature. You no longer have a sin nature. You have the nature of God.
And so now as you get into God's Word and understand the things I'm teaching. You'll find out that the nature of God rises up and it begins to give you strength and power to live right, to laugh, to love, to function as a real follower of Christ. So why is the cross so important? Because as He hung on the cross, if you could see Jesus just before He died looked just at you and say, "I'm doing this for you". If you could recognize that He took your sin. He took the sin nature and He died with it. So that you and I could have a new nature, not two natures, a new nature. And even though your actions might follow your past addictions, your past problems. The power of God that is within you will now empower you to rise out of it.
So the enemy will try to get your identity into your addictions, your failures, the things that you struggle with, because if you believe an identity, you follow that identity out. I teach Christians all the time. Don't call your young children liars. Don't say, "You little liar. You stop doing this". No, no, his identity is not liar. When I would talk to our kids when they were small and my grandkids now if they've lied to me. I'd say, "Hey, just a minute. You're not a liar. You are a child of God. You are an honorable honest. So we don't lie". So I give them the identity of God's Word even well, I talk to them about an action that I'm trying to teach them to stop doing. So you can't look at someone like a little child or even teenagers or even friends and begin to define them by a failure, to define them by an addiction. Which is what the world does. Some people even define themselves by their sickness, you know, etcetera.
So like in the Bible it talks about blind Bartimaeus. Why would, you know, Bartimaeus could have been, you know, could be as well tall Bartimaeus. It could have been, you know, a lot other descriptive. But he knew himself by this sickness that was there. So, Jesus death on the cross was to deal with the sin that is in the human race. And the Bible says He reconciled the world to Himself. You must find scriptures like this about the cross and you must begin to meditate on them. Focus on them. Speak them out loud as a confession. That you are forgiven because of Jesus. That you literally are righteous because of Jesus. It's a gift Romans 5:17 says. So I'm righteous. I'm in right standing with God. I'm in His family because Jesus qualifies me by dealing with the sin situation, dealing with my spirit, and in me is the presence of God. I have a new nature. This is something that you've got to begin to speak, meditate, confess, believe, so that you begin to identify with Christ and that see yourself there not as your past.
Now, the Bible also says in Galatians 3:13 that Christ took away, redeemed us. He bought us, bought our freedom from the curse the law. That the Law put on us. It says, He changed places with us and put Himself under that curse by becoming a curse for us. Because it is written in the Scriptures, "Anyone whose body is displayed, hung on a tree is cursed". So it's talking here about the curse. That if you read Deuteronomy 28 verses around 16 and on, it will list every negative thing on the planet, and it calls them curses. I mean, physical curses, mental curses, relationship curses, curses in finances, etcetera. And that all of these curses Christ has bought our freedom from them.
See, when I begin to deal with this and just really securing my identity. I confessed and actually I still do. I get up in the morning and declare that I've got the nature of Jesus. I'll declare there's not a curse that can touch me because Jesus dealt with all the curses and I now know God is not going to just allow one on to my life aside from this. He's not going to try to put something on me to teach me something because His Holy Spirit is the best teacher. Everyone thinks experience is the best teacher. No, Holy Spirit is. And so I don't believe at all that my sin from the past identifies me or any failures I make or things I've done wrong. That they no longer just destroy my life as in, "Man, you know, I was mean to that person or I didn't handle that right".
And, you know, mistakes that I've made they don't identify me. And when it comes to the curses, sicknesses, diseases, and poverty and relationship issues and short life. All these curses written in Deuteronomy 28. I just believe that's not for me. Jesus took everyone of them. Now, look what I'm focusing on for my identity. I'm in God's family because Jesus qualified me to be there. My sins are forgiven everything in the past, everything in the future between me and God. And so now He sees me through the blood of Jesus. I am righteous as a gift. All of the blessings are mine, not just the curses, none of the curses are mine because of what Jesus did.
So as I'm looking at this, I'm realizing God loves me. Look what He did, He sent His Son. Now my identity is being secured in what Jesus did. And so I no longer, and I can have the enemy attack me and just say, "You are a loser. You are a liar. You are a thief. You are a blasphemer". Or whatever sin he can find that he begins to harass me with. And in my future, anything that I've got, that I'm struggling with, that I need to get through. Holy Spirit will help me. And because of that struggle doesn't mean that it changes my relationship with God. Now, you're gonna find out and this should be in our conversation next time. That other people don't forgive you.
So your vertical relationship between you and God is secure because of Jesus. But he can't force your boss to accept you if you're stealing from him. He can't force your friends to love you, if you lie to them and you're mean to them. He can't force the freewill in all the other humans, if you're gonna go rob a store. They're probably gonna pursue you. You're probably gonna go to jail. The police probably won't forgive you. The judge probably won't forgive you. I've known lots of Christians who got into a really bad areas and God has worked with them and given them real favor as they've walked out of that. But the sin, the failures, all these things between you and God.
Jesus secure that umbilical cord if you want, between you and God. But now for the rest of the world all your relationships, it's crucial that you develop good, you know, just good ways to live. And that you walk in the fruit of the Spirit and honoring and loving because it will help you in all the other areas. Your marriage, your career, dealing with other people at work, dealing with opportunities that are ahead of you. The Bible teaches us that wisdom is the principle thing.
So I got to close up here. We're gonna continue here a little later. If want to know the most powerful way to begin to have an identity that is rock solid and then your self-worth begins to rise up. Which is where you begin to believe God in every situation and everything in your world changes. Then your identity is what comes from what Jesus did on the cross. And when you recognize He dealt with sin, stop worrying about sin and get up and easily win over all sin. And that the curse, okay. The curse that is harassing so many people. That it can't touch you. Now, if its' there, rise up and command it to go. Get up and keep going because Jesus took the curse of the law. So it's no longer allowed on my life.
Now, starting with these two things. We've got two more areas to go that we'll deal with next time. To speak these verses. Go into the Bible and find verses in the New Testament or in the Old Testament that promise us that Jesus on the cross, you know, help us to become a brand-new creation and then believe that. That Jesus on the cross took the penalty for sin, the curse of the law, and it no longer can affect us. He died on the cross. He was buried. He spent for three days it says dead, paying for the price to have you and I be able to follow Jesus with a new spirit.
Now, remember that as you begin to speak this, you need to spend some time. I'm gonna challenge everybody. Why don't you use the rest of this year, use a couple of months to just get into great teaching on this. Begin to speak and declare who you are. So that your identity is not on physical things. It's not on your looks, your career. It's not on your failure and it's not on your successes either. If I anchor my identity in where I've succeeded in life, then when those things begin to fail, or I retire from them. I no longer have an identity. Your identity must always be in how God values you. And He values you which means love so much that His own Son came to die for you. Sin, the curse had been dealt with for you. You're brand-new. Anchor yourself in weeks and months of meditating and speaking that. All right, next time we're gonna cover the last half of this. It's gonna radically change your life.
Welcome! It's so good to have you with me today. I am continuing on something that I started last time about developing. There's like four keys to developing rock solid identity. And then your self-worth rises up that can never be touched by anyone. It doesn't go up and down on because of different things in your life. So let me dive into this. We've covered a couple of them, but I want to do a quick review. Now, the world and even most of Christianity determines who you are by your behavior. Even when you look at the way that you will explain somebody new to a friend of yours.
Hey, have you met Bobby Joe yet? And Bobby Joe, and you'll describe his looks and then you'll describe his behavior. We literally believed, or we at least have developed in our culture an understanding that somebody is known by their behavior and I get how important behavior is. But one of the keys to us rising up in power and in victory is to understand that our behavior is not our identity. Now, we understand that with kids. When I look at a little child, you know, my grandson or granddaughter lies to me. I don't look at them and say, "You little liar". Because, then I'm calling them a liar. I would say, "Hey, just a minute, just a minute sweetie. Listen, you are made in the likeness and image of God. You are an amazing person so we don't lie". And I make sure that I don't touch them with wrong identity.
But many people today have been raised so that they are now known, and they see them self as their identity. People who get caught in sin. They just see themselves as that sinner. People who are Christians often like to say, "I am just a sinner saved by grace". And what they're trying to say is they're trying to humbly admit they're not perfect. I totally get that. But what they've messed up is they're allowing some behavior to determine their identity, and that is where the Bible disagrees with them. So who am I? I am a child of God. And the sin question has been dealt with by Jesus on the cross. Who according to Romans 4:17 gave me the gift of righteousness. Living right, being right, doing right. He gave me the gift of righteousness so I can stand before God and be accepted by Him. So my righteousness, my right standing is a gift from Jesus.
And then we covered last time how that all of the curses on this planet. And you want to know where a lot of them are, read Deuteronomy 28, somewhere around verses 16 and on, in a list curses. And curses in your mental health, curses in your physical health, curses in your family, curses in your generations, curses in your finances, curses in... Ah, there's just so many areas. Now, Jesus it says became a curse, took the curse so that it can no longer be allowed in my life. But people who don't know how to establish their identity in Christ, they believe that their sin or their wrong behavior. That it is destroyed their relationship with God, so God's backed away. No, God doesn't back away because Jesus secure the relationship between you and God.
Now, if you keep sinning, you'll hurt yourself and you will back away especially if you don't understand some of this teaching. But Jesus secures our relationship with God. That we are a part of His family. He has taken care of the curse so it's not allowed in our lives. And now God's grace which is His unmerited favor, which is His ability in our lives, okay? We have to believe what Jesus did. Whenever you look at the word faith in the New Testament now, since Jesus died on the cross our faith is in the finished work of Jesus. His death, His burial, His resurrection, and His ascension to the right hand of the Father in the throne room of God.
Now, these four things are revelation that changes your life. So do you have behavior that is not the way Jesus would have behaved? Yes. And how do you determine which is worse. Nah, there is worse behavior on the planet. But He says sin is sin. Jesus says just to think about hurting someone, think about I like to kill that guy is just as bad as murder. To look at someone and lust after them, you know, is just as bad as actually doing it. So the Bible says to him that knoweth to do good and doesn't do it. That's sin. Whatever is not of faith is sin. So nobody is gonna get out of this area of there is behavior, okay, that is absolutely counted in the Bible as sin. But your behavior does not determine your identity. Once you figure this out, you're on an incredible beautiful road to being a new creation, being in God's family.
And now, this power of God that is within you as you begin to believe this where I'm gonna share with you today, rises up. I have seen so many people win over addiction easily, win over sin in their life, misbehaviors in their life. I mean, for you to get angry at your wife, for you to get grumpy with your kids. That's sin. For you to not allow that person in, in traffic and just get grumpy and speed up and don't let them in. That's sin. You could have done something good and you didn't do it. So people get tied up in sin as though they're a sinner because they sin. Well, no. That's like saying, "I bark once in a while, so I'm a dog. Or if I grunt, that makes me a pig". No, it doesn't at all. Let's get this straighten out in the Word, so that our identity is focused on Jesus and we understand the things that He did for us.
The Bible teaches us and I'm gonna go right now to some of the Old Testament scriptures about the grave, about dying. You see, when Jesus died for you and I, He took the sting out of death. He took the horror out of death. There are so many verses in the Bible that look at the grave and death as something horrible. Let me give a few examples. It says in Genesis 37:35, in mourning will I go down to the grave. In 2 Samuel 22:6, the cords of the grave coiled around me. When it talks about Sheol, it's another word for the grave. It has overtones of hell. In Psalm 116:3, it talks about the anguish of the grave. In Job 10:21, it calls death the land of gloom and deep shadow.
So when Jesus died for us, okay, and He was buried. I mean, He was in the grave. He didn't just endure our pain and our suffering and the curse of death, but even the terror that goes with dying. He took this horror, this terror. So that when we do die, that it literally as our eyes are open to the smells of heaven, the sights of heaven, to Jesus. Family that is gone before removed the sting, the horror, the dread of death because with Jesus we're, we have heaven. An eternity in heaven to look forward to. Often, as a pastor I've sat by the bedsides of believers, older believers ready to go to be with Jesus. And I would teach them this, about the beauty of when you take your last breath down here, your eyes open to the angels in heaven. Open to whatever you're gonna see heavenly. There is no long corridor that's horribly you're gonna have to walk down, okay.
To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Recognize that. So the grave, death, has lost its power, its horror, its dread, because that's the number one biggest fear on the planet. They won't admit it is dying. Getting old and dying, and people so struggle with that. Now, as you look at the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus. You've got to remember that when I ask people, "Hey! You know, are you a believer"? Oh, yes. When I was this age, I gave my life to Christ. I said, "That's wonderful. Yeah, is your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life"? Oh, I'm going to heaven when I die.
And then I'll often, okay, listen to me. Do you have the incredible, amazing, stunning resurrection life of Jesus coursing through your life? Um, um, well, well. And they kind of look a little bit confused. But in John 14:19-20, Jesus says, "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in Me and I in you". This life that Jesus is talking about isn't just the kind of, the life that is in animals. You know, that they can breathe, and they have consciousness. No. This life He's talking about is this Zoe life of God. Now, it literally means the life of the person who gives it. If Jesus is giving His life, then we are sharing in His life. The life of heaven. You know, the Bible says thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
So here's what a lot of Christians completely misses. Once you focus on Jesus and realizing He's dealt with all the sin problem. He's dealt with the curse. Now, you've got this, I've got new life in me. I've got this power in me. And so now, we can literally rise up with this life. 1 John 5:11-15 says, "And this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life". Towards there eternal is the length. And life, what kind of life? The life that God has. The life that is in heaven. And then it says, "And this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have this life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God".
What are we to believe in? The name of the Son of God. That you may know, know that you have eternal life. Not when you get to heaven, you've got eternal life right now. It's eternal. Even though this body is gonna stop working at some point. It's just your earth suit and the real you is in this earth suit like a glove fits on a hand. It fits on you. But this life is two things. It's forever. It's eternal. And then this life is the Zoe, Z-O-E life of God. It says in the Greek. And that means literally a quality of life that comes from the person giving it. Then it goes on to say this in this portion of scripture, "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him".
Now, stop right there. It goes on talking about praying. But what confidence? The confidence that we have eternal life. The confidence that when we believe on the name of Jesus or we believe on Jesus and all that is in His life. All that's wrapped up in that name. It says that we have eternal life. Now, here's where so few people really understand the life of Jesus is in you. The Bible says in Romans 8, I think 11-14, write in there. If the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you. And it said Zoe life of God. It will quicken your mortal life. So, you know, in the Old Testament they would pray God, where are you? Please come down and do something. And we've still got Christians praying this Old Testament prayers, trying to get God to come down from heaven and do something for us. When in fact, it's all been done according to 2 Peter chapter 1. God has given us all things that pertain to our lives on this planet and that pertain to holiness, to live right and to live victorious has all been given to us and it's in Christ and He is in me.
So when I begin to believe on Jesus, the grace of God, this unmerited favor, ability of God begins to waft through my body, my mind, my emotions, what I put my hands to, my relationships, my business. This grace must be believed because it comes, because of what Jesus has done for us. You've got to begin to understand there is new life inside of you. And that new life isn't just to kind of handle your problems. No, the Bible says we are more than conquerors. Okay? It says this is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith. What's our faith in? Jesus. When you put your faith in Jesus in a specific, not the historical Jesus. That well, Jesus healed 2.000 years ago so my faith is in Him. No. Our faith is to be in the finished work of the cross. What He did for you, what He did for me on the cross. I have new life because of that. And you need to just keep reading about this and getting this on the inside of you. Your identity must be in the finished work of Christ. That's the simplest way to say. The finished work of Christ. I see it in four areas, His death, His burial, His resurrection, and His ascension to the right hand of God.
Now, the fourth thing we're talking about here is that we are seated with Christ, okay? Christ authority, Christ has all authority and we are in Him. So He is allowing us to use His authority because we are in Him and He is in us. In Ephesians 1:19-23, it says, "And what is the exceeding greatness of His power towards us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, might, and dominion".
Jesus seated at the right hand of God has more authority than anything on the earth, anything in the universe, anything previously created, all authority. It says, "And every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under Jesus feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, that's us, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all". Ephesians 2:6 again says, "He's raised us up together, made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus".
Seated means your work is done. You sit down when your work is done. Now, we just stand in the armor that God has given us. And that's incredibly important thing that we understand the armor that Jesus wore is the armor. There're so many places I could go with this. But the armor that Jesus wore. The breastplate of righteousness. The helmet of salvation. Feet shod for the preparation of the gospel of peace. The belt of... All these beautiful things. That's what we stand in today. And why do we stand in it? Because all of each pieces a revelation that you need to believe in about Jesus. So we are seated with Him in heavenly places. That means that Jesus dealt with the sin issue and not just the sins that we committed or are gonna commit. But that the nature of sin it's been destroyed in our lives. Nature is something that's in your spirit. There is no sin in your spirit because Jesus is in your spirit. All right?
Now, our memories and our addictions and the things we struggled with before. Often, we'll struggle with again for a little while. And we actually, some people spend the rest of their lives struggling with stuff because they do not get this rock-solid identity in Christ. And then the self-worth that comes from a God that loves us, cares about us, values us. So these four things I'm talking about, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father and we are seated with Him. Let me give you a verse to close off with Galatians 2:20-21, it says, I, and this is what you should be, you should confess this verse every day until, you know, spend the whole year doing it. Add it every day to your prayer time. It's gonna change your world. I, Leon, I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live.
So all of my past failures, all of the... it's no longer I who live. You can't and take and get a debt repaid from a dead man. The old Leon is dead. I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in this flesh body, I live by faith in the Son of God. Now, I know people, I have faith in the Bible. No. I'm a follower of Jesus, not a follower of the Bible. I'm a follower of Jesus and the Bible teaches me all about Jesus. So I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, valued me, and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God. And the grace is His unearned favor, His unearned ability, for if righteousness comes through the law or through my behavior, then Christ died in vain.
Oh, I want to keep going but there's so many incredible things here. If you want a rock-solid identity, then what you focus on for your identity. And by the way, I find myself slipping all the time. I mean, daily or weekly I can find myself getting into fear because things I'm working on aren't working the way that they should be. And I begin to, what would people gonna think about me. I'm not looking successful if that happens. And my identity begins to go into, you know, my career or the gifts that I have, etcetera.
And so I'm continually curse correcting every day. No, who I am is rock-solid because I am a child of the King. I am forgiven. The curse cannot touch me because Jesus dealt with it. I have new life on the inside of me and all authority that I'm ever gonna need is in Jesus. He's got that authority and guess what, I'm in Him. And because I'm in Him, that authority is mine to use and to declare. When I pray, these are the four things that secure me. If you take the verses I've just shared in today's session and in last session and begin to read them out loud in your prayer time every day. You're gonna discover something changes on the inside of you. And all that old teaching you've got that you're just a sinner barely saved by grace. Hopefully you'll make heaven but you're gonna live life like hell while you're down here. Not a chance.
When you begin to understand who you are in your identity, you begin to develop a faith in the grace of God. And that grace, that unmerited favor, that ability of God begins to flow into your behavior, and it change just everything. Jesus said My yoke is easy and My burden is light. He's saying that change in our lives is an easy thing to do if we are literally anchored in Christ, believing in Christ. Our identity the finished work of the cross. You might be listening to me today and not quite getting this. That's fine. I know a ton of Christians who haven't got this their whole Christian life. So go over it and over it. Tape it if you can and show it to your friends because when your identity is anchored in Jesus and you recognize this, self-worth begins to rise up, a rock-solid peace, an amazing joy that makes you laugh and enjoy life even when things are going bad and storms are blowing.
It doesn't touch you because your faith is not in your own ability to get through that storm. Your confidence who's in Christ. He'll always see you through. To the most mature believer that is out there, to the brand-new Christian. This teaching today and the one just before. It's two parts is absolutely crucial and foundational. And as I travel the world, training and equipping pastors and leaders from multiple denominations. This is one area that I find people struggling with and therefore, their faith is up and down. Therefore, their identity is up and down, their self-worth is up and down, and their whole world just seems to be double-minded. The Bible say a double-minded man, he's gonna be unstable in all his ways. Be singly-minded. Focus on the finished work of Jesus. We'll see you next time.