Priscilla Shirer - Who God Says You Are
- Watch
- Donate
Summary
In this message from Judges 6, the preacher shows how God meets Gideon in his fear and hiding, declaring two unchanging truths: who God is—the ever-present, covenant-keeping Lord—and who Gideon truly is—a mighty warrior, despite his current feelings and circumstances. The core idea is that our identity and God’s character remain fixed, no matter the turmoil around us, and believing these truths can break generational curses, transform families, and even impact nations. Ultimately, when God’s people grasp their true identity in Christ, it unleashes power that shifts everything.
God Reveals Himself to Gideon
So once Gideon’s eyes are open, God says two things: He says, «Let me tell you who I am, and let me tell you who you are.» He says, «Gideon, » and he says, «Brother, sister, that’s why I came tonight. I came to tell you two things: this is who I am, and this is who you are. I know the Midianites are right outside your window. I know your marriage is in trouble. I know the bank account is low. I know the struggle at your job is hard. I know the ministry is floundering. I know you’re struggling in your parenting.
God Knows Your Struggles
I know you’ve got unrest in your heart and mind. I know things are tough right now, but even with those Midianites right outside your window, I came to remind you that I am who I said I am, and I can still do everything that I said I can do.» He looks at Gideon in the midst of the turmoil while he’s currently hiding out in fear and trembling, and he says, «The Lord is with you, » just like I said I always would be.
Gideon’s Doubt and God’s Assurance
We know that Gideon didn’t believe him because he spends the next verse disputing what it is that God said. He says, «If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?» In other words, «I don’t believe you.» But God says, «Your beliefs don’t shift the truth. The way you feel doesn’t change who I am. Your circumstances don’t determine whether or not they govern who I am. I am still seated on the throne. I am still God.
Unchanging Truth in a Changing World
I still made the covenant, and I will still follow through.» So God comes and tells him the word; He says, «This does not change, even when your circumstances do. This doesn’t shift. I am still on the throne.» Okay, let me tell you why this is important, y’all, because we live in a day where everybody is being told, «You have your truth, you have your truth, you have your truth, and I have my truth.»
There Is Only One Truth
Here’s a little truth, there’s a little truth everywhere you look; there’s a little truth. We’re being told that there is no standard anymore. However you feel is true for you. But there is a standard that is unchanging; it is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. It does not change, and it does not shift. He is still the one true God. He is still seated on the throne,
Jesus Is the Only Way
and whether or not it is politically correct to say it, there is still only one way to have a relationship with God, and that is through Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ, He comes to Gideon and says, «I’m going to remind you of this truth because this truth is going to change everything, Gideon. I still am who I said I am.» But He said, «I didn’t just come, Gideon, to tell you who I am. I came to tell you the truth about who you are.»
You Are Not Your Behavior
Remember, Gideon is currently operating in fear and insecurity, and he speaks to a person who is currently behaving in a way that is out of alignment with the truth. He comes to him in the midst of that lapse in behavior and integrity, and He says to him, «Even though I see you right now operating in a way that is totally incongruent with my truth, I have come to remind you who you are; that you are not your behavior, you are not your feelings.
Your True Identity in God
Your circumstances do not dictate and change the intrinsic value of who you are as a son or a daughter of the Most High God. I have come to remind you that you still are who I said you are, and you can still do everything I said you can do, Gideon.» Even right now, while you’re operating in fear and insecurity, I came to tell you that you are a mighty, valiant warrior.
Stepping Out Changes Everything
And if, Gideon, I can get you to come up out from underneath these shadows, if I can get you to start acting and behaving and thinking in a way that is congruent with the truth, it’s going to change the course of your life. Gideon, you have no way of knowing that in the year 2019, there are going to be a bunch of people gathered in Miami that will be reading Judges chapters 6 and 7.
Breaking Generational Curses
Gideon, you could never know there would be chapters of the Bible, the very word of God, that are going to be written about you. You have no way of knowing, Gideon, that if you will come out from underneath these shadows and stop operating according to the way you feel, stop operating in accordance with your circumstances, stop letting the enemy dictate the way you behave, you don’t even know, Gideon.
Impacting Your Family Line
You’re about to come out from the shadows of this tree, and you’re going to go straight to your house. That’s what Judges 6 says. You’re going to go to your house, and you’re going to break the idols that are indicative of your entire family line. For years, y’all have been worshiping idols, but you’re going to break the curse of idolatry over your home if you believe what I’ve declared to be true about you.
Do you understand that your whole family is dependent on you? Do you understand that your sons and your daughters, your grandsons and your granddaughters, and your great-grandchildren that we may never actually lay eyes on? Do you realize that they are counting on you rising up and being who God has called you to be?
Breaking Chains for Generations
Do you know that there are whole generational curses that can be broken if you get a handle on your identity? But not just that, Gideon. You have no way of knowing that not only is there a Judges chapter 6, but Gideon, there’s going to be a Judges chapter 7 because you’re going to roll up out of your house, and you’re going to go straight into battle against the Midianites.
Victory for a Nation
And with 300 soldiers as the underdog against 140,000 Midianite enemies, you are going to win a battle for the entire nation. A whole nation is going to be changed because one man gets a handle on his identity. Do you know what would happen if the men and women of God that are in the house today get a handle on who they are?
Transforming the Nation
Do you realize how the entire nation will be transformed when God’s people just recognize who they are? Oh, the enemy doesn’t want you to know who you are. Oh, he’s just trying to get you to believe that you are the way you feel, that you are the way you behaved, that you are your past, that you are your circumstances, that you are what other people have called you,
The Enemy’s Strategy
or you are what you have even labeled yourself as long as you won’t rise up and be who God has called you to be. You are not a threat to the kingdom of darkness, but once the sons and daughters start stepping into fully that I am who God said I am, I can do what God says I can do, I will behave in alignment with the truth of God, then everything begins to shift, and everything begins to change.
A Legacy in Faith
The enemy is counting on you not getting this message tonight because he knows if we roll up out of here and do right, our whole family line will be changed in Jesus' name. He knows that not only will our whole family line be changed, but he knows there is an entire nation that will be completely transformed once the people of God discover who they are.
And Gideon, you don’t even know that there’s a New Testament coming! Gideon, you have no way of knowing that in the New Testament, there will be a book called Hebrews. Gideon, you can’t even recognize the fact that there’s going to be a great hall of faith in the book of Hebrews and that the writer is going to need a way to close the chapter.
Gideon’s Place in the Hall of Faith
You cannot even imagine, Gideon, that when the writer is sitting back trying to figure out how do I close the great hall of faith that the writer is going to conclude the chapter by saying, «I don’t even have time to tell you everything about Gideon.» He’s going to say that this is a man who by faith conquered kingdoms and performed acts of righteousness and obtained promises and shut the mouths of lions
and quenched the power of fire and escaped the edge of the sword. From weakness, he was made strong; he became a mighty man of war and put foreign armies to flight simply because he got a hold of who he really was. Amen.
Reminding You Who You Are
So if you don’t mind, as the band comes, I thought there would be no better way to close tonight than by simply reminding you who you are. You are a child of God. You have peace with God. The Holy Spirit lives on the inside of you. You have access to God’s wisdom. You are reconciled to God. You are not condemned by God. You have been justified. You have Christ’s righteousness.
Your Identity in Christ
You are Christ’s ambassador. You are completely forgiven, and you are tenderly loved. You are a sweet fragrance of Christ to God. You are a temple in which God dwells. You are blameless, and you are beyond reproach. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. You are chosen by Christ to bear fruit. You are a joint heir with Christ; you share in his inheritance with him.
You are united to the Lord, one spirit with him. You are a member of the body of Christ. You are a saint. You are hidden with Christ in God. You are chosen by God. You are a child of light. You are holy, and you share in God’s heavenly calling. You are sanctified. You are one of God’s living stones being built up in Christ as a spiritual house.
Royal Priesthood and More
You are a member of a chosen race. You are a royal priesthood. You are a holy nation. You are a people for God’s own possession created to sing the praises of God. You are firmly rooted and built up in Christ. You are born of God, and the evil one cannot touch you. You have the mind of Christ. You can approach God with boldness, freedom, and confidence.
You have been rescued from Satan’s domain, and you have been transferred into the kingdom of Christ. You have been made complete in Christ. You have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. All of your needs are met by God. You are royalty in God’s kingdom. You have been bought with a price, and you belong to God.
Free and Loved Forever
You have been adopted as God’s child. You have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit. You can be assured that all things work together for the good of those who love him and are the called according to his purposes. You are free! Somebody needs to hear that today. You’re free from any condemning charges that are against you.
Nothing—and I do mean nothing—can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. You have been established, anointed, and sealed by God. You can be confident in this very thing that the good work God has started in you, He will be faithful to bring it all the way to completion. You are a personal witness of Christ.
You are a citizen of heaven. You are God’s coworker. You are seated with Christ in heavenly places. You are God’s workmanship, and you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you in Jesus' name.