Priscilla Shirer - Your Identity and Authority Comes from Christ
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Summary
Priscilla Shirer shares a powerful message on true identity rooted in who God says we are, drawing from personal stories, biblical examples like Abraham, and the feeding of the 5,000 in Luke 9, where Jesus empowers His disciples. She emphasizes that only God has the authority to name and define us—not our past, circumstances, culture, or even self-labels—and that embracing this identity unleashes the power of the Holy Spirit in us. The key takeaway is that when we live aligned with God’s declaration over our lives, we become unstoppable overcomers who fulfill our assignments and impact the world.
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, we, your sons and daughters, are literally sitting on the edge of our seats in anticipation of what you came to say to us tonight. Father, we are so glad that we are all 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.
A Teenage Name Change
I will tell you that I was a bit of a mischievous teenager. Of the four of us, I gave my parents a run for their money. I was the one who was always coming up with things to do as a teenager. One of the things I decided to do during my freshman year in high school was change my name. I came up with a little nickname and decided to go by that.
To give you context for that choice, I went along with my three siblings 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 attended from kindergarten to eighth grade. Then, in our freshman year, we transferred to the neighboring public school district.
From Small Class to Big School
To give you some context, the largest my class ever was in this private school was about 20 kids. By the time I got to eighth grade, there were about 13 kids in my class. When I transferred to Duncanville High School for ninth grade, it was one of the largest school districts in Texas; it was more like a college campus than a high school.
When I moved from 13 students at Rallo Christian School to my freshman year at Duncanville High School, there were 753 kids in my freshman class—not just in the high school, but in the freshman class alone. So it was a completely different context for me, and these were going to be people who, for the most part, did not know me, and I didn’t know them.
Introducing Myself as DK
I thought this would be a fun opportunity to change my identity entirely. I would change my name and give myself a brand-new name. I had heard of a student I met through other acquaintances 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.
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 district, so I told her about my plan. She was the only one who knew about my little scheme because I knew she would be the connective tissue between me and most of the new friends I was going to make.
The Nickname Caught On
I said to her, «Listen, girl, when you introduce 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 DK.» I remember showing up that very first day of school, walking into this brand-new, huge world, this new campus.
I remember her introducing me to people; she would look at me inquisitively to make sure I was still down with this, that this plan was still in effect, before she began to introduce me, one person after the other, as DK. I introduced myself to my teachers and new friends as DK, and to make a long story short, it caught on.
Everyone Knew Me as DK
For the four years that I was in school there, there was not one student, not one teacher, not one school administrator, not one principal, not one athletic coach who 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, anyone from that whole season of my life knew me as DK.
If someone refers to me as DK on social media or yells across the mall, «Hey, DK!» or across the aisles of the grocery store, I automatically know it’s somebody who knew me in that season of my life, because everybody called me DK. Now, this didn’t bother my parents much; they didn’t really say anything about it until one day I got sick at school.
The Nurse Didn’t Know Priscilla
I had a fever, so they had to call my mom to come pick me up. I remember lying on that little cot behind the curtain they pull in the nurse’s station and hearing my mom approach the counter. I remember her saying, «I’m here for Priscilla.» I also remember the nurse saying, «Who?»
I heard them toggle back and forth for a moment before they decided she was here for DK, a.k.a. Priscilla. So my mom picked me up and took me home. She didn’t say anything to me the first evening because I didn’t feel well, nor the next day or the next day. She waited until I was 100% before she hemmed me up in the corner with the «momma eye.»
Mom’s Graduation Warning
Y’all know what I’m talking about when I say the «momma eye.» She said, «Now, Priscilla, I want to be clear about something: neither your father nor I have minded this whole little nickname business; it hasn’t bothered us at all. We know it’s just been a little high school experiment, no big deal. It’s been all in fun.
But I want to be clear about something: graduation is coming, and when graduation comes, they are 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.
Only the One Who Gave Life Names You
When they hand you that piece of paper, there better not be a D or a K anywhere in sight.» She said, «Here’s the reason why: it doesn’t matter what everybody else calls you. It doesn’t even matter what you call yourself; there is 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, having flown over from Dallas, Texas, earlier this afternoon, because I want to speak a word of identity over you. I want so much to remind you who you are.
God Alone Defines You
I want you to know that it doesn’t matter what other people have called you; 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—though they may have made things difficult for you—are actually not 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 may have hurt you, and it may actually take real emotional work and years to come up out of the unhealth that it rooted in your life.
You Are Who God Says You Are
I understand that, but I want you to know it does not have the power to shape the totality of who 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 father has given you a name. Did you know that?
A Chosen Royal Priesthood
He has said that you are a chosen race. You’re a royal priesthood. You are a person who has been redeemed, 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—the skin you’re in, the hair texture that’s on your head, the structure of your body—every unique aspect of your physicality has been made in the very image of God. That means any person or any system that seeks to diminish the value of the uniqueness of who I am is actually anti-God because I am an expression of the creative genius of God.
Your Personality Reflects God
Not only that, but it also means that physically you are created in the image of God. 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 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 become a platform for the strength of God to be displayed through your life.
Temples of the Holy Spirit
And then, when we surrender all of who we are—physically and in our personality—to God, place faith in his son Jesus Christ, and give him our body and our personality, to be used as tools and instruments for his glory, well now the Holy Spirit of God takes up residence on the inside of us.
So, 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, I am 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.
Live Up to Your True Identity
Because you will either live up to or you will live down to whatever you believe to be true about who you are. This issue of identity is so critical that it is one of the theological threads that we see threaded all the way throughout the pages of Scripture.
From the beginning to the end, there are some theological principles that relegate themselves to one sliver of the Bible—maybe one book or one testament—but not identity. Identity is woven all the way from the beginning in Genesis to the end, all the way to the maps at the end of the book.
Abraham’s Name Change
We 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.
Because 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.
Align with Your New Identity
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 staples. 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 to be 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.
Forgetting Who They Are
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, bowing, 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 in the land of milk and honey. They are on the real estate of Canaan but can’t enjoy the blessings. They’re in the place where God’s blessings are supposed to abound, but they can’t enjoy them simply because they didn’t get this identity issue straight.
The Enemy Redefines Identity
Y’all, we live in a day and age where, if you have not noticed, 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.
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.
Prayer Before the Word
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, 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 said, «Do not let me say anything that is not exactly what you want your daughters to hear.» Speak, Lord, in Jesus’ name, amen.
My Three Sons
As was mentioned, I have the privilege of raising three sons: Jackson is 16, Jerry Jr. is 14, and then we have Jude. I’ve told you all before; Jude is 10 years old now, but he’s our surprise boy. We still don’t know how Jude made it here.
We named him Jude on purpose because that’s as close as I could get to Revelation—'cause 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 the things we like to do when a movie comes out that we want to see. It’s kind of our thing.
The 3D Glasses Story
We went to the movies and saw it in 3D. So we sat down altogether at this Disney movie, and we started the film. After the movie was well underway—I’m talking 15-20 minutes in—Jude, the youngest, looks over at me, taps me on the shoulder, and says, «Mom, I don’t like this movie.»
I said, «Buddy, why don’t you like the movie?» 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, I haven’t been able to clearly see anything!» I looked down at him and said, «Buddy, did you take the glasses out of the package?»
Seeing Clearly with God’s Perspective
You know they give you those little glasses. He said, «These?» I said, «Yes, buddy, 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’s really 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 he’s crafting through your life and mine.
Incredibles 2 Illustration
The movie I took them to see was Incredibles 2. I’m not sure if you saw that one, but it was just as good as the first one, and I loved the storyline. In this one, Mr. Incredible and his wife Elastigirl are in the throes of taking care of evil and sort of coming out of retirement to do that.
But in Incredibles 2, it’s Elastigirl who takes the forefront; she’s the one who’s sort of at the helm of fighting dangers and evil in society. The children end up having to get much more involved this time. Man, they are running across powers that they never knew they had, being set in scenarios that are a little dangerous, a little risky—lots of adventure that they are called to be a part of.
Children with Power
You know, Elastigirl has a mama’s heart, and she’s watching her three babies in the throes of all of this. At one point, she turns to her husband, Mr. Incredible, and says, «They’re just children.» He says, «They’re children, but they’re children with power. And because they have power, that makes them special.»
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 who are daughters that have placed faith in Jesus Christ, that we’re children. But y’all, we ain’t just children; we’re children with power!
Power Through the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit of God has given you power so that whatever place of danger or risk or adventure 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. But here’s the deal: whether or not you choose to use it, 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 there is a portion of Scripture that has spoken so clearly to me and been a blessing in my life over the past year.
Turning to Luke 9
I want to share it with you—it is in Luke’s gospel. If you have your Bible and 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, iPad, any manner of iness, we’ll get to Luke chapter 9.
I think they’re going to put it on the screens as well. I want to read verses 1 and 2, then I’m going to jump over to verse 10, and I’m going to read verses 10-17. Luke chapter 9 verse 1-2 says this: «And he called the twelve together»—that’s Jesus. «He called the twelve 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.»
Called, Given, Sent
Listen to that again; this is the disciples going on their adventure. «And Jesus called—somebody say he called—he called the twelve together, and then he gave—somebody say he gave—he gave them power and authority.» Then verse 2 says, «And then he sent—somebody say he sent—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 Bethsaida. The multitudes, verse 11 says, were aware of this, so they followed Jesus.
Feeding the Multitude
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 decline. The twelve 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 we are here in a desolate place.'
But Jesus said to them in verse 13, '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 buy food for all of these people.» Luke wants to make sure you know that there were 5,000 men there.
The Miracle of Multiplication
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 fifty.»
Verse 15 says, «So they did that and had them all recline. And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them. Then he broke them and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the multitude.» In verse 17 it 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 twelve baskets full of leftovers.» This very familiar story, that many of us probably have heard or are in some way familiar with, is a story of a multitude of people who are being fed.
Focus on the Disciples
They are hungry; they are empty; they are in need of nourishment, and they are in more need of an encounter with Jesus. Jesus gives them both. But I want us to turn our attention away from the multitude and really focus in on these twelve disciples—the disciples who walked with Jesus and talked with Jesus, those who were in relationship with Jesus, those who followed him, those who wanted to learn of Jesus.
The disciples—those who fly halfway across the country to come to the conference to learn more about Jesus—are the disciples. I believe that this story, this well-loved story and miraculous encounter that Jesus had in the Scriptures, starts not just when the crowd gets hungry.
The Disciples' Assignment
I really believe that it starts in verses 1 and 2. We find that the disciples, the twelve, have an up-close, personal encounter with Jesus. We find out more about this particular encounter 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 are called the synoptic gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Synoptic means that there’s synergy in the stories being told, the tone in which they’re told, and the way the writers wrote those particular encounters.
Layers of Insight
The more you read them, the more layers of insight you can gain about what happened in that particular story and encounter that Jesus had. We find this same story in Mark chapter 6, and when we read it, it gives us some texture to the story.
It’s kind of like if someone offered you some chocolate cake and 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 are going to do, but I am 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.
Sent Out with Power
Mark chapter 6 is our layer of chocolate cake. What we find out is that this is the occasion where Jesus called the disciples together. Do you remember he sent them out in pairs? He sent them out two by two to the neighboring towns and communities.
He sent them out with an assignment. Their assignment was that everywhere they went, every person they encountered should walk away with a clearer picture in their head of who Jesus really is. They were supposed to go out in power and authority to preach, teach, and 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 he could do.
Representing Jesus
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 lives would mean that every person they encountered, every interaction they had, would leave the people they 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.
Giving an Account
Mark chapter 6 tells us they are fully entrenched in the task at hand. After they finish the assignment, they come back to Jesus and give him an account for how they handled the assignment that had been given to them, how they handled the ministry entrusted to them.
I want to make sure that everybody in the room knows that you 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 ministry is relegated to standing on a platform behind a podium with a little microphone attached to you.
Ministry in Everyday Life
Ministry is the place you’ve been called to serve in the assignment that you have been given. Every one of us is a representative of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. You are in ministry! It’s a mother of small children who prepares a casserole that you figured out to make chicken for dinner tonight.
You’ve successfully figured it out one more night, and as you sit the kids around the table and pray over them, teaching them a Bible verse before they go to bed, don’t let anybody tell you that that isn’t ministry! A high school student walking down the corridor of that high school, standing 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!
Standing for Truth
A university student like Mr. Dave’s niece, when you are the only one in the philosophy class where the professor is teaching things that are left of center of the truth of God’s word, and you’re the only student in a class of 300 who raises their hand to take them to task, letting them know that there is a truth, a standard that is the word of God—YOU are in ministry!
A corporate man or woman, when you sit around that boardroom table and you’re the only one discussing projections for the future that lack integrity or character, and you are the one who stands for righteousness, calling people back to the truth of God—don’t let anybody tell you that isn’t ministry!
We Will Give an Account
Every single one of us has an assignment, and just like the disciples, the day is coming where we will have to give an account. The day is coming sooner than we think, where we will look our Savior in the face, and we will have to give an account for how we used our time, how we used our talents, how we used the gifts He entrusted to us, and how we took care of the assignments each and every one of us has been called to.
He’s not going to ask me about her assignment. He’s going to ask me about mine. 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 or liked the tweet I put up.
Well Done
He’s only going to ask me, number one, did I know his son Jesus Christ? And then I am going to have to give an account for the assignment he called me to, and when I look at my Savior in his face, I want to tell you that I am looking for «Well done.» Is anybody interested in «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 garnering the applause of Heaven, because the day is coming sooner than you think when we will have to look at our Savior and give him an account.
Nostalgic Reflection
I was feeling a bit nostalgic listening to Bishop Louie bring the word to us last night. I was nostalgic because it was about two decades plus ago that I was in Atlanta, sitting in a conference that was about the size of this one section over here on the floor for a group that at the time was called the Impact Movement.
It was a little arm of Campus Crusade for Christ that gathered together a group of young people in Atlanta—high school and college-age kids in my 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 who had walked the road a little 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 my life could have if I would just follow Jesus would be an impact the likes of which I could never imagine.
You Are Arrows
I came to echo what it is that Lou has said: 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 God might do with your life is too small for what he is actually planning to do—too small!
You cannot fathom what God has in mind for you! The reason why I can say that with such boldness is because while there are 30,000 plus of us gathered in these three arenas and those on the other side of the screen in their homes, 30,000 sounds like a big number—unless you consider the fact that with seven plus billion people on the planet, the fact that he chose us to be the recipients of what he’s done over the last few days really is just a drop in the bucket.
God Chose Us
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 are 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 conference together in this last session to just seal 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?
Closing Prayer
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 it is to know that you have allowed us to be arrows in your hands.
Wherever you send us, we will go. Whatever mission you send us on, Lord, we’re game for it. Father, we surrender to you. 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 we are all here, but we didn’t come to see each other; we came to see you.
Speak, Lord!
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 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; you came to have church!
My Giant Boys
So, I have three boys. It’s a little bit scary to me that they will soon be about your age. The distinguishing characteristic about my boys is that they are giants—they are huge boys. My 15-year-old is 6'2» tall and wears a size 14 men’s shoe.
My 13-year-old is about 6'1» and wears a size 13 men’s shoe. 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! One of the distinguishing characteristics about—or what makes their size work for them—is that they do love sports.
Baseball Season Stories
So whatever sport is sort of in season, that’s what we are playing at the time. My second son, for a lot of years, was into basketball, but for a lot of years, baseball was his thing. I enjoyed that; I enjoyed baseball season. I liked going out there for spring ball.
I liked spring ball because you sit in the cool of the evening while your kid is practicing. I remember all those years of little league when he was coming up, sitting out there in the cool of the spring evening under the lights of the bleachers, watching and practicing, enjoying that whole atmosphere.
From Spring to Summer Ball
I liked spring ball so much—the only problem with spring ball is that it becomes summer ball. I don’t know what happens where you live, but in Dallas, Texas, where I was born and raised, in the summertime, it doesn’t just warm up slightly; it gets hot!
I’m talking about «slap your mama» hot—that kind of hot, where you feel like the sun must be mad 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. You’re sitting out there at a game, trying to enjoy your kid’s game, and it’s okay when there’s just one game.
Tournament Heat
The problem is that at the end of every season, there’s a tournament. So, you’ve got to be out there on a Thursday at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m., and then depending on how your kid’s team did, you’re coming back on Friday at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.
They give you a little lunch break, but you’ve got to return for the 2 p.m. game, the 4 p.m. game, and then if your kid’s team had the nerve to do well, you’ve got to come back again on Saturday for the 8 a.m. game and 10 a.m. and noon and 2 p.m.
A Hot Tournament Day
I mean, you’re sitting out there under the blazing sun, trying to be happy your kid is doing well—really you’re wondering if it’s ever okay to pray for a loss 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 several years ago, and the 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 conditioning and ice water that actually had ice in it! We got refreshed and 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 we needed to go to the next game in the tournament.
Walking to the Dugout
We were three days into the tournament, hot, sweaty; they were doing well, and we were trying to be excited about it, ready for the next game. I was walking behind my son from where we had parked the car over toward the dugout where the next game was going to be played.
I gathered up all the stuff: you know, the ice chest and the umbrella, the water bottles, the backpacks, the baseballs, the mitts—all that stuff. I was following behind my son. My second son, Jerry Jr., has a fairly gregarious personality. He’s outgoing; he’s excited for a challenge.
Confidence Turns to Fear
I could see that in his step as I followed behind him. I could see a skip in his step, his chin up, his shoulders back. He was excited about the next game. And I’ve got to tell you he’s pretty good at baseball. He has a natural knack for it.
I remember at 10 years old; it was the first time he got a good hit and sent it sailing over the fence at 10. 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.
I watched him as he skipped over to the next game, 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. As we took the short walk from where we parked the car over to the dugout, I could see his shoulders starting to hunch over, his head hang down.
Facing a Tough Opponent
I could see that skip that had been in his step had changed; he was kind of walking like he was nervous, ringing his hands a little bit. I saw that he was looking around, his eyes darting and looking a little sketchy. I was trying to figure out what happened to my boy.
It was a short walk, 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 lying 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. I kept walking, and as I kept getting a look at these boys, 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.
The Enemy Recognizes You
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 mitt in one hand and a baseball in the other.
They’ve been waiting for this their whole lives! And these boys were good; they’d been playing since they were toddlers. I mean, really little! This was one of those elite teams; they were amazing! So my boy saw this was the team he was about to play, and 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 this. We had to walk right by them to get to the dugout. As we walked past, there were two players who were talking to each other. One was whispering to the other. I think he thought he was whispering, but we could hear him.
Overhearing the Opponent
He leaned over to the other one and 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’s the one at first base; the one that caught any of the outs that we got in that game—that was him!»
So that’s Jerry! When my boy heard his name cross the lips of the opposing team members, those shoulders that had been hanging down all of a sudden popped back up. I watched his chin go up; I watched him get a little swagger 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 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.
The Enemy Knows Your Power
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 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;
Victory in the End
he knows that you have been given the victory; he knows 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!
What a shame it would be for the enemy to believe more about your potential than you do! What a shame it would be for us to go out of here with all of this inspiration we have been given, this investment of God’s word that he has gathered us together over the past few days to worship in spirit and in truth and hear his word declared true over our lives!
Don’t Shrink Back
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. Because listen, y’all: you are going back home to challenges! Do you know we are going back home in a little while?
Don’t we wish we could wake up to this every single day? Don’t we wish 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 like this? But the reality is we’re going back home.
The challenges of your university campus, the challenges of your home, your relationships, your friendships, 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!
Step Up to the Plate
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 of destroying you are over! So he is going to spend the rest of his time and 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!