Identity and the prophetic

Over the past two days, I have been attending a conference on the prophetic. Last night, Steve Chua, a pastor from California spoke and his message left a deep impact.

He spoke about identity - why it is important for us to know we are valued not for our function or calling, but simply because we are children of God.

Why is it important for us to be secure in this?

Because if we derive our affirmation and value and self-worth from our function, then we will end up  taking the holy things of God (the gifts He has given us) and using them to build our own kingdom and not His.

He used an analogy which really brought this home to me. He said he used to dream that God would use him powerfully as a healing evangelist. As he preached in these massive rallies (stadiums packed full with people), the blind would see, the deaf hear, the lame walk. One day, God asked him if this dream of his wasn't for his own glory. "No Lord!!" Steve protested. "This would be for your glory." The Lord replied, "If this is for my glory, why do YOU have to be there?" It exposed his heart.

In the prophetic, if we derive our affirmation from the accuracy of our words and declarations, then we risk doing ministry for the praise of man. Ministry then becomes all about us, rather than about Him or others.

That is why I think God's priority is for us to know Him and his deep love for us, regardless of what we do and whether we perform or not. For us performance oriented Singaporeans, I really think that requires a deep heart work and a renewing of the mind.

I also realise why although I went on my Chiangmai silent retreat last year to enquire about the assignments He would give me this year, He had other plans. No, in the end, God hijacked my agenda. He spoke to me deeply about my identity in Him instead. I now see why. I was being my usual performance / task oriented self in wanting to find out the assignments. God just wanted me to know I am loved just the way I am. That revelation that He loves me deeply even when I fail made me cry.

In like fashion then, Steve exhorted us to love people for who they are, not their function or calling.

Journey with people's hearts, he said.

Make love the centre of revival.

Don't judge because when we judge people, we orphan them.

For a conference on the prophetic, it put first things first.

Love. His love for us. Our love for others. I needed the reminder!