Your True Identity

What's up Hando community? My name is Courtney Clary and I'd love to just share a verse and a word with you today. The verse is Romans 6 23. It says, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The reality is we have all fallen short of the glory of God. You have, I have, the pastor on the stage that you're about to watch this message has, we've all fallen short. And so what does that mean? It means we are in need of a Savior to be able to be reconciled to a perfect God. Meaning if we want to go to heaven, we need to put our faith and trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and have him be the Lord and the owner of our lives. And, and the reality is, is that not, it's not always an easy decision, but it's the best decision you will ever make. So as you're watching this message, consider that, consider who is Jesus to you. And I pray that you let him be the Lord of your life, just like I did as a struggling alcoholic four years ago, my life has been never the same since. And so I'm so glad you chose to spend your time with us. Let's hop into this message and see what we got for today. Church, how are we doing? Let's go. Guys last night in this room, over 500 students gave their life to Jesus. And the whole event, the conference, the movement, it's, it's 100% student led, like no adults involved. I mean, we show up and just do what they ask us to do. So I'm just so encouraged by the way the youth of, of this city are partnering together to advance the gospel and live on mission. And there, and there was anybody here at Zealous? Anybody? Okay. Yeah. Okay. You guys were here. Yeah, man. Praise God for you guys. Praise God for what he's doing. So Father, thank you for your word that doesn't return void as we open this ancient text. I just pray your Holy Spirit would move, intersect with, with my words and change lives in spite of us, Lord. I just pray you would change lives today in Jesus name. Amen. So being here late and my body's still fighting something. So give me grace on the, may have to cough a few times in the message, but this week I got to do something I've wanted to do for a long time, which was visit some, some women on death row. And so I told them I would give them a shout out, shout out to you ladies. And, and just to set the scene, it's a little bit intimidating. I mean, you, you show up and you stand at a gate, you wait for someone to open it. You go inside, you check in, you get to another gate. There's, there's razor wire. You go to another station. There's another door now with bars over it, painted on the wall. It says death row. And so I'm prepared to minister. Like I'm, I am ready. I'm, I'm thinking about, okay, you know, what does it look like to, to share the gospel in this situation? What are the verses? How do I give

hope? And, and so I'm visiting death row and I, I meet some of the most alive women I I've ever met in my life. Believers, as I'm there to minister to them, they begin to minister to me. It was a very powerful moment. It would be a miss if I just didn't share with you how God used that situation, even in my own life. To get in, I had to, and the only thing that I could show was my driver's license, an identification card. And so I, you, I have to leave my phone and wallet in the car, pull out my driver's license, go and, and show that, put it in my pocket. I needed to get in, but I also needed, maybe more importantly, to get out, you know, to say, hey, this is not my home. This is my home. This is, is who I am. And because I was carrying that with me in my pocket all by itself, and then I get back in my car and as I'm leaving and just reflecting on all that God has done and what he taught me, I just look at that card. And in fact, if you have one, if you brought one with you today, will you just pull it out and, and maybe even just hold it as I, I share this with you. And so if you brought it, if you didn't, it's okay, you can stay here. But, but a lot of places, honestly, you can't, you can't get in without this card, which is ironic. I mean, it's, it's very interesting. If you think about it, like you can go, if you're going to travel, you need this card. If you're going to, you know, um, go certain places, you need this car. If you're going to buy certain things, you need this car, which is really to say, I don't trust you because you're there, you know, and you're like, Hey, I am Jonathan Bakluta. And they're like, really prove like, we need to see, and you pull out this card. It's like, this is who I am. This is where I live. This is when I was born. This is how tall I am. This is the color of my eyes, you know, And if you're here in Texas, there's even a governing issuing authority, the state of Texas, right, has the governing authority who's given you that identification card. And as you came in today, there's a part of you, whether you realize it or not, and you're gonna have to realize it over the next few minutes that we have together, is you have found a lot of identity

in this card that identifies you, known as an identification, all right? This is who you are. That's my name. That's where I live. It's how tall I am. This is the color of my eyes. This is the state that I reside in. And you think, this is me. You need to prove your identity. Here you go. Let me prove my identity. This is me. What the scripture's gonna tell us is that is least who you are, who you think most who you are is actually least who you are. And I'm gonna spend the next few minutes that we have together from the scriptures. We're going to read a letter written by the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to a church in Colossae, a church he's never visited, he hasn't planted. He's in prison. He pens this letter. We've looked at chapters one and two. I'm moving into chapters three if you wanna turn there. And what one and chapters one and two, and this is Paul's writing style,

chapters one and two are orthodoxy, okay? What that word means, orthodoxy, is doctrine, it's beliefs. Chapters one and two is this is what you believe. You turn into chapter three and it's orthopraxy. What that word means is what you do in light of that belief. This is how you live, think practice. Think doctrine, think practice. Chapter three is moving toward practical life application. This is how you live because of what we believe in chapters one and two. And what he's gonna start telling us in chapter three is you, and he's telling the Colossians, but the Holy Spirit preserved it for Harris Creek, and anyone visiting Harris Creek today, you are not who you think you are. And in fact, you are at least who you think you are. The things that you most find identity in is actually who you least are. So important to live the Christian life is to understand that. The information on that card in the kingdom of God is some of the most irrelevant information about you. And there's so many distractions around us that you will face today that will keep you from understanding who you really are. Because Satan doesn't have to get you to leave your faith. He just needs to get you to forget who you really are.

And if he can do that, then you will live a purposeless life. You will live, you will be born, and you will exist here, and you will live your life, and the days will turn into months, and the months into years, and you will look back in the rear view mirror with virtually zero kingdom impact because you got tricked into thinking that you were supposed to live for the information on that card. That that's your identity. And now you have a life impotent in terms of spiritual realities in God's kingdom. That's why Paul, the Holy Spirit, wrote this letter, so that we would know our true identity, not our false identity. As we move through it in chapter three, I'll be in verses one through 17. We're gonna cover a lot. We're gonna look at how your new identity changes how you think, how your new identity changes how you live, and how your new identity changes who you live for. And so this is the move to orthopraxy. Here we go, verse one. Since then, if your Bible says if, I believe since is the word there in the Greek. Since then, you have been raised with Christ.

Set your hearts on the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And the reason I start that way in reading the text because where the NIV says set your hearts, hearts is nowhere in that in the Greek. And so if you have ESV, so if you have ESV, it's like seek out. And that is true what it says, but the reason the NIV translates that heart, and you're like, why tell us this? Because it's not seek with your eyes. It's pursue with your life. What he's about to tell us is this is foundational to the Christian life. If you want to live on earth as a Christian, you must do this. Seek the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. And then he goes this, and this is there. Verse two, set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Just think for a second what your mind is most set on. Is it most set on the things above the kingdom of God or the things on this earth? Almost all of your worries, all of the things that keep you up on, all the things that spin in your head, all the intrusive thoughts are of the things of this world. And right here, just matter of factly, he says, no, no, no, no, no.

Don't set your mind on the things on the earth. Set your mind on the things of the kingdom of God. In a minute, there's gonna be some taking off and some putting on, and the cry of your heart is how? And this is the how. It has to start by setting your mind on the things above, which is a foundational command of the Scriptures repeated over and over in the Scriptures. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. So Jesus is coming back. This is what we're waiting for. And everything about what we know about us and about this life and this world is going to change in that moment. And you, follower of Christ, Christian, you and I, we are to live for that moment and to see everything through the lens of that moment. Now, this is not be so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good. This is be so heavenly minded that you are maximum, that you maximize your earthly good, your earthly impact, because you are heavenly minded. It's the only way to live. It's the only way to endure. It's the only way to move through this life. He says, you belong to the risen Christ, so let your thinking and living be shaped by his kingdom now

because your old life is over and your real life is secure in him. And one day, that new life will be fully visible. If you ever had a coach say, where's your head at? That's kind of what Paul's saying, where's your head at? Where's your head at? What's your mind on? What you thinking about? All the time, what you thinking about? And if it's not the kingdom of God, if it doesn't have implications for the kingdom of God, it's a distraction. It's distracting you from the thing you should be thinking about. So my first point, your new identity changes how you think. This is where he starts. Okay, he says the thinking needs to change. Here's a way to say it in our context. The operating system changes. Before the hardware changes, before the outside changes, the inside changes, the thought processes changes. This is how, when you become a Christian, then your intake and what you're meditating on and the things that you know to be true begin to change and that shapes how you live, but it has to start with that internal change. Your old identity was rooted in the world. Your new identity is rooted in the kingdom of God. And so if you were, listen, if you were converted at an early age,

like you don't really have this before, after story, you think like four years old, you prayed to receive Christ, then the admonishment of this text is then don't get distracted by the world. We spent a whole week on that in a recent series, Do Not Love the World or Things of the World. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. This is like Christianity 101, repeated in the New Testament. Hey, you're gonna live in the world and the world is full of distractions so that you're not thinking about the kingdom of God, but you are ultimately, everything here is really a test that is about the kingdom of God. That's so important. Like that is foundationally utmost important. And you're like, man, a lot of energy with your raspy voice, you're getting all animated because it says it one time in Colossians. No, no, no, it's woven throughout the New Testament. I'll show you some. Jesus says, Matthew six, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Second Corinthians four. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary,

but what is unseen is eternal. Romans 12, two, do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Your mind, your mind, your mind, how you think. Philippians three, verse 20. But our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. So your thoughts. are the determining factor of what kingdom you belong to. Where the world that you most live in is where your head's at. Okay, watch. So your identity, if you're always thinking about approval, then your identity is performance. If you're always thinking about money and provision, then your identity is security. If you're always thinking about yourself, your kingdom, then your identity is control. You trying to be God of your house, your children, your schedule. You must be in control. But if your life is hidden with Christ and God, your mind should be there too. I'm gonna bring back an illustration that I've done because it's straight out of this text. So this is you and this is how God found you, wrapped in sin, stuck in sin. Holy Spirit comes in your life and cleans you up.

Jesus Christ paid for your sin. So the scripture's like, you're a new creation, but you're like, I don't feel like a new creation. But the text says that there you are, you're hidden with Christ, okay? So now you are hidden with Christ, okay, in God. Sealed by the Spirit. Here's your new identity. You can still see you, but you really see God and you really see Christ. You're hidden with Christ. In God is what the text says. This is who you most are. This is not reflected on your driver's license. This is your new identity. This is who you most are. You're seeing this, you're like, oh man, that's a helpful way to explain it. You gotta think about this all the time. All the time, you are with Christ in God. You are with Christ in God, that's who you are. Why shouldn't you sin? Because this is who you are. Why shouldn't you get wrapped up in this world? Because this is who you are. You belong to a different world. This is your new identity, okay? That's your new identity. That's the new picture, so what does it look like?

You can do this, live this life. When the Scripture says pray without ceasing, it's not like, oh, there's a command I gotta do. It's like, this is how you stay with your head in the kingdom of God. You're talking to him all the time. You're seeing every situation and every relationship and every divine appointment through the lens of the fact that our king is coming back and everything that we experience under the sun has eternal kingdom implications. I'm there, I'm in prison. I sit down with these ladies. It's apparent they have the Holy Spirit, they're saved. They immediately begin to minister to me, to which is great, and I'm like, that's plot twist. It's not what I thought was gonna happen, so I'm like, hey, is there anything that I can do for you? And one woman says, well, I do have a question. Does God get tired of hearing my voice? I'm just talking to him all the time, and I'm just concerned that he's gonna get tired of me bugging him, just like constantly in constant conversation with him. Does he get tired of that? And I'm kind of absorbing the question when the other woman cuts her off and says, yeah, me too. That's actually my question, too. I'm wondering, does God get tired of hearing from me? Because I'm just like all day just talking with him,

spending time with him, to which I say, I've never in my life since I was saved 24 years ago, I've never been concerned about God hearing from me too much, to which they both kind of sit back, kind of like, okay, pastor, let us in on how you got over that insecurity. And I said, because I'm quite concerned that he is concerned that he doesn't hear from me enough. Like, I don't think God's ever been like, this JP guy's gotta stop talking to me constantly. No, I think he's like, man, I wanna spend time with you. And so when I say that, she reacts just truly and sincerely dumbfounded. She goes, what? But he's your daddy. You don't wanna talk to your daddy all the time? How is that even possible? And I'm like, I know. And what was weird in that moment, is I found myself oddly very envious of this woman on death row. Like suddenly I'm like, man, I wonder, we should trade places. Like I wish my life was, I wish my theological quandaries were do I talk to God too much? Like that's the thing, like that guy just talks to God all the time. May that be true of us. To know and understand that you will be with God forever is to live from that reality today by seeking to be with him here.

Your new identity changes how you think because you begin to see everything through the lens or in light of eternity, forever. He says in verse five, put to death therefore, because that's true, because your mind is on the things of God, now your behavior must follow. Okay, because there's this change on the inside, now there's a change on the outside. There's this thing that happens that everyone else can see. Put to death therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry, which is idolatry. That word idolatry is so important because evil desires, when we see the word evil desires, we think, oh, desires that are evil. Epithumeo in the Greek, it's like a, it's not evil desire, it's like a too great of a desire. So he's like saying, your desire for sex is not bad, it's godly and God-given. But when that desire grows so great that you begin to take shortcuts and pursue satisfying that desire outside of God's context, now you have an idol. This is all the sin of idolatry. Idolatry there doesn't just go with the word greed. We know from Ephesians, where we see a similar list, all of this is idolatry. So this first list, these are all personal idols. And he goes on to say,

because of these, the wrath of God is coming. Should you not deal with these? Jesus will, God will. You used to walk in these ways. I'll just say this, because theology's important. Should you not surrender to the Spirit and allow him to deal with these things? The wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these, a new list, anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self. The first list has to do with your own personal idols, your own desires all by yourself. The second list has to deal with how you deal with people, interpersonal communication. You lie to each other, you slander each other. He's saying the second list is all about your anger. They see your rage and your malice. And put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge of the image of its creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

He's saying, like we always use this as like, everything's even. What he's saying is these things you're tempted to find identity in, your family name, your ethnicity, your background, your proclivities, your inclinations, your desires, that's not who you are. That doesn't make you who you are. The thing that you are most passionate about, the thing that you are thinking about all the time, and as you think about it all the time, it begins to change your behavior, is you belong to Jesus. You're Jesus's. You're Christ, you're a child of God. This is your identity. Don't get it twisted, like this is who you are. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, that's who you are. God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, orthodoxy. Do this, orthopraxy, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bear with each other, and forgive one another. You should underline forgive. Forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you, and over all these virtues put on love

which bind them all together in perfect unity. Often when this is taught, someone like me is on stage, I've done it too, when I've taught this, you put on a bunch of clothes, take some clothes off, put new clothes on, that's how you illustrate it, that is the baked in illustration. But what he's really saying is, because your thinking has changed, the way that you handle temptation has changed, and the way that you handle relationships has changed. When someone hurts you, you know what you do? You forgive them. And it's crazy. And the world is like, who are those people that forgive people? Oh, they're forgiven people. They understand how the Lord has forgiven them. Because you are a new person in Christ, we kill what belongs to our old life, and intentionally put on the character that fits our new identity, and we're marked by love. He says, you will know they are my disciples by the way they, by the way they, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. Like this is the badge of the Christian, this is the uniform of the Christian, the way that those weird people who believe that this guy literally came back to life, weirdos,

they just love everyone. It's so weird. And they don't just follow their own earthly desires. They don't just do what they want, they do what is in the best interest of everyone around them. It's so weird. So weird. My second point, your new identity changes how you live. Your new identity changes how you live. Such a clear message in the New Testament that I don't think we think about. It's like we're like, I was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I'm see. I was blind, I was dead, but now I'm alive. But like what are the implications of that change that you're so quickly talking about? Peace, love. On the outside, you're so different. You must rid, you must rid yourself of filthy language. Here's what I see happening in our culture. Like maybe you grew up in a legalistic church, okay? And so you were burning CDs at youth camp and you couldn't watch any R-rated movies unless it was The Passion and you're like, okay, I'm a good, I'm in the Lord's army, yes, sir, right? And you've deconstructed and you've realized, you've understood the sin of legalism. So what you do now is you occasionally cuss

to let people know, yeah, I'm not legalistic. And I think that's so ridiculous. Dare I say the word I wanna make sure makes the recording, I think that's stupid, okay? I think that's ridiculous that you have taken the sin of legalism and you've combat, you're fighting that with the sin of licentiousness. Like I won't be controlled by the man and the church and the institution, so I'm still gonna go to church, but I'm gonna show you my rebel side. You're not winning. You didn't win. Be holy because he is holy. Be holy because he is holy. Like some people are like, well, I'm just angry because I'm an enneagram anger. No, you're just not surrendered to the spirit. And that's what's going on there. You gotta deal with your daddy wounds, you know? Get go to therapy, like we can help you, you know? It's like, you're not just angry. You're not just an angry person. You're stuck in sin. That's the truth. He's saying there has to be this change on the outside. Man, here's a story that's just messed with my head since last week, or all week, I should say. One of those women,

she was a pastor in a church in New York City. has been in there 19 years and she was 48 hours She was a pastor in a church in New York City. She was a pastor in a church in New York City. from being executed. She was a pastor in a church in New York City. Within two days, she's gonna be executed. New evidence surfaced and her case was overturned and they stayed the execution, they stopped the execution. And she's telling me, she's like, oh, I'm actually free, I'm waiting to get out. But I was like, but you're still in your white garments that you've been in for 19 years. And she's like, well, I'm waiting for the paperwork for it to move through the system. And I'm like, that is, I can't get my head around it. You were 48 hours from being executed and they found you innocent, overturned the case, but you're still here and I'm talking to you. And she's, you know, it's just different to be in there knowing any day they're gonna grab you, hey, bye friends that I've been with for 19 years, 33 years, 27 years, and they're gonna walk you out. And you know what I, what's not going to happen? No chance, she's gonna be in the free world because the distinctive, like what would the distinctive between me and them other than my IDs in my pocket is I'm dressed like this, you know, and they're all in these white prison clothes. When she walks out free, she's not gonna be like,

you know what, I kind of like this. 19 years in this, I'll just keep this on. And I'm just gonna stay, stay in it. No, no, can I tell you something? Because I know you're watching. God bless the Pando app. We're going shopping, girl, okay? Like we're all, like Harris Creek, we're taking you, we're going shopping and it's gonna be amazing. Let me know when you walk out because we're changing your clothes, okay? We good with that? Everybody good with that? So change yours, okay? Put to death therefore, anger, malice, rage, slander, lying from your lips and put on compassion, patience. Patience, wrap it all up in love and let everybody see like you can't just go through life, a dysfunctional human being that doesn't get along well with others, okay? Let the spirit of God win. We have new clothes. We have to make sure what others see on the outside matches the change we claim Jesus did on the inside because the very worst PR for Christianity is the person who says they've been changed on the inside but they don't change on the outside. The unforgiving, angry, lack compassion, judging everyone, person who's claiming Jesus changed me on the inside. Stop, you're making it really difficult for us.

You're a bad representation of Christianity. You're a bad representation of the church. Put to death, the sexual immorality, like hey, I've been changed on the inside but I'm gonna keep sleeping with my significant other. No, stop. Stop. If you're not gonna stop sleeping with your significant other, then stop saying you've been changed on the inside. Right, like choose one and stop one. Don't embrace both of those. Exchange your old identity for a new one. You were not who you were, so don't act like it. Verse 15, let the peace of Christ, let the peace of Christ rule in your heart since as members of one body you were called to peace and be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach, admonish one another with all wisdom through Psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your heart and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. He's saying let Christ's peace guide your relationships, let his truth fill your community so that you're teaching it and you're singing about it and when you're squeezed, it's not just the Philippians 4.13 tattooed on your ankle

or on your bicep, what's coming out of you is scripture. Like people are seeing the word of God bleed from your lives and in every way you can, you're talking about it, you're teaching it, you're singing about it in Psalms and hymns. and spiritual songs is just always coming out of you because Christ reigns over you. Because Jesus is your Lord, everyone sees Jesus as your Lord because this is who you are. You're different. And when they look at you, they see you hidden with Christ in God. And it impacts everything else you do because the internal change has brought an outward change which displays whose authority you're under. It's no longer the government of Texas or the United States of America. It's God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. He's your reigning authority. And I wanna show you one other thing you might've missed when I just read that real quick. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts as members of one body. You were called to peace and be thankful. Admonish one another with all wisdom through Psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing to God with gratitude. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks. Three times in three verses. The person who is reigned over by Jesus Christ himself is the grateful person. What marks their life is thankfulness and gratitude because they understand they're going to heaven, they get God. They're with God forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and life is short. It's as but a vapor it is. It's so short here, it's unbelievably short here. So number three, your new identity changes who you live for. Your new identity changes who you live for. Before Christ, you lived for the world, you lived for yourself. But now with gratitude and peace that can only come from him, you live for him. And I get it, you're going through hard things. We all go through hard things. And maybe your hard things are more difficult than my hard things. Maybe, just maybe, in a room full of 1,000 people with others in overflow, you're going through the most hard things, okay? And you're like, but what about me? Let me say this, but what about him? Who's him? The one who wrote this letter. You know, the one who's chained to a Roman soldier's behind bars, ironically, in prison,

penning a letter to a church in Colossae. What about him? And you say, prison, what's the big deal about prison? He got out. Well, let's just compare our sufferings to his sufferings for just a moment. Second Corinthians 11 documented them very well. Far greater labors, imprisonments, beatings, five times received 39 lashes, three times beaten with rods, once stoned, three times shipwrecked, night and day, adrift at sea, dangers from rivers, robbers, Jews, Gentiles, toil, hardships, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, cold, exposure, daily pressures from the churches, bitten by snakes. Like at some point, you're like, dude, I'm done, man. Like shipwrecked three times? How many of you have been shipwrecked one time adrift at sea? You know, I know some of you have been snake bitten, but beaten with rods, 39 lashes, three times? Can we just say he wins? So what did he do? We can read it. Let's read from his journal. We got his journal. Let's read what he said. He said in Philippians four,

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I have learned the secret. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Romans to the church in Rome, he said, we're to rejoice in sufferings. To the church in Corinth, he said, we're gonna boast in weakness. To the church in Colossae, he said, rejoice in suffering. To the church in Thessalonica, he said, give thanks in all circumstances. The church in Ephesus, he said, giving thanks always. To the church in Philippi, he said, rejoice even in imprisonment. To live is Christ, to die is gain. To the church in Corinth again, he said, sorrowful yet always rejoicing because of these light and momentary afflictions are producing in me the eternal way of glory. What did that guy have figured out? What did he know that we can't know? He's learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether well-fed or hungry. Time out. You cannot be content and hungry at the same time. You can't. I've learned the secret of being content in wanting. Time out. Oxymoron.

Contradiction in terms. Content in wanting? What are you talking about, madman? He's saying, listen. I've got desires and cravings. I get hungry. But when I don't have food, I have Christ. And I can let my desires push me closer to the one who is readily available to me at all times. How can I be envious of someone on death row facing execution? Because they get that more than any one of us. That though they are told when to eat and what to eat and where to go and what to wear, and they have all of these desires, they allow those desires to push them closer to Christ. That's what I witnessed. And all of the sudden, the noise and the busyness in the world became incredibly frustrating to me. Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. And this is possible. It's possible. It's not just a lofty command. It's not just ethereal. We can live for Jesus by strength from Jesus, by strength from Jesus, by spending time with Jesus. What we need most, we get from him. It's available to all of us right now.

Just have to embrace our new identity. In summary, your new identity changes how you think. Your new identity changes how you live. And your new identity changes who you live for. When I was with those ladies this week, I said, man, death row, you're on death row, like death row, stop, whoa, whoa, hold on, wait, no, stop. What's up? And we don't call it death row, pastor. This is life row. They renamed it. They're like, we're on life row. Like what we're headed toward is our greatest life. Like I went in the prison to do ministry to prisoners only to find that there were prisoners already doing ministry to prisoners who then in turn did ministry to me. And said, do you understand what we're moving closer toward every day is true life with God so here behind bars, we practice true life with God. Do you understand that everything on that little card one day will be utterly irrelevant, dare I say even untrue. They're gonna take the info on that card. This is gonna happen for almost everyone in the room should Jesus tarry. They're gonna take the information on that card and they're gonna put it on a bulletin, on a program. They're gonna take your name and it's gonna say in memory of, and then there's that name. And there in the middle, there's a picture

and hopefully they found a better one. There it is. And underneath that D-O-B, it's right there with a dash. The second is not the expiration of your license. It's the expiration of everything on your license. You no longer live at that address. Your height and eye color are now irrelevant. They've changed. They didn't even recognize Jesus. You've been given the scripture says a new glorified body. And he tells us in Isaiah and Revelation, he hints toward this idea that he gives us a new name. So everything that you said, this is who I am, all of the sudden in a moment, check this out, is no longer who you are. It's crazy. Now let me go a little further with you. If you need to stop, if your head's bent, just you're welcome to check out right now. But this is interesting to me. They're gonna come up and say things about you. They're gonna say, this is who she was. This is who he was. And they're gonna do that from memories that they've experienced with you. They're not gonna give the sum total of your life. I remember when she walked at three years, you know, and the first one. No, it's gonna be like these shared experience. This is who they were, okay?

Based on time, they're really gonna say this is who they most were. Like for the sum total of their life, this is who they most were. But you are now in that moment who you are. who you most are, because your life with God in the full presence of God is beginning. Your name's changed, your address has changed, your body has changed, everything about you has now changed and that's who you're gonna be for more than 100 years, more than 100 billion years. So who you most are, you haven't yet become. That's a real brain bender, isn't it? Who you most are, you haven't yet become. That idea, set your mind on things above because you've been hidden with Christ in God and that's who you most are. Let me pray we get that. God, we just need your help to get that, to really understand that. I think that's something I learned long ago and then I just like put it on the shelf and forget it and then teach it again and my heart stirred again and I just, I wanna stay there. And so would you just help us all stay there? Not probably, that's gonna require us a supernatural work on your part. Would you just help us all stay there? That we're becoming who we most are in your kingdom forever. Would you just take a minute where you're at

and just talk to him and just say, hey God, I've been really distracted by and fill in the blank. I've been really distracted by and you fill in the blank. It's you talking to God. Amen. In Jesus' name, amen.