Empowered

If you could have any super power what would it be?
Why?

Philip
Acts 8:39
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing.

I’ve always wanted to fly. Had dreams about it. Why can’t we fly?
Example, fly like a bird. We don’t have a birds traits or build or equipment, but might try to fly because we saw one do it and got inspired. Just being inspired does not empower. That’s not who we are.

The person that you think you are, the identity you assume, will determine what you do and how you treat others. God wants you to know who you really are. The problem is we already think we know.

When I was in Jr. High, my identity was wrapped up in being Kevin’s little brother. Since my brother was popular, and a lot of the girls liked him, I assumed the identity that took on his persona. I was relaxed around people, felt confident around girls, and if there ever was doubt, I just told people who I was. It was great. It opened all kinds of doors for me. It even determined how others looked at me and the kind of person I was, even if I really never opened my mouth around them. That was the identity I took on. It empowered me to do things that I may not otherwise have thought I could do. It was a built in ability. The identity created friends. It gave me an instant inroad to talk to girls that were older than me and that I knew were out of my league. I didn’t care, I didn’t have to worry about that. I knew I was Kevin’s little brother, and they needed to know that too.

Ephesians 1:4-6
4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

Galatians 1:15
15 But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him 16 to reveal his Son to me[e] so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.

I’m gonna ask you a question: Who are you? How does that define what you do, what you say, and how you act around people? We naturally live, act, operate out of an overflow of who we think we are.

I will ask you again, who are you? Do you know?

You see, we let people and circumstances define our identity. Loser. Ugly. Flirt. Dumb Jock. Insignificant. Invisible. Proud. Scared. Insecure. Rich. Poor. Intelligence that creates crazy expectations. How we see ourselves skews how we look at the world, how we see God. What we do or do not do.

Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.