Stop Settling for Less
36 kojministries.org Issue 4 2017
by Teresa Kemp
Who are you? How do you see yourself?
Psalm 8:4 says, “What is man that you are
mindful of him, and the son of man that you care
for him?” (ESV).
For the longest time I saw myself as…less. I was
an addict, an alcoholic. I have spent time in prison.
I was not what you would call a model citizen. I was
not someone you’d aspire to be.
But one of the greatest gifts the Lord has given
me, besides Himself, is a new identity. I am a child
of God; a daughter of the King.
Second Corinthians 6:18 says, “I will be your
Father, and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.” John 1:12 says, “To all
who believed him and accepted him, he gave the
right to become children of God.”
Think about that for a moment. A paternal test,
used to determine who a child’s father is, requires a
person’s DNA. You and I, through our faith in Jesus
Christ, have become children of God. We have
received His DNA!
Before coming to Christ, we had the DNA of
the enemy. Because of sin, we are far from God’s
original intent for our lives. God never intended for
us to be less, but more. He never intended for us to
be lost, but found. He never intended for us to be
slaves, but free. He never intended for us to be in
lack, but to have abundance. He never intended for
us to take on an animal nature, but a holy nature.
From the foundation of the world, God created
mankind to be just like Him. Genesis 1:26 says, “Let
us make human beings in our image, to be like us.
They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in
the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the
earth, and the small animals that scurry along the
ground.”
God’s original intent for mankind—how we
were before Adam and Eve sinned—was that we
would be just like our Daddy God. We had His DNA
and all His characteristics! We were His children; we
had authority over everything in this world because
of His great love for us.
We were not slaves or strangers. We were His
children.
Adam and Eve’s sin, however, brought about a
great change in our spiritual DNA. When they sold
us out, we took on a nature that we were never
intended to have—a sin nature. The enemy stole
our original intent, and we all became slaves to sin,
taking on the very nature of the enemy of God.
We were no longer what God had intended us
to be. And that is why Jesus came.
Jesus came to earth and died for our sin; in His
sacrifice, He gave us a way to have our original
DNA restored. In Christ, our true identities are
reestablished so we can be like God in all our ways.
We return to God’s original intent by being
born again by the Spirit of God. When we receive
Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God breathes
into us again His precious Holy Spirit. We are then
metamorphosed into the creation He intended us
to be from the very beginning.
Metamorphosis is the act of being transformed,
like a caterpillar into a butterfly. We were not
made to be caterpillars, but butterflies! When we
are reborn by the Spirit of Christ, we receive the
DNA of God, and we go from being slaves to
heirs, from bondage to freedom, and from
unrighteousness to righteousness. We become just
like our Daddy again.
What an honor that I can be like Jesus on this
earth. I can move like Him. I can love like Him. I can
live like Him. All for His glory!
This is my new identity, my true identity. This is
who I am. And in Christ, this is who you are.
Our identities are not found in what we do.
They’re not found in our past. They’re not found
in who the world says we are. No, our identities are
found in what heaven says. And God says we are
His children. His offspring!
Before I came to Jesus, I was the offspring of
the enemy. I was everything that is not God; the
complete opposite. But on July 20, 1997, at 9:30 in
the morning in a jail cell, Jesus Christ came to me
and set me free, and through that rebirth, I became
like Him. I was restored to God’s original intent.
Through His Spirit, God set me free from every
addiction—homosexuality, drugs, prostitution, and
alcohol. He also set me free from low self-esteem,
hopelessness, and a sense of rejection. Now,
because of Him, I am no longer a slave to fear and
sin. I am a child of God!
And if you have been born again by the Spirit,
you are His child too.
The enemy knows who we really are. That is why
he works so hard to keep us from understanding
our true identities and the authority that goes with
our sonship. He knows we are God’s children and
that we have great authority on this earth. And he
hates this fact. That’s why He works so hard to
distort God’s truth. He wants us to see ourselves
as less.
But you and I are not less!
In God’s eyes, we are precious and treasured—
that’s why He sent His best—His Son—to save us
(Romans 8:32). Only the blood of Jesus could buy
us back from the enemy.
That doesn’t sound like we’re worthless, does it?
It’s time to see yourself as God sees you. It’s time
to come back to your true DNA through faith in
Jesus Christ. You, my friend, are a child of God. And
He sees you as more. He sees you as whole and
healed. He sees you as His own!
Father, in the name of Jesus, I declare that every
person reading this article will return to God’s
original intent. I command every wrong intention
of the enemy to line up with God’s original intent!
Say this prayer with me, “Father forgive me. I
confess with my mouth and believe in my heart
that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe He died
on the cross and was resurrected from the dead.
Please come into my heart. Amen.”
Now declare who you are: I am a new creation. I
have the DNA of God. I am free and new because
of Him!
Stop settling for less.
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