During my communion time with the Holy Spirit, He revealed to me the immeasurable value that every followers of Jesus holds before the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. The Holy Spirit calls us as followers of Jesus to awaken to our true identity in Christ and not according to our human experience, failures, or feelings, but according to the Lord’s eternal purpose and His declaration over our lives.

The Holy Spirit declared the indisputable fact that we the followers of Jesus are no longer just merely sinners saved by grace, but we are the sons and daughters of the Father of glory. We were created for glory, and not for shame, disgrace, or defeat. The Lord’s intention has always been for His children to reflect His nature to the nations and to demonstrate His power visibly so that people may come to know Him as the Father of glory.

The follower of Jesus’s true position is found in Ephesians 1:3, where the Lord has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. This is the follower of Jesus’s present position of being seated with Christ in heavenly places, and empowered by every spiritual blessing, and equipped to prosper in every area of life according to the Lord’s purposes. The Holy Spirit is urging the followers of Jesus to allow this truth to flood our hearts and minds, by cleansing away every lie, false belief, insecurity, and distorted identity that has polluted our understanding of who they truly are in Christ.

The Holy Spirit then addressed the many intense attacks, trials, and spiritual assaults we as followers of Jesus often experience. He spoke of how many question their significance because they feel so insignificant from the world’s eyes so why the attacks? However, the Holy Spirit revealed that the very intensity of the enemy’s attacks is the evidence of the greatness of the Lord’s purpose upon their lives that he considers it necessary to challenge it with opposite tactics to frighten us away from it.

He pointed out that just as no one launches powerful weapons against an insignificant target, the enemy does not employ his strongest weapons against those who pose no threat to his kingdom. His relentless assaults demonstrate that he recognises the greatness of the Lord’s calling and purpose upon God’s people. Satan seeks to intimidate, discourage, and pressure us the followers of Jesus into surrendering before we ever step into what the Lord has ordained for our lives. His goal is to prevent the Lord’s purpose from becoming a reality in our lives on earth.

Therefore, the Holy Spirit is calling for the followers of Jesus to respond as Isaiah 60:1 commands which is to: “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” So rather than retreating in fear because of the attacks or speaking words of insignificance concerning your call, we must arise, by fully embracing the Lord’s declaration over their lives, and actively destroy the works of the devil. The enemy and certainly not the Lord’s people are the ones who should flee.

The Holy Spirit emphasised the fact that we the followers of Jesus cannot afford to continue declaring ourselves to be “nothing.” Instead, we must begin speaking boldly, by believing the word, and living according to the Lord’s perspective regarding our lives. Our calling is to reflect the glory of Jesus upon the earth and not shame.

The Lord then reaffirmed the follower of Jesus’s identity through 1 Peter 2:9–10, declaring that God’s people are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own special people who are called to proclaim the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvellous light. Those who once were not a people but now are the people of God, who once had not obtained mercy but now have received mercy.

The Holy Spirit stressed that this identity does not depend upon our feelings, circumstances, personal opinions, or human reasoning. It rests entirely upon what the Lord has spoken and done to secure us this position. He further declared these words that:” What the Father says we are is our true identity.” This truth echoes the Father’s declaration over Jesus in Luke 3:22, where the Father’s voice established Jesus’ identity before His ministry publicly unfolded. Likewise, we as Jesus’s followers must receive our identity from the Father rather than from the opinions of people or the failures of the past.

The Holy Spirit then directed my attention to Judges 6:12, where the Angel of the Lord greeted Gideon speaking these words:” The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valour!” At that moment Gideon’s outward condition contradicted the Lord’s declaration. He was hiding in fear, threshing wheat in a wine press while Israel lived under Midianite oppression. Gideon only saw his weakness, fear, slavery, and hopelessness but the Lord saw a deliverer in him. So rather than addressing Gideon’s fear or rehearsing his failures, the Lord spoke directly to the man He had created Gideon to become.

The Lord’s declaration over Gideon awakened his true identity and divine purpose concerning his life. Initially though Gideon questioned the Lord’s words, as he wondered how someone so fearful and insignificant could be called a mighty man of valour. He even questioned whether the Lord was truly with Israel because miracles seemed absent from their lives. Yet it is the Lord’s perspective that prevailed over Gideon’s feelings about himself and the decline of the miraculous in Israel.

As Gideon eventually embraced the Lord’s identity for him, his entire life circumstances changed. He became a mighty leader through whom the Lord performed extraordinary miracles, defeated Midian, and established great victories for Israel. His name ultimately became associated with triumph rather than fear because he accepted what the Lord had declared about him.

The Holy Spirit is now extending that same invitation to every follower of Jesus. Just as Gideon had to abandon his false identity and receive the Lord’s declaration over his life, followers of Jesus today must reject every lie of failure, inadequacy, shame, insignificance, and defeat. We must on purpose embrace the Lord’s calling for our live, by arising in faith, and start walking in the purpose the Lord has already ordained for our lives on this earth.

As we the followers of Jesus accept our true identity and actively obey the Lord’s calling, our lives will become sanctified vessels through which the Lord’s glory shines brightly. Many of you will encounter the reality of the Lord’s transforming power as you witness His glory manifested through your now surrendered lives.

The Holy Spirit also referenced the life of blind Bartimaeus, who threw off his outer garment before approaching Jesus, symbolising the deliberate casting aside of his old identities, limitations, shame, and hopelessness. Likewise, the followers of Jesus are called to throw off every garment of defeat and every lie spoken by people or circumstances over you and instead approach Jesus with a renewed confidence in who He declares you to be.

Remember that as a follower of Jesus you have been chosen by the Lord to proclaim His praises and to shine ever more brightly in His marvellous light. The Holy Spirit is calling His people to receive this revelation, then arise in faith, and begin walking boldly in your God-given identity so that the Father’s glory may be revealed through your lives to the nations.

In the mighty name of Jesus, I declare that every lie concerning your identity is broken off your life today. May the Father of glory awaken you to who He has created and called you to be. I declare that you are no longer defined by shame, failure, fear, rejection, or past experiences, but by the Word of God and the Father’s declaration over your life.

May every spiritual blessing that has already been given to you in Christ become increasingly manifest as you walk in your heavenly position. I declare that you will arise and shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rests upon you. Every assault of the enemy shall only confirm the greatness of the Lord’s purpose within you and will not succeed in intimidating you from your calling.

Like Gideon, may you embrace the Lord’s true perspective above your own, by walking in boldness, to destroy the works of the devil, and become a mighty instrument through whom the power, glory, and praises of Jesus are revealed. May you cast off every garment of defeat, receive fresh grace from the Holy Spirit, and reflect the Father’s glory so that many will turn from darkness into His marvellous light in Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.