that question, you are not the only one.
Moses and David asked God the same
question. God’s response to Moses
was, “you are my representative – I will
be with you.” Exodus 3: 11-14 Moses’
identity was God’s mouth, hand and feet.
When David asked the same question in
2 Samuel 7:18, he encouraged himself
with his own revelation, “For you know
your servant, Sovereign Lord.”
I say that to say, who we are, is a question
that inherently goes to the heart of who
our God is. Are you a child of God? Then
your identity is in Him, you are the child
of God, The Bride of Christ. Are you a
child of the devil? Well… you may want
to read, John 8:44. Knowing our identity
is one thing but we must then accept
the responsibilities that come with who
we are. When we don’t know who we
are, we accept discriminatory behaviors
from others, we sabotage ourselves and
we become double-minded, tossed to
and fro. When we know our identities, it
is easy to bloom where we are planted
because our results are not indicative of
where we are but who we are.
A few years ago, I was the kid in an
orphanage, I lived at Maxfield Park
Children’s home and later at the Mustard
Seed Home in Jamaica. Some years later
I was the girl with a baby and no hope.
Then I became the woman scorned with
‘no purpose’.
Later, I made the decision to use
hindsight to understand foresight. I was
able to put all my life experiences into
perspective and used them to grow
stronger. When you begin to identify who
you are, you become aware of the will of
God for your life! There is no operating
in purpose or God’s will without first
knowing who He is and who you are in
Him (abiding).
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the
gardener. Remain in me, as I also remain
in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself;
it must remain in the vine. Neither can
you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If
you remain in me and I in you, you will
bear much fruit; apart from me you can
do nothing. If you do not remain in me,
you are like a branch that is thrown away
and withers; such branches are picked
up, thrown into the fire and burned. If
you remain in me and my words remain
in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will
be done for you.” John 15:1, 4-8 (NIV)
Christians should be easily identified
by their fruit and how they deal with
others, especially those who are not in
the ‘Church’. Your vertical love for God
should show up in your relationship
with people. That said, can we remain
authentic and faithful in our mission
field and still be successful in our jobs?
Yes we can!
God is the Spirit of truth and if we are
His children we must be the bearers
of truth. If we are then we must be
authentic. Following Christ is a perpetual
d ecision to turn from ourselves, towards
Him. We create setbacks for ourselves
when we want to accomplish our will
instead of God’s. If we are to present
our bodies as living sacrifices, we must
pay attention to what the Son of God
commands us to do. Jesus said, He
does nothing unless He first sees His
Father doing it. We should follow Jesus’
example.
The will of God is good, acceptable and
perfect, thus, when we know our identity
we know His will and can confidently
grow where we are planted charting
a course of righteousness. It doesn’t
matter where we are, be it corporate,
the marketplace, or otherwise. A perfect
example of standing wherever you are
was Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego as Jews held captive in an
idol worshipping culture, they stayed
true to their identity. Their promotion
and popularity did not change them.
Authenticity gives us the opportunity to
condition the culture and marketplace
around us to the original intent of God.
It is important to note that being effective
in the boardroom or marketplace is not
about ‘having church’ or preaching to
everyone we do business with, quite
frankly many people are sick of ‘church’,
they are tired of hearing us speak, they
are looking for fruit. So, the best way
to make your job the mission field is
to remain humble, to do right even
when it’s unpopular, to love, to have
compassion for the needy, to stand
up for justice and truth, to be the
light that lights the way for those in
the dark.
Remember, authenticity does not make
us successful, but success volumizes
our authenticity or lack thereof. Success
reveals who we are. In the end any
believer who is in the boardroom or
the marketplace should know that
their success is not merely financial
or temporal. The believer’s success is
eternal. 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, tells us
that “...each man’s work will become
evident; for the day will show it because
it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire
itself will test the quality of each man’s
work. If any man’s work which he has
built on it remains, he will receive a
reward. If any man’s work is burned up,
he will suffer loss; but he himself will be
saved, yet so as through fire.”
If you are not representing Christ
wherever you are planted, your result
will not last in eternity and that
should be the bottom line. p
Joan Wright-Good
Minister, Award-winning
CEO, Author, International
Speaker
April - June 2018
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