Your Destiny is Your Identity

Palm Sunday

Luke 19:28-40(NLT)

28 After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. 
29 As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. 
30 “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 
31 If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said.
 33 And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?”
34 And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.” 
35 So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.
36 As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him. 
37 When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.
38 
“Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
    Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”[c]
39 But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”
40 He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”

 


Zech 9:9(NLT)

Rejoice, O people of Zion![d]
    Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem!
Look, your king is coming to you.
    He is righteous and victorious,[e]
yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—
    riding on a donkey’s colt.


This was the first time Jesus allowed Himself to be publicly identified as the Messiah.


On this Palm Sunday- we are going to discuss Identity.

Identity- the fact of being and knowing who a person is.

Who are you ?

Judges 6:11-12, 14-16(NLT)

11 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. 
12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”

mighty man of valor

Valor- great courage in the face of danger , especially in battle

14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”

God identified who Gideon really was and then gave him his destiny.

 

15 “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”

Gideon identified himself by his circumstances, by his senses, by what was going on in the natural.  Leaning on his own understanding of the situation.


16 The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”

Identity- leads to your destiny.


Who are you?
What and more importantly Who are you identifying with?

 

 

 

Eph 4:30(NLT)

30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own,[e] guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.


2 Cor 5:17(NKJV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new

-ALL the potential God placed into us at our conception is released in fullness through Christ- new creation created for good works.

-2 Cor 5:17(TPT)
17 Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new person. All that is related to the old order has vanished.[m] Behold, everything is fresh and new.

 


Eph 2:7-10, 13(TPT)

7 Throughout the coming ages[e] we will be the visible display of the infinite riches of his grace and kindness, which was showered upon us in Jesus Christ. 
8 For by grace you have been saved by faith. Nothing you did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the love gift[f] from God that brought us to Christ!
 9 So no one will ever be able to boast, for salvation is never a reward for good works or human striving.
10 We have become his poetry,[g] a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works[h] we would do to fulfill it!

13 Yet look at you now! Everything is new! Although you were once distant and far away from God, now you have been brought delightfully close to him through the sacred blood of Jesus—you have actually been united to Christ!

John 1:12-13(NLT)

12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

1 John 3:1-3(NLT)

3 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

 

 

 

Colossians 3:1-4(TPT)

3 Christ’s resurrection is your resurrection too. This is why we are to yearn for all that is above, for that’s where Christ sits enthroned at the place of all power, honor, and authority![a] 
2 Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm.
3 Your crucifixion[b] with Christ has severed the tie to this life, and now your true life is hidden away in God in Christ. 
4 And as Christ himself is seen for who he really is, who you really are will also be revealed, for you are now one with him in his glory!