3 Sure Steps to Finding Your Secret Identity and Living an Amazing Life

It’s a family thing.  Everything becomes clear when we see that.  God is our Dad.  He’s calling us to come to Him.  When we get close to God we begin to understand things.  Most of all we begin to see who we are: sons and daughters.  That’s the secret – our identity.

Simple, yet life changing: Be with God.  Become like God.  Do what God shows us to do.

Step 1.  Be with God
A year and a half after becoming a Christian I found myself in Beijing, China, teaching at a university and living out my faith.  I believed the Bible, but I really didn’t have much of a relationship with God.

I wanted to experience God.  I needed to.  So I ran around Beijing asking every Christian I knew how they heard God.  Most had to admit that they really didn’t, not much or not clearly.

A few weeks later I travelled to another city and met with a Chinese friend, Hank. He was trying to believe in God but just couldn’t.  Hank asked, “How can I know if God is real.”

I talked for a while but really didn’t say much.  I asked him to come back later.  I prayed.  Finally, I felt God was saying, “Ask Me.”  I was excited to “hear” something but wasn’t very sure it was God.

Hank came back and I took the risk.  I told Hank, “Ask Him if he is real.”  I saw the look on his face.  He wasn’t convinced.  But that’s all I had so he left.

The next day Hank banged on my door shouting, “He’s real!  He’s real!  He’s real!”

Hank had asked.  That night Jesus came to Hank in a dream.  Jesus told him about Himself and said some personal things to Hank.  I then showed Hank in the Bible what Jesus said to him in the dream.  Hank didn’t know what the Bible said.   Hank believed.  Me too!

If Jesus would talk to Hank, I knew He would talk to me.  And He does.

Step 2.  Become Like God
I began spending more time hanging out with Jesus.  I began to change.  I had been trying to change myself without much success.  Over the years, it became so clear. It’s being with Him that changes me.  God changes me not by having me change what I do, but by changing who I am – my heart.

Step 3.  Do what God Shows Us to Do
Now, from my new identity as a son of my Father, I do God works.  His way.  In His power.  I’m not doing things to be like God, I do things because I am like God. He tells me what to do.

I’m amazed at God’s sense of humor and the joy I feel walking with Him and releasing His power into daily life situations.

Scripture:
Step 1. Be with God
I  revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me.  I was found by those who did not seek me, to a nation that did not call on my name.  I said, “Here I am.  Here I am”
Isaiah 65:1 (NIV)

Come near to God and He will come near to you.
James 4:8 (NIV)

Step 2. Become Like God
They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone.  …. Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (MSG)

Step 3. Do the Works of God
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.    Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

… those who know their God will display strength and take action.
Daniel 11:32

How have you experienced God in your life?  What haven’t you experienced that you would like to?