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Today, we're going to take a posture of peace by discovering and identifying with our most

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authentic selves. Hi, I'm Lindsay Van Zale. Posture is a podcast that serves a short,

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audible fist bump to remind you that God is in everything.

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Together, we're going to be emboldened to take a daily posture of perfect peace.

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In John chapter 8, starting in verse 12, it says,

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Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world.

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Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

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And the Pharisee said to him, you are bearing witness about yourself.

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Your testimony is not true. But Jesus answered, even if I do

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bear witness about myself, my testimony is true. For I know where I came from and where

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I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.

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And then skipping into verse 29, Jesus says this about the father. He says,

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He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone.

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For I always do the things that are pleasing to him.

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And it says that as Jesus was saying these things, many believed in him.

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So he said to those who believed in him, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

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and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

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Jesus knew the truth. Jesus knew who he was.

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His identity was so firmly rooted in his father's love for him.

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It was so rooted in what his father said to him and about him.

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I've been telling you every day this week, you are a restorer.

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Let me ask, has that been hard for you to believe about yourself?

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Has there been a resistance or a hesitancy to identify with being a restorer?

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It used to be very hard for me to believe about myself.

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I just didn't feel like I had the evidence in my life to back it up,

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especially when I was in the chokehold of anxiety and panic,

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which I've shared a little bit about my story before.

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It just didn't feel authentic to say I am a restorer

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on days when I was just so burned out that I couldn't seem to get the simplest task done.

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You know, the thought of being a restorer wasn't even appealing to me during that time

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because I was just trying to survive and get through each day.

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And on a particularly bad day, I sensed the Lord asked me this question.

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He said,

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Linds, why do you identify most with the sickness, with the anxiety, with the bad days?

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Why do you believe that your good days are an exception and your bad days are your normal?

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And I was honest with him.

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I said, because it doesn't feel authentic to pretend that the good days are my normal.

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I just don't feel authentic when I do that.

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And so he asked me gently,

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what are you trying to be authentic to?

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Are you being authentic to the permanence of your identity in Christ, your kingdom reality,

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what I have said about you, what I have promised to you,

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or are you being most authentic to your temporary pain?

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And again, there was a gentleness in his voice.

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He wasn't condemning me.

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He was calling me up because somewhere along the way,

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I had begun to believe that authenticity meant cleaving to my brokenness

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instead of fully embracing and identifying with Jesus's wholeness,

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even in the midst of brokenness.

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How did that happen?

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Honestly, I think it happened because it was the path of least resistance.

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I mean, the hardest thing to do in the midst of pain and suffering

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is to go against the tide of despair and believe in a greater destiny.

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But I had to.

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I had to.

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You should do this too.

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I mean, we have to start believing what God believes about us.

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This is what God says about you.

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This is what God's word says about you.

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And by the way, this is a download that I'll make available

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in the description of this episode.

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Ephesians 1-4, I chose you before the world was even created.

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Ephesians 1-3, I blessed you with every spiritual blessing.

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Romans 8-17, I made you a co-heir with Christ.

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Romans 8-11, I put my very spirit in you.

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First Corinthians 2-16, I gave you Christ mine

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so I could share my ways and my thoughts with you.

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Isaiah 41-10, I made you strong.

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Romans 8-37, you are more than a conqueror.

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Romans 3.22 you are righteous. 1st John 5.4 you are victorious.

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Colossians 2.10 you are whole. 1st Peter 2.24 you are healed. 2nd

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Corinthians 3.12 you are bold. John 8.36 you are free. Matthew 5.14 you are the

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light of the world. Galatians 5.22-23 we've talked about this one before. You

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have my characteristics. You have God's joy, his peace, his patience, his kindness.

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1st John 3.1 you are his child. 1st Corinthians 3.9 you are his partner.

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2nd Corinthians 5.20 you are his ambassador. Ephesians 2.10 you are his

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masterpiece. John 15.15 you are his friend. Jeremiah 31.3 you are God's

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beloved. And Zephaniah 3.17 says he delights in you. 2nd Peter 1.3 his

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divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life. You have

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everything you need to reflect God's true nature and your true identity in

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every circumstance. I bear witness to this because I know where I came from

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and where I am going and I know what that means for the here and now. For the

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power that I can walk in today, the favor, the victory, the holy tear that I'm

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going to be to the enemy today. You know for too long Satan has gotten away with

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convincing us to live less than the life that Jesus paid with his life for

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us to have. I have been so quick to identify with my ever-changing issues

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but I have been too slow to identify with what my never-changing God calls me.

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Let's ask ourselves an honest question today. Are we making our suffering sacred

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in our hearts and minds? Have we set it on a pedestal higher than Jesus in our

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lives? Brokenness is not your final destination. It is an invitation to

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authentically experience the breakthrough of heaven and to be a

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carrier of the redeeming, restoring, resurrecting power of Jesus

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Christ in the here and now. You know Jesus was broken on the cross so that

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you could be whole. That is authentic. Do not settle for anything less. You are a

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restorer. The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26 3 and in Hebrew it is

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shalom shalom, meaning complete wholeness. Nothing missing, nothing broken. This is

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who you are in Jesus. Let's declare this together. Today I am kept in perfect

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peace. With my whole heart I trust the Lord. I am strong. I am victorious. I am

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whole. Remember friend, you are a living testimony of Jesus's ultimate win. Not

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because of anything you did but because of what he did for you. With every step

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you take today you're putting Jesus's victory on display and Satan's defeat

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on replay.