Chariot August 2005 - Norm Wakefield

Many new resources are now available! 

All of Norm's individual messages are now available in MP3 format. We also have a new book, The Spirit and Presence of Christ, by Norm's spiritual mentor, Jerry White. You can read a review by Norm of this incredibly challenging and encouraging book here. The two DVD set of a series for parents of special needs children, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made is now available as well.

Go to: http://www.spiritofelijah.com/shop

Identity Principles - Part 4  

        Identity principles are powerful tools for understanding ourselves and other people. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, perhaps one of the most influential preachers of the last century, in his commentary on Romans 12:1-2 suggested that one's identity is the key to one's conduct. I agree, and thus, if we're to understand one's conduct, we need to understand how these identity principles are related to life.

        Thus far, we've discussed three of the four identity principles.

1.    Identity has to do with the one(s) to whom you belong (or connect).

2.    Identity has to do with power.

3.    The source of identity shapes one's life.

        At the end of last month's article (www.spiritofelijah.com) I asked this question: Who gave those people on your list (those to whom you wished to connect or belong) the power to shape your life? You might be surprised to discover that it was…

Your father

        At first thought, we might think we gave those people on our list the power to shape our lives. And ultimately, this is true. However, your father, by what he did or didn't do impacted your search for identity. If a father doesn't seal his children, then they will be searching for someone or something to fill the void. I'll explain what I mean by "sealing your child" later, but this illustrates the fourth identity principle.

The father directs the identity course of his children

        A father actively or passively establishes his child's identity course. First, we see this principle explicitly stated by Simon in his declaration of Jesus' identity in the Matthew 16:16. Jesus' identity is directly related to His Father.

        Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

        The Father directing Jesus' course in life is affirmed as we read that Jesus never did or spoke anything on His own initiative (John 5:30; 8:28, 42; 12:49; 14:10). He lived by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of His Father (Matt. 4:4).

        Second, this principle is implied in Jesus' reply to Simon in Matthew 16:17-18. He told Simon his understanding of Jesus' identity came from a revelation from His Father in heaven thus testifying to his belonging to His Father. This called for a new identity: Simon became Peter.

         And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."

        Third, in a spiritual sense, this principle is verified in the application of the gospel. Everyone who is born again receives the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Son, because each belongs to the Father (Galatians 4:7). Our hearts turn to God, the Father, because His heart is turned to us! He thus directs our identity in life through His Spirit, Who seals, directs, and protects us (Ephesians 1:13-14).

        Fourth, this principle is evident in life through various cultural rituals and examples. Children are typically identified by the names of their fathers. In many cultures, the last names actually communicate sonship/sonhood. For instance, ovich in Russian means son of. In Scandinavian countries sson or ssen indicates one is a son of a man (Andersson). In English, John's son was at one time identified as Johnson. Believers are called sons of God, when they are identified by God (1 John 3:1).

        Some groups, such as those of the Jewish faith, have ceremonies celebrating the identification of sons and daughters with their fathers' faith and identity. Some tribes in Africa continue centuries-old rituals of fathers "calling out" the sons of the community into manhood.

        Fifth, this principle can be observed in our society. If a father doesn't fill his son or daughter with his spirit (his influence) providing hope for the future and a meaningful or purposeful relationship, the son or daughter experiences a nagging emptiness. This emptiness demands to be filled. It is a longing to belong or be connected to power. The children whose father doesn't have time for them or who doesn't know how to provide a relationship with hope for the future will seek relationships or experiences offering what they lack.

        If you've ever coached children or youth, you have probably noticed the boys or girls who are lacking direction and love from their fathers. They are starving for attention and approval! Gangs become surrogate fathers to sons abandoned by derelict dads. The popular tenth-grade cheerleader sets the dress fads for dozens of girls who want to be connected with her because she gets the attention of the boys. Her power becomes their power. But why would the girls want the attention of the boys? Why does a guy want to join a gang? One primary reason is because dads haven't known the importance of sealing their sons and daughters in their identity and thus leaving them open, empty, and vulnerable.

        On the positive side, exemplifying the relationship between the heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus, a father may direct the identity course of his son or daughter by what he does. If a father has a vision for developing and maintaining a relationship with his children which prepares them for life, fills their emotional and spiritual tanks, and provides clear hope for their futures, he sets them on a course of fullness and purpose.

What does it mean to seal your child?

        Imagine going into a store to purchase a bottle of water. Upon finding one, you check the cap and notice the seal is broken. Would you purchase that bottle? Probably not, because you fear someone may have put a contaminant into the water, or perhaps someone has actually taken a swig from it! We seal bottles to protect the contents and to preserve what is contained therein. The seal is an assurance.

        Now think of your children as bottles and your giving meaning, purpose, and hope to them as sealing them. That seal protects all of the truth and teaching you've put into them and prevents their being polluted by lies, worldly philosophies, and carnal allurements. However, if you don't seal them, in effect you send them off to school open, without sealed caps. What you've instilled in them may be lost, and their souls may become open seedbeds for anything promising them a sense of significance and power. The ignorant or otherwise occupied father determines the identity course of his child by not sealing his child.

God seals His children

          The gospel provides insight into this process of sealing a child. The heavenly Father seals His children, and we can learn from His example. If we as His children need sealing, then our children also need sealing. From Scripture we see…

        Who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge (2 Corinthians 1:22).

        In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13).

        Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30).

        The sealing of the Spirit has a purpose: to secure and protect the saint for the day of redemption–our future hope. The Holy Spirit is the influence of the Father and the Son. They gave Him to us so that we might know both the Father and the Son and thus experience eternal life (John 14:16-21; 17:3). He guides us (John 16:13), helps us (John 14:16), comforts us (2 Corinthians 1:4), teaches us (John 14:26), convicts us of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11), and fills us with the presence of Christ (John 14:17-21). From the Holy Spirit's ministry, we can learn how to seal our own children.

One father's example

        One father did it this way. On his son's 12^th birthday, in an official and loving way, he communicated to his son that he belonged to him, was loved by him, and together they were going to walk from boyhood into manhood. (Read details at www.spiritofelijah.com/chariot/chariot_39.php.) Here are some of the ideas this father had for sealing a son.

·        Give an official acknowledgement of belonging/connection.

·        Give vision and meaning for the relationship.

·        Teach him about his body.

·        Teach him how to be a leader.

·        Teach him how to know God's Word, pray, interpret Scripture, and discern truth from error.

·        Teach him how to understand a woman and love her with God's kind of love.

·        Teach him skills men need to care for a family.

·        Covenant to walk through life together.

·        Assist him in discerning God's will for his life's work, ministry, and mate.

·        Inform him as he becomes secure in his identity in Christ, you will decrease and the Heavenly Father will increase.

          Obviously this was the beginning of a long process that took place daily. The important thing to note is the hope communicated to his son. Meaning, purpose, vision, hope, and relationship were communicated. This father's heart was turned to his son, and the result was the son's heart turning toward the father. This sealed the son; much like the Holy Spirit seals the sons of God, and a cap seals a bottle.

How about you and your father?

        Throughout this series of articles, I've recommended to you to make a list of the people with whom you wished to be connected, the power or treasure they offered to you, which was appealing, and how those relationships shaped your life. Would your life be different today if your father had done with you what the father above did? If your father did or didn't seal you and lead you to your identity in Christ, why did he or didn't he?

        The answer lies with his father–either his earthly father or his spiritual father. If you think of your father as a son of his father, you may realize his father didn't know to seal him or teach him about these identity principles. When he became your father he didn't know what to do. It wasn't that he didn't love you, he just didn't know. He did the best he could with what he had. Perhaps he was still searching for his identity when you came along and left you to do the same.

        I've met many men and women who need to release their dads and forgive them. For years they have held bitterness and unforgiveness in their hearts due to abandonment, neglect, and hurt. In an effort to fill the void in their souls, they made foolish decisions as they sought to identify with people who ultimately couldn't fill the emptiness–in fact, in many cases led them into destructive ways. These people became idols of the heart and have taken their hearts away from God, the Father, Jesus Christ, and relationship with the Holy Spirit. Is this your experience? Will you forgive your father and mother for not sealing you? Will you turn your heart to God through Jesus Christ?

        Have you realized what the heavenly Father has done or offers to you? He is the power, meaning, fullness, and life your heart has been looking for! All is found in Jesus Christ. In belonging to Christ, we belong to God, the Father. His ministry–our identification with Him–should supercede our identifying with anyone and everything else in this world. He is our father, his power is our hope, and it is He who should shape our lives by filling us with His Spirit.

        You will find the world's pull on you is directly related to the spiritual reality of your identification with God as your Father and the sealing of His Spirit. When you ignore or fail to apply the truth of your connection with your heavenly Father (if indeed you have one), your power to resist temptation decreases. Temptation uses emptiness as an ally. On the contrary, when you are filled with who you are in Christ, you find inner strength to resist and stand against the onslaught from the world.

        How are your children going to withstand the current of evil in their schools, community, and flesh? The only way is being firmly rooted in their identity in Christ. We must send them out sealed and full. God's plan is that they learn these principles first with their earthly fathers and then transfer that truth to their heavenly Father.

Will the real man please stand up?

        Men ordinarily have numerous identities: at work, home, and church. In order to connect with men at work, it's tempting to allow them to shape one's language, mannerisms, music, etc. Then at home, a man wants his wife to make him happy and comfortable, so he conforms to her values and standards in the home on many things. In some cases, for men to belong to their Christian wives, they discovered it was necessary to belong to the church. So, in order to get a wife, they went to church and did whatever was required to belong. Perhaps they prayed a prayer of invitation, learned the church-speak, and presented an image of conservatism and religiosity.

        God intends for our source of identity to be the same everywhere. Would the men at work discover you to be the same man at home? Would your wife and pastor find you to be the same man at work that they know at home and church? If there is a difference, when did this pattern of split personality begin? Probably when you were a child or teen! In order to belong to your parents, you acted one way at home. However, to belong to your friends at school, you donned another set of standards in speech and conduct. You learned to live with the dichotomy and probably sought to keep the two worlds separate.

        People haven't changed. You may find your teens doing the same thing without realizing why. They may be reluctant to have their friends come to the house if they have two identities. You may experience a resistance when you try to enter their world at some point. Perhaps they are afraid you will discover they aren't who they want you to think they are.

It's a matter of the heart

        The important thing to remember is that our hearts follow after our treasures. Our treasures are revealed in whom we want to identify or connect with. God's Word commands us to love Him with all of our hearts. It's the key to our identity and fulfillment.

        Who has the heart of your child? The one who fills him or her with a reason to connect and identify. As a parent and forerunner for the Lord, your challenge is to first provide a rich example of someone who is identified and filled with the Spirit of Christ. Second, you fill the soul of your child with your spirit (your influence), which will seal their hearts. Teach them these principles. Help them work with the principles so they can understand themselves and those around them. And most importantly, lead them to identify with God the Father, through a relationship with Jesus Christ. May God fill you with His Spirit in order for you to fulfill your ministry to the next generation.

New Resources for Your Family 

    On Fire for the Gospel:  

*   What Sets a Man on Fire? 

*   How Does a Man Burn for God?

*   What Has the Gospel Changed, Part 1 and 2

*   The Gospel Applied to Relationships  

*   The Doxology of the Gospel  

*   What Do You Do in Troubled Times?  

*   The Gospel in a Sentence  

*   Thirsting for Jesus  

Would you like to be on the Elijah Ministries Prayer Team?

    The backbone of Elijah Ministries is the prayer team who pray diligently for God to turn the hearts of men to Himself, their wives, and their children. Before I leave to speak, I send out a prayer team invitation to those who will intercede for God to work for His glory in us as a team for the Kingdom. Not only is it a blessing to those whom I speak and myself; but it is also a reminder to the team about the direction of their own hearts. If you would like to enter into the labor together with me, you may go to my website and click on "Prayer Team".

    If you haven't visited our website, www.spiritofelijah.com, please stop by sometime. You'll find:

*   Resources to equip you and your family

*   Previous Chariot articles

*   Norm's speaking schedule

*   Free MP3 downloads  

*   Various pages translated and available in Spanish  

*   An online store to purchase resources and make tax-free contributions by credit card