Paper 2
THE POWER OF SELF-DISCOVERY by Pastor Muyiwa (Resident Pastor)
Text: For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Acts 17:28 (NKJV)
I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. Psalm 82:6
Self-discovery is the beginning of self-mastery and individual autonomy. You can know your real potential only after you’ve discovered your true identity. You might otherwise underrate or overrate yourself, either of which can lead to what scripture calls ‘grasping for the wind’ (Eccl 1:14, 19) or ‘beating the air’ (1 Cor 9:26)
Who You Are.
Most people are already familiar with the concept that man is a spirit with a soul or mind and the body is the part of him with which he relates or interphases with everything externa to him. I will explore this in a little more detail in this paper.
Our text says that we live, move, and have our very existence in God, and are also his offspring. Being His offspring means that we have his DNA. From this scripture and some other secular books, we can imply that:
- You are the equivalent of a cell in the body of God since the body is made up of cells, and each cell lives, moves, and have its being or existence in that body. That concept alone means that you are a god, only a lesser one compared to the Almighty. No wonder Jesus, in John 10:34, quoted the Psalmist’s assertion in Psalm 82:6 that says, “I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the most High,” thereby reinforcing the truth of your godship. Like a god then, you are capable of things which far exceed human ability. This should motivate you to raise your expectation of yourself.
- You have the Spirit of God dwelling in you. This means that your spirit and God’s interpenetrate akin to how water interpenetrates a foam sponge. He in you, and you in Him lead to the concept of God within instead of a faraway God. This is the concept of Emmanuel -God with us, with all that implies. See John 17:23; Col 1:27, Jer. 23:23-24)
- You carry the very presence of God. Romans 8:31 says, “…if God be for us, who can be against us? which confirms your invincibility in the face of adversity. 1 Cor. 6:19 says ‘…your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God…’ Luke 17:21 also says that “the kingdom of God is within you’, (Luke 17:21). God living in you means you are connected to Omnipotence and Omniscience. When you understand the significance of that relationship, it will change your picture of yourself from being ordinary to extraordinary. You can then rightly claim concerning yourself that:
- a) ‘Nothing is impossible for me since nothing is impossible for God, and the Bible says “I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.”
- b) “Nothing can intimidate me because ‘greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world.’”
- c) “I can do even greater things than Jesus did because he said, ‘greater works than these shall you do because I go to my Father.’”
- d) “I am a god with God-like attributes because the Bible says I am God’s offspring, which means that I share God’s DNA.
Understanding these truths should transform how you see yourself and empower you for greater success in life.
Obstacles to Correct Self-Evaluation.
- Belief in a faraway God. Believing in a God afar off, whom we have to struggle to contact makes us underestimate our worth and potentials. Knowing that God lives in us by his mighty Holy Spirit helps us develop an overcomer’s mentality that says ‘if God be for us, who can be against us’?
- Belief in another power other than God. The belief in the devil as a rival power to God reduces your confidence in God’s ability to deliver for you. You stop distracting yourself from your goal if only you can see God as the only Power in the universe.
- Judging by appearances only. We base most of our judgments on what our five senses tell us, but they are often inaccurate. Consider for example that each little star you see at night is bigger than the earth, or that the earth is rotating at a speed of 1000miles per hour, and you don’t fall off or even notice it, and while we observe the sun going from east to west, it is our own earth that goes around Since our senses could be so wrong, our self-evaluation could be equally wrong. No wonder Jesus warned us saying ‘Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment,’ (John 7:24) Therefore, when your senses show you what is impossible, just consider that it may be wrong, and you may better evaluate it in the light of God’s word as pointed out in this lesson.