Tag: Empowerment

Take The Labels Off

Label Pic

During my journey, last year November the Lord asked me who are you? I said to the Lord You know who I am, You created me. But He kept asking me ‘who are you? So I took pen and paper and I started writing and what came after that blew my mind. I was shocked that this was what God thought of me. I know He loves me but He started to reveal to me what His idea of me was according to His word. It was defining moment for me.  After this, I heard Him say ‘Take the labels off’.

After this, I realised that oftentimes when in a new environment or when you have been through a lot of adversity, people have a way of labelling you based on where you are, or where you have been. I realise that when people do not understand you, they tend to put a label on you in order to accommodate their small capacity to handle you. I realised that throughout my teenage years, I was walking around with these labels. Before I go any further, I want to explore the definition of labels.

Labels- “A classifying phrase or name applied to a person or thing, especially one that is inaccurate or restrictive”.

This definition is very relevant to this topic. Two words in this definition stand out ‘Inaccurate and Restrictive’. Labels are often inaccurate because labels are often rooted in gossip or rumours about a person. Sometimes the individual being labelled has no idea what is being said about them. But words are spiritual and death and life are in the power of the tongue. Words spoken good or bad has the ability to attach themselves to a person’s life. That is why you have to consistently pray against every word spoken against you in judgement as stated in Isaiah chapter 54v17. For something to be inaccurate, it is false, anything that is spoken over your life that is contrary to the word of God, is inaccurate. To restrict is to impose restrictions on someone’s activities or freedom. When I think of the word restrict, I think of a prison and a bolted box.

This is what labels do to a person; because they are false it puts a person in a mental prison that stops them from being productive. What labels do to a person, they tell that person that they can only go so far. For example, a person who grew up in a single parent home can only go so far, this child is not expected to excel however I thank God there are so many people in society today including myself who have disproved this theory ( first in the immediate family Glory to God). Another example is, ‘you are a woman, women are not supposed to….. and I will let those who read this finish the sentence because there are so many things that we have heard in that sentence. I am a woman, so I have heard many limited views on what I could or could not do. Or ‘you are single so you cannot…. You will never go anywhere in life.  I think you get the idea now. If you have walked around with similar labels, I want you to write them out then burn those labels and replace those labels with what God has said about you.

I realised that throughout my teenage years, I was walking with the labels that people had placed on me, and I already mentioned a few in the last paragraph.

Last year November was when God started talking to me about my identity, He took me on a journey of self discovery and He started to reveal to me His perspective of me. I came to realise that all of the hard trials I had gone through, it has brought out and unleashed an anointing in me which has released gifts that I had no idea was on the inside of me. The labels placed upon me were also good labels such as ‘I can see you as a Pastor, First lady, and warrior. The truth is people may have seen all these qualities in me but I recognised that my true identity came from His word. Those were just titles but my identity is not found in what I do. My identity is not in my business, it is not in what I do, it is found in the word, and in God’s word are His thoughts towards me. In my journey, God had to strip me of everything that I was so that I could become what He has called me to be and this is a journey, it takes a lifetime and eternity to become who God has destined for you to become.

I have found that if you do not know who you are, there are people who will try to label you to fit into their little box of who they think you should be.

The Lord used the example of David and Saul in 1Samuel 17v38-39, when David was getting ready to fight Goliath, and Saul attempted to put his armour on David. The Lord revealed to me that the armour can be used as a representation of the labels people will try to put on you. But David identified that He could not wear Saul’s armour because he had not proved it. David could only prove God’s word. That was a defining moment for David. You see you cannot use someone else’s armour and win. Your victory is hidden in you discovering your identity and your uniqueness. When you know who and whose you are, you will become unstoppable. Impossibilities will be made possible. Labels weigh you down. Labels block your ability to be creative because it restricts you to be and do certain things. Labels make you feel like you cannot aim higher than where you are. It chokes out every potential and it releases limitations over the lives of those who allows it to. Your journey to destiny begins when you start peeling away the labels. Labels tell you how far you can go and how much you can do. But God who created you and He  knows your beginning to your end and He is calling you into the realm where impossibilities are made possible. So I dare you to take the labels off and step into your potentiality.

God bless you and thank you for reading.

Exchange Your Garments for God’s Glory

Glory Pic

Throughout the scriptures, we often read about those who had gone through the hardest of times, and after breaking through, they are commanded to change their clothes or their names. We have Joseph who after going from the pit to prison, when the call came for him to go before Pharaoh, we read in Genesis chapter 41, that he shaved himself and he had put on new clothes. We have Abram, after stepping out by faith to God’s instruction; he experiences a name change in Genesis 17v5 from Abram to Abraham and Jacob in Genesis 35v10 whose name was changed from Jacob to Israel. We read in the book of Ruth chapter 3v3, where Naomi instructs Ruth to wash herself, change her clothes and anoint herself.

In Zechariah chapter 3v4, we read about Joshua standing before the angel with filthy garments and the angel says in verse 4 that he will clothe Joshua with a change of raiment, which means clothing. This blog has been inspired by an anointed woman of God called Pastor Enid Stewart, she preached about ‘Changing Your Garment for the Exchange of His Glory’.  This message resonated in my spirit so much that the Lord led me to research the meaning of Glory. Seeing that this is my favourite word, I was excited but trying to figure out what the word Glory had to do with clothing. Upon researching the word glory, I found that there are many interpretations of Glory from the Greek and the Hebrew translations. I will not bore you with all of the words but I will use one from the Hebrew and one from the Greek;  in the Old Testament, one of the words used to describe Glory is kabod which means to be heavy or abundant. In the Greek, glory is interpreted as doxa which means the opinion/perception of God. I discovered that in the Old Testament, the concept of glory falls into three main areas. Firstly, in terms of volume, glory can be interpreted as the sheer notion of weight. This can be extended into the concept of presence whether it is through swelling, cloaking or sheer inherent magnificence. And thirdly, the notion of praiseworthiness, shining or brilliance described as glory.

So the principle basis of glory in the Hebrew is the weight or immensity of something. On the other hand, the Greek word for glory (doxa) speaks to the perception of something as being good. So when God’s glory is on you, He sees you as good no matter what may be happening in your life in this present time or what you may have done in the past. So what has glory got to do with changing your clothing? The Lord used the symbol of clothing to speak to me concerning my identity. Clothing in this context represents the opinion and the labels that people have put on me based on my past and present circumstances. You see, the Greek meaning for Glory is doxa which is the opinion of God, He told me to begin to exchange my garment of man’s opinion and replace it with the opinion of God. As I began to do this, there was a confidence that came over me, which I will now call ‘Godfidence’ that whatever He says about me and whatever He tells me to do, I can do it.

To carry the glory of God, this means that you carry the opinion of God, which in turn creates an atmosphere for God’s presence, because every time you open up your mouth, He has no other choice but to show up because you are His opinion, every time that you open up your mouth, you speak His opinion. Where do you find God’s opinion? You find God’s opinion in the Bible and spending time in His presence.  When you change your garments that is when God can present you before His people to carry out the assignment that is on your life. As long as you continue to walk in the old garments of people’s labeling and  opinions of you, you will never truly discover who you are in God and what you were created to do. So I encourage you today to change your garments and make an exchange for the glory (doxa) of God. God bless you and thank you for reading…..