May 3, 2025 • 26 mins
Today on Bold Steps Weekend, Pastor Mark talks about standing strong in your Christ-given identity. This is part 2 of the message titled What's Your Name Tag Say? and Mark will be moving forward in this study from the book of First Peter going deeper into how your identity shapes your future and gives you purpose.
Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/boldsteps
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:00):
Standing strong in your Christ given identity. That's our topic
today on Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe.
S2 (00:07):
You have an identity and a call to give honor
and glory to King Jesus, but it seldom comes out
of you because you've been lied to and your behavior
has been affected by it, and your destiny has been
altered by it, because you haven't understood how to stand
in the identity that God has given you.
S1 (00:38):
Welcome to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe, senior pastor
of New Life Community Church and president of Moody Bible
Institute in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Last weekend, Mark started
the message titled what's your name Tag say? And today,
as we move forward in our study from the Book
of First Peter, we're going to learn how our identity
shapes our future and gives us a purpose. So let's
(00:59):
get to it. If you have your Bible handy, turn
with us to chapter two, verse nine of First Peter.
And right now, with this series headlines Navigating Life in
Two Worlds. Here's our Bible teacher, Mark Jobe.
S2 (01:14):
When I was a kid, probably about eight years old
or so, I lived in a little small town in
northern Spain called Ravenna. 200 people. And it was out
in the country, and we would have visitors come and
visit us occasionally. And on one occasion we had some
family from the city. They hadn't been out in the
(01:35):
country a lot, and we had a family from the city,
and there was a kid about our age. He came
out and he seemed like he'd never been in the country.
He's just like a city kid, I don't know. And
my brother and I were a little bit pranksters when
we were young. And so this kid came out and
we said, hey, you want to go for a bike ride?
So we got on our bikes, we were going for
a little ride, and he's looking out. We're out in
(01:56):
the country for the city. And he says, are there
Indians out here? And I think. Indians. Where is this?
You've been watching cowboy movies or what? This is Spain.
There's no Indians in Spain. He's right. He's right there. Wow.
We're out in the country. Are there Indians? And my
brother and I looked at each other like, yeah, let's
go for them. We said, oh, yeah, there's Indians all
(02:19):
over this place. Really? We made up the name of
a tribe. We told him, keep his eyes open because
there's Indians around. So he's riding his bike, looking around
like this. There's Indians around here. And then we figured,
you know, those little those little round, um, little round
(02:39):
balls that are in some plants that you throw and
they'll stick at your, your sweater. So we grabbed a
couple of those. He was riding his bike in front
of us, and we threw a couple at his back
and they stuck to his back. And then we said,
hold on, stop. The Indians have shot you. And he's like, where? Where? Oh, yeah. Oh,
my God, the Indians, they're around here, they've shot you
(03:01):
and he's like, oh, where are they? And we said, well,
these are the poisonous darts. It's going to start to
show up in you pretty soon. You're going to start
foaming at the mouth and you're going to start going
into convulsions. It's going to happen pretty soon. And he
started to go, oh no, oh no, I want to
go home now. So my brother and I looked at
(03:21):
each other and we said, what are we going to do?
So we saw some dandelions on the ground there. We
said there is a remedy. He said, what is it?
What is it? We said, okay, you got to take
these dandelions and you got to take these dandelions and
you got to rub them all over your these yellow dandelions,
rub them all over your face and put one in
your mouth, and I think it'll stop the poison. So
(03:42):
he got the dandelions. He's rubbing all over his face,
putting it put some in his mouth. He said, okay,
how am I doing? He said, I think you're okay now.
When we got back home, we didn't expect to see
his parents, my parents and his parents out in front
of the house. As soon as I saw him, he said, mom,
the Indians got me and I like took off real
fast with my brother. But can I tell you this?
(04:08):
There were no Indians. There was no poisonous darts. There
was no medication. But what you believe in your mind
affects your behavior, and your behavior affects your identity. And
some of you are saying, pastor, that's a silly young boy. Oh, yeah,
(04:30):
he's a silly young boy. And you know how many
silly lies you bought into. You know how much the
enemy has lied to you about his darts and who
you are and his schemes? You know how some of
you can barely pray when you have access to the
throne of the most living God? And you can barely
pray because you feel like you're condemned and guilty and
God doesn't hear you. When God is saying, speak to me,
(04:53):
and you bought into his lies. You think you haven't saved.
You think your sin is overwhelming you. You think your
security of your salvation is lost. You don't know who
you are. You can't pray. You live like everybody else
because you bought into the lies of the enemy that
condemns you, that beats you up, and your lies affect
your behavior and your behavior. God looks at us sometimes
(05:15):
like we would look at this boy and say, what
are you doing? And then.
S3 (05:21):
The Indians are out to get me.
S2 (05:22):
What Indians God is saying. And some of us have
been manipulated by the lies of the enemy. It affects
our behavior. He's stolen your praise. You have an identity
and a call to give honor and glory to King Jesus.
(05:44):
But it seldom comes out of you because you've been
lied to and your behavior has been affected by it,
and your destiny has been altered by it, because you
haven't understood how to stand in the identity that God
has given you. Come on, I'm talking to someone here today.
(06:07):
Number three, not only does identity speak to our worth,
it defines our purpose. Number three, it gives us a
sense of belonging. Verse ten says, once you were not
a people, but now you are the people of God.
(06:32):
Once you had not received mercy, but now you have
received mercy. Once. You didn't belong. You were isolated, disconnected
(06:54):
from the life of God. You were not redeemed, bought, cleansed.
You didn't have a spiritual family. You weren't called son
or daughter of God. That was your state at one time.
(07:16):
But now. The blood of Jesus. The highest, most precious
thing that could ever have been offered. Bought you, cleansed you.
The Spirit of God came inside of you. You have
(07:39):
been declared adopted into God's family. You have been called
son or daughter of the Most High God. The spirit
of the living God has come inside of you and said,
you are mine. You belong to this people. You belong
(07:59):
to me. You are now a people. Listen, listen. This
is one of the biggest lies of the enemy. In fact,
some of you are struggling with it today.
S1 (08:15):
We'll continue Mark's message in a moment. Well, maybe today's
message is inspiring you to go deeper in your study
of the book of First Peter. Let me invite you
to go to our website, Bold Steps org and explore
our resources. You'll find a place there to share your
bold testimony. There's also a link where you can ask
Mark a question on the left side of the page.
And again, that's all found at Bold Steps. And if
(08:37):
you'd like to replay your share today's lesson, you can
also do that there. Or listen and share the message
directly from your smart device by subscribing to our podcast.
Just search for Bold Steps Weekend with doctor Mark Jobe.
And while you're there, you'll also want to subscribe to
our other Bold Steps programs such as Mark's Daily Bold
Steps radio show, The Bold Steps Minute and Our Spanish Minute.
(08:58):
Apostles Addthis. You'll You find them conveniently located inside your
podcast app. Well, let's return to Mark's message now. What's
your name tag? Say he has a few more points
he'd like to make.
S2 (09:14):
They were a special called out people. If you were
born into the tribe of Israel, you had a calling
upon your life. There was a special relationship with the
people of Israel when Jesus came. The Bible says that
Jesus came unto his own, but his own received him not.
So therefore he gave others the right to become the
(09:35):
family of God. Listen, he's talking to Gentiles, non-Jewish people.
He's saying at one time you were not the people
of God. But now the gospel has gone out to
anybody that's willing to receive the message of Jesus Christ.
You don't have to be born into an ethnicity. You
have to be born again from on high. So now
(09:56):
there's black and white and Hispanic and Asian and everything
in between that are part of this thing that we
call the people of God. And you look around and
you say, well, pastor, not everybody in here looks at me.
How could we be family? Hello. That's the beauty of it.
(10:22):
One of the biggest lies that the enemy is going
to try to hurl at you. Is he going to
try to tell you you don't belong. You don't belong.
And when you start believing that you don't belong, then
you start isolating. You start pulling back. You start saying,
I'm not one of them, I can't be. You feel distinct, alienated, isolated.
(10:48):
And when the enemy has you isolated, when he pulls
you away from the rest of the tribe, when he
takes you out of the family of God, then he
starts bombarding you with lies that the enemy likes to
soak you in. And you feel like you don't belong
and you stay, staying further and further away from the
family of God, less connected with the family of God,
less feeling like you belong more and more in isolation
(11:09):
and loneliness. More and more vulnerable to the enemy. Until
one day you wake up and you feel like I,
I that's I'm totally disconnected to God and the people
of God because the enemy said to you, you don't belong.
And I want you to know this. I want you
to hear my my voice. It's not about people that
are being perfect. It's about people that come to God
(11:33):
the way they are and say, Lord, I need a
Savior that can wash me and cleanse me and make
me new. And that's what you've done. If that's what
your heart is, then I want to tell you you belong.
(11:54):
And he says, you are a people that belongs to God.
Once you had not received mercy, but now you received
the mercy of God. Romans chapter nine, verse 25 to
26 says, he said to Hosea. I call them my
people who were not my people. And I called them
my loved one, who is not my loved one. And
(12:15):
it will happen that in that very place where it
is said to them, you are not my people that
they will become, they will be called sons of the
living God. What he's declaring is that now you belong. Listen,
I don't know what kind of family you came from.
I don't know if your family rejected you. You may
(12:37):
be adopted and wondering where your family is and who
they were and why they sent you away. You may
have an orphan spirit about you. That every group that
you start to be a part of, you have insecurity
and lies. You don't belong. They don't care. You'll never
fit in. Some of you are plagued by the insecurity
is no one accepts me. I'll never fit in. People
judge me. I'll never be like them. Some of you
(12:59):
cannot go to any place a school, a family gathering,
a neighborhood and a church without feeling the spirit of
an orphan that says to you, you'll never belong. If
people know who you are, they will reject you. You
are meant forever to live in isolation. And I want
to tell you this that is a deep, powerful lie
of the enemy. And I want to dispel that and
(13:20):
declare over you that the God says, you are his people.
You do belong. I rebuke the spirit of an orphan.
And declare over you what the Word of God says. Family,
(13:45):
you belong number four. And lastly, not only does identity
speak to you worth, it defines your purpose. It gives
us a sense of belonging. And lastly, it grants us
the ability to say no. Or to live in integrity.
Verse 11 says, dear friends, I urge you as aliens
(14:09):
and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires
which are at war. One translation says, in your soul.
Let me break that down for a second. I urge you,
as aliens and strangers. What's he saying? Let me tell
(14:34):
you what an alien is. No, I'm not talking about
a green extraterrestrial. Being an alien is described as a
person who has no rights or legal status in the
place where they are not residence. That's an alien. Today,
in today's society, we call them undocumented aliens or undocumented
(14:59):
That individual. That's a person that is in a place
or a country and doesn't have the paperwork that accompanies
the status and the rights that they should have as
someone living in that country. And then he says, not
only that, but strangers. A stranger emphasizes the fact that
this is someone that just passing through that that's not
(15:19):
their residence. Listen, I want you to hear me well.
God is saying to you that you belong to the
family of God, but he's also telling you this you
don't belong to this world, that you are an alien
in the United States of America. Let me. I want
you to hear me. Well, listen. You are a person
(15:41):
that lives in this country, but your status and your
paperwork is not from this country. You belong to another country.
It's called the kingdom of God. The kingdom of heaven.
It's a country that has a rule and authority that's
different sometimes in the country that we live in, he says.
(16:03):
You don't belong here. You are a stranger that's passing through.
This is not your ultimate destiny. This is not the
culture that you belong to. This is not the people
that you belong to. You are first a Christian, not
first an American. You are first a Christian. That happens
to be an American, but you are first a citizen
(16:25):
of heaven. Let me tell you what that means for us.
If you don't understand who you are, then you will
adapt to the culture in which you live. And if
you're not clear that this is not my culture, that
I happen to live here, I happen to be here.
But I'm not from here because I'm from another place,
I speak differently. I have a culture that clashes with
(16:48):
the culture that I live in. I have a destiny
that's different. I don't set up my roots deep in
this place because ultimately, I I understand that I'm only
temporarily in this place, but that place that I really
belong to is the kingdom of heaven. My king really
is not the president of this country, but King Jesus.
(17:10):
I follow a different culture. I flow to a different rhythm.
I speak differently, I walk differently. Why? I'm an alien
in this world. Keep that in mind. By the way,
when next political elections come about, remember that you are,
first of all, a kingdom, a citizen of the Kingdom
(17:31):
of heaven. And I don't care if you live in
America or if you live in the Congo, or if
you live in France, or if you live in England
or whatever you live in. This is a universal truth
for all believers that ultimately you are an alien and
a stranger in the land that which you live. And
if you don't understand that, listen, this is why this
is so important. If you don't understand that you're an
(17:53):
alien and a stranger in which you live, then you will.
Compromise and begin to live like everybody else around you live.
And you'll say, everybody does this. This is just part
of our culture. Everybody acts this way. Everybody talks this way.
(18:17):
Everybody does it because your identity becomes the place that
you live. And what he's telling you, what he's telling
us is your identity should be the kingdom of heaven.
You are a people that does not belong ultimately to
where you live. Never forget that. That you have an
identity and a destiny that's different if you are a
son or daughter of the living God. Am I speaking
(18:39):
to someone here today? In fact, he goes on and says,
by the way, live such good lives among the pagans
who are pagans, people that follow all kinds of different gods.
Live such good lives among the pagans that although they
accuse you of doing wrong, They may see your good
(19:00):
deeds and glorify God on the day that he visits us.
Live such good lives in this world that you don't
belong to. Live such good lives, such different lives in
the neighborhood that you're in, at the workplace that you're at.
Live such different lives in that place that although people
accuse you of stuff. And by the way, how many
(19:23):
of you know that the light will contrast with darkness?
And just because your light, some people are just not
going to light you just because you're light, you don't
have to preach, accuse, invite them to church just by
the mere fact that you don't participate. Some people will
view you as enemies. How many of you know what
(19:45):
I'm talking about? Okay. Everybody standing around the corner. Everybody's
at lunch break behind the building. Everybody's doing it. And. Hey, bro,
you want. Oh, no no, no. Not me. Oh. Oh
not you. Oh, you're probably judging me right now. Oh. Oh,
you think you're better than me? No, I just said
I don't want any. 0000, you. Oh, yeah, I get it.
(20:06):
You're a Bible thumper. All right. Okay, I'm going to hell, right? No,
I just said I don't want any. Oh, yeah, I know,
I know, you're kind. You probably think I'm a demon possessed. Going. Yeah, yeah.
Stay away from me, bro. I don't want to run. Listen,
all you said is no thank you. But the mere
(20:30):
fact that sometimes you don't participate in the things that
this world participates in will immediately. Hey. Hello. I hope
you don't participate.
S4 (20:52):
It's only God.
S2 (20:55):
And maybe you've been listening.
S4 (20:56):
To this message and you resonate with it, that your
heart has been longing for the father, and it's the
father that gives you your identity. And so I want
to challenge you today. If you've been listening to this
message and you say, pastor Mark, I am far from God,
or I don't even know if I know God. Uh,
(21:18):
and I've struggled with the purpose in life because purpose
flows from identity. And so today, I want to challenge you.
What are you waiting for? Uh, this is a time
to align your life with God's purpose and plan for you.
And it starts with the right relationship with God. And
you say, well, I want that. I don't know how
(21:40):
to go about that. Well, it's fairly simple, but deeply profound.
It's simple because it's just about you admitting that you
are broken, that you are far from God.
S2 (21:53):
That the Bible calls it sinful, and that the only
way to get right with God the Father is through
Jesus the Son and His sacrifice. And as you heard
in this message, Jesus came to buy you. He paid
a price for you. He died on a cross so
that your sins could be forgiven, so that you could
be cleansed. And he was the perfect lamb of sacrifice.
(22:16):
There's no one else that could do that to bring
you to daddy the father. And so today, if you say, pastor,
I need to make that decision. I haven't made that decision.
Whether you're parked in your car right now or in
a kitchen or in a living room or in your
bedroom listening to this, I want you to pause right now.
Pause right now. If you sense that tug of God
(22:39):
and pray with me. It's not a prayer that saves you,
but it's the content of a decision that you make.
It's the choice that you're making today to say, I
surrender my life to God. So say, Dear God, I
know that I'm far from you. I felt it in
my heart that distance. I know it's because of sin
(23:03):
and my own failure. Today I come to you and
I ask that Jesus the Christ would wash me, forgive me,
cleanse me. I choose to make Jesus the Lord of
my life. I choose to follow him. Come, Holy Spirit,
and make me a new person today. I surrender my
(23:26):
life to Jesus. If you have prayed that prayer, if
you are making that decision of surrendering your life to
God through Jesus Christ and His lordship, then we want
you to be able to take the next steps and
grow in God. This is a life altering decision, but
you have to plug into a church. You have to
(23:48):
learn how to start growing. Reading your Bible. But it
starts with a decision to say yes to the Lordship
of Jesus. And when we have a couple of, uh,
tools to help believers grow.
S1 (24:02):
Indeed, we have a video that's at our website. It's
called My Next Step and if you click on that
it Bold steps.org. You'll be able to watch the video
from Mark. Again it starts at bold steps. And then
while you're on our home page, be sure to request
a copy of our latest Bold Step gift. It's a
book called Lies Girls believe. Today's tween girls are navigating
(24:24):
a complex world filled with confusing messages about identity, relationships,
and faith. Dana Gres's book, Lies Girls Believe, offers a
biblical roadmap through this confusion. Helping girls age 7 to
12 identify and counter 20 common lies with God's liberating truth.
Beautifully designed with colorful illustrations and relatable stories, this bold
(24:46):
step gift engages young readers while equipping them with the
truth that will last a lifetime. So let us know
where we can send you a copy by requesting this book.
When you give a donation to Bold Steps Weekend. Just
go online to Bold steps.org and request lies. Girls believe
or call us at 800 Moody. That's (800)Â 356-6639. And if
(25:11):
it's easier, you can send your donation and request for
the book in the mail to Bold steps. 820 North
LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. And then be sure
to connect with us on social media. Follow Mark on
YouTube for inspiring video content, or find us on Facebook,
Instagram and TikTok by searching for Bold Steps Radio. I'm
(25:33):
Wayne Shepherd invite you to come back next week. And
when Mark looks at a passage that has the potential
to greatly affect your current relationship. Our message is called
influencing your spouse and you won't want to miss.
S5 (25:44):
It.
S1 (25:44):
So be listening next time to Bold Steps Weekend with
Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio,
a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Standing strong in your Christ given identity. That's our topic
today on Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe.
S2 (00:07):
You have an identity and a call to give honor
and glory to King Jesus, but it seldom comes out
of you because you've been lied to and your behavior
has been affected by it, and your destiny has been
altered by it, because you haven't understood how to stand
in the identity that God has given you.
S1 (00:38):
Welcome to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe, senior pastor
of New Life Community Church and president of Moody Bible
Institute in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Last weekend, Mark started
the message titled what's your name Tag say? And today,
as we move forward in our study from the Book
of First Peter, we're going to learn how our identity
shapes our future and gives us a purpose. So let's
(00:59):
get to it. If you have your Bible handy, turn
with us to chapter two, verse nine of First Peter.
And right now, with this series headlines Navigating Life in
Two Worlds. Here's our Bible teacher, Mark Jobe.
S2 (01:14):
When I was a kid, probably about eight years old
or so, I lived in a little small town in
northern Spain called Ravenna. 200 people. And it was out
in the country, and we would have visitors come and
visit us occasionally. And on one occasion we had some
family from the city. They hadn't been out in the
(01:35):
country a lot, and we had a family from the city,
and there was a kid about our age. He came
out and he seemed like he'd never been in the country.
He's just like a city kid, I don't know. And
my brother and I were a little bit pranksters when
we were young. And so this kid came out and
we said, hey, you want to go for a bike ride?
So we got on our bikes, we were going for
a little ride, and he's looking out. We're out in
(01:56):
the country for the city. And he says, are there
Indians out here? And I think. Indians. Where is this?
You've been watching cowboy movies or what? This is Spain.
There's no Indians in Spain. He's right. He's right there. Wow.
We're out in the country. Are there Indians? And my
brother and I looked at each other like, yeah, let's
go for them. We said, oh, yeah, there's Indians all
(02:19):
over this place. Really? We made up the name of
a tribe. We told him, keep his eyes open because
there's Indians around. So he's riding his bike, looking around
like this. There's Indians around here. And then we figured,
you know, those little those little round, um, little round
(02:39):
balls that are in some plants that you throw and
they'll stick at your, your sweater. So we grabbed a
couple of those. He was riding his bike in front
of us, and we threw a couple at his back
and they stuck to his back. And then we said,
hold on, stop. The Indians have shot you. And he's like, where? Where? Oh, yeah. Oh,
my God, the Indians, they're around here, they've shot you
(03:01):
and he's like, oh, where are they? And we said, well,
these are the poisonous darts. It's going to start to
show up in you pretty soon. You're going to start
foaming at the mouth and you're going to start going
into convulsions. It's going to happen pretty soon. And he
started to go, oh no, oh no, I want to
go home now. So my brother and I looked at
(03:21):
each other and we said, what are we going to do?
So we saw some dandelions on the ground there. We
said there is a remedy. He said, what is it?
What is it? We said, okay, you got to take
these dandelions and you got to take these dandelions and
you got to rub them all over your these yellow dandelions,
rub them all over your face and put one in
your mouth, and I think it'll stop the poison. So
(03:42):
he got the dandelions. He's rubbing all over his face,
putting it put some in his mouth. He said, okay,
how am I doing? He said, I think you're okay now.
When we got back home, we didn't expect to see
his parents, my parents and his parents out in front
of the house. As soon as I saw him, he said, mom,
the Indians got me and I like took off real
fast with my brother. But can I tell you this?
(04:08):
There were no Indians. There was no poisonous darts. There
was no medication. But what you believe in your mind
affects your behavior, and your behavior affects your identity. And
some of you are saying, pastor, that's a silly young boy. Oh, yeah,
(04:30):
he's a silly young boy. And you know how many
silly lies you bought into. You know how much the
enemy has lied to you about his darts and who
you are and his schemes? You know how some of
you can barely pray when you have access to the
throne of the most living God? And you can barely
pray because you feel like you're condemned and guilty and
God doesn't hear you. When God is saying, speak to me,
(04:53):
and you bought into his lies. You think you haven't saved.
You think your sin is overwhelming you. You think your
security of your salvation is lost. You don't know who
you are. You can't pray. You live like everybody else
because you bought into the lies of the enemy that
condemns you, that beats you up, and your lies affect
your behavior and your behavior. God looks at us sometimes
(05:15):
like we would look at this boy and say, what
are you doing? And then.
S3 (05:21):
The Indians are out to get me.
S2 (05:22):
What Indians God is saying. And some of us have
been manipulated by the lies of the enemy. It affects
our behavior. He's stolen your praise. You have an identity
and a call to give honor and glory to King Jesus.
(05:44):
But it seldom comes out of you because you've been
lied to and your behavior has been affected by it,
and your destiny has been altered by it, because you
haven't understood how to stand in the identity that God
has given you. Come on, I'm talking to someone here today.
(06:07):
Number three, not only does identity speak to our worth,
it defines our purpose. Number three, it gives us a
sense of belonging. Verse ten says, once you were not
a people, but now you are the people of God.
(06:32):
Once you had not received mercy, but now you have
received mercy. Once. You didn't belong. You were isolated, disconnected
(06:54):
from the life of God. You were not redeemed, bought, cleansed.
You didn't have a spiritual family. You weren't called son
or daughter of God. That was your state at one time.
(07:16):
But now. The blood of Jesus. The highest, most precious
thing that could ever have been offered. Bought you, cleansed you.
The Spirit of God came inside of you. You have
(07:39):
been declared adopted into God's family. You have been called
son or daughter of the Most High God. The spirit
of the living God has come inside of you and said,
you are mine. You belong to this people. You belong
(07:59):
to me. You are now a people. Listen, listen. This
is one of the biggest lies of the enemy. In fact,
some of you are struggling with it today.
S1 (08:15):
We'll continue Mark's message in a moment. Well, maybe today's
message is inspiring you to go deeper in your study
of the book of First Peter. Let me invite you
to go to our website, Bold Steps org and explore
our resources. You'll find a place there to share your
bold testimony. There's also a link where you can ask
Mark a question on the left side of the page.
And again, that's all found at Bold Steps. And if
(08:37):
you'd like to replay your share today's lesson, you can
also do that there. Or listen and share the message
directly from your smart device by subscribing to our podcast.
Just search for Bold Steps Weekend with doctor Mark Jobe.
And while you're there, you'll also want to subscribe to
our other Bold Steps programs such as Mark's Daily Bold
Steps radio show, The Bold Steps Minute and Our Spanish Minute.
(08:58):
Apostles Addthis. You'll You find them conveniently located inside your
podcast app. Well, let's return to Mark's message now. What's
your name tag? Say he has a few more points
he'd like to make.
S2 (09:14):
They were a special called out people. If you were
born into the tribe of Israel, you had a calling
upon your life. There was a special relationship with the
people of Israel when Jesus came. The Bible says that
Jesus came unto his own, but his own received him not.
So therefore he gave others the right to become the
(09:35):
family of God. Listen, he's talking to Gentiles, non-Jewish people.
He's saying at one time you were not the people
of God. But now the gospel has gone out to
anybody that's willing to receive the message of Jesus Christ.
You don't have to be born into an ethnicity. You
have to be born again from on high. So now
(09:56):
there's black and white and Hispanic and Asian and everything
in between that are part of this thing that we
call the people of God. And you look around and
you say, well, pastor, not everybody in here looks at me.
How could we be family? Hello. That's the beauty of it.
(10:22):
One of the biggest lies that the enemy is going
to try to hurl at you. Is he going to
try to tell you you don't belong. You don't belong.
And when you start believing that you don't belong, then
you start isolating. You start pulling back. You start saying,
I'm not one of them, I can't be. You feel distinct, alienated, isolated.
(10:48):
And when the enemy has you isolated, when he pulls
you away from the rest of the tribe, when he
takes you out of the family of God, then he
starts bombarding you with lies that the enemy likes to
soak you in. And you feel like you don't belong
and you stay, staying further and further away from the
family of God, less connected with the family of God,
less feeling like you belong more and more in isolation
(11:09):
and loneliness. More and more vulnerable to the enemy. Until
one day you wake up and you feel like I,
I that's I'm totally disconnected to God and the people
of God because the enemy said to you, you don't belong.
And I want you to know this. I want you
to hear my my voice. It's not about people that
are being perfect. It's about people that come to God
(11:33):
the way they are and say, Lord, I need a
Savior that can wash me and cleanse me and make
me new. And that's what you've done. If that's what
your heart is, then I want to tell you you belong.
(11:54):
And he says, you are a people that belongs to God.
Once you had not received mercy, but now you received
the mercy of God. Romans chapter nine, verse 25 to
26 says, he said to Hosea. I call them my
people who were not my people. And I called them
my loved one, who is not my loved one. And
(12:15):
it will happen that in that very place where it
is said to them, you are not my people that
they will become, they will be called sons of the
living God. What he's declaring is that now you belong. Listen,
I don't know what kind of family you came from.
I don't know if your family rejected you. You may
(12:37):
be adopted and wondering where your family is and who
they were and why they sent you away. You may
have an orphan spirit about you. That every group that
you start to be a part of, you have insecurity
and lies. You don't belong. They don't care. You'll never
fit in. Some of you are plagued by the insecurity
is no one accepts me. I'll never fit in. People
judge me. I'll never be like them. Some of you
(12:59):
cannot go to any place a school, a family gathering,
a neighborhood and a church without feeling the spirit of
an orphan that says to you, you'll never belong. If
people know who you are, they will reject you. You
are meant forever to live in isolation. And I want
to tell you this that is a deep, powerful lie
of the enemy. And I want to dispel that and
(13:20):
declare over you that the God says, you are his people.
You do belong. I rebuke the spirit of an orphan.
And declare over you what the Word of God says. Family,
(13:45):
you belong number four. And lastly, not only does identity
speak to you worth, it defines your purpose. It gives
us a sense of belonging. And lastly, it grants us
the ability to say no. Or to live in integrity.
Verse 11 says, dear friends, I urge you as aliens
(14:09):
and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires
which are at war. One translation says, in your soul.
Let me break that down for a second. I urge you,
as aliens and strangers. What's he saying? Let me tell
(14:34):
you what an alien is. No, I'm not talking about
a green extraterrestrial. Being an alien is described as a
person who has no rights or legal status in the
place where they are not residence. That's an alien. Today,
in today's society, we call them undocumented aliens or undocumented
(14:59):
That individual. That's a person that is in a place
or a country and doesn't have the paperwork that accompanies
the status and the rights that they should have as
someone living in that country. And then he says, not
only that, but strangers. A stranger emphasizes the fact that
this is someone that just passing through that that's not
(15:19):
their residence. Listen, I want you to hear me well.
God is saying to you that you belong to the
family of God, but he's also telling you this you
don't belong to this world, that you are an alien
in the United States of America. Let me. I want
you to hear me. Well, listen. You are a person
(15:41):
that lives in this country, but your status and your
paperwork is not from this country. You belong to another country.
It's called the kingdom of God. The kingdom of heaven.
It's a country that has a rule and authority that's
different sometimes in the country that we live in, he says.
(16:03):
You don't belong here. You are a stranger that's passing through.
This is not your ultimate destiny. This is not the
culture that you belong to. This is not the people
that you belong to. You are first a Christian, not
first an American. You are first a Christian. That happens
to be an American, but you are first a citizen
(16:25):
of heaven. Let me tell you what that means for us.
If you don't understand who you are, then you will
adapt to the culture in which you live. And if
you're not clear that this is not my culture, that
I happen to live here, I happen to be here.
But I'm not from here because I'm from another place,
I speak differently. I have a culture that clashes with
(16:48):
the culture that I live in. I have a destiny
that's different. I don't set up my roots deep in
this place because ultimately, I I understand that I'm only
temporarily in this place, but that place that I really
belong to is the kingdom of heaven. My king really
is not the president of this country, but King Jesus.
(17:10):
I follow a different culture. I flow to a different rhythm.
I speak differently, I walk differently. Why? I'm an alien
in this world. Keep that in mind. By the way,
when next political elections come about, remember that you are,
first of all, a kingdom, a citizen of the Kingdom
(17:31):
of heaven. And I don't care if you live in
America or if you live in the Congo, or if
you live in France, or if you live in England
or whatever you live in. This is a universal truth
for all believers that ultimately you are an alien and
a stranger in the land that which you live. And
if you don't understand that, listen, this is why this
is so important. If you don't understand that you're an
(17:53):
alien and a stranger in which you live, then you will.
Compromise and begin to live like everybody else around you live.
And you'll say, everybody does this. This is just part
of our culture. Everybody acts this way. Everybody talks this way.
(18:17):
Everybody does it because your identity becomes the place that
you live. And what he's telling you, what he's telling
us is your identity should be the kingdom of heaven.
You are a people that does not belong ultimately to
where you live. Never forget that. That you have an
identity and a destiny that's different if you are a
son or daughter of the living God. Am I speaking
(18:39):
to someone here today? In fact, he goes on and says,
by the way, live such good lives among the pagans
who are pagans, people that follow all kinds of different gods.
Live such good lives among the pagans that although they
accuse you of doing wrong, They may see your good
(19:00):
deeds and glorify God on the day that he visits us.
Live such good lives in this world that you don't
belong to. Live such good lives, such different lives in
the neighborhood that you're in, at the workplace that you're at.
Live such different lives in that place that although people
accuse you of stuff. And by the way, how many
(19:23):
of you know that the light will contrast with darkness?
And just because your light, some people are just not
going to light you just because you're light, you don't
have to preach, accuse, invite them to church just by
the mere fact that you don't participate. Some people will
view you as enemies. How many of you know what
(19:45):
I'm talking about? Okay. Everybody standing around the corner. Everybody's
at lunch break behind the building. Everybody's doing it. And. Hey, bro,
you want. Oh, no no, no. Not me. Oh. Oh
not you. Oh, you're probably judging me right now. Oh. Oh,
you think you're better than me? No, I just said
I don't want any. 0000, you. Oh, yeah, I get it.
(20:06):
You're a Bible thumper. All right. Okay, I'm going to hell, right? No,
I just said I don't want any. Oh, yeah, I know,
I know, you're kind. You probably think I'm a demon possessed. Going. Yeah, yeah.
Stay away from me, bro. I don't want to run. Listen,
all you said is no thank you. But the mere
(20:30):
fact that sometimes you don't participate in the things that
this world participates in will immediately. Hey. Hello. I hope
you don't participate.
S4 (20:52):
It's only God.
S2 (20:55):
And maybe you've been listening.
S4 (20:56):
To this message and you resonate with it, that your
heart has been longing for the father, and it's the
father that gives you your identity. And so I want
to challenge you today. If you've been listening to this
message and you say, pastor Mark, I am far from God,
or I don't even know if I know God. Uh,
(21:18):
and I've struggled with the purpose in life because purpose
flows from identity. And so today, I want to challenge you.
What are you waiting for? Uh, this is a time
to align your life with God's purpose and plan for you.
And it starts with the right relationship with God. And
you say, well, I want that. I don't know how
(21:40):
to go about that. Well, it's fairly simple, but deeply profound.
It's simple because it's just about you admitting that you
are broken, that you are far from God.
S2 (21:53):
That the Bible calls it sinful, and that the only
way to get right with God the Father is through
Jesus the Son and His sacrifice. And as you heard
in this message, Jesus came to buy you. He paid
a price for you. He died on a cross so
that your sins could be forgiven, so that you could
be cleansed. And he was the perfect lamb of sacrifice.
(22:16):
There's no one else that could do that to bring
you to daddy the father. And so today, if you say, pastor,
I need to make that decision. I haven't made that decision.
Whether you're parked in your car right now or in
a kitchen or in a living room or in your
bedroom listening to this, I want you to pause right now.
Pause right now. If you sense that tug of God
(22:39):
and pray with me. It's not a prayer that saves you,
but it's the content of a decision that you make.
It's the choice that you're making today to say, I
surrender my life to God. So say, Dear God, I
know that I'm far from you. I felt it in
my heart that distance. I know it's because of sin
(23:03):
and my own failure. Today I come to you and
I ask that Jesus the Christ would wash me, forgive me,
cleanse me. I choose to make Jesus the Lord of
my life. I choose to follow him. Come, Holy Spirit,
and make me a new person today. I surrender my
(23:26):
life to Jesus. If you have prayed that prayer, if
you are making that decision of surrendering your life to
God through Jesus Christ and His lordship, then we want
you to be able to take the next steps and
grow in God. This is a life altering decision, but
you have to plug into a church. You have to
(23:48):
learn how to start growing. Reading your Bible. But it
starts with a decision to say yes to the Lordship
of Jesus. And when we have a couple of, uh,
tools to help believers grow.
S1 (24:02):
Indeed, we have a video that's at our website. It's
called My Next Step and if you click on that
it Bold steps.org. You'll be able to watch the video
from Mark. Again it starts at bold steps. And then
while you're on our home page, be sure to request
a copy of our latest Bold Step gift. It's a
book called Lies Girls believe. Today's tween girls are navigating
(24:24):
a complex world filled with confusing messages about identity, relationships,
and faith. Dana Gres's book, Lies Girls Believe, offers a
biblical roadmap through this confusion. Helping girls age 7 to
12 identify and counter 20 common lies with God's liberating truth.
Beautifully designed with colorful illustrations and relatable stories, this bold
(24:46):
step gift engages young readers while equipping them with the
truth that will last a lifetime. So let us know
where we can send you a copy by requesting this book.
When you give a donation to Bold Steps Weekend. Just
go online to Bold steps.org and request lies. Girls believe
or call us at 800 Moody. That's (800)Â 356-6639. And if
(25:11):
it's easier, you can send your donation and request for
the book in the mail to Bold steps. 820 North
LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. And then be sure
to connect with us on social media. Follow Mark on
YouTube for inspiring video content, or find us on Facebook,
Instagram and TikTok by searching for Bold Steps Radio. I'm
(25:33):
Wayne Shepherd invite you to come back next week. And
when Mark looks at a passage that has the potential
to greatly affect your current relationship. Our message is called
influencing your spouse and you won't want to miss.
S5 (25:44):
It.
S1 (25:44):
So be listening next time to Bold Steps Weekend with
Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio,
a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Come hang with Amy Poehler. Each week on her podcast, she'll welcome celebrities and fun people to her studio. They'll share stories about their careers, mutual friends, shared enthusiasms, and most importantly, what's been making them laugh. This podcast is not about trying to make you better or giving advice. Amy just wants to have a good time.