Identity Theft (Men's Ministry Breakfast Message)

Who are Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah?
Are they Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego or are they Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah?

1st challenge is to steal your identity.
It started with Adam and Eve. You are not all God created you to be so you should eat this fruit. You can be more than you are if you will eat it. Identity theft. In the moment they ate the fruit their identity was change. The image of God in them was marred.
Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah face the same temptation. Are they now Babylonian servants or God's servants? Are they Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah or Shad, Mesh, and Abed?
Jesus faces the same struggle with the temptation in the wilderness in Matthew 4. The last thing Jesus heard before heading into the wilderness was You are My Son. The first temptation, if you are the son of God. Can I question and change your identity?
We face the same things. Our identity is attacked.
Are you who you are or who the world says you are? Are you, you or someone else? If you are not you who will be you?
Think about how we are created as men.
We have testosterone. We are by nature dangerous, risky and aggressive. Think about it who created football, hockey, boxing, wrestling, cage fighting and action movies? Men! We have a warrior spirit within us. It is how God created us. But what has the world done in the midst of the church? It has tried to create a bunch of nice guys, a group of mamby pamby wimps who make George McFly look tough.
Where is the warrior spirit? Where are the spiritual warriors who tear dowstrongholdds and set captives free? Where are the spiritual assassins for Jesus? What has happened is we have put away who we are in spiritual life so we can be nice, safe people. But outside of church we are who we are. The world sees some of it, but are more McFly in spiritual service than we are ever Rambo. Why? Identity theft!
God has created you to be a warrior. Men we are supposed to be the prayer warriors tearing down spiritual strongholdds in people's lives. We are to be the great Bible readers studying God's word and preparing for battle with spiritual forces. Ready to swing the sword of the spirit splitting demonic powers. We are supposed to be the ones mixed up in the lives of kids, teens and adults loving them through being their spiritual bodyguards. We should be in there teaching and leading them with a warrior spirit tear down the lies of the enemy and establishing a strongholds for Jesus. The lost people of Tulare should be won by guys like us, because we see it for what it is. That is the enemy of mankind blinding and trapping them. We are sent by God on a mission to set them free. Evangelism is not a nice thing, it is a dangerous battle for the soul of the person we are sharing with. Men we are built to enter that battle. Let's attack!
Think about Jesus. He was no wimp. He was not a sissified little wuss walking around spouting platitudes. He called roughians and hooligans to follow Him. Zealots and fishermen aren't going to follow a wuss. They want action and manliness. What did Jesus do when he came upon the demon possessed? He attacked the demonic and liberated the captive. What did He do when He came upon the moneychangers abusing His people? He tossed tables. He created a ruckus and was such a fury that even the fierce Romans would not venture into the temple to deal with the riot. In 1 John 3:8 says, "The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil." He had a warrior spirit. He desires to give us that same warrior spirit in our spiritual life. Where sin has set itself up we are to stand up and say no more!

The world will set up an image to be worshipped.
Are you who you are or we say you are?If you are not who you are you will bow! What happens if you don't bow? HMA didn't bow!
Do you have the guts and the testosterone to stand up for Jesus when everyone else is bowing to the world? 1 John 3:9 "No one who is born of God practices sin because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother."
The devil wants to create an image in the church of a bunch of wimpy men who can't do anything. God's image is a group of guys who will not bow, but will stand up for God and do what it takes to make war against the evil forces of the world.

Jesus will meet us in the heat of the struggle.
Why?It is for His glory! Daniel 3:28-30
Are you willing to stand up for Jesus and fight for His glory?