It shot me wide awake Monday morning, a voice inside my head loud and clear yelling “Your Liberty comes in knowing who you are!” And I saw that pivotal scene from the end of The Matrix where Neo is fighting the Agents. They’ve already beat him until they thought he was dead, and he thought he was, too. But Trinity quietly whispered words of life into his ear. The Agents thought they’d won, but he came back from out of nowhere. They aim their guns, pull the triggers, and the bullets fly. He holds up his hand as if to say Stop and the bullets travel slower and slower through the air as they approach him until they finally just stop. He picks one out of mid air, inspects it as if to see what in the world this is, and then the rest of them just fall to the ground, harmless. The Agents are shocked at what they’ve just seen – no one has ever done this before. They attack him all at once, but he fights them all, just standing there, using only one hand as if he’s bored with the whole affair. He takes them all out. Mr. Brown shows up and is surprised. He’s determined to put an end to Neo once and for all, but Neo summons unheard of power from an unheard of source, and does the impossible, taking out a very shocked Mr. Brown and proving once and for all, to everyone else and himself as well, that he is indeed The One…and I got it! It’s all about knowing who you are!

See, the enemy’s power is in his ability to create deception. We are born in sin – into his world, into the Matrix he’s created. And we trudge through this life feeling hopelessness and despair, with occasional bouts of happiness and joy, but not enough to feel liberated. But then we are born again into new life in Christ and we feel love abundantly, and joy overflowing and peace and happiness and all those good and wonderful things. But we’re still in this world. And after a while we can become bogged down again, feeling heavy and earthbound all over again. But when we know who we are, we can fight off his tactics effortlessly. We don’t have to struggle with the cares of this world because we know that they’re not real. We have been liberated from the bonds of this world. We are no longer part of Satan’s matrix; we are partakers of God’s Kingdom. We are in the world, but not of the world, and as such we are not bound by this world. We have rights as the children of God. We can speak to the winds and they obey. We can speak to our circumstances and they have to change. We can speak to the mountain in our way, and it has to move. We have power with God!! But we have to know it in order to use it. When we come to the realization of who we really are, whatever we need is ours. Jesus said we simply have to ask in His name, He’ll do it. No ifs ands or buts about it. We ask, He does it - it’s as simple as that, but we have to believe it.  

My struggle has been in believing that I am worth it. I know He can do it, but why would He do it for me. I can have faith for everyone else, but when it comes to me, I’m stuck in the matrix. And the enemy has woven a lifelong web of deceit and lies about me so securely that sometimes I can’t see through it. And lately I have been so bogged down in the lies that I have felt as if my very life has been draining out of me. But something happened Sunday. When Pastor was praying for me, he spoke some things into my spirit that broke through the lies of the enemy and I began to see truth again. I began to see that I was fearfully and wonderfully made, and my soul knew it. I began to remember that I was precious in His sight and that He knew me before I was formed in my mother’s womb. I remembered that I was His sheep and a sheep of His pasture, that I knew His voice, and the stranger’s voice I would not follow. I remembered that I was a princess, a child of the King, and that beggar’s rags had no business on my frame. I remembered that I had power with God - that I could ask anything, and He would do it. I remembered that I had freedom in Christ, and was no longer bound by this world. I was liberated.  

For each one of us, the struggle is different. Yours may be financial. Then know that your Father is rich in houses and land, the cattle on a thousand hills is His. He supplies all of your need according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus. If your need is health, know that by His stripes, you are healed. Know that it is His will that we prosper and be in health as our souls prosper. Know that if we can just touch the hem of His garment, we can be made whole. If it is peace you need, know that it is His peace He gives to you. Know that the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your heart and mind. Know that He Himself is our Peace, and let the Peace of God rule in your heart. If it is wisdom you need, ask of God, who gives wisdom to all men liberally and without reproach.  

Whatever we need it comes in knowing we have power with God. Know that we can only be subject to this world if we allow ourselves to be. We have been liberated from this life by a new life in Christ, and nothing can take that away. We just have to know it.