Its been nearly 4 years since we discovered who we were created to be. Our identity. I mean, we’re still learning, of course, but November of 2014 was when our true selves and the knowledge of all that entails went from head-knowledge to heart knowledge. And when that happens, let me tell you – everything changes.
Something happened that late November weekend. It was like an unlocking or opening of a door to the supernatural – a realm that I didn’t know we could experience, interact with and even influence, like I know now.
At a small conference held in the gorgeous First Baptist Church downtown, I found myself surrounded by stained glass and the presence of God. It was the first time I had heard of Todd White as Renee Boucher casually said his name from the stage – something like, “you’ve probably seen things like it on a Todd White video…”. I immediately wrote in my journal, “look up Todd White on YouTube”.
After I got home, I did, and I was immediately addicted to his videos displaying a level of healing power, words of knowledge, and boldness I hadn’t seen before. I texted Ricky (who was on a sort of business trip staying at a mansion that belonged to a CEO of a global Christian nonprofit). He obliged me and watched a couple videos too, and interestingly, the gut feeling he had about saying “NO” to partnering with this man – was confirmed right afterward. The CEO was just going to use him and try & manipulate him like he did with many, many others. God saved Ricky from making the poor business decision to partner with him.
That was the same trip (Atlanta) where I secretly shoved “Who I Am in Christ” into Ricky’s carry-on. Those Todd White videos led to a more open mind and heard for both of us, and increased our faith like crazy. For Ricky, they led to him memorizing the 33 statements Neil T Anderson wrote, on Who We Are. What else was he going to do with his 5 hours on his flight home?
Once home, we exhausted Todd’s videos which led us to some other Youtube videos – we were careful which ones to watch and made sure to exit out of anything that had a prosperity-gospel bent or a way about them that was way to weird. We leaned into God and tried to let him direct us. Dan Mohler soon came across our “recommended” videos – an everyday “no-name” pastor from Pennsylvania (Todd’s first mentor) and after watching his videos, we were so pumped and encouraged that we started exploring prophetic risk-taking in our day to day lives.
Around that time, things started shifting in us. We’ve stopped being influenced negatively by media/news, offended and hurt by people, scared by life’s circumstances or Satan’s attacks, even getting sick much, having financial hardship, or dealing w/“normal” tough breaks like car breakdowns or job losses. We also started doing our own learning of the scriptures and worshiping at home more often than we ever used to. The atmosphere at home changed. Conversations changed. Our Sundays changed…and expanded.
We can’t explain it, except that it aligns with what we studied for nine months together earlier that year ~ what the kingdom of God can be like here on earth. It looks like favor, blessing, love and power on display. It feels like peace and flows over with righteousness.
This all may sound like a testimony of what WE got. But it’s not about us. In fact, it is actually the story of Matthew 6:33 on a personal level: seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, & all these things will be added unto you. It’s about the seeking and coming to know our Creator more intimately. We were seeking. Like we still are, and like we’ve never sought before. Especially never as a couple.
Could it be – that all our needs could be met and more…could it be that we could take part in divine interactions, and literally be used as conduits of his glory FOR his glory, here? Could we not only see miracles happen and not be surprised – and not have to wait for someone more “holy” or “qualified” from the church establishment to be in on the kingdom action? The only way we could really know was to sniff out and shut out the world’s lies we’d heard and believed – especially the religious doctrines we’d heard over the last 4 decades, as pastors’ kids and church junkies. We had to strip away all the add-on’s that were never there in the original text of four gospels. I had to ask myself – If Jesus was our example, why am I not doing what He did? The answer came to me – because I was taught variations of the truth. Not the solid, undiluted truth about Jesus, His character, His lifestyle, what his death defeated for us all, and what His Holy Spirit provided us when he left the earth.
A new dimension of his love has been revealed to us and it keeps growing. We are so grateful. It has reached down from heaven to our searching hearts.
It has cleared up the cloudy, stabilized the shaky, restored the broken pieces of our past and made us secure ~ in every way. Isn’t it amazing and crazy and almost hard to believe?
That’s why I praise him. I love filling the house with songs, sometimes yelling them as loud as I can. I would not care if windows broke. I would just laugh. Because after all we’ve gone through, there’s one thing I know for sure – He’s worthy!!
So what’s next?
We just can’t get beyond the subject of that book that mischievously found its way into Ricky’s carry on back in 2014. We’ve realized we may never go beyond it, because it is FOUNDATIONAL to the Christian faith, to overcoming and to expanding the kingdom of God. Identity.
Ricky has written over 10 books since then, and after receiving two very specific prophetic words from Godly men who don’t know each other (or me, very well)… I am finally embarking on a writing journey of my own. I am super excited to put it out there – that I’ve started writing a book, well, actually it will be more like a study journal, that will dispell many lies, shed light on many truths and establish that crucial foundation of real God-designed identity – in the hearts of its readers. Its truth will (I say in faith) bring them out of depression, bi-polar and other mental illnesses…set free those pummeled by addiction…clear up misconceptions about who we are and why we’re here on the earth, and set aflame a desire for the “more” that is available in the Spirit. For there is always more.
It will serve as a tool for men and women both, but I’m guessing more women – to be aligned with the person God always created them to be – and to discover how close that looks to who HE is. Those looking to mine the gold from their past will discover how their past experiences have shaped them into the one of a kind mosaic work of art they are, and how their unique beauty will shine now.
I’m embracing this truth once again, only this time throughout my writing journey, for myself and for my readers: that NOTHING is impossible with God.
Chelan 