Embracing Vulnerability: Uncovering Our True Identity in Christ

Hi, my name is Charles, and I serve here at Transmission Church as one of the executive pastors. I want to take a moment before we jump into the message to say thank you for watching. It means the world to us that you would be a part, no matter where you're watching from or who you are. I'm believing that this message is going to encourage your faith and hopefully transform your life. If you haven't yet, make sure you take a moment to subscribe to the YouTube channel. Not for us, but really for you. We want to be a resource to encourage your faith and be with you on this journey of following Jesus. Again, thank you so much for joining us. Enjoy the message today. I hope it blesses you.

We are in a brand new series that we are calling "Hot Girl Summer," and y'all make some noise that we are in week one! They said it's fun month, and I need y'all to get ready, get ready, get ready, and pass the TD Jakes vibe. Secondly, y'all, we are dropping into something, and I love it, not just because it's great marketing and you can put "hot," and you know you see the people posting where they are kind of naked. I'm not talking about that kind of hot girl. Amen! We want to actually present, as we have four different ladies, four different voices of God, speaking from a place of vulnerability.

It doesn't take as much courage to uncover your body as it does to uncover your heart. I don't think you heard me. Many people uncover their body; many, many people uncover their whole physique. There are few that dare to uncover their heart in vulnerability. I'm talking about being humble, open, and transparent, and the Lord is calling us beyond the fake Christian needs of "How you doing? Blessed, highly favored." So, I'm actually dealing with some stuff that I might need a therapist to help me through. Today and for every other week following this, you will have women of God who will not speak from a place of where they've already arrived, but we're going to speak from a place of where we're currently navigating.

I say this all the time, and I believe it with all my heart: the best message preached is the one you're currently living. He doesn't want you to just talk it; He wants you to walk it like you're talking it, and He needs to have established the word in you as you get ready to encourage and challenge His people to go forward in the word of God.

Anybody ready for some hot girl summer? It's about to go down, it's about to go down, y'all. I'm excited. I brought my mama and my baby daddy with me. Can y'all give it up for my mama and my baby daddy? I heard we got a whole bunch of Forward City citizens in the room. Can y'all make some noise for Forward City Church? I got some Forward City people and some permission women in the room. Y'all can go ahead and take—well, don't take your seats, 'cause we gonna actually read the word real quick, and then we're gonna sit down. Y'all stand for the reading of the word, and then I'll ask my husband would say y'all get to sit down, and I get to stay up here and work. Amen.

Let's turn to Genesis. I'm excited to be here in Tulsa, Oklahoma for Hot Girl Summer! I'm from Sandersville, Georgia, and I'm a family of five with three boys. If you didn't hear my husband two weeks ago, you'll get to see a picture of my amazing family.

We're going to read Genesis 45:1-8 today. This passage serves as a foundation and context for this life and this topic that I want to speak about. The Bible says that Joseph could stand it no longer when he was with his brothers, and he told them who he was. He broke down and wept so loudly that the Egyptians could hear him and were quickly carried to Pharaoh's palace. Joseph said to his brothers, "Is my father still alive?" His brothers were speechless and stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. He said, "Come closer," and when they did, he said, "I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. Don't be upset and don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. I want you to hear me and hear me clearly. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives." He said, "Don't worry about it. It was God who sent me here, not you. He is the one who made me advisor to Pharaoh, the manager of this entire palace, and the governor of all of Egypt."

Father, we pray in this room that you will add a blessing to the reading of your word. We understand, God, that without you these are just words, but with your way in, God, I believe it has the power to break yolks. I believe it has the power to shift lives. I believe it has the power to do exactly what your will is. Father, I pray that you will move by your spirit. I am just a vessel; use my tongue like the pen of a ready writer. Speak, God, although we are in a room in a corporate gathering, I believe you can speak individually. Would you meet us right where we are? In Jesus' name, amen.

Pastor Travis and I are doing our best job to raise our children. Charles and I travel sometimes, and I'm reminded of how much I miss their hugs, smiles, and kisses. When I call the person watching them, usually it's their grandma, I can feel the love I have for them. But sometimes, they can be a handful. If the topic of "first" comes up, it's like a competition. They want to be first in everything and get mad if they can't. This fight for first doesn't stop in childhood. In adulthood, we still see people fighting and trying to get ahead of others. It's like they're still trying to get to first for the significance, prestige, likes, and attention that come with it.

I've had my share of firsts here and there, and there is something beautiful about working hard and reaching it. Do I have any first-time graduates in the room? David was minding his own business, tending to his sheep when first found him. Jesse showed up to the house to anoint him, even though he wasn't called to the anointing ceremony first. First went to the pastures where the sheep were and said, "Yep, that one right there, he's the one." It might not even be that level of running, but I'm just saying there are some people that have experienced first, and it should be rightfully celebrated.

But it's still this fight; it's still this thing that keeps showing up over and over again. What I've recognized is that I don't want to leave anybody in the room out. There are some people that have experienced this exhilarating feeling of firsthand having accomplished something first, but there are some other people that, even as I'm starting this, they're already checking out. They're like, "Dr. Jackie, I've never had the opportunity. I never had the exhilarating feeling of my name being called first, of me being able to get to the finish line first. I've never had this major accomplishment of getting into first."

And I want you to know that I have not left you behind. You're in the right room, and if you're not in the right room, you're watching the right message. The first that I'm talking about, the one, if I'm being humble, open, and transparent, that I've been dealing with as a concept of first, has nothing to do with being born first. It has nothing to do with accomplishing something first. It has nothing to do with getting to that finish line first. I want to ask the question: what do you do when there is a first that finds you? One that you don't fight for, but it comes looking for you?

Do I got any people that kind of know what I'm talking about? I'm talking about the first day I wasn't looking for it; somehow it showed up in my life. What do you do when first finds you? You feel like your cause is something that's bigger than you. You feel and you know that there's something on the inside of you that's different than everybody else. It's the specific thing that God has called you for. And I want everybody in the room to know that we all have a specific first. There's this thing that God has sent you to the Earth to be an answer for. He's only called you to be first to do. There's nobody with the specificity and the uniqueness that God has placed on your life, and He wants to speak to those kind of people in the room.

I said, "How do you do it like that? Nobody can do it like you do it." And He said, "It's because God called me to do it like this." And I said, "Oh, okay." So God has called us to do something that nobody else can do like us.

Joseph was specifically assigned by God to be a shepherd boy and a king. Mary was a virgin, just like everyone else, but God chose her to carry forth the king of glory. Joseph was sent ahead of his brothers to Egypt to do something that only he was ordained to do. God has given us different gifts to do certain things well. Nobody can do it like God wants to do it through you. He has called us to do something that nobody else can do like us. Charles, Abby, Jay, and Bree all have unique gifts that nobody else can replicate. Charles can read the Bible and blow our minds; Abby can prophesy; Jay can make people feel welcome; and Bree can help us understand about being still and having Sabbath rest.

God has called us and trusted us with something that we can do differently than anyone else. We must agree with heaven and what God has decided for us. Romans 12:9 says, “In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.” Let us stop fighting and agree with the fact that God has called us to do something special. God has given us different gifts to do certain things well. If God has given you an ability to prophesy, He says speak out with as much faith as you have been given. If you've been given a gift to serve, He says serve them well. Stop saying you're not good at it and agree with God. If you are a teacher, He says teach well. If your gift is encouraging others, be encouraging. That's what I'm doing.

I'd like to encourage people to see themselves the way God sees them. I'd like to encourage people to stop saying you're not and believe your height. I've been anointed to unlock the hidden treasure on the inside of people, and that's exactly what's happening right now.

If He said and He called me to it, I'm gonna agree with heaven. I'm gonna do it with all my might. Watch me work. He says if He calls you to speak, speak. If He called you into courage, be courageous. If He calls you to give, give generously. Don't just pretend to love others; really love them. Hate what is wrong and hold tightly to what is good. There is a specific type of verse that God is calling us to, and I think with the gentle affirming voice, God is asking us to own our land, to be sent ahead in the thing that only He can do through you.

Can I tell you something that God shared with me prophetically? He says there have been some people in the earth looking for answers that already exist. The issue is not on me. God has already given the answers, but His answers are hiding, and the earth is waiting for the true sons and daughters to finally get the stories to be revealed with the true sons and daughters of God. Please stand up. When are you gonna agree with what He said? When are you gonna own the right to be only who He created you to be? He sent you ahead just like Joseph. He's sending you first.

I asked the Bible questions. I asked Jesus questions. I said, "Jesus, we're clear that you want us to rise up, clear that you want to do something in us that we haven't fully agreed with. But why is it so hard if it's what we were made to do and we were made to prophesy or to teach or to speak? God, why is it so hard?" Do I got any people in the room that's been sent first in life? God, I've been trying, but it's hard. That's been my story. Daddy, I know you've been calling me a long time, but it's been way more comfortable to hang in the background. It's been way more comfortable to say, "Oh, I just worship and pray; I don't speak."

God said, "Who?" He says that when we start looking at this idea of first, there's a flip side to this coin called first. He says, "My children, the reason they're having a hard time is because they don't like the flip side to it." Joseph was born to one of the major patriarchs, Jacob, and from the time he was born, he was favored and given a coat. His brothers hated him for the coat and the dreams God gave him. After they hated him for the dreams and the coat, they stripped him of the coat and sold him into slavery. Joseph ended up in Egypt, where he went through a journey of prison and palace. From the palace to the prison, he arrived at the place God had called him to. Despite the pain that came with it, Joseph continued to choose to be sent ahead.

God gave us perspective on how we can look at the three major pains that generally stop us, slow us down, and make us back into a corner and not stand up in the thing God has called us for. The first pain Joseph encountered was the pain of being rejected and misunderstood. People saw the pictures on Instagram of the ribbon cutting, but they didn't read the fine print at the bottom of the picture. They didn't know that many of the people celebrating with them weren't there on the hard days, the days of doubt, or the days when they asked God if they were crazy. People saw them run the marathon and get to the finish line, but they couldn't testify to how many times they tried to turn back or give up.

People only saw the likes, the glamor, and the shiny part of the coin, but if you flip it over, there is a cost inscribed on the back. There is a pain that comes along with first, and that is the topic of our discussion today: the pain of first.

I believe there are some people in the room that understand that there are times when you are given a dream and a vision that you didn't give yourself, and people don't like you for something you don't even fully understand. I had this experience in my life where I was a young girl, and I was named the queen of my daycare, middle school, and high school. I didn't understand why I was getting a whooping and why people were mad at me for something I didn't even ask for. I asked my mom why people didn't love me the way I loved them, and she didn't have an answer.

I was dealing with this feeling of being misunderstood and rejected, and I got a therapist on betterhelp.com. My therapist told me to look for the cracks in people like me, the ones who are highly favored of the Lord. I started digging deeper and found pain that I didn't know was there, pain that I didn't ask for because of things I didn't ask for. I'm telling you, I'm telling you, I'm telling you, I'm telling you. I was having a conversation with my therapist, and she asked me what makes me special. I told her things like I'm a leader and I love people, but she just said, "Yeah, okay."

She then asked me why it had been so hard for me to be who I was created to be. I started crying, and I heard something my mom used to say to comfort me with my differences. Although it was meant to comfort me, it also made me hate having to wrestle with the difference she was trying to comfort me with. I heard her say, "People love you the best they know how; they love you the best." I felt like I didn't ask for this; I didn't do anything to deserve this. In that moment, I realized I was trying to love people, but I was in a place where I was being misunderstood and rejected.

So, I decided to conform and tuck away the favor that was on my life. I tried to talk away the leadership and love so I wouldn't be hurt by the pain of being misunderstood again. But I realized that when you do something for a long time, it's hard to recover and be the authentic person God created you to be. I've been recovering for a long time, trying to be somebody that they didn't like. God said He had some things to say to those people who have dealt with the pain of being rejected and misunderstood. He said to understand the favor that was on my life was intentional and necessary for the call He had on my life.

He said many times we look at the favor on our life and think it's haphazard, but just like Joseph, the favor was intentional for positioning. He said that even if we are rejected and misunderstood, we can still be powerful and effective. He said to take the whole world, but just give Him Jesus. Joseph was only an instrument of Jesus to see what God had already ordained. Jacob was only an instrument of Jesus to see what God had already ordained about Joseph. He was just used like a teacher that kept saying, "Girl, there's something in you," and pushing you a little bit harder. Just used like the boss that keeps promoting you without the credentials. They can be used, but the favor doesn't originate with them.

Psalms 84:11 says this: "It is the Lord that gives honor and favor," and I need you to know don't take casually the favor that's on your life because it was given by Jesus. He says there are times when we're looking at this dream, this vision, this assignment, and we keep dumbing it down and backing up because we feel like we want people to think we're thirsty. I want people to... I don't care what people think. The dream and the assignment weren't given by you. That dream that Joseph had was given by Jesus. It was what He desired. Paul said it like this: "It was by the will of the Lord that I became an apostle." This thing that I'm standing here, I didn't ask for; it was the will of the Lord. That thing you're standing in, it was about the will of the Lord. You don't have to apologize anymore for something you didn't give yourself.

I need to speak to the heart of a man and a woman in this room, a man and a woman watching online. You didn't give yourself that dream and that vision to eradicate sex trafficking. You didn't give yourself a dream to rise in leadership. You didn't need something assigned to stand and be the yoke breaker in your family. Jesus did it. It was His delight and His desire.

So, in order for us to get the ability to walk forward in health, we're gonna have to adopt some language that I'm not telling you to say out loud. You might have to say it in the mirror sometimes when you start feeling some type of way and you feel like you're going back up. You don't have to say "sorry, not sorry." Did you hear me? There are gonna be some times where you go to a family reunion, and they're acting crazy, and you got to be like, "Sorry, not sorry. I'mma be who God said." [Applause] I'm not backing down. I'm not backing up because I did that long enough, and I got the results you got, but I want something different.

And if I go, maybe you might go to misunderstand and reject me, but give me Jesus. I'm gonna do what He said here. I'mma do what He said. Somebody said, "I'm gonna do what He said. Give me Jesus."

The last thing God dropped on me, y'all, it's gonna help you, Transformation Nation, because y'all have said in this place a lot. The Lord said we expect way too much of people. The reason we've been dealing with so much pain and so much unrest with their misunderstanding and their rejection is because we expect too much of people.

I started thinking about Transformation Nation's story, y'all, how you go from being a sound man to a music director, to a pastor, to the senior leader. Bishop Gary McIntosh and Debbie decided that they were not going to hold up the oil that God wanted to send forward. In just four years, they were able to transform a church. Joseph was rejected and stripped of his coat by his brothers, and they plotted to kill him. In the end, they resolved to just sell him, and he ended up in Egypt, the place of newness.

People love their old habits and victories and don't like to have to work for new ones. It requires new faith to get new dominion and new territory. God invites us to separate from what might have been and walk into a place of newness, just like Joseph was willing to do. Bishop Gary McIntosh and Debbie were willing to be sent first and do something new.

For Bishop Gary McIntosh, the pain of first was when he went to dental school. He got his clean white coat, and on one side it said "Dr. Gary McIntosh," and on the other side it said "Transformation Nation." He was expecting too much for people to understand something that was too lofty to be understood. He was just being sent ahead, and God didn't give them the dream. He was just the first, and he was going to stand up in it.

Joseph, I'm about to give you a new coat, and I'm about to give you a new language, and I'm about to give you a new identity, and I'm about to give you a new name.

It looks amazing, and people are like, "Oh, you're a doctor!" They don't know what I lived through to put this white coat on. God shifted everything about my life prior to going to dental school. All I knew was a life of looking the part but never actually being good on the inside. All I knew was the life of perfection and crossing every T and dotting every I because in professional settings, this is what they teach you that you have to do. God was like, "I'm about to give you some new language, and I'll try y'all."

I tried to Christianize my way into staying, and God said, "Baby, I'm telling you that you've been calling success when you get a certain outcome. What if I tell you success has nothing to do with the outcome you get?" Can I tell you what I call success? He says, "Turn with me to Joshua 1." He says that if you will meditate on my word and not deviate from it and actually obey my instructions, you will be prosperous and very successful if you obey my instructions.

So could it be that the success that I was looking for was actually tied to my obedience as I got this white coat? He rearranged my life for me to see myself differently. He gave me a new language, and He changed me into a brand new person by forcing me to live a brand new way. I learned not to lean to my own understanding. I learned to acknowledge Him. I learned to let go of my own abilities to get abilities that are greater than mine.

Do anybody know that He is stronger and more mighty than we could ever be? He has wisdom and knowledge that is more amazing than we've ever imagined. What I don't like about this land of newness, though, y'all, is it never stops being new. You'll wear this coat, and it'll feel good for a while, but do you know what actually happens to a coat that you wear for a long time? It becomes old, and it'll create the ability for you to stop depending on God and for you to just put your pride in your identity and your strength in the thing that you've been wearing.

And God, in His sovereignty and His love for us, will require the thing that you've been clothed in. What happens when God and once Jesus says yes? Your first looks like becoming the first dentist in your family, but in the next season, I want you to give me that because I need some now faith.

Is it possible that we're in this room today where you might be wearing a coat that still works and still fits well, but God is saying that although it fits, it's not final? I just want to know, are there some people in the room that might be putting on something that He gave you? I'm not saying you made it up. I'm saying that He might want to do something more. He might want to progress you a little bit more, and He might have to take your old coat to do it.

There is this pain attached to newness. In one season, Joseph was the boy who was found in the coat of being Jacob and Rachel's favorite, and then it moved from that coat to being Potiphar's slave, and it moved from that coat to being a prisoner, and then it moved from that coat to being the second in command. But God said, "Joseph, I'm about to give you a new coat, and I'm about to give you a new language, and I'm about to give you a new identity, and I'm about to give you a new name."

I wonder, have there been people in the room showing up to the right place but with the wrong coat on? Joseph trusted God through the pain of being a prisoner and a slave, being rejected and being abandoned, all the way to the place where he found himself second in command. This happened by way of him choosing to use the gift that God had given him; he interpreted the dream of the Pharaoh, and as a result, he was given the privilege of being able to devise a plan to save not just the Egyptians but all the surrounding areas that were dealing with famine.

It was in this place that his 11 brothers, who had once seen him 22 years ago, were drawn out. He was in this place of newness, and God does something that can be very painful. We drop into our text of Genesis 45 right at this moment where Joseph, after a series of events, is sitting at a table with all his brothers, and God says, “Live through the pain of owning who you really are.”

This is our last and final pain; it might be the hardest where you go back to a people that you feel like should have known you better than anybody. You’ve already had to live through being misunderstood by man and in the world and being rejected by man. You got to deal with being misunderstood and not known.

If he wouldn't have taken off those coats, he would have never gotten to the place of being second in command. You are so stuck in what worked in the past season, and God is saying, “I know that worked in the last season, but I want to do something new. Will you be willing to pause with me today and ask God to maybe strip us, to take back off of us what has now become old so that He can put the new back on so we can stand up fully in it and progress into the place that He wants to take us?”

Can I have my pink coat back? Because I believe that God is my representation, showing us that we don’t have to stay stuck with our identity being limited to this. There are moments when you attach your identity so tight to this that if I showed up into this room actually wanting to do heart surgery but I looked like a dental surgeon, I limited myself. I put on a coat that in one season fulfilled its purpose, but in the next season, it started to limit me.

Are you in the right room with the wrong coat on? Have you attached your identity too tightly to a thing that God is trying to free you by taking it off? See it in the spirit; see Him stripping you of every old coat, of every limitation. See it, and yeah, this new coat might be a little tight today; I might have to kind of get it right, you know, get used to wearing it, but baby, if you call me to it, I’ll let go of everything.

Oh, I walk boldly into newness. This was so, God, on the mountaintop of the valley low, I’m gonna trust you in the palace of the pit; I’m gonna trust you. If I have to take a few exercises to get used to the newness, I’m gonna trust you. He will deepen our will of trust in order to progress us to a place where we really know who we’ve been created to be.

This is Joseph, and he's seated at this table. The Bible says that Joseph said, "Hey, attendants, this ain't got nothing to do with y'all; it's personal." Joseph says he's about to get really hot, humble, open, and transparent, and he cries out. The Bible says in verse two that he wept through tears and he says, "I am Joseph. I'm Joseph. I didn't call myself what the Egyptians called me. I didn't call myself a label of being the advisor of the king of Egypt. I didn't call myself the pain of yesterday. I call myself what Jesus said about me. I am Joseph."

You might have to go back to a place that marks you with pain that knew you by your nickname, and you might have to stand up and say, "I'm not that. I am Joseph." In a place where you might have doubted, you have to stand tall and say, "Transformation, they're gonna get Jackie. I'm not Charles. I'm not Bree. I'm not Travis. I'm not Mike. I'm not Natalie. I am Jackie, and it's enough."

You reintroduce yourself to let them know that without your understanding of who you are in Jesus' narrative, that what they meant for evil, God was working it all for good. You'd never be able to say it with ten toes down. "I am Joseph."

Maybe you're in this room, man, and all you can think about in a moment like this is the man that left you with those kids, and all you've been saying is, "I'm a single mama. I'm hopeless. I'm desperate. I don't have enough. I need you." Even if you don't post it on social media yet, even if you're just getting used to standing back up in the mirror and saying it to yourself, "I'm Sarah. I'm not a divorcee. I'm not just a single mama. I'm what God says."

I'm not just the broken one or the person dealing with unforgiveness because of what they did to me. I'm not my pain. Eric, I know you messed up on your wife, but you're not an adulterer. That's not what God calls you. You need to get back in the mirror, man of God, and say, "I am Eric." You need to say what heaven says about you because I believe in the moment where we're brave enough to reintroduce ourselves by owning our real identity, we'll be able to forgive the people that mistook us.

We'll be able to forgive the people that rejected us. We'll be able to forgive the people that led us to an unknown place because we'll see that in the middle of pain, packaged inside of the pain of first was a kingdom called a promise. "I am Joseph."

Can we stand in this room by symbol of standing? We're standing back up to say, "I'm not what happened. I'm not what they did to me. I'm not what they tried to take. I am Joseph. I know it hurt, and God wanted to address the pain today, but He gave you a new name. He gave me a new name. You're a son. You're a daughter. You were chosen. You are not forgotten. You were exactly the way He wants you. No regret. You're not your pain, and you're not your past. You get to stay with now faith in the present and believe what God says about you now. To trust Him now.

I believe there are people in this room that may want to get to know this God. I believe there's some people that said they've been trying it on their own long enough and have been rejected and abandoned and been in a foreign place and don't know how to stand up and own who they've been created to be. But maybe if they can get closer to a Savior that knows them, they can own who He created them to be.

If you're in this room and you want to give your life for the first time or for the first time in a long time to the Jesus that knows who you really are, just show your hands on the count of three. I want you to raise your hands. One, two, three. I see hands already. The Bible says that all of heaven rejoices when one comes back to the Father. I believe we're owning our identity. Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, Lord.

Put your hands back up, and if you see somebody with their hands up, be generous to place your hands on them as a sign of agreement. There are some people taking their identity back because of choosing to give their life to the one that created them in the beginning.

Lord Jesus, thank you for saving me, for dying on the cross for my sins, and thank you for getting up so I don't have to stay down. I confess you as the Lord of my life, and I give you permission to have your way. In Jesus' name, somebody give God some glory in this place. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Before anybody leaves this building, it's really important in this moment, and I tell anybody that made the decision to give their life to the Lord for the first time or the first time in a long time to text "SAVE" to the number 8282. Transformation Nation would love to send you resources and partner with you on this new journey. It's just starting and living through the pain of first into being who God created you to be.

I want you to know that God has been with us in week one of Hot Girl Summer. Go out and live a transformed life in Jesus' name.

Before we jump off, I want to take a moment again to say thank you. Our church is not built on one individual but on the sacrifice of so many, and you being a part means the world. So thanks for watching the message. I also want to say thank you to the thousands of people around the world who are generous. It means the world, and we are able to represent and be generous to meet the needs of people because of your giving.

If you haven't taken a step to give, trust me, there is no pressure at all, but if you feel led, you can text the word "GIVE" to 8282, or you can go online. When we partner together, God uses our generosity to make a difference. Again, if you haven't, take a moment to subscribe to the YouTube channel, and more than watch it on YouTube, join us on Sundays. Every single Sunday, we're here at 10:45 CST AM. We would love to see you, and like we always say, go out and live a transformed life in Jesus' name. I've had a transformed life. Thank you.