Hey everybody, I’m Anne-Marie Michaelis, a Christian author and coach. Welcome to the Hidden Battles Podcast, a weekly podcast about the hidden battles of spiritual warfare and the struggles that go on in our minds and hearts, and the truth to overcoming these hidden battles. My life was radically transformed during a supernatural encounter with Jesus.

God allowed my eyes to be spiritually opened long enough to see the truth of these hidden battles and to scare the rebellion against him right out of me. In each episode, I share a true story about a real life experience, a teaching, and a final takeaway. This podcast will reveal the hidden battles that lurk in our minds and hearts, and the way out.

Hidden Battles, revealing what the enemy does not want you to know. Please take a moment to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and subscribe to my channel on YouTube, at GodDesign LLC. Podcasts are available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

For a free download of my memoir, visit my website at goddesign.org.

Today in this episode called “Walking In False Identities”, I’ll share a short story of the seeds of false identity planted in my life by the enemy, then go into a teaching on “identity” that I’ll be taking from my identity teaching … found in my plan and schedule book … called “Her … Plan & Schedule 365” (and which can also be found in two of my other books … “Blinded by Hidden Battles” and my “identity and purpose” themed version of my memoir “Hidden Battles”). But as a reminder, the full transcript of this episode can be downloaded on my website at any time as well.  After, we’ll end with reflections.

The story I’ll be reading from my memoir is called “Martial Arts – Self-Protection and Awareness”.  Or … lack of awareness at this point in my life.  When I was eleven years old, I was sexually assaulted by six neighborhood boys.  Shortly after the assault, I didn’t know, but my Dad had been looking for places for me to go and learn how to fight. He had interviewed a local Tae Kwon Do studio down the road within walking distance. The instructor was an eighth-degree black belt. My Dad had explained to the instructor what had happened. He told the instructor he needed me to learn to protect myself and fight for real, not just as a sport.

Shortly after his meeting, I was signed up, and my martial arts training began. I started in the kids’ class, and by the time I was thirteen was moved into the adult class. Within a few years, I obtained my first-degree black belt. I trained five days a week after school and found it to be an outlet for all my anger that was building up. I continued training till I was about eighteen years old, and then something happened that I’ll share with you in a later story.

One additional thing I want to share around this time of my life is that I started to develop an image of myself that I was a bad person. This is important.  This was one of many seeds into my identity that was being planted.  I wore pins on my karate jacket that were very negative. I remember one said, “I’m the person your Mother warned you about.” Another said, “Evil, Wicked, Mean, and Nasty.” Little did I know I had a spiritual battle going on and was unaware of it. Typing this out makes me sickened that I believed these lies about myself when I was younger. But I did.  This was a small sampling of how I started looking at myself.

Where does your identity come from?

Our identity can depend on many things, including the world’s standards. This means that our identity could be reliant on and shaped by society, what we see or hear on social media, television shows, co-workers, or specific individuals like our parents, spouse, children, and friends. You might even have based your identity on work, school, sports, or hobbies.

This could become an issue if what has shaped your identity changes, doesn’t work out, or goes away completely. Having your identity depend on things of this world is unstable and, most likely, not aligned with what God has planned your identity to be.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].  2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP)

Look at Paul in the Bible [Acts 9:1-19]. He was originally called Saul, and he was in charge of persecuting Christians. He encountered Jesus, and his identity and purpose changed completely! He became pivotal in spreading the good news of Jesus and wrote 13 books in the Bible!

Our Identity from the World

Suppose we are currently getting our identity from the world through any examples on the previous page. We should probably understand who the ruler of the world is, who shapes and influences all these various false identities.

But even if our gospel is [in some sense] hidden [behind a veil], it is hidden [only] to those who are perishing; among them the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving to prevent them from seeing the illuminating light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (AMP)

And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins, in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God].  Ephesians 2:1-2 (AMP)

Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.  1 Peter 5:8 (AMP)

The ruler (god) of this world is Satan. What is Satan’s agenda? He fights against God’s purposes and seeks to kill, steal, and destroy (devour) us. I was being destroyed, and my identity and purpose were not aligned with God’s. But he doesn’t need to go as far as what happened with me. All Satan has to do is get you sidetracked from your true identity and purpose, and he has won because you are now working for him and don’t even realize it. That is what happens when we are blinded from seeing the glory of Christ and the purposes of God.

Our Identity from the World (Satan)

Now that we’ve established who influences all the false identities we can obtain from the world and other people, let’s look at what the world (Satan) has masterminded us into believing about ourselves when we take on our identity from a worldly perspective.

Who and what does the world (Satan) say am I?

• • I’m not good enough …
  • I’m not smart enough …
  • I’m too weak or too old …
  • I’m not attractive enough …
  • I’m alone, and no one likes or loves me …
  • I’m not successful until …
  • I need more (ex. food, money, sex, friends, power, success, control, parties, booze, drugs, toys) …
  • I need a bigger or nicer (ex. car, house)
  • I’m guilty …
  • I need to be more tolerant and accepting …
  • I don’t fit in …
  • I’m living my truth with greater self-knowledge …
  • I believe “love is love” …
  • All the answers are within me …
  • I can be any gender; it’s all fluid …
  • God just wants me to be happy …
  • I only live once (yolo) …
  • Pro-choice is fair and just – it’s my body …
  • I create my own right and wrong for myself …
  • I don’t need God, or I am my own “god” …
  • God’s not real, and Jesus is a myth …
  • My “identity” is wrapped up in (ex. my husband, wife, children, friends, job, sport, other) …
  • I am nothing without (ex. my husband, wife, children, friends, job, sport, other)

There are many many other things that the World (or Satan the ruler of this world) tells us as to who we are.  Pause this podcast and reflect in your mind or write down and fill in the blank with anything I’ve missed.

Our Identity From Our Creator (Jesus)

This list is a short list as there are many other things God says we are, but this list is a direct refute against that previous worldly list.  I highly recommend downloading this from my website when you get a chance.  So, who do you ask if you want to know how something works and its purpose? Typically, your vehicle or other complex things come with an owner’s manual written by the manufacturer (the creator or inventor of the thing).

Who and what do God and Jesus say am I?

• • I am chosen in Christ [Eph. 1:4]
  • I have the mind of Christ [1 Cor. 2:16]
  • My inner self is being renewed day by day [2 Cor. 4:16]
  • My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit [1 Cor. 6:19]
  • I’m loved by Jesus and the Father [John 15:9, John 16:27]
  • I have an imperishable inheritance from God [Eph. 1:11]
  • God will fill until full my every need [Philippians 4:19]
  • I have God’s power within me [Eph. 3:20]
  • I have been justified from all things [Acts 13:38-39]
  • I expose deeds of darkness with moral courage [Eph. 5:11]
  • I am accepted in the beloved [Eph. 1:6]
  • I know the truth of salvation, and I am free [John 8:32]
  • I am sanctified and control my body [1 Thess. 4:3-5]
  • I trust in the Lord for all understanding [Proverbs 3:5]
  • I am created in the image of God, who created only male and female [Genesis 1:27]
  • I delight in the Lord [Psalm 37:4]
  • I live my life for Christ [Matthew 16:24-25]
  • I was known by God before I was born [Jeremiah 1:5]
  • I seek God’s Kingdom and right way of being [Matt. 6:33]
  • God is alive, and Jesus is the door [John 10:9] [John 14:6]
  • I am shielded by the power of God [1 Peter 1:5]
  • I can do all things through Christ [Phil. 4:13]

This is a small sample of our identity when we walk with Christ.  This is a truth that is steady, unchanging, and solid – IF YOU BELIEVE and walk your life out in Christ.

If you’re in the world and are not ready to be in Christ, you may have hints about your identity and purpose, but it will not be clear without walking with God and surrendering to Jesus. You have a God-given and God-designed purpose – we all do. Your God-given purpose will be aligned with God’s purpose (like a bicycle wheel with all the spokes). Jesus is the wheel, and we are all the spokes. We all have a purpose of our own to support the wheel. We all work together for a greater purpose- God’s purpose.

To know your purpose and unique design, you must walk with the one who created you. Otherwise, you’ll miss your unique God-given purpose and never realize your true identity, which can only be found in Jesus Christ. Anything less than this will leave you with voids that you seek to fill with worldly things (ex. addictions to alcohol, drugs, technology, gambling, sex, shopping, or the endless pursuit of fame, power, success, another toy, more money, etc). You will never be fully satisfied.

If you’re identity is “in the world” and you’re ready to be “in Christ,” let’s pray a prayer of salvation and begin your commitment to walk with Jesus and accept His identity for you!

Heavenly Father, I come to you as a sinner in need of Your grace. I repent of my sins and confess openly with my lips that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. I believe in my heart that He died and rose from the grave for my sins. Lord Jesus, I invite you into my life and ask for the Holy Spirit to dwell in my heart; to be my teacher, counselor, comforter, and helper in all areas of my life. May Your will be done in my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Now for some reflections.

So those of you that may not have read the new testament in the Bible, there is quite a bit of teaching on our “hidden battles” of spiritual warfare.  Remember, in my last episode I shared that one of the reasons Jesus came to this earth was to defeat the enemy and rescue us from the darkness.  It’s not hidden that we are in this battle with Satan and all his army of demons or as this next scripture refers to them as “unclean spirits”.  Take a moment to listen to what this scripture in Mark 1:21-28 says about these unclean spirits.

They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. They were completely amazed at His teaching; because He was teaching them as one having [God-given] authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out [terribly from the depths of his throat], saying, “What business do You have with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” 

Let’s pause for one second – the demons INSIDE this man (plural in this case because these unclean spirits say “us”) KNEW who Jesus was and WHY He was there.  They didn’t “welcome” Jesus.  They didn’t WANT to be exposed from their “hiding place” inside this man. 

Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet (muzzled, silenced), and come out of him!” The unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions, and screeching with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all so amazed that they debated and questioned each other, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits (demons), and they obey Him.” Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere throughout the district surrounding Galilee.  Mark 1:21-28 (AMP)

Back in those days, everyone knew about demonization.  How many of us know and believe what God’s Word teaches?  If you’re a believer, a “Christian” – you’re supposed to!  I didn’t believe in “demons” until God lifted the blinders off my spiritual eyes long enough to see this hidden battle.  My identity was manipulated and twisted from what it should have been because of Satan and how he’s shaped the world into what is to be considered “norms” but the world’s “norms” are most definitely not what God deems “norm” and not what God has designed us to walk out our life (following the ways of the world).  He left us the handbook on how to walk out our life in His Word. The Bible. Until we actually LIVE out His Word in our lives we are living a lie.  A false identity.  Controlled by the deceptive powers of Satan and his army.

So, I ask you, who do you want your identity from and why?

If not Christ, what are you gaining by walking with the world? More importantly, what are you losing by walking with the world and not Jesus? 

Hey, friends, that wraps up today’s Hidden Battles Podcast. A transcript along with additional devotionals for this week’s podcast, as well as my memoir, are available for free download on my website at goddesign.org, or check out some of my other books that you may find helpful. If you liked this episode, please share with others.

Hidden Battles, revealing what the enemy does not want you to know. Never stop praying, never give up, and I’ll see you next week.