Gooooood Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh start. A new day to rise unto God and let Him guide you toward destiny and the fulfillment of your purpose. His plans for you are good. He has plans for your future.

Today, I read the story of Gideon. I am slowly making my way through the Old Testament and I am in awe of how the Lord guides, leads, forgives, patiently deals with individuals, and how He delivers the people time and time again from the very messes that they created.

Then, I think of how similar we are today. As I read the disobedience of the Israelites, the stubbornness they held onto, and the continual returning to worship of other gods, I see a people completely turning from God time and time again. I see a passionate, loving Father who is wildly passionate over His children even in their disobedience. I see a Father who will continue to work out a redemption plan until His people are fully restored. I see an ever merciful Father who desires relationship with His children even when they flee far from Him. I see a Father who is continually searching for people who are willing to hear His voice, willing to stand up against evil, and willing to walk in their God given purposes.

Gideon, like so many before him and so many after Him, didn’t feel like he was worthy enough to be called by God. In the midst of great turmoil, God appeared to Gideon. Things were bad for the Israelites. There were other nations surrounding them and one of them were the Mideonites. They were numerous and described as being so many, they were like grains of sand. The Mideonites were destroying the crops of the Israelites so that they were starving. Gideon was threshing grain to hide from the Mideonites when the Lord appeared to him. I am so encouraged by the Lord’s greeting. He said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you.”

The Lord greeted him as a Mighty Hero before Gideon has done a single thing to earn that title! God sees Gideon for who he is loooong before he earns the title. The Lord does the same to us! He sees us right now as already complete and restored and whole even while we are still growing and in process. Gideon was a mighty hero before he ever fought a battle because the Lord assigned him that identity and was going to help him be victorious. The Lord did not see Gideon as a man from the weakest tribe as Gideon saw himself. God named Gideon for who he was in the Lord. A might hero!

You Gorgeous Girl are already healed, whole, and complete because of the sacrifice of Jesus. Gideon was already a mighty hero because the Lord named him so. He just had to accept the invitation from the Lord to move from his position as from the lowest of tribes and into the position of mighty hero. He had to change his mindset and change the way he identified himself. He had to learn to stop discounting himself and instead name himself as God names him…hero.

We have the same invitation. We can name ourselves by our shortcomings, our weaknesses, our failures OR we can make a daily choice to name ourselves as God names us: chosen, beloved, healed, sons, daughters, victorious, and even heirs with Christ!

If we can walk in the names the Lord has spoken over us, oh how our perspective over every area of our lives would shift too. Living life as a victorious daughter of the Mighty King looks far different than living life as some of the not so pleasant names I’ve given myself.

I will choose to walk as chosen today. I will choose to walk as the Lord’s beloved today. I will choose to walk and talk like the daughter of the Risen King!

Dear Heavenly Father,

Help us to hear the names you’ve given us and to shift from identifying with names that tell us all we are not and instead learn to identify ourselves as all you have called us to be in Christ. Thank you Lord for naming us Your Own Beloved Children. In Jesus name, Amen.

Blessings!

Vanessa Lynn