Created With Purpose - FREE PREVIEW

Endorsements

If we labor to be someone we’re not, we are sure to fail. But one thing we can succeed at is being authentically who God made us to be. In fact, if we knew who God meant for us to be, we would never attempt to be any-one else.

With incredible transparency, Johannah and Vic-toria open their lives to reveal their own journeys into their God-given identities. They have taken a challeng-ing subject and made it practical and doable. Each has a personal story of journey and discovery that will bring great encouragement and strength to anyone willing to accept the challenge to be authentically who they were created to be. The activations at the end of each chap-ter help to remind us of our own journeys and God’s faithfulness in our lives, so that we can walk with con-fidence that God will complete and make perfect the work He has begun in us.

Bill JohnsonBethel Church, Redding, CA

Author, When Heaven Invades Earth

Knowing who you are and the purpose for which you were created is key to living out the life that God intended for you. Johannah Leach and Victoria West Henady have written a life-changing book filled with real-life stories, testimonies, and practical applications to direct you to your path of identity and destiny. I highly recommend Created with Purpose: Unlocking Your

Created_with_Purpose_V5.indd 1 11/23/15 9:02 AM

Dreams and Fulfilling the Desires of Your Heart to all those who want to be activated in their calling!

Dr. Ché AhnFounding Pastor, HRock Church, Pasadena, CA

President, Harvest International Ministry

It is truly heartwarming to see the next generation embracing, articulating, and sharing the heart values of the kingdom of God. Well done, Johannah and Victoria. Keep changing your world.

John ArnottCatch the Fire World

I am thrilled to endorse Created with Purpose: Unlock-ing Your Dreams and Fulfilling the Desires of Your Heart. It has been a privilege to watch Johannah grow up as a beautiful woman who shines for Jesus, full of Holy Spirit. What a joy to watch someone so anointed carry the glory of God through dance! I pray that God will use Victoria and Johannah’s experiences and wisdom to speak to you about your own special identity in Christ.

Heidi G. Baker, PhD Co-Founder and Director of Iris Global

This book, Created with Purpose, written by Johannah Leach and Victoria West Henady, speaks to my heart with their single-minded pursuit of the love of Jesus, their pure hearts, and their valuable spiritual guides. These authors candidly share their life stories filled with wisdom from above and with unshakable con-victions of the love and purpose of God toward them and others. Their heartening words are precious jewels from Heaven. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to teenagers who are besieged by life challenges, and to God-thirsty Christians.

Andrew ParkProfessor of Theology and Ethics at

United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH


© Copyright 2016–Johannah Clark Leach and Victoria West HenadyAll rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permit-ted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copy-right © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Ver-sion® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible; Tyndale House, 1997, © 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked GNT are taken from the Good News Translation, Second Edition, Copy-right 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Ver-sion. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Please note that Destiny Image’s publishing style capitalizes certain pronouns in Scripture that refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and may differ from some publishers’ styles.DESTINY IMAGE® PUBLISHERS, INC.P.O. Box 310, Shippensburg, PA 17257-0310“Promoting Inspired Lives.”This book and all other Destiny Image and Destiny Image Fic-tion books are available at Christian bookstores and distributors worldwide.Cover design by Eileen RockwellFor more information on foreign distributors, call 717-532-3040.Reach us on the Internet: www.destinyimage.com.ISBN 13 TP: 978-0-7684-0855-3ISBN 13 eBook: 978-0-7684-0856-0For Worldwide Distribution, Printed in the U.S.A.2 3 4 5 6 7 8 / 20 19 18 17 16


Contents

Foreword by Dr. Randy Clark . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Introduction by Johannah Leach . . . . . . . . 13

PART ONE Be You—The Journey to Becoming Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter Finding Your Value, Knowing Your Worth by Victoria West Henady . . . . . 29

Chapter Renewing Your Mind by Victoria West Henady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Chapter Loving Others and Yourself by Johannah Leach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Chapter Rede�ning Joy by Victoria West Henady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Chapter Discovering and Embracing Who You Are by Johannah Leach . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Chapter Finding Your Identity in Christ by Johannah Leach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

PART TWO The Courage to Ful�ll Your Destiny . . . 131

Chapter Living with Grace by Victoria West Henady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Chapter Sharing Your Story by Victoria West Henady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Chapter Ful�lling Your Destiny by Johannah Leach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Conclusion Unlocking Your Dreams and Ful�lling the Desires of Your Heart by Johannah Leach and Victoria West Henady . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179


Foreword

Dr. Randy Clark

I just �nished reading Created with Purpose, written by my daughter, Johannah Leach, and my assistant, Victoria West Henady. I am amazed at the wisdom and transparency Johannah brings to the issues of identity and destiny that so many of us struggle with. Her teachings on how to discover your identity and destiny, how destiny and identity work together, and how to identify those things that may be hold-ing you back from your destiny are truly amazing and inspiring, as are her teachings about love—lov-ing yourself and others by loving God.

I found Victoria’s chapters so very encouraging and enlightening too. Through her own personal story she relates how the power of pain can cripple and blind us to our destiny. But she also brings a

7


message of hope and redemption; a message of the importance of friendship with true friends and with the greatest friend anyone can have—Jesus. Well done, Johannah and Victoria, well done! I hope this is just the beginning of your writing careers.

While reading this book, I learned so much about my daughter—things she had never shared with me before—qualities of her life that make me, her father, even more proud of the woman she is. Her stories are amazing, revealing an undeniable leadership gift, a heart for evangelism, and wisdom beyond her years.

Little did I know she was an evangelist all the way through elementary school, preaching to the kids at recess, getting many of them to sing contem-porary worship songs, and impacting the teachers’ aides for Jesus. I knew they teased her in grade school, calling her Holy Hannah, but I thought that was because she chose to sing the Christian song “Be Magnified” in the second grade school talent show.

I didn’t know about her private spiritual life—how passionate she is in her walk with God, that she is a person of prayer, that she is so prophetic, and that God speaks to her in dreams and visions. One thing I do know for sure is that God has given me a great gift, a treasure, in Johannah. Her trans-parency in this book opens up her life in amazing

8

Created with Purpose


ways, bringing a great message of hope, faith, and confidence.

The activations at the end of each chapter make the life lessons Johannah lays out even more prac-tical, drawing the reader into the practice of what she was teaching. This makes the book not only interesting and encouraging, but it also provides steps readers can use to begin the process of chang-ing the way they think in order to become their best possible self—not someone else.

This is her first book, other than her training manual for Dance Revelation, and she has proven to me not only that she is a strong leader and an amazing person, but also a writer. She captured my interest with stories to illustrate her teaching principles, combining the best of her parent’s com-munication styles. At times I felt like I was on holy ground, like I was reading the writings of one of the young Christian mystic women of the Middle Ages. Often there were tears as I read, but always there was encouragement and a sense of being built up in my trust and faith in God’s love for me and others.

I have known Victoria since she began coming to my house at age fifteen. She is an outstanding young woman, graduating near the top of her high school class, graduating with straight A’s in college,

Foreword

9


and then going on to graduate school where she received her master’s degree in social work.

The divorce of Victoria’s parents during her freshman year of high school dealt a troubling blow to her self-perception. From a distance I watched Victoria succeed in academics and in her career, and at the same time struggle with her personal life. I saw her subconscious hurts driving her to unhealthy choices, making her vulnerable to the control and influence of others.

Watching Victoria come back into God’s origi-nal destiny for her life has been amazing.

It has given me great joy to see her emotional wounds healed. In the process she learned how to break destructive choices and identify her vulner-abilities so that she could begin to live in her true God-given identity.

As the light of Jesus came into her life, her broken “hard drive”—her body, mind and spirit—were rebooted and set right. Wounds were healed, depression replaced with destiny, sadness with joy. Lonely no more, she is now married to a fine young man of God who loves her and honors her. The things that the enemy used as stumbling blocks in her life have been redeemed by God. She has taken those former stumbling stones and built a strong fortress, and from this place of strength she invites others into the light of God’s love.

10



Her keen intellect and heart for Jesus will bring light into your darkness, hope into your hopeless-ness, joy into your sadness, and healing into your brokenness. Her pain has been redeemed, and in her redemption she now shows the way for other fellow strugglers to find abundant life in Jesus.

In some ways my wife DeAnne and I feel like spiritual parents not only to Johannah, but also to Victoria, yet our influence on Victoria is small in comparison to Johannah’s. We are so proud of what God is doing in them and through them both.

I know you will be greatly blessed by this new book. But after you read it, don’t just set it on a shelf in your library. Pass it on to someone else so they too can be blessed. Buy multiple copies to give away, because this is much more than a book. It is a tool that will bless, comfort, encourage, and moti-vate all who read it.

Foreword

11


Introduction

Johannah Leach

BE THE BEST “YOU” YOU CAN BE

Do you know that it really is possible to coura-geously be yourself, fulfilling the dreams God puts in your heart? I know this to be true. As Victoria and I share our stories, we invite you to walk with us and courageously discover your own identity in Christ. It is our prayer that as we make this journey of discov-ery together, you will be encouraged to embrace who God created you to be, and in the process you will learn to love yourself and others, and to fulfill your destiny. Today is the day to start being true to who you are, to what your stories have taught you, and how your personal journey has moved you forward in your walk of faith. Remember, each person’s walk

13


is different, but we are all made in God’s image to be exactly who He wants us to be, perfect in His eyes.

God wants you to live in the identity He has for you. When you try to be someone other than yourself, someone other than who God created you to be, you end up as less than the best version of “you.” When you are true to your God-given iden-tity, you can more naturally fulfill your purpose. As you free your mind from the competition of the world, focusing instead on your purpose in life and not comparing yourself to others, you open your-self up to letting go, so that your mind can focus on greater things. When I’m comfortable with myself and my relationship with Jesus, I can feel perfect peace in the midst of any of life’s storms.

God is calling us to build the foundation of our life on His Word, instead of comparing ourselves to others. When God’s Word is our foundation, we find the faith and hope to fulfill the dreams He has put in our hearts. Paul tells us in Second Corinthi-ans 10:12, “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commend-ing themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding” (ESV).

We need to learn to live for today, because none of us know what tomorrow may bring. Live each day as a fresh start, a fresh way to make a difference,

14



a fresh chance to be the person you were made to be. When you wake up in the morning, think of how today is your very best day. Look at things with fresh eyes, and focus on the bigger picture that is in front of you. Keep childlike hope, love, and faith alive in your heart every day, for each day is your first and only time to experience what God has for you on this particular day.

Be thankful for the people in your life. See the best in everything around you. Appreciate the here and now. Learn to live in the moment. Open your heart, soul, and mind to learn from yesterday and apply it to today, faithfully believing for a greater tomorrow. And in everything you do, be you.

I am grateful to share my testimony. Testimo-nies are powerful and meant to be shared. They build faith and hope in others. Sharing my tes-timony helps me keep perspective, and I believe sharing your story will do the same for you. Remember, your story is designed to ignite faith and encourage others to rise up and be the person God has called them to be, because if He did it for you, then He can certainly do it for others.

Your story can impact lives more than you can possibly imagine. How many times can you recall hearing someone’s testimony and being encour-aged? When my good friend, Victoria, shared her testimony, I remember thinking, “Wow, she went

Introduction

15


through all of that and she is still so amazing!” The person that she is today gives no hint to the chal-lenges she experienced growing up. Her testimony has encouraged me to hang on to a positive out-look, and to reach out for God’s grace and hope in faith.

Before we go any further, let me introduce you to Victoria. I am so honored to write a book with her. She is a woman of wisdom and an encourager to me. I admire her and who she is. Victoria likes to come alongside people and make them look a thousand times better, all without asking to be in the spotlight or even to be recognized. She has a servant’s heart and longs to see everyone reach their goals. She is a refiner and steward too. Victo-ria has taught me so much just by being herself and doing what is normal.

I am continually amazed by how much Victoria can accomplish in just one day. She is a hardwork-ing individual who strives for excellence, but she is totally okay with failing. She has been my good friend for the past fourteen years, and an amazing employee for the last five years. Victoria is like a sister to me, and although lately our time together is typically spent working, our friendship only grows stronger.

Victoria and I first met when I was fifteen, in September of 2001. I had just moved from St. Louis

16



and started public school at Cedar Cliff High School in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Being the new girl, and having been homeschooled for the past two years you can imagine how everything was somewhat of a culture shock to me.

When I walked into the different classrooms on my first day of school, everyone thought I was a substitute teacher. Perhaps it was because I carried myself with confidence, and didn’t care what oth-ers thought of me, or maybe it was because I was so tall for my age, but it must have been obvious that I loved life and looked at everything with a positive outlook. I think it was all those things combined that made people think I was much older than I actually was. Needless to say, I was somewhat in the spotlight that week.

I quickly learned who everyone was, and who was in each clique. It was a bit overwhelming at times, so I prayed a lot. I knew God was with me, and when I called on the Holy Spirit, I felt His pres-ence and felt secure. Overall, everyone was very welcoming toward me, and I was excited to meet new people. I spent a lot of time just observing, taking everything in, and not saying too much. At times I remember thinking, “These people seem like they could use the Lord, and I’m just the per-son to share His love with them.” I was not sure who would be my good friends, or how I would impact people at my school, but I was hopeful and excited

Introduction

17


to see what the next four years of public school would blossom into.

During this time the youth group in our new church was the place where my real friendships formed. Although I was slowly making friends, they were just classmates and our friendships did not extend much further than school. After school, I spent most of my time with church friends or fam-ily. I never went to football games, parties, or other get-togethers. I didn’t even know what people did at those events. A lot of my hesitation stemmed from the fact that many of the invites came from older boys and upperclassmen. My older brother and his wife took me to my first high school dance. We got all dressed up, stopped in to dance for a bit, and then went home to watch the Miss Amer-ica Pageant. I had been asked by several boys to go to the dance, but said no, because I wanted to protect myself.

At the time I met Victoria, my family was tem-porarily living in a hotel while our house was being built. Victoria thought this was the coolest thing ever, and so did a lot of other people at school. People wanted to be friends with the girl that lived in the nice hotel and had just moved from the Midwest.

Victoria had lived in Mechanicsburg, Pennsyl-vania all her life and already had a lot of friends

18



there. When I met her, it was a Friday night and one of Victoria’s close friends wanted her to meet me, so they made a quick stop at the hotel. I remember thinking how funny Victoria was. As she and her friends zipped off to the football game, they seemed so carefree, so fun, and outgo-ing. They were all extremely stylish and cool, too. I was intrigued. I felt like I would fit right in, and I wanted to be part of their group.

By the time second semester rolled around Vic-toria and her group of friends had started to hang out with me every weekend. Victoria found herself at my house every Friday night and became like a sister to me. We seemed to balance each other out and loved spending endless days together. We had so many memorable moments together, journeying through exciting, sad, challenging, and hopeful times. We experienced life’s growing pains together and were completely honest with each other. This honesty kept us accountable, because sometimes we lost sight of who we were. In the midst of it all we had fun.

Sophomore year was a sweet stage in my life. I think my friends loved spending time at my house, because they felt appreciated, and loved, and safe. I was able to make tons of friends, to be myself, and to impact lives by the high standards I set and the value system I lived by.

Introduction

19


Between my sophomore and junior years, I got my driver’s license. A few weeks before school started a bunch of us piled into my car and headed to a local carnival. I missed a bend in the road, and went off into a ditch. We were headed directly toward a bank of trees when the car flipped end-over-end two times before landing on the roof and finally rolling over into the opposite lane of traffic. A car full of friends behind us saw the accident and thought we were dead.

When we came to inside the car, we thought it was on fire because we saw smoke, though we later found out that the smoke was from the airbags deploying. The car was totaled. All the windows were shattered, and some of our personal items had been ejected through the sunroof. Miraculously, all four of us walked away from that accident, with the most serious injuries being a strained neck and a bruised chest from the seatbelt. After the acci-dent Victoria and I became very close and talked quite frequently about how God sent angels to pro-tect us. It was a miracle we were alive and without serious injury.

As I reflect back on those high school years and everything we went through together, I see now what Victoria was going through personally. I recall how she dealt with her parents’ divorce and how she got involved in a serious relationship with an older guy who was not the greatest example for her.

20



She struggled at times, not knowing how much she was really worth. In the midst of it all, she still had perfect grades and seemed to have her life together on the outside.

My life certainly was not blameless during those high school years, but even though I had sin in my life, too, I was always reminding Victoria of her worth and value, sharing with her and my friends that there is a God who loves us. I was determined to continue to strive to share Jesus’s love even when I failed, because I know Jesus never fails us. He is full of grace and forgiveness.

True repentance is all about turning and walk-ing in the other direction from the sin that has you in bondage. Although I was not always able to get out of my habitual sin, I knew God loved me. And I knew He loved Victoria too, although she didn’t yet know Him. I believed with all my heart that one day she would invite Jesus into her heart, be bap-tized in the Holy Spirit, and call Him her Lord and Savior. I knew God had His hand on her life, and so I always prayed that He would soften her heart and make Himself known to her.

We graduated from high school and Victoria left for college. We weren’t able to see each other every day and hang out on weekends like we used to do, but we kept in close contact and would visit as often as possible. She inspired me as she followed

Introduction

21


her dreams and met her goals. Even though her faith was not a big part of Victoria’s life, she was a good person and was more of an example of what a Christian would look like or act like than some of my friends who called themselves Christians.

While Victoria was in college, I started a dance school called Dance Revelation, which kept me quite busy. Fortunately for both of us, Victoria was able to move closer during her last few years of col-lege to help me with the school. She taught me how to manage my time and to think faster, and thank-fully, she took on the workload that I didn’t have time for, since I needed to teach dance. In short, she was a lifesaver. At one point, I thought I was going to break under the strain, but Victoria swept in and took the load off of me. I am so thankful for the many ways she has come alongside me and helped me carry out my vision.

Victoria and I worked together for about two years, until she moved to Philadelphia to go to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania. Staying in touch with her during those two years, I watched Victoria walk through some of the darker times in her life. She was getting older, and she chose things that were emotionally hurting her. I just stayed close to her without shoving Jesus down her throat, praying for her and loving her every day.

22



After graduate school, Victoria worked for a year in Philadelphia before doors opened for her to return to Dance Revelation. I am so glad she walked through the doors God opened. She moved back to Mechanicsburg and has partnered with me in running Dance Revelation ever since. I am so thankful for her and for our friendship, and I look forward to wherever God may take her in life, cheering her on and wanting the best for her. I’m so happy she was able to write this book with me. I know you will appreciate her powerful message and great insight as much as I do.

WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US, HE CAN DO FOR YOU

Victoria and I believe you will be positively impacted as we share our stories with you, and more importantly, we believe that what God has done for us, He can and will do for you too. Jesus is waiting to bring you closer to Him, propelling you further into your destiny. Trust Him and He will show you how to unlock your dreams and real-ize the desires of your heart. Friends can walk with you, but God is ultimately the One who will get you where you are going.

In life, we get to experience each day in a brand-new way. Although life may sometimes seem to be the same old thing with the same daily tasks, we should remember that each and every day is new,

Introduction

23


and a gift from God. During my high school years, where most days consisted of the same schedule, I had the choice to look at every day as a new day and a new adventure to be lived, or to get caught up in the routine of it all. I chose adventure, and I’m glad I did. I would not have had the same expe-rience in high school without knowing how much God loved me. I know His mercies are new every day, and that He wants my heart’s desires to be ful-filled. This positive outlook on life is the heartbeat of my testimony.

If you’re wondering if my life is always all sun-shine and rainbows, I’m here to tell you it’s not! I’ve had my share of trials, but every day I make the choice to view life through the lens of God’s faith-fulness, grace, and love. If someone were to rename me, I think my name would be Faith.

I want to encourage you to live a life of faith. Take charge of your life and choose to see how much God loves you. Choose to be thankful. Choose to spread the love of God to others even when you don’t feel like it. Have faith in Him because He will never let you down.

Throughout this book, as I share stories from my own life, you’ll see them intersect with Victoria’s practical takeaways and principles. Each chapter ends with an activation exercise, recapping what you have just learned. These exercises are designed

24



to encourage you and show you how to walk out what you are reading. Remember, we are on earth for just a short time. Our eternity is in Heaven with Jesus. You have a purpose in this life! Get ready to step into your destiny!

Introduction

25


PA RT ONE

Be You~ The Journey to

Becoming Yourself

27


Chapter

Finding Your Value, Knowing Your Worth

Victoria West Henady

Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet

spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. — P :

FINDING YOUR VALUE IN CHRIST

Do you know that you are of great worth in God’s sight, and that your life’s story is a testi-mony to the grace of God? When I think about where I have come from and my testimony, I real-ize that each of us has a story to tell. Even if you

29


were born into a loving home with faithful parents, you will likely experience trials, triumphs, and dif-ficult moments that shape who you are. When you feel frustrated or overwhelmed by life, it’s good to remember that you’re not alone. And it helps to learn others’ stories to better understand who they are and how you can relate to them in ways that are honoring.

Our stories build our testimonies, and these testimonies build faith in our hearts. They strengthen our relationships and honor God. As Christians, we should share our testimonies so that God can receive the glory. As we hear the tes-timonies of others, and come to understand their journey, we can more easily guide them to salva-tion, or if they are already saved, to help guide them through their trials and their triumphs.

You may be unsure of your relationship with God or where your faith stands, but regardless, your testimony is important to God and to others. Take the time to write down your story, even if it is just notes or a diary entry. This type of journal-ing will help you realize where you’ve come from, what you’ve been through, and how God is shaping you to be just who you were meant to be. When you understand yourself and your journey you can bet-ter understand other people’s journeys—why they are the way they are, and how to relate to them in a deeper way. It is in these deeper relationships that

30



we come to value ourselves and others so much more.

In Romans 8:28, Paul writes, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” If we know that we have a purpose in God and that He has a purpose for us, what does that tell us about our worth in Him? How can we find our value? What do we have to give that is use-ful, important, or life changing?

Let’s begin with the aspect of value. Values, in general, are the morals and ideals we hold to be true. But, I believe our own personal value is much more than that. Some of us base our personal value on how well we uphold our ideals. For example, we may feel unworthy if we stray in our marriage or lie to our spouse because we know these things are morally wrong. But no matter how bad our deeds, our true value is not based on what we do. Rather, it is based on what Jesus did. Jesus died on the cross for our sins, forgiving them all. As a result, our worth is no longer defined by what we do, or even who we are. Our value now comes from Christ within us. That being said, Christ’s work on the cross does not give us a license to sin. This is why Paul says in Romans 8:10-14:

But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive


31


because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

Therefore, brothers, we have an obliga-tion—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live accord-ing to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Here Paul is telling us what it means to have Christ live in us. It is when Jesus lives in us, in the power of the Holy Spirit, that we are able to find our true value. While the world values us according to our usefulness, with Jesus in us our usefulness is endless. In Christ, what God has for us is more than we can ever imagine. He has promised us His kingdom, the glorious kingdom He died for us to receive. Sometimes we may not feel that we have value, but in Heaven our value is unending and limitless because of Jesus.

Let me say a word about abilities here. We often hear worth and value used interchangeably, how-ever, our worth can also include our abilities. In the worldly sense, we know many limits to our abilities, and it can be overwhelming to feel that we can’t do

32



or achieve something. However, in Christ, our abili-ties know no limits. That’s true freedom!

KNOWING YOUR WORTH

Have you ever struggled with feelings of worth-lessness? I recall feeling utterly worthless during difficult times in my life. Even though in my mind I knew I had value because Jesus was in me, and I knew God’s opinion of me was real, I was still often overwhelmed with feelings of unworthiness. I would think, “How can anyone accept me after all I’ve done, after who I’ve become?” Then one day I heard Johannah say, “Victoria, God accepts you just the way you are. He’s waiting for you with open arms. Every time you run from Him, He waits and His arms open even wider. He will accept you whenever and however you choose to come back to Him.”

When the truth of Johannah’s words finally set-tled into my heart and my mind I was finally able to embrace that it was okay to be who I was, to be who I am—to have a past and a future—because God is willing to accept me no matter what. He is the one who gives me my true value, and He is the one who defines my true worth.

Even though you may understand what Jesus is saying, it’s still hard to actually feel worthy some-times. You can go through the motions, say the


33


words—“Yes, I’m worthy of God’s love. Yes, I believe He values me,” but it is another thing entirely to feel that truth. So many times we feel like we don’t deserve something, that we’re not worthy of some-thing, but it’s important to remember, that’s not the voice of God. That is the devil’s voice speaking to us. God doesn’t need us to do anything but fol-low Him. In His eyes we are endlessly worthy and immensely valued. Even when we don’t feel worthy in a worldly sense, we are certainly worthy in the godly realm.

Most of us have been programmed to feel like our value and worth come from what we do or who we are in life, because that’s how the world thinks. For example, you may feel more valuable if you have certain skills, a certain job title, or a certain salary because society respects specific roles, jobs, and titles more than others. If we focus on how the world thinks it will definitely shake our foun-dation, and make us feel unworthy. Those feelings of unworthiness can be detrimental, but when we learn to find our worth in Jesus, which is where our true value comes from, then we can focus more on the heavenly and less on the earthly. Remem-ber, your worth is found in Christ and Him alone. When that kind of thinking takes hold in your life, get ready to experience true joy.

So where do you begin on the journey to ful-filling your purpose? The first and most important

34



step is to give your life to the Lord. In the gos-pel of Matthew, as Jesus sends out the twelve, He tells His disciples what it means to lay down their life for Him:

Anyone who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward (Matthew 10:38-42).

This passage is important to our understanding of our identity in Christ, because it lays out how we are to find worth and value in fulfilling the man-date to build discipleship. Jesus clearly tells us that in order to fulfill our destiny, in order to solidify our worth, we must first lose our life—lay it down and follow Him. It sounds like a tall order, but it becomes easier the more you get to know Jesus.


35


ACTIVATION

I encourage you to write down the ways you feel valued, and the ways your abilities make you feel that you have worth. Do you feel value from your relationships, from your own inner views of your-self? Do you feel worth from your ability to do your job? What about from God? Does He make you feel valued? Do your God-given gifts give you worth?

Remember that the day-to-day things of the world that validate you will come and go. They are subjective, but God is objective. He will not stop seeing value in who you are or worth in what you do. No matter what your day is like, your value is Christ in you. Your worth comes from how the Lord sees you.

When you feel unworthy, write down the ways you see yourself. Then write down the way God sees you and compare the list. If I start to feel a cer-tain way about myself and what I can accomplish, my husband will say, “Does God think you are like that? Does He put those limits on you? Who matters most?” Of course I know it’s God who matters most. That’s when I remember to surrender those nega-tive thoughts. Because I know negative thoughts are not from God, and because when I embrace God’s view of me, I can see how He values me.

Write down three ways you feel value in the nat-ural, then three ways you feel value from God. Do

36



they intersect at all? How can you put more weight into the value that comes from God and less into the value you get from your natural circumstances? Be uplifted as you come to understand how much God values you, and how He defines your worth. He is waiting for you, no matter how many times you turn away or fail. He will welcome you back time after time, without judgment or shame or con-demnation, because He knows your true worth. His love living in you is your true value.


37


http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/created-with-purpose-johannah-clark-leach/1121904444?ean=9780768408553

http://www.amazon.com/Created-Purpose-Unlocking-Fulfilling-Desires/dp/0768408555/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1450121646&sr=8-1

http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Created-Purpose/Johannah-Clark-Leach/9780768408553?id=6468211769188

http://www.christianbook.com/created-purpose-unlocking-dreams-fulfilling-desires/johannah-leach/9780768408553/pd/408553?product_redirect=1&Ntt=408553&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP

http://www.familychristian.com/catalog/product/view/id/343886/

https://800ceoread.com/products/created-with-purpose-johannah-clark-leach-victoria-west-henady-english?selected=463767

http://www.lovetoreadclub.com

A J C L

V W H

Johannah Clark Leach is the daughter of Randy and DeAnne Clark, founders of Global Awakening. At the age of six, she felt that she wanted more of God’s presence and discovered a way to gain this through the art of dance. Over the years, she minis-tered to children in the church, teaching them how to experience God’s love through worship. At the age of twenty-one, she founded Dance Revelation in the basement of her parents’ home. Since then, it has grown over eight years to over two hundred students. Her heart of ministry leads her to mentor young students and teens as well as her staff as they grow in their art form and press into the love that Jesus has for them.

Victoria West Henady is the personal assistant of Randy Clark and the administrator of Dance Rev-elation. Close friends with the Clark family for over 10 years, she serves both Randy Clark as well as his daughter, Johannah. Victoria has a formal background in counseling and earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work at the University of Pennsyl-vania while working for Dance Revelation part-time.

Unlocking Your Dreams

189


She has since joined the ministry staff full-time and mentors some of the older dance students. Victoria has a passion for non-pro�t ministry, and during the evenings, she facilitates a social skills group for youth who are overcoming obstacles in their lives such as autism, developmental disorders, and a his-tory of trauma.

190



Created With Purpose - FREE PREVIEW

Documents

Transcript of Created With Purpose - FREE PREVIEW