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Transcript

An Elohim Original · Wilder Whispers Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hey friend, welcome to Wilder Whispers, a space where we slow down and listen for God's voice in the ordinary moments of life.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Shay Wooden, and I'm so glad you're here.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: We often expect God to speak through big moments, a sermon, a breakthrough, a perfectly quiet prayer time, and he does, but so often he chooses quieter ways, in the middle of everyday life, in the unnoticed moments, in gentle whispers that invite us closer.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Each episode, I'll share one simple story and the quiet truth God revealed through it, not because it was extraordinary, but because he was present.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: So wherever you are right now, take a breath, let's slow down, and listen together.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: We live in a world of labels.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Some are placed on us by others, some we place on ourselves.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Some we spend years trying to live up to, and others we spend years trying to overcome.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: But beneath every label lies a deeper question.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Who are you really?
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Recently, while I was walking through Times Square, God used an unexpected sight to remind me of the answer.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Last December, we traveled to New York City to attend Hope NYC's parade on Rockaway.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: On Saturday, we spent a few hours walking through Times Square.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Even though it was only mid-morning, the sidewalks were already crowded with tourists, street performers, and vendors selling everything imaginable.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: As we walked, I noticed several vendors with blankets spread across the ground, covered in designer purses.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Names everyone recognizes.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: At first glance, they looked authentic.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: But everyone knew they weren't the originals.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: They were knockoffs.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Counterfeits designed to imitate something more valuable.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: From a distance they looked convincing, but up close they lacked the craftsmanship quality and authenticity of the original.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: As I walked past those blankets, Holy Spirit whispered something that stopped me in my tracks.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: You are not a knockoff.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: You are an Elohim original.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Elohim, the creator God.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: An Elohim original.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: I knew immediately God wasn't talking about purses.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: He was talking about identity.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: The scripture that came to mind was Numbers 6, 22 through 27.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: This is the priestly blessing.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: God tells Moses to speak to Aaron and his sons and teach them how to bless the children of Israel.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord bless you and keep you.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Most of us are familiar with that blessing.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: We've heard it quoted, we've heard it sung, we've seen it printed on cards and wall art.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: But there is one verse after the blessing that I don't think we always notice.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Numbers six twenty seven says, So they shall put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: That stopped me.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because God didn't simply say, Speak a blessing over them.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: He said put my name on them.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: That means the blessing was not just about receiving something from God, it was about belonging to God.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: His name was being placed upon his people.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that raises a question we all need to ask.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Whose name is on you?
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Not what name is on your clothes, not what title is on your business card, not what label someone placed on you, not what mistake still tries to define you, but whose name is on you.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because in Scripture a name represented identity, belonging, authority, and ownership.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: So when God placed his name upon Israel, he was declaring, They are mine.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Before they were known by their failures, they were his.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Before they were known by their wilderness, they were his.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Before they were known by their weakness, their fear, their complaining, or their wandering, they were his.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: His name was upon them.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: And friend, that matters.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Because the world is constantly trying to name us.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Failure, rejected, too much, not enough, forgotten, unqualified, unwanted.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: But God speaks a better name.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Beloved, chosen, redeemed, belonging to me.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: You're not a knockoff trying to borrow value from someone else's name.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: You are an Elohim original, created by God, known by God, and marked by his name.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: As I thought about those purses in Times Square, another truth became obvious.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Counterfeits only exist because of the value of the original.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: No one creates counterfeit versions of something worthless.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: A counterfeit purse tries to borrow the value of a designer's name.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Its value depends entirely on imitation.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what happens when we begin looking anywhere other than God for our identity.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: We try to borrow value from other things success, popularity, achievement, titles, positions, relationships, the approval of other people.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: We hope that if we wear the right label, we'll finally feel valuable.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: But borrowed identity never satisfies.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because God never intended us to derive our value from what we wear, what we accomplish, or what others think about us.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Our value comes from the one who created us and placed his name upon us.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: God has never been in the business of creating copies.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: From the very beginning, Scripture tells us that we were created in God's image.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Think about creation itself.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: No two snowflakes are identical.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: No two fingerprints are the same.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Even identical twins have differences.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Everywhere we look, creation reveals the creativity of its creator.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: And if God took that much care with the details of creation, how much more intentional was he when he created you?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Psalms one thirty nine reminds us that before you ever took your first breath, God knew you.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: He wove together every detail of your life with purpose and intention.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: You're not a random collection of strengths and weaknesses, and you're not the result of chance.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And Ephesians tells us that you are God's workmanship, his handiwork, his masterpiece.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yet so often we spend our lives comparing ourselves to other people.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: We wish we had their gifts, their opportunities, their platform, their personality, their story.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: We look at what God is doing in someone else's life and wonder why isn't he doing the same thing in ours?
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: But comparison has a way of pulling us away from our own assignment.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because when we're focused on becoming someone else, we're no longer becoming who God created us to be.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: God never asked Moses to be David, or David to be Esther, or Esther to be Paul.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Each had a unique calling, purpose, and assignment.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And the same is true for you.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: God didn't create you to be the next version of someone else.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: He created you to be the first version of who he designed you to be.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's what makes you an Elohim original.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: Not that you're better than anyone else, not that you're more important than anyone else, but that there has never been another you, and there never will be.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: The God who created the heavens and the earth intentionally created you to reflect his image in a way that no one else can.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: When we truly understand who we are in Christ, something begins to change.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: We stop striving to become someone.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: We stop chasing labels, we stop measuring our worth by what we accomplish, what we own, or what other people think about us.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because we're no longer trying to earn an identity.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: We've already been given one.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: So many people live as though they have something to prove.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: If I can just achieve more, if I can just be recognized, if I can just become successful, if I can just be accepted, then I'll have value, then I'll matter, then I'll belong.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not how God's kingdom works.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: God didn't place his name upon Israel after they proved themselves.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: He placed his name upon them because they were his.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Their belonging came before their journey.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Their identity came before their assignment, and the same is true for us.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: We don't work for belonging.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: We work from belonging.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: We don't serve God hoping he'll accept us.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: We serve because he already has.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: We don't pursue our calling so we can become valuable.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: We pursue our calling because we already are.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: The enemy wants us striving.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: God invites us to rest.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: To rest in who he says we are, to rest in the fact that we are loved, chosen, redeemed, his.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: And when you live from that place, everything changes.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: You no longer have to compare yourself to others.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: You no longer have to imitate someone else's life.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: You no longer have to wear labels that God never gave you.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: You can simply walk in the purpose God designed for you, confident in the one whose name you bear.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because an Elohim original doesn't need to prove its worth.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Its value was established by its creator long before anyone else recognized it.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: So what do we do with this?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think it begins with an honest question.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: What label have I allowed to define me?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: For some of us it's an old wound.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Something someone said years ago.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: A failure, a regret, a disappointment we can't seem to move beyond.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: But not every label is negative.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the labels we cling to are the ones we're proud of.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Successful, beautiful, talented, smart, accomplished, respected, influential.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: The problem isn't that those things are bad.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: The problem is that none of them are meant to carry the weight of our identity.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because every earthly label is temporary.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Beauty fades and positions change.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Achievements are forgotten and careers end.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Titles they come and they go.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Even the things we work so hard to build can disappear in a moment.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: If our identity is built upon those things, we'll spend our lives protecting them, fighting to keep them, fearful of losing them.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: But when our identity is rooted in Christ, we're free, free from the labels that shame us, and free from the labels that tempt us to find our worth in something other than Him.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: So today, I want to encourage you to hold every label loosely, the painful ones, the impressive ones, the labels others have given you, and the labels you've given yourself.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Lay them all at the feet of Jesus.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Then remind yourself of what is eternally true.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: You belong to Him.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: His name is upon you.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: You were created in His image.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: You are His workmanship, His masterpiece.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: You are an Elohim original, and that's the only identity that will never fade.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: As we close today, I want to invite you to spend a few moments with the Father.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Ask him, who do you say I am?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Then listen.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Not to the voice of culture, not to the labels of your past, not to the opinion of others.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Listen for his voice, and let his truth become louder than every other label you've carried.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you for this reminder today.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: In a world filled with labels, competing voices, in constant comparison, thank you that our identity is not found in what others say about us, what we have accomplished, or even in the mistakes we've made.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Our identity is found in you.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Father, your word tells us that we were created in your image.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Before we were born, you knew us, you formed us and fashioned us according to your purpose.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you that we are your workmanship, your handiwork, created for the good works you prepared for us long ago.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Forgive us for the times we have looked to other things to define us.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Forgive us for finding our worth and accomplishments, titles, possessions, appearances, or the approval of others.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Forgive us for comparing ourselves to the people around us instead of embracing the person you created us to be.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Help us to see ourselves through your eyes.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Teach us to live from our identity rather than striving to earn one.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Remind us that we belong to you, that we are loved by you, that we are chosen by you, that we are yours.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: And Father, I pray the blessing you gave to Aaron and his sons over every person listening today.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: May the Lord bless you and keep you.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And as your word says, may your name be upon your people.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: When the enemy tries to label us, remind us whose we are.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: When comparison steals our joy, remind us who created us.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: When success tempts us to trust in ourselves, remind us where our value comes from.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: May we walk in confidence, not because of what we have done, but because of the one whose name we bear.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you that we are not accidents.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: We are not knockoffs.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: We are not copies.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: We are your workmanship, your beloved children, your Elohim originals.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: In the name of Jesus we pray.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: As I think back to that cold morning in Times Square, I can still picture those blankets spread across the sidewalk covered with counterfeit purses, each one trying to imitate the value of something else.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not how God created us to live.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: We were never meant to spend our lives borrowing identity from labels, accomplishments, appearances, or the opinions of others.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Our value doesn't come from what we wear, it doesn't come from what we've achieved, and it doesn't come from what others think of us.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: Our value comes from the one who created us, redeemed us, and placed his name upon us.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that's more than enough.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: And today's whisper to carry with you is this: the world produces counterfeits.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: God creates originals.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: You are not a knockoff.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: You are an eloquing original.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for spending this time with me on Wilder Whispers.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: I hope today's story reminded you that God is closer than we often realize and that He's still speaking, even in the ordinary moments of life.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Whispers are the language of closeness.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: They invite us to lean in.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: As you go about your day, whether you're working, resting, driving, or just trying to catch your breath, stay attentive.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: God is not far away.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: He's not silent.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: He's near.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: And he's speaking.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep listening.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: This is Wilder Whispers, and I'm Shea Woodley.