True North

Job 22:²¹ [KJV] “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.”

The next thing that the spiritual leaders did, particularly Ezra, was to teach the people the Word of God. Why teach the Word? Ezra taught the people the Word because he needed to show them who they were. These people did not know the nation of Israel or anything about God. He needed to teach them so that they could see the world and see themselves. As a child of God, there are many things that attempt to influence your identity. Things are constantly trying to make you succumb and tell you who you are. Situations that push you to think you are a dog when you are actually a lion. But if you succumb to the pressure the world is mounting on you, getting your identity back will be a huge challenge.

These people had been orphaned and enslaved for seventy years. They had been changed into an image that they were not. The only way to make them see, as God wants them to see, is the Word. Please read James 1:22-25. The Word of God is like a mirror. When you look into the Word of God, you see the Lord and you see yourself as God sees you. You cannot know yourself until you see God, the heart of the Creator. It was in learning and knowing about God that the children of Israel found their true identity. Sadly, so many people grow old and die without discovering their true identity. I pray that will not be your story, in Jesus Name.

Some people consistently live with an orphan mentality. It is possible to be a child but still struggle with an orphan mentality. If you respond in any of the under listed ways, then know you are struggling with an orphan mentality and you need to deal with it immediately.

1. People who have an orphan mentality tend to hoard even in abundance. Some people are hiding toothpaste even when they have a box in the pantry that contains twenty tubes of toothpaste. The solution is not to get upset at him or her but to point them to the Word; therein lies their deliverance.
2. When you find that you are consistently jealous of what other people have or believe that the other person has it easier or better than you, that is an orphan mentality.

Prayer: Father Lord, as I acquaint myself with You, let me be purged of every orphan mentality and experience complete peace, in Jesus Name. Amen!