Identified: Knowing Who You Are in Christ & Moving Forward in Your Purpose

By Courtnaye Richard

You have been created for such a time as this! Dont doubt it. Dont waver. Just believe it! There is no one on this earth that can do what God has called you to do. He has a plan for your life, and he is getting you ready to fulfill it.

I believe that we are living in a time like in the book of Acts. Its time to spread the Gospel like never before! But first, we have to know who we are in Christ and understand the power that lies within us. Jesus told his disciples in Acts 1:8, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywherein Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Our world needs a Savior, and God is raising up his Kingdom daughters to help get the job done!

This book will help you:
See the urgency and importance of knowing who you are, and walking in your purpose in these last days,
identify and give you practical tips on how to utilize your God-given gifts and talents effectively,
get the momentum and motivation you need to operate in your purpose successfully,
recognize and handle spiritual attacks quickly as you move toward doing what God has called you to do,
conquer doubt, insecurity, and fear,
be equipped to carry out Gods plan for your life,
And so much more!

Jesus is coming back soon! And its time for you to rise up and make your thumbprint in the world for Jesus Christ as an identified warrior in the Lord! Its time for Kingdom business!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512752861

Courtnaye Richard

Courtnaye Richard is a devout follower of Jesus Christ, wife, mother, mentor, blogger, author, contributing writer for several magazines, guest blogger on a host of blog sites including ibelieve.com, and a women’s conference speaker. She is also the founder of Inside Out with Courtnaye, a ministry designed to help women grow in their walk with Christ and walk in their purpose. Visit www.insideoutwithcourtnaye.org for more information about her ministry. She resides in Burnet, Texas, with her husband and three children.

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Copyright © 2016 Courtnaye Richard.

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KJV - Scripture quotes marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

KJ21—Scripture quotations marked (KJ21) are taken from the 21st Century King James Version®, copyright © 1994. Used by permission of Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.

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ESV -Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are fromthe ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Interior Graphics: Fabio Formaggio

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5287-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5288-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5286-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016912921

WestBow Press rev. date: 8/19/2016

CONTENTS

Introduction

PART 1: Knowing Who You Are in Christ

1) Spiritual Thumbprint: The Stamp of an Identified Woman

2) Spiritual Gifts: Identifying Your God-Given Gifts and Calling

3) Spiritual Preparation: Discipleship and Personal Discipline

4) Spiritual Evidence: The Character of an Identified Woman

Part 2: Moving Forward in Your Purpose

5) Spiritual Courage: Laying Aside Doubt, Insecurities, Comparison, and Fear

6) Spiritual Warfare: Get Ready for Battle

7) Spiritual Empowerment: Unleashing the Holy Spirit Power within You

8) Spiritual Movement: Occupy Until He Comes

This book is dedicated to the women who have been

created for such a time as this.

~Esther 4:14

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I really would like to take this precious time to thank my Heavenly Father!!! God, You are so AMAZING! I don’t have enough tongues to praise You! I am in total awe of You and who You are! I could not have done any of this without You! Thank You so much for Your supernatural guidance through your precious Holy Spirit, grace, favor, and for the love and sacrifice of Your Son and my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I am forever grateful to You for all You have done in my life and through these pages. Thank You for trusting me with your Holy Word and the gift to write. I love You so much!

My deepest appreciation to my husband, Calvin Go Hard Richard. You have been so awesome throughout this entire writing process! Thank you so much for your amazing unconditional love, support, encouragement, wisdom, listening ear, and for the hand massage! I’ll never forget you telling me, Now, go write! Also, thank you for helping hold down the fort at home with our three beautiful children, Armond, Cali, and Chase. I am so very grateful to my kids for being patient with me as I spent many hours grinding on this project. You guys willingly sacrificed your mom for a few months in order to help many women across this globe to draw closer to God, know who they are in Christ, and move forward in their purposes. I love you all and I will keep my word and take you guys for a weekend getaway and to Six Flags!

I would also like to thank my mom who started my writing career off! Thanks mom for all the bookstore trips when I was young and for buying my first of many journals and notebooks. I love you greatly! Even though my dad is no longer here on earth, he was a great encourager for anything I put my hands to do. I really do miss him. I would also like say a big thank you to my baby sister, Candyce Thompson! Girl, you know you were here for me during this process! I can’t thank you enough for your listening ear, wisdom, super encouragement, and simply being there whenever I needed to talk or needed prayer. Thank you so much, sis! I would like to say that I love my big sister, Chauntelle Randle! Girl, no matter how many miles apart we are, distance could never change the love that I have for you. Thanks for always being my sweet, loving, big sister!

I would also like to say a huge thank you to my very good friend Marilyn Powell from college and DM Powered! Hey life coach, because that’s exactly what you were for me during this process! I love the fact that you were there for me at the drop of a dime when I needed prayer. All I had to do was get on Facebook and inbox you and say, Girl, pray for me, or I need motivation! You were right there interceding for me and for the success of this book. Girl, thank you big time!

I would also like to say thank you to Pastor Willie Monnet, Sr. and Minister Claudette Monnet of Smoking for Jesus Ministry. You both truly helped me to grow in my walk with the Lord and I am forever grateful for your help in my spiritual journey. I have to say a great big thank you to my mentor and really good friend Minister Tara Griffin! Other than God and my husband, you just know me! There’s nothing hidden in our relationship. I’m an open book with you, and I thank God for you and your husband, Minister Gayln Griffin’s love, late night counseling, mentorship, prayers, fellowship, encouragement, and long conversations through the years. I love you both and your children so very much! I also want to shout a really big thank you to Pastor Ross Chandler and his beautiful wife Meaghen Chandler of First Baptist Church of Marble Falls for welcoming me and my family with open and loving arms. Pastor Ross, I can’t express how much your willingness to help me with this project and your servant heart have been a tremendous blessing to me! Keep showing the world Jesus Christ through your actions. You’re shining bright!

I also want to say thanks to my father-in-law, Calvin, Sr., for your great wisdom and for you and Charmaine watching the kiddos for us! And thanks so much to my in-laws Madlyn & Michael Bagneris for your love and support of me and this project. God opened the door for me. Yay! I love you guys! Also, thanks to my Uncle T for teaching me that the word of God is taught line upon line and precept upon precept, and for those priceless biblical nuggets of advice when I come home to visit. They really are golden! And thank you Uncle Laird for your awesome godly wisdom right when I needed it most! Keep sharing the Good News through traveling wherever the Lord leads you and through your musical gift. Thanks to my praying, phenomenal, patient, editor Nicole Grant of Ardeo Lit! Wow! You rocked it! I can’t thank you enough for pressing through all of the deadlines, long hours, encouragement, and pushing me through email saying, Keep writing! I loved it! That was truly, truly awesome and very commendable. I would recommend you to anyone, any day, and I will! And I certainly cannot forget Rachel Biagini of Biagini Photography for her phenomenal photos! You stepped in right when I needed you most in this process. You are truly an amazing woman and photographer, and I thank God for you!

I also would like to thank WestBow Press for your hard work, dedication, and professionalism in getting this manuscript printed and published. To all of my friends, family, and church family who encouraged, supported, and prayed for me, I love you and thank you so much!

Introduction

It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.

—2 Corinthians 1:21–22

W e are living in a time when we have to stand strong for Christ together. God is calling you and me to be agents of change, beacons of light, and bold witnesses to the life of faith. But it starts with us truly knowing who we are in Christ.

Listen. Once you have confessed that you are a sinner, repented of your sins, established the belief in your heart that God sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for your sins, and have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, then you are saved. You are identified in Christ. The next step is moving forward, growing in your faith, and doing what He has called you to do!

Jesus Christ is coming back soon. The state of the world and the church is a prophetic sign of this truth. Jesus said in Luke 19:13, Occupy until I come. Meaning use the gifts and talents that He has given you, and through the power of the Holy Spirit—move!

The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 1:21, For the prophecy came not in old times by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (KJV). Do you want to do the will of God? Do you want to walk out your God-given potential? Has the Lord given you a vision to do something awesome for His glory? If so, then what’s holding you back?

It’s high time to move as the Holy Spirit leads you to do what God is calling you to do, my sister. This is not the time to lose sight of who you are in Christ. Too many people are losing ground in their identity and beginning to lose faith—and our great enemy Satan loves it!

He is strategically stealing people’s identity and causing thousands to doubt their God-given abilities within them. But don’t let him do it to you! Fight with everything inside of you to protect your identity and believe by faith that God can and will do great things through you. The Bible reassures us of this when it says in Matthew 19:26, With God all things are possible.

It is not by chance that you either heard of this book or decided to pick it up. God is commissioning you right now to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and win souls for His Kingdom. He has placed gifts inside of you, called you before you were formed in your mother’s womb, and predestined you to be a prophetic voice to the nations.

Whether through a major platform, in your local church, in your community, through social media, or beyond—you were created for such a time as this. God wants to use you.

So don’t lose your self-worth in what others think of you. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t compare yourself to others. Don’t doubt what God can do in and through you in these last days. And don’t allow the enemy to stagnate your progress with fear and doubt. Instead, believe what God says about you and believe who you are in Christ. Because as an identified woman in Christ:

You are a royal priesthood.

You are His masterpiece.

You are child of God.

You are called to have life and have life more abundantly.

You were created for a purpose.

You are identified!

It’s time to know who