The Crown Within: Discovering who you are and affirming yourself to royalty daily

By J. Renaud Siffort

Imagine you spent your whole life on this Earth just to reach your deathbed, never to have lived. We live in a world where most people don't have a concrete conviction of who they are and why they exist. Many of us see what's in the world and automatically align our identity with the trends. The more we discover about the world, the greater distance it seems to create between us and our true identity. If someone asks you, "Who are you?" would you be able to tell him or her without any doubt who you are without having to reference your career, the company you work for, your skills, circumstance, and experiences, etc.? All of those can change your status, but they can't change "who you truly are."

This book should encourage you to pursue yourself, the crown that is hidden within you, rather than be enslaved by the uncertainty of the world; it will help you transform your mind to your true worth and value. You will discover that you are more than what you can ever imagine. You will inspire to affirm yourself with what is promised to you instead of what others think of you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886855128

Book preview

cover.jpg

The Crown Within

Discovering who you are and affirming yourself to royalty daily

J. Renaud Siffort

ISBN 979-8-88685-511-1 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88685-512-8 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by J. Renaud Siffort

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Scripture quotations are from the 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.

Scriptures marked KJV are taken from the KING JAMES VERSION (KJV): KING JAMES VERSION, public domain.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Letter to My Son Titus

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Image of God: Lost Identity

Royalty: Bloodline of a King

Kingdom-Minded: Transforming Your Mind and Finding Your Crown

Living Purposefully: Created on Purpose for Purpose

Your Gifts Will Make Room for You

Eternal Destiny: Going Back Home to the Father

The Promises of God: Declaring Who You Are

Prayer of Salvation

Seven-Day Challenge

A Daily Reminder of Who You Are and What God Has Said about You

Seven-Day Challenge: A Daily Reminder of Who You Are and What God Has Said about You

About the Author

Letter to My Son Titus

To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. (Titus 1:4 KJV)

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Tim. 1:7 KJV)

Dear son, Titus!

This letter is for you to look back and remind yourself of who you are; if at any point in your life journey you stumble and forget your identity, purpose, destiny, or if the pressure of life ever outweighs your faith, you can read this letter to reassure you of the crown buried inside of you.

My son, I want you to know, from the time you were conceived and when you took your first breath here in this world, you inspired me to be loyal to my purpose and God's calling over my life. You did not become my excuse to stop living; rather, you became my motivation to reach my destiny. Hence, I knew you were special and destined to be great. Since you were in your mother's womb, you love the song Lord Prepare Me to Be a Sanctuary. Therefore, I knew that God has placed a message inside of you that you will carry across the world and impact many lives. For you have already changed mine.

Don't let the world define who you are and never move to the sound of people's opinions of you. Do not compromise your vision, for the things that are attractive to the physical sight in this world. Never let your emotions and feelings be more important than the plans God has for your life. The absence of materialistic things doesn't mean you are poor or don't have enough. You are a child of the ultimate King of kings. You are royalty, heir to the kingdom of God, so everything that you will ever need to succeed in this life is in the crown within you. God has given you intelligence, wisdom, and a future. Therefore, no systems created by man can ever determine your worth and value.

My son, it's important that you believe; God did not give you a spirit of fear nor timidity. He has given confidence and power to stand in your purpose and conviction. He has given you the spirit of love, so there is no hate great enough that can consume your heart and mind.

I promise you that I will continue to allow God to create a legacy within me so that you can be proud to look up to Him, I will allow God to direct my steps so that the footprints I leave behind are visible to you. The door that God has opened for me, I will leave open for you, for through you, God will open many doors for those in your generation and generation to come.

My son, though the distractions behind you are tempting, always keep your eyes forward and let you light shine, regardless of how dark the world gets.

Love you, my son!

Acknowledgments

This book would not have come to life without the support system I have around me. First and foremost, all glory to God. To finish a project of this magnitude, it takes the belief of those who are around me. It took me seven months to finalize this book, and there were times I have asked myself, What am I doing? and was ready to put my pen down to give up. However, the Holy Spirit always lets me know that this journey was not for me alone; I had to find the crown within me so others can see the light in theirs. I am thankful to the Holy Spirit for guiding me in this process, and even through my doubts, I was reminded that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This work is also the product of my better half, to my wife, Suze; words can't describe how I am indebted to you, for your grace, patience, and understanding during writing this book. It took me countless hours, days, and nights in isolation away from you, yet not one day did you get frustrated with the process. I love you, babe! I wish to thank my parents, Jean and Rosemene Siffort; without their sacrifices, I would not be in this position for an opportunity to become an author. To my siblings, Darline, Rosenie, Rosena, and Charna, thank you for always listening and providing feedback on my ideas and concepts. I am able to grow in the Word of God because you ladies allow me to share it with you daily. To my good brother Nickson Bora, thank you for all of your encouraging words and belief throughout this process. Last but not least, I have to extend my gratitude to my late grandmother Sentelize and my ninety-nine-year-old grandfather Exanou; they were the physical representation of what faith looked like for me growing up.

I pray that I can be that beacon of hope and faith for others through this book.

Introduction

The most important discovery you will make in your lifetime is finding yourself. You were not born with knowing who you are. In fact, many people went to their grave to have never meet themselves. Self-discovery is a process. It's a journey that takes time; you must be willing to spend enough time with you in order to discover self. Self-discovery helps identify your source, your worth, your abilities, your destiny, and the importance of your existence. Personally, I believe the greatest revelation or treasure you will find in self-discovery is how to be able to love and appreciate the original you. For without knowing who you are, it's impossible to love and appreciate your unique identity. If you're unable love your originality, you won't be able to see the good in others and to extend that love to them. Hence, it will be a challenge to find and fulfill your purpose, let alone reaching your destiny.

As it is written,

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:30–31 KJV)

You can see here the prerequisite of loving others is loving yourself, but first, you must discover self.

Unfortunately, the time of age we are in now, this generation, people are more interested in finding out more about others rather than discovering who they truly are. We have people jumping into relationship one after another, wondering why none of them work. They believe that their existence has to be validated by someone else's presence or acknowledgment, not realizing their internal void is due to lack of self-knowledge. It's a fallacy to believe the pursuit of self is by finding someone else. This is all a result of the world we live in; when we were born, the first thing we see is the world around us. As we grow, society gives us a picture of who we should imitate and the things that we should pursue. We have been given a reflection of the world, not the image of our true self. There are those who surrendered their original self to the reflection society presents; hence, they become a product of the world around them, their environment. For most, society has stolen the desire to the most important quest in life, which is to come face-to-face with themselves. Just because you are alive doesn't mean you are living; to know yourself is to live life, not life living you.

Society today is highly influential; most people's decisions are dictated by what's popular and the things that are trending at the moment. The youth find value and validation in the things that are on TV and on social media. They personalize and internalize people's opinions of them and become a reflection of others words. They are pursuing dreams that have been programed in their mind since birth by society, thereby revoking the promise and treasure that lies within. This is why the process of self-discovery is challenging to most—the fear of leaving their reality to step into the truth. Most people are comfortable with their reality and don't want to disrupt their comfort with the truth, for the quest to the truth requires them to come face-to-face with the hidden person inside. The path to the truth is narrow, not wide, so most avoid this path because they are claustrophobic to the truth.

Yes, it's unfortunate that most people will go through their lifetime never to have met self. They will spend their lives accepting the identity society placed on them. Some believe that they must discover what's in the world in order to find themselves, which is absolutely false. I strongly believe that you were not created to be modeled by the world, but rather for you to be a model to the world. It's impossible for the world to play a role that you were given in the beginning. You are not here to be transformed or defined by the things of this world but to transform the world by the word, treasure, and authority buried within you. You shouldn't have to pursue the things in this world; in fact, the world should be pursuing the person hiding within you. Your very existence is evidence that the world needs you, not you needing the world.

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom. 12:2 ESV).

I want to make it clear: nothing the world said of you or about you is true, nor is it who you truly are. Just think about it for a minute; if you have not discovered yourself, how can the world tell you who you are and what's within? It's your obligation to introduce yourself to the world, not the world telling you who you are. However, you only can make yourself known to the world if you know