How Knowing Who You Are In Christ Fuels Big Goals

Big dreams can feel exciting right up until they feel impossible. When that happens, we don’t just need motivation we need identity. I share a focused word of encouragement about the power of understanding who you are in Christ, and why that one shift changes how you approach goals, vision, and the opportunities God puts in front of you.

I talk through a personal turning point: a new assignment to write a second book, “Identity Matters,” and the reminder that when God calls us, He also equips us. We’re not left to grind it out alone. The Holy Spirit lives within us, and God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind. That truth turns calling from pressure into partnership with God.

We also name the real battle for your focus. Using John 10:10, Isaiah 41:8–10, Joshua 1:9, and Proverbs 2:6, I unpack how remembering God’s faithfulness builds conviction and courage, and how distractions can be anything even “good” things that pull our attention away from Jesus. If you’ve been hesitant, overwhelmed, or unsure you can do what God is asking, this message is a reset for your mind and your faith.

If this encourages you, subscribe, share it with someone who needs courage today, and leave a review telling me what assignment you’re stepping into next.

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Transcript

Welcome And Blessing

Tony 0:00

Greetings, my friends. Tony Williams here. Welcome to Cell D Summit, Evergreen, Leader Development Insights. Thank you so much for listening. I thank God for you, and I am praying for you wherever you are in the world. God loves you unconditionally. God sees you. God has a plan for you, and the best is yet to be, regardless of where you are. And the message of encouragement that God gives me to share this day is called the power of understanding who you are. Ooh, the power of understanding who you are. We've been talking about setting goals and having a vision that God helps us to set. And when we do this, the goals can sometimes seem so large and so grand we tend to shrink back. But God is saying, no, continue to believe me for more because of who you are. When you said yes to Jesus as your Savior and your Lord, the Holy Spirit of God comes to live on the inside of you. And this is the power that enables us to do and be and accomplish everything that He's called us to do. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound mind. We must understand who we are. God wants you to understand who you are. And just this morning, God spoke to my heart. God has given me a new assignment. And the new assignment is to write the second book. It's called Identity Matters. The first book, God gave me a vision to write it, and I wrote it down. In 2020, February 23rd, 2020, God said, write the book. And guess what? The book is written. It's in the final stages. It's beginning to go through the editing process. And I thank God that He gave me the ability to write the first book. And now He's saying, I want you to write another book. It's called Identity Matters. So pray for me that I will hear God's voice, that the Holy Spirit in me will empower me to write as God inspires me to write, that this book will set many people free to accomplish and be and enjoy everything that Jesus died to secure for us. Remember, we're in a spiritual battle. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. His name is Satan. But Jesus said in John 10, 10, I have come, that you may have life and have it more abundantly. So when God gives you a vision, when God calls you, when God says, This is what I want you to do, you must realize that it's not you that has to do it. God in you, the Holy Spirit in you equips you, empowers you, encourages you to do everything that God has called you to do. And one of the things that you can expect God to do, when he calls you to a new assignment, the next stage of the journey, his Holy Spirit in you will say, Remember. And he will take you back to a point where you began to walk with him, where he met you and where you cried out to him and how he did miraculous things in your life on your life and career journey. That's what he did for me. He took me back and he said, I want you to go back to this passage. And it's found in Isaiah the 41st chapter, verses 8 through 10. Listen to what it says. But you are my servant, I have chosen you, you whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, You are my servant, I have chosen you, and have not cast you away. In verse 10, he says, Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. God said to me in Isaiah the 41st chapter, verses 8 through 10, He took me back in my Bible, and I made that notation, and this is what I saw. God had me write the country place where I was born and raised. I saw a picture of me sitting on a dirt road, maybe two or three years old, holding a kitty that's as big as I am. And then God showed me that how he took me from there to standing on the great wall of China, and how he spoke to me, and how he said, Look what I have done in your life, Tony. I've taken you from a dusty dirt road and brought you all the way to China, Beijing, China, standing on the great wall of China. Why did God do that? He wanted me to remember, and this is what he's saying to you: remember my faithfulness. Remember the miracles I performed in your life, remember my goodness to you. Focus on these things. Do not be distracted, my brothers and my sisters. Just this week, God has been speaking to me. Avoid distractions. What are distractions? They come in all shapes, forms, and sizes. A distraction is anything that takes our focus from being fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who he is, what he's doing, and what he's called us to do. Anything that distracts us, it can seemingly be a good thing, it can seemingly be a bad thing, but whatever we determine is taking our focus from being fixed on the Lord is a distraction. And we have to guard ourselves. We have to guard our minds, guard our thinking to think the way Jesus says we are. Understanding who we are. Who are you? You are a child of God. The Holy Spirit of God lives on the inside of you. So it's not you that's accomplishing these great and mighty things that God has called you to do. It's God working in and through you. And once you understand who you are, whoo, great, thank you, Jesus. Once you understand who you are, you don't shrink back anymore. When you remember the goodness of God that he's brought you this far, the faithfulness of God, the unconditional love of God that he has for you, and the supernatural power of God that rests and resides in you in the presence of his Holy Spirit, you then look at the opportunities that God gives you, the good works that God has ordained in advance that you should walk in them as assignments from God. And my new assignment is write the book, Identity Matters. What is the assignment that God has given you, my friend? This message is designed to encourage you, equip you, empower you to step forward. You are chosen by God. I chose you. You are called by God. God said, Tony, I took you from a dusty dirt road when you were just a toddler, and I've taken you to the great wall of China and around the world, and now I'm continuing to use you. You are my servant. I have chosen you and not rejected you. That's what he's saying to you, brothers and sisters, wherever you are in the world. Remember, he said, I've called you from the remotest parts of the world. Wherever that is on the planet, God's saying, I'm calling you, I'm speaking to you, listen to what I'm saying to you. And when you begin to remember what God is doing in your life and the unconditional love that He gives you and He offers you these great and magnificent opportunities, you have conviction. I know this is what God wants me to do. You have courage, I will persevere. Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous, says the Lord? Do not be afraid or terrified wherever, because I will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1 9. God is saying, I've chosen you, I've called you, I've commissioned you. Go. Whatever God is calling you to do, step into it boldly, with conviction and courage and confidence that the God who called you is faithful and he will do it. Oh, praise the Lord. Oh, brothers and sisters, God loves you. God wants you to be encouraged today. Avoid being distracted. Keep your mind fixed on the Lord. Keep your mind fixed on his faithfulness and his goodness and his power. Keep your mind focused on the promises of God. Here's another one in Proverbs, the second chapter, verse 6. For the Lord gives knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk uprightly. You see, he is the God who sees you. He is the God who loves you unconditionally. He is the God who has a plan, purpose, and will for your life. He is the God who says, I've chosen you, I've called you, I've commissioned you. Glory to God. And I know, Father God, that this message is designed to encourage and equip and empower us to do, to see ourselves doing what you've called us to do, to remember your faithfulness and your goodness and your kindness and your unconditional love. And you are saying, I am with you. Not only am I with you and I will help you, I am inside of you. Oh God. Awaken us to who we are, give us understanding of who we are. It's the power of God within us to accomplish great and mighty things. In our workplace, wherever we are in the world, in our families, the loved ones that you placed in front of us, and all those that we will meet along the way to be light to them, to speak life into their life, to let our light shine before them, that they may see our good works and glorify you, is my prayer for my brothers and my sisters, their families, their loved ones, and all that you've given us to do. We do it in the supernatural power of the Lord Jesus Christ in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. God bless you, brothers and sisters. He is with you.