Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jennie Allen is a Bible teacher, an author, and the visionary behind IF:Gathering and Gather25, a 25-hour global prayer gathering. Jennie is a passionate leader following God's call on her life to catalyze a generation to live what they believe. Jennie is the New York Times bestselling author of Untangle Your Emotions, Find Your People, and Get Out of Your Head. Jennie has a master’s degree in biblical studies from Dallas Theological Seminary and lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, Zac, and their four children.

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chase study

Thomas Nelson

Contents

introduction......................................6instructions and expectations.....................8getting started :: chase..........................17lesson one :: identity............................25projects..........................................38lesson two :: courage.............................43projects..........................................57lesson three :: obedience.........................63projects..........................................76lesson four :: belief.............................83projects..........................................95lesson five :: repentance.........................101projects..........................................111lesson six :: surrender...........................117projects..........................................129lesson seven :: chased down.......................135projects..........................................146about the author..................................153acknowledgments...................................155the compel project................................157

Chapter One

The identity we are all chasing has already been given to us by God.

What Is Identity?

Identity is found in the distinct characteristics that set us apart or give us worth.

We want to matter and to make a mark on the world. It feels selfish, even arrogant, to admit it. But every one of us has this need for a significant identity. This need possibly lies at the root of every human interaction and achievement. We all need to know why our life counts and what sets us apart, since life is short and there are a lot of us on this planet.

In the space below describe yourself. Who are you? What do you do? What is your personality like?

Feet Down

I was innocently sitting in science class my sophomore year of high school, waiting for class to start, when two guys known for bullying turned around and decided it was the day to make me their target. I don't remember what they said, but I still can picture where I was sitting and what I was feeling. I felt like I was spinning and could not put my feet down. I could not land on what was true. As they laughed about who they perceived me to be, all I could think was,

"Who am I?"

I knew they did not know me and what they were saying was careless and untrue, but I did not know me and I did not know what was true. It wasn't long after that experience that I met God. And it wasn't until He began to undo me and define me that I finally could put my feet down and stop spinning. But even now, there are still plenty of days I spin, even with God in me.

No matter our age, we often find ourselves with feelings like those I had in high school. We have an identity crisis because we build our identity on things that move—things that aren't dependable or constant.

The list of what we build our identity on goes on and on:

family / bank accounts / friends / personality comfort / house / marriage / leadership / job vacations / children's success / relationships future / abilities / clothes / acceptance / love respect / morals / church / behavior / purpose

David lived a life unconcerned with appearances and image, rooted in a secure identity. Yet those of us who have put our faith in Christ live with the same identity; we just forget.

Let's begin this journey to discover where David's confidence and worth was rooted.

Even though very little is said about David's life directly in these verses, note some of the things we learn

about his life ...

about his relationship to his father and brothers ...

about where and how he likely spends his time ...

about his heart ...

about his new identity ...

"And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward" (1 Samuel 16:13, emphasis added). This single fact would go on to define every moment of the rest of this man's life, every psalm he would write and every obstacle he would overcome. What did it mean for David that the Spirit of God was on him?

Read these verses and consider how those of us who know Christ have a calling similar to David's.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

ephesians 1:11–14

What does He say you are?

What does that mean to you?

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

1 peter 2:9–10

What does He say you are?

What does that mean to you?

Defining Myself

As long as we try to find our significance and worth in ourselves, we will feel disappointed. Self-esteem only works if we have a self worth esteeming. I am so sinful and selfish that I don't want to put my hope in myself.

Understanding these two truths keeps me from building my hope in myself:

1. We are all lost and pretty messed up, and

2. God in His grace rescued us.

As long as I am looking into myself for my identity, I will either be self-righteous about how great I am, which would be inaccurate, or distraught by the reality of the wreck I actually am.

The gospel steals all self-esteem:

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.

romans 7:18

Defined by God

"Nothing good" dwells in us. This statement in Romans is depressing if you don't hear the rest of the gospel. The whole story, the truth of the gospel, is we get something infinitely more sturdy and fulfilling than self-esteem. For those of us who know Christ, we stand on the unchanging reality that we have been so loved by our God that He purchased us with the blood of His Son. See, we have worth, but it doesn't come from within us—it comes to us from the One who made us. We share in a destiny and the calling David received that day. We have been rushed by the Spirit of God too. We will rule as sons and daughters of God someday. We have an insane calling, an insane identity.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

1 john 3:1 NIV

If our true worth and significance and identity come from something so solid and eternal as God Himself, we don't have to pretend when we are imperfect. We don't stand on our accomplishments and personality and performance. We stand securely on the nature of an infinite, loving God. We don't have to manage our image or pretend we are okay, when we are really broken and imperfect. The grace God gives us in defining who we are changes everything.

Uniquely Broken

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

2 corinthians 4:7

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