{"id":3104,"date":"2025-10-31T06:51:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T13:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/?p=3104"},"modified":"2025-10-30T12:54:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T19:54:12","slug":"who-am-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/31\/who-am-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Am I?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"29\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/theres-only-grace\/inbaby-hand3\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?fit=135%2C135&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"135,135\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"inbaby-hand3\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?fit=135%2C135&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-29\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=135%2C135\" alt=\"hand in hand\" width=\"135\" height=\"135\" \/><\/p>\n<p>At some point in your life, you are going to ask this question. It is possible that you\u2019re going to ask it many times throughout your life. In each instance you will look at all that you have accomplished and endured and probably come up with an answer which is wholly based upon\u2026you!<\/p>\n<p>Many of you might think, <em>\u201cWell who else am I supposed to be if not me?\u201d<\/em> Don\u2019t get me wrong here, you are exactly the one, however, your mindset might not be even aware of ONE as much as it\u2019s focused on the Many. No, I\u2019m not claiming how it\u2019s possible that you may be suffering from a split personality disorder either. What I am saying is that your definition of who you are is tied to others, and how you interact with, and do for them.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What do you do when\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Case in point: I am a teacher. If there were no other person on this planet, would I be able to make this claim? Obviously not. The same can be said about any identity which is derived from any profession. This even applies to every parent who suddenly discovers how their identity as a father or mother radically changes once the last child has left the nest.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s interesting how when you attend a social gathering where there are new people who you have never met before, one of the first things they ask you after the introduction is, <em>\u201cWhat do you do?\u201d<\/em> This idea that \u201cdoing\u201d somehow determines our identity permeates our entire social structure. Garbage men are not deemed highly success oriented in many social circles, but if they don\u2019t pick up one day, their importance becomes very apparent.<\/p>\n<p>Education also seems to be a priority in claiming an identity. We boast about graduating from some institution of higher learning with varying degrees awarded for our patronage. The hope is that we\u2019ll be able to take the years of learning and implement them into a profession where we can move from an identity of student to a\u2026 Reality often crushes these hopes when the demand for repayment of loans to pay for the education force our identity to be lowered below our expectation.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>You are who you hang with<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The most insidious marker for identity is the beliefs of other people. Conformity to the masses is fraught with sudden shifts and nuances from a very early age in this life. Clothing styles, hair color and\/or length, gender, speech patterns, dietary restrictions, scholastic performances, and a cavalcade of peer pressures wreck the identity of children more than build it up. Many find the pressure to great and prematurely end their lives, while others seclude themselves in their thoughts and disappear from sight contently staying on the fringes of society.<\/p>\n<p>All of these items, and many more which I haven\u2019t even touched upon, drive the quest for our identity, but they don\u2019t truly answer it. If I ask most people who come from a western religious background who they are, the response typically is the mimic of some preacher from their past, <em>\u201cI\u2019m a child of God.\u201d<\/em> While this <em>\u201cmight\u201d<\/em> be a truthful response, there is always a bit of hesitation in its delivery possibly from a gut check to determine if what they are about to claim is a reality in their daily life.<\/p>\n<p>Okay. Yes, I said <em>\u201cmight.\u201d<\/em> The question, if you\u2019re willing to ask it, is whether or not their response is merely a mimic from peer pressure or a revelation they have had. Chances are quite high that peer pressure has more to do with belief in a church environment than a personal revelation. The reason for this has more to do with intention than with a daily bible devotion and twice a week services.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Depth not breadth<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Who am I? First, I am not anything which can be identified with this earth. This goes all the way down to even being called \u201cmortal,\u201d which means \u201cbeing subject to death.\u201d Immediately, that claim is going to cause many of you to buckle. You look around yourself, even within your own family, and this claim is blatantly false, right? Consider this: Do trees die in the autumn and winter of their lives? Is it possible what we think of as \u201cdeath\u201d of the body is only the winter display of an inner truth we can\u2019t comprehend?<\/p>\n<p>Who am I if I am not of this earth? I am a soul. <em>\u201cChild of God\u201d<\/em> people have trouble with this simply because most have been taught that our soul is corrupted. Actually, that teaching is corrupt. Our souls were placed inside a mortal shell by God. They are incorruptible and eternal, incapable of death. When the last mortal breath is offered, the soul returns to its point of origin \u2013 God.<\/p>\n<p>When dealing with the religious class of his day, Jesus had to remind them of what their scriptures said when David claimed, <strong><em>\u201c\u2026You are gods.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> The religious leaders were bent out of shape by what Jesus was proclaiming and accused him of claiming that He was God. Jesus\u2019 rebuttal has opened up a portal, even up to this day, which the clergy will not accept and keep locked away from the congregation as a whole. You are gods!<\/p>\n<p>Your soul came directly from the ground of all creation, God. Each soul is a fractal of God. Just as a drop of water from the ocean is the still the ocean, our soul, our identity, is God. No, we are not God, but our soul possesses all the attributes of God as His representative in this mortal shell within His creation.<\/p>\n<p>There is a popular Christian song by Casting Crowns entitled, <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/3rT8Re1EIQc?si=51KAy2EPgBE1vHqP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cWho am I.\u201d<\/a> Many years ago, when I first heard it, I could readily identify with the lyrics like millions of other believers could. It glorifies God\u2019s magnificence and humbly asks who I am compared to such a being. The final lines of the song repeat the phrase,<em>\u201d I am yours.\u201d<\/em> Today, after revelation has poured out on my journey, I sing the last phrases as <strong><em>\u201cI am you.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some of you will find this subject difficult to grasp. However, it does not negate its Truth. You will need to receive the revelation yourself and this only will come as you hold this before you in silent meditation. You will need to go within to see what you have been living without. You don\u2019t need to make a big spectacle of this. Just be still and know He is God and you\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Allow this song be a reminder of your journey.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>I Am Who I Am<\/strong><\/h3>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-3104-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/I-Am-Who-I-Am.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/I-Am-Who-I-Am.mp3\">http:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/I-Am-Who-I-Am.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>If you&#8217;re looking for more <a title=\"Grace-filled Music\" href=\"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/grace-filled-music\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grace-filled music, check these out&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At some point in your life, you are going to ask this question. It is possible that you\u2019re going to ask it many times throughout your life. In each instance you will look at all that you have accomplished and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/31\/who-am-i\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amazonpipp_noncename":"","amazon-product-isactive":"","amazon-product-single-asin":"","amazon-product-content-location":"1","amazon-product-content-hook-override":"2","amazon-product-excerpt-hook-override":"3","amazon-product-singular-only":"","amazon-product-amazon-desc":"","amazon-product-show-gallery":"","amazon-product-show-features":"","amazon-product-newwindow":"3","amazon-product-show-list-price":"","amazon-product-show-used-price":"","amazon-product-show-saved-amt":"","amazon-product-timestamp":"","amazon-product-new-title":"","amazon-product-use-cartURL":"","amazon_featured_post_meta_key":"","_amazon_featured_alt":"","amazon-product-template":"default","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[4,6,5],"class_list":["post-3104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-24","tag-grace","tag-mike-hillebrecht","tag-teaching"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ITDy-O4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":395,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/07\/so-you-call-yourself-a-grace-guy\/","url_meta":{"origin":3104,"position":0},"title":"So you call yourself a grace guy\u2026","author":"mike","date":"July 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"These days it appears that everyone is trying to getting on the grace band wagon (with the possible exception of a number of people who are opposed and you know who they are.) It seems that \u201cgrace\u201d is the hot topic of the moment despite the fact that Paul has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2016 Postings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2016 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2016\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1558,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/20\/i-love-satan\/","url_meta":{"origin":3104,"position":1},"title":"I Love satan.","author":"mike","date":"March 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Seriously!? Grace has a wonderful ability to detonate all your perceptions about right and wrong. This will be the largest blast you\u2019ve possibly ever experienced in your divine walk and the fallout will create a debris field you\u2019ve heretofore never envisioned possible. If you\u2019ve been around any teaching on Jesus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2018 Postings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2018 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2018-postings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2198,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/19\/being-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":3104,"position":2},"title":"Being &#8211; Part 1","author":"mike","date":"April 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently my family and I traveled to the Tetons in Wyoming for a camping vacation. It is amazing how being in the presence of such natural grandeur- massive crags of geological projections softened by a carpet of wildflowers scattered among the pines and aspen \u2013 causes you to stop and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2019 Postings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2019 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2019-postings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1969,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/23\/why-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":3104,"position":3},"title":"Why Me?","author":"mike","date":"April 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you ever asked yourself this question? Did you ever get an answer, not from someone else, but from yourself? After all, what do other people know about you that gives them authority to shape and form your life from their advice? So, what was your answer to yourself? Was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2018 Postings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2018 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2018-postings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4806,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/02\/overcoming-future-fears-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":3104,"position":4},"title":"Overcoming Future Fears","author":"mike","date":"April 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"M4:Week 1: Maya in Personal Futures Day 5: Overcoming Future Fears Today's Veil to Pierce\u00a0 You have been taught to fear tomorrow. That teaching is Maya at its most efficient. The false self turns every blank page into a threat. It whispers that the eternal life unveiled in the Passover\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2026 Postings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2026 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2026-postings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/piercing-the-veil-201x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2436,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/07\/the-three-pillars-of-grace-pt-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":3104,"position":5},"title":"The Three Pillars of Grace Pt 2","author":"mike","date":"January 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In the previous post I made the attempt to get you to recognize what the throne of grace represents. I don\u2019t believe that many of you think that it is a piece of celestial furniture some where up there and out there far from the daily living we experience. Hopefully,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2021 Postings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2021 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2021-postings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3104"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3109,"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3104\/revisions\/3109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}