My identity is from Jesus, and I attribute all that I am and all that I have today to him. I am a Christian, therefore I want to be like Christ and share the Good News with everyone that I can. I listen to Holy Spirit for guidance moment by moment, and I love to write, preach, talk to others about life and faith, and deep dive into healing through the Lord. I pray that God touches your heart, makes you think, and that my words inspire you to dig deeper than ever before. My name is Steph and you can find more of what I have written since the winter of 2022 on Facebook (Look for Stephanie K Ford to follow me). May you be blessed!!
If you have a story of redemption in your life that you would like to submit for publication on this website, please email me at steph@identityfromjesus.com. Everyone has a story, and yours is sure to inspire someone else and give people hope! I reserve the right to edit it, but I promise to send it back to you for your approval before publishing. Thanks for your participation in the development of this website and growing the Kingdom of God by spreading the importance of having a solid IDENTITY FROM JESUS!
FROM STEPH — I introduce myself to strangers with a big hug, leading with joy and peace from Jesus as I boldly talk about my faith to nearly everyone I meet.
What am I? Well….I was baptized Catholic as a baby, gave my life to Christ in a Congregational Church, was confirmed Lutheran as a teenager, and I was married for the first time in a Reformed Church. I have attended a Wesleyan Church regularly, been a member of Methodist Churches, and have had my babies blessed by Protestant Chaplains. I chose to have a Believer’s Baptism as a member of the Baptist Church, I’m a member of a non-denominational church, I attend a prophetic mentorship school, I’m a part of a year-long multi-denominational Bible Study, I recently had my First Communion in a Catholic Church.
I have worshiped with people who speak in tongues, in other languages, praised God with Christians in many different environments and countries, and am a sister in Christ to people with various skin colors and backgrounds. I treasure my worship times in many different ways and bring a light to others in all of these places among all of God’s children.
Who am I? I am a woman after God’s own heart. Rather than claim any denomination, I claim Christ alone. I AM A CHRISTIAN.
LIFE IS SO GOOD!
I wrote and posted to Facebook the following testimony on 4/17/2026:
I USED TO BE NORMAL…
Boldly talking about my faith in Jesus wasn’t anything I did before August of 2022, but then something big happened that started what now feels like a blazing, passionate fire inside my chest. Wanting to end my life of trying to be enough, looking hard for truth in a storm of lies, worn out from striving to control what I couldn’t trust, and drowning in waves of anxiety and depression was bound to end in one of two ways.
Actually, each of our earthly lives end in one of these two ways, but like I had, most people go about their days not realizing that there is more at stake than how many days we will get to live on this earth. Most people, even believers, are blind to the intense battle going on that is attacking their mind, their body, their relationships, and their emotions.
WHAT DO WE WANT?
God wanted life and freedom for me while Satan wanted death and captivity for me. After 48 years of trying to do good, to be good, and yearning to feel loved, I only wanted the intolerable pain of my life to come to an end. I had faith in God that had been there my whole life, but it almost felt like nothing at all by that point, and it certainly wasn’t enough to prevent me from wanting to unalive myself. I had been at this point before, but this time was the most intense, complete with a loaded gun, and I can definitively say that it was the last time I will ever be at that point again.
I could only see pain, confusion, abuse, trauma, hurt, and exhaustion, and all I wanted was to feel peace and stillness. I was willing to accept the substitution of numbness and dissociation that the Enemy continually pushed at me because peace seemed unreachable. Numbing out was taking a toll on me and it didn’t address the root of the issues to prevent them from continually festering in my life. Even with my lifelong faith in God and my love for Jesus, the evil spirit of religion, the stifling framework of churches focusing on works instead of a relationship with Jesus, a lack of seeing anyone who was led by the power of Holy Spirit, and knowing nothing about the importance of being baptized in Holy Spirit, I wrongly believed that I needed to do more, be more, and suffer more in the hope of getting into God’s good graces.
MANY CHRISTIANS DON’T KNOW.
With faith only as big as the desperate words which I managed to yell angrily through a throat trained to suffer in silence, Jesus responded quickly to my cry of surrender to death. Something big happened as I died to my flesh that day… I surrendered to an infilling of the power of Holy Spirit. With all of my understanding being from a “once saved, always saved” approach, I didn’t know to ask for it, I had no words to comprehend it, and I didn’t even know who to talk to about it… but Holy Spirit did. I was dying emotionally, dying spiritually, and I had reached a point where I was ready to also die physically… but I called upon the Lord. It wasn’t how I said it, or what I said, it was about giving up the last of my spirit and giving him authority to do with me whatever he wanted to.
GIVE THE SPIRIT OF GOD AUTHORITY OVER YOUR OWN SPIRIT…
The last few years of my life have been the best ones of my life, even though I still grieve the loss of the years when my children were small. I am sad to have missed out on experiencing the intense joy and consuming peace of truly living, feeling awake and alive for 48 years of my life, but there is no going back in time. Living surrendered to Holy Spirit is SO much better than trying to do things my way, and now I want this powerful experience for every believer, so I speak boldly about my faith and I hope to encourage you to do that too!
When our relationship with Jesus is woven into our very being, we can’t even begin to separate our faith from the way we view the world around us. Our beliefs impact everything, and our view of the world changes as well. It’s confusing in the world, and because of my experiences with people who would talk circles around me to further confuse me, I feel led to help others simplify and focus.
1. Having faith in Jesus should not be complicated. Get to know him through the Word, and submit your heart to him so you can receive a love that you can always trust.
2. People are only people, and none of them are perfect. Turn to Holy Spirit for guidance, teaching, and conviction, and silence the noise. The Bible is better even than sermons, social media posts (even this one), and videos.
3. Get in a prayer closet, a quiet space, or your bedroom, and then talk to God. Tell him everything, but also listen for his answers. Talk to him a lot. Always.
4. Jesus is the center of your bullseye as a Christian in this world. Keep your eyes on him and you’ll hit the mark more often.
5. God loves you. Obey him. Let him love you, and then joyfully live the short little bit of life you have left. Don’t waste a single minute.
P.S. I used to be normal, but now I’m living a life filled with Holy Spirit. All of this rambling came about because 1 John 4:4-6 got me very excited. Open your Bible to those verses and then keep reading the Word, maybe you’ll find joy in not being normal too!