As I sat looking at the movie CREED in some ways I see myself. My dad had a name in the streets as being someone that was formidable and not to be messed with (so much that people would only fight him in multiples). I grew up trying to make my own name and be my own man just like the main character in the movie. My anger and rage got me into some situations that somehow I was able to get or be released out of. I was also always fighting just like the main character whether in the physical or the spiritual. I grew up fighting and saw everything as a fight or a challenge to prove myself and to somehow get my own glory to show that I belonged with other champions of old (ironically all biblical champions with the exception of my dad) and that fueled me. My family (mother and 3 younger siblings) moved around a few times after my parent’s divorce, so I was put in a place where no one knew me or my background, which gave me the distance from my dad and the “family name.” I was not known nor was my family so I would finally get the glory I sought on my own. Just as the main character “Adonis,” I begin to make a name for myself and began to get an “earned” rep in the natural world. I did and still do enjoy the incognito role of not being known because you are able to move more freely, but as always there is someone who knows you because they know your family name. I found out that this really is a small world when I was stationed in Germany and met someone who knew my family when they heard my name. As much as I tried to hide in the physical, I tried even harder to hide in the spiritual. I also have a family name that is well known in the spiritual realm. One is linked with generational curses and the other is linked with eternal life. The one that matters is the one linked to eternal life. I tried to hide who my “heavenly father” is, so I could again make a name for myself to get my own glory and respect. I went around hiding it and trying to be incognito acting like I was just like everyone else around me, even though I knew I wasn’t. I would be in clubs, house parties or other places I shouldn’t have been and someone would always notice me because the Holy Spirit would tell them my family name (child/son of Yah from the tribe of Yehudah). That person would come to me telling me that I should not be there because of the name/title I bare. I was trying to prove I belonged in the wrong circles/rings instead of getting in the fight that I was being primed for since birth when my opponent/enemy threw the first punch at me as a young child. I was seeking the big fight, but it was for my own glory. I didn’t want to carry the “family name” because of everything that came with it, but just as “Adonis” found out in the movie, I learned that once that name is thrown out there your life changes. Satan doesn’t really care about fighting you until he finds out that you carry the “family name.” He then wants to fight you so that he can receive the glory by defeating a believer who carries that name, because it is the name that means something, the name carries a legacy of victory just like in that movie.
I’ve battled and took victories and I also received some loses just like that movie character, but I always kept fighting. In the end of the movie when “Adonis” is fighting the champ, his trainer is telling him that he is going to stop the fight for his protection, but the fighter says no he needs to keep fighting to prove that “he was not a mistake.” That resonated with me greatly. All this time I was fighting thinking that I was doing it for my own glory, to make my own mark, to prove I belonged and that I was a champion, but what I was really fighting for was to prove that I was not a mistake in this world or life. My biggest opponent was myself. I was losing to myself (the old man/flesh) whose trainer happened to be Satan. Once I/you defeat (I say defeat instead of defeated because it is a daily thing) “self” then I/you get the attention of the Champion in Sin known as Satan. We have to realize that we are fighting for our life in that ring with the adversary. We have to be just as passionate about finishing the fight just as the main character in CREED was, because we should also want to prove that we were not a mistake. The Father was not mistaken in giving us the choice of salvation by sending His Son. The Messiah was not mistaken in redeeming us with His blood when we choose Him and the Holy Spirit was not mistaken in being our trainer in our corner. No matter how many blows to the body you take, no matter how many jabs, crosses and uppercuts you receive, you make sure that you endure to the end of each round. Don’t give up because you carry the family name of “child of Yah.” You carry a name that is victory itself. Once the character “Adonis” made peace with carrying his father’s name, he was able to go to the next level. Once I made peace with carrying The Father’s name, I too showed readiness for the next level. When you make peace with carrying His name, then you too will be ready for the next level. Ding...Ding….
