Love, Identity, and Spiritual Discernment | Summer at DC
Summer at DC 2024
Love, Identity & Spiritual Discernment…
1 John 3:1-3 (NLT) 1See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
SOUL TATTOO: Our Heavenly Father has the ability to help us know who we are, love others, discern right from wrong and have no fear.
Abide: to remain, to stay, to wait for
1 John 2:6 (ESV) …6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
I am not what I have. I am not what I do. I am not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God. It is who I am. No one can take it from me. I do not have to hurry. I do not have to worry. I can trust in God and share His love with the world.
4 concepts that I need to know:
1. As a disciple I need to know my identity.
Genesis 1:27 (ESV) 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 3:1 (ESV) Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?
1 John 3:1-3 (MSG) 1What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to. 2But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. 3All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
- Seek the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word.
- Stay away from tempting situations.
- Seek the help of the Body of Christ.
Highlight the contrast between the children of God and the children of the devil, as seen in their actions and righteousness. John is very clear that we are children of God and not children of the devil.
As Children of God, we have a new nature “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”.
Ephesians 4:22-24 (NLT) 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
Children of the Devil are people who condone sin and are in essence following the devil’s leadership.
1 Thessalonians 5:22 (ESV) 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
2. As a disciple I am called to love others.
1 John 3:16-18 (NIV) 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
3. As a disciple I need to know how to have discernment.
1 John 4:1-3 (ESV) Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
- Do not believe everything that we hear.
- Does what I’m hearing line up with what God says in the Bible?
- Am I being taught that Jesus was fully God and fully man?
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 (ESV) 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
4. As a disciple I need to know the perfect love of God.
1 John 4:18-19 (ESV) 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.
1 Timothy 4:12 (NKJV) 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
SOUL TATTOO: Our Heavenly Father has the ability to help us know who we are, love others, discern right from wrong and have no fear.