Accepting Your Status as a Child of God

California Community Church

ACCEPTING YOUR STATUS AS A CHILD OF GOD “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.’ So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the fatted calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.” Luke 15:17-24 Life with the Father is Better than Life Without the Father. How Do YOU Learn to Truly and Confidently believe that YOU are a child of God? Choose to FULLY Believe God’s Acceptance and My Identity We are stuck in faulty thinking about God and we are trapped in self-condemnation. “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. MY purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10 NLT “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 NLT See your enemy’s strategy? Try to kill you. If that doesn’t work, try to keep you far from God, in your sin, wallowing in your stuff AND if that doesn’t work, he will AT LEAST try to keep you from believing that you are fully a son, fully a daughter who is forgiven and accepted by God. “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Ephesians 3:18-19 NLT “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster….oh that you would choose life…You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying Him, and committing yourself firmly to Him. This is the key to your life…” Deuteronomy 30:11, 19, 20 Surrender to God’s Changes The prodigal trusted the father to change his clothes…and then he learned to trust His father to change his life.