5.12.2024 | TRADE STRONGHOLDS FOR IDENTITY IN CHRIST
1. Expose strongholds
Genesis 30:8 NLT
Rachel named him Naphtali, for she said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!”
Gensis 30:1 NLT
When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
Genesis 30:3 NLT
Then Rachel told him, “Take my maid, Bilhah, and sleep with her. She will bear children for me, and through her I can have a family, too.”
Genesis 29:31 NLT
When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive.
Genesis 29:34 NLT
Then she became pregnant a third time and gave birth to another son. He was named Levi, for she said, “Surely this time my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!”
Genesis 30:13 NLT
And Leah named him Asher, for she said, “What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me.”
Genesis 30:14 NLT
One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
Genesis 30:15 NLT
But Leah angrily replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son’s mandrakes, too?” Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.”
2. Replace strongholds with Holy Spirit truth
A. Love cures strife
Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.
B. Humility cures competition
Colossians 3:23 NLT
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Philippians 2:3-4 NLT
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
Galatians 6:4 NLT
Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.
1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Philippians 2:3 NLT
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
Philippians 2:3-4 NIV
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Romans 12:15-16 NLT
Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
Deuteronomy 20:4 NLT
For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!
C. Pure heart cures jealousy
Proverbs 27:4 NLT
Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.
James 3:16 NLT
For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
D. His workmanship cures less than/not enough
Psalm 139:14 NLT
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex, your workmanship is marvelous - how well I know it.
E. Failure is opportunity for grace
Romans 3:23 NLT
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NLT
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Romans 5:3-4 NLT
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
Romans 5:5
And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
F. Forgiveness cures bitterness
Hebrews 12:15b NLT
Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.
3. Embrace your Identity in Christ
A. You are a masterpiece
Ephesians 2:10 NLT
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
B. You are a temple for the Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 6:19 NLT
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself.
C. You are chosen
Ephesians 1:4 NLT
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
D. You are one with other believers
1 Corinthians 12:27 NLT
All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
E. You are a friend of God
John 15:15 NLT
I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.
F. You are a new creation
2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
G. God has plans and a future for you
Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
H. You are a child of God
John 1:12-13 NLT
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
I. You are fully known
Psalms 139:14-15 NLT
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
J. You are fully loved
1 John 4:16 NLT
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
1 John 3:1 NLT
See 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.
K. You are called by name
Isaiah 43:1 NLT
But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.
L. God made you righteous
Romans 3:22 NIV
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile
M. No longer a slave to sin
Romans 6:6 NLT
We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
Questions for discussion/reflection:
Do you relate more to Rachel, or Leah? Why?
Which of the identity robbers can you identify in your life?
What truth is God speaking to you (rooted in His Word) to drive out that stronghold cutting you off from your identity in Him?
What Scriptures do you need to review every day this week to drive Home God’s truth about you?
As you dig into God’s truth about who you are, ask the Lord what He might be inviting you to “do” differently in your life? (Remember, we don’t find our identity in doing, we find it in being a child of God. Our “doing” flows out of that identity in Him.)