We are his workmanship

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

When God thinks about you, he sees a masterpiece. The great thing about a masterpiece is that it’s one of a kind. There is no other work like it and it’s very special to the person who created it. In the same way, to God, you matter. Your life is important and you’ve been created to do something special for God.

It’s easy to begin to compare yourself to what you see online and all around you. You can see what your friends and coworkers are doing, how they look, what they wear and what they do and feel like you don’t measure up. However, the true measure of worth is what God says about you. When you begin to see yourself the way Jesus sees you, you realize that you matter. You’ve been uniquely designed and your life is important.

Dear Lord, thank You for making us who we are.  Help us to not look at others and compare ourselves with them. Thank You that we are perfect in your eyes. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Do you feel crumpled?

Luke 12:6 (ESV)

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.

I read this story the other day and love the lesson.

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of two hundred, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands immediately started going up.

"I am going to give this $20 bill to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground, spit on it and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Still want it now?" Surprisingly, hands still didn't go down.

"My friends, I think we've all learned a valuable lesson here. No matter what I did to this money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was worth twenty whole dollars no matter what I did to it."

"Often in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, spit upon and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless.

But remember, no matter what has happened, we will never lose value in God's eyes. To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, we are still priceless. The worth of our lives does not come in who we are but by whose we are! Let's give our lives back to the Lord today, our disappointments, our suffering, our feelings of worthlessness. He is the God of healing. He has made us clean and worthy of our calling in Him!

Dear Lord, we thank You that no matter what has happened to us our value to You is always the same.  In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

His "collection"

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

The other day I read about how the prices of some paintings are falling rapidly. As I read the article I wondered just how much paintings actually go for.

The most expensive painting according to Wikipedia was sold for over $300 million dollars. It's called "Interchange" by Willem de Kooning. I thought -- "wow that's a lot of money." Then there was another painting called "Number 17A" by Jackson Pollock that was sold for over $200 million dollars!

As I looked at Pollock's collection the paintings looked like a bunch of house painters' drop cloths that were hung on the wall. To be truthful they just looked like a mess -- yet people have paid millions of dollars for these works!

That got me to thinking -- what is a human life worth? To some uninformed or cynical eyes, human beings are just a mess of "useless eaters" (a phrase used by Henry Kissinger to describe the elderly) ... but we know that every human life is extremely valuable because God was willing to pay the highest price for it. He gave His Son for your life -- declaring its value in His own precious blood!

So while you may feel, or even look like a house painter's drop cloth, in God's economy -- the only one that matters -- you are priceless, of inestimable value!

You are a precious piece in His "collection" His valuation of you is filled with loving, "worth more than many sparrows"; bought and paid for by the King of Kings whose taste is impeccable!

Dear Lord, we thank You that we are precious in Your sight.  Our value is beyond what we can imagine in Your eyes. Help us remember that each of us holds the same value. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

More Valuable Then the Birds.

Matthew 6:26 (NIV)

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Look at the birds??? What can birds possibly teach us that we don't already know???

Maybe more than you realize. Take a gull for example. Have you noticed that they not only soar high up in the sky to look for food, but they also never seem to lose sleep over when the next morsel will show up? They have utter confidence that no matter what, they will always have shelter, food and love, even in the midst of a gigantic winter storm! Is it possible that their ability to fly so high permits them to look at our world from God's perspective? Is it possible that they realize that any concerns they may be facing look rather insignificant from up there?

But wait a minute! We've all see those same gulls fighting over food!

These are the gulls that have become dependent upon humans for their food. Strangely enough, these gulls mimic human behaviour to a "T"! "It's mine!" "No, it's mine! Get out of here!" Interestingly, these are also the gulls that never seem to be satisfied and will spend most of their days waiting for some human to come by and give them food. And these are also the ones that are so easily disappointed that they become aggressive!

The gulls that function in the way God designed them to function, however, live worry-free lives. They enjoy true living! No wonder Jesus shared with us their secret: "Look at the bird, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God." They are worry-free because they leave themselves "in the care of God!" (Matt. 6:26a).

Jesus' next line is the one that is so vital to us: "And you count far more to him than birds." (Matt. 6:26b).

Only when we fully realize the truth behind this statement will we finally enjoy real, care-free living! Friends, we have nothing to be anxious about, for we "count far more to Him than birds!" He will take care of us!

Dear Lord, we thank You that You take care of us in all things. Help us not fall into the trap of fear but instead fully trust You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

You Are of Considerable Value in God's Eyes

Titus 3:7

So that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

William the Conqueror was born in 1027, in a town called Falaise, Normandy, which is now a part of France. He was the son of Herleva, the daughter of a local trader, and Robert, the Duke of Normandy. Everything seemed good. Except for the tiny fact that Herleva was not actually Robert's wife. William was an illegitimate child, and this fact didn't go unnoticed by the public.

From very early on, William was teased by seemingly everyone in town, and the nickname, "the Bastard" soon stuck. Though he was rejected and ridiculed, however, he was not without hope. Despite his illegitimate lineage, his father insisted William would be his heir. It's true that William was Robert's only son, but that didn't faze William in the least.

To make matters worse, attempts were made on William's life on two different occasions. At one time, Robert, probably feeling guilty, decided to go on a pilgrimage. While he was away, local Norman lords attacked William's kinsmen. It was bad, so bad that William had to run away to save his life. And he was only eight years old!

The second attempt happened when he was twenty. "The rebelling barons" conspired against him, and if a faithful servant hadn't warned him, he would have been six feet under.

As it turned out, everyone except his own father rejected him, but he never gave up. He kept holding on, for he knew his dad was on his side.

To make a long story short, William eventually became the King of England, a position far higher than what his own father had held. There is hope for the rejected ones!

Most of us can relate to William. We too have been mocked and ridiculed and rejected for various reasons.

Our brothers and sisters in faith in countries where Christianity is taboo have it a thousand times worse, for mockery turns into persecution, and persecution turns into martyrdom.

Take a minute to pray for them today.

It's not an easy world we live in, but one thing we can count on: Jesus is on our side! He boldly declares: "He is mine!" Although we may feel unworthy and undeserving of such a love, He stands by us. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Jesus did the unthinkable. He died for our sins, our rebellion against God. He died so that we wouldn't have to die. He died so that we could have hope for a brighter future, a future with the resurrected one. He died so that we could spend eternity with Him as our big brother. Jesus has made the unworthy worthy!

If a king or president would sacrifice himself for someone considered unworthy, it would mean the unworthy one was worthy after all, otherwise why would the king or the president have sacrificed himself?

So, my friend, you are of considerable value in God's eyes.

Dear Lord, thank You for showing us that we are worthy by dying for us. Help us share that good news with someone today.  We also pray for those that are persecuted for their faith in You, protect them from harm and give them the courage they need. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.