ACCEPTING YOUR VALUE...

ACCEPTING YOUR VALUE!! Matthew 10:29-31, (29) are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. (30) And even the hairs of your head are numbered. (31) So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Introduction: Jesus said that God is aware of everything that happens even to sparrows, and you and I are far more valuable to Him than they are... / We are so valuable that God sent His only Son to die for us... / Because God places such value on us, we need never fear personal threats or difficult trials... / These can’t shake God’s love or dislodge His Spirit from within us... / But this does not mean that God will take away all our troubles... / The real test of value is how well something holds up under the wear, tear, and abuse of everyday life... / Those who stand up for Christ in spite of their troubles truly have lasting value and will receive great rewards.

A) What God sees!!

1) God’s eyes are never shut... /He sees everything... /Everything that happens in the whole world, God sees... /He sees us when we are doing well... /He sees us when we are doing things we should not do... / He knows our every move. ../

His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me... / Praise God,

2) I know that there are most times consequences to pay when we do things that are against God’s will... /I also believe that God is not dwelling on our faults...

(Illustration: Father & Son, at football game...) / God sees our good moves... /God focuses on the things you’re doing (right now ...) He sees the best in you, because He knows what we are capable of... /You may not always control your temper as you know you should... /Or you may slip and say things you wish you hadn’t said... /Seek forgiveness from God and from anyone you may have offended, but don’t go around beating yourself up, living in condemnation... /As long as you are pressing forward, you can hold your head up high, knowing that you are a “work in progress” and God is in the process of changing you... /He’s looking at your good moves...

3) I’m not saying this to condone wrongdoing, but the truth is, we all have areas in which we need to improve... /We can’t become so focused on our faults that we cease to enjoy who God made us to be... /You’ve got to be happy with who you are right now and accept yourself, faults and all...

4) An important factor in seeing you God’s way is to understand your natural sense of value, whether you make the right moves or the wrong moves... /Too often we focus on our faults, weaknesses, past mistakes, and failures...

Rejection and other painful experiences steal our self-esteem and make us feel unwanted and insecure.

((LISTEN:))

5) Our sense of value cannot be based on our achievements, how well we perform, how somebody else treats us, or how popular or successful we are... /Our sense of value should be based solely on the fact that we are a child of the Most High God... /As His unique creation, we have something to offer this world that nobody else has, that nobody else can be...

6) It’s vital that you accept yourself and learn to be happy with who God made you to be... If you want to truly enjoy your life, you must be at peace with yourself... /Many people constantly feel badly about themselves, they are overly critical of themselves, living with all sorts of self-imposed guilt and condemnation... /No wonder they’re not happy; they have a war gong on inside, they’re not at peace with themselves... /And if you can’t get along with yourself, you will never get along with other people... /The place to start is by being happy with who God made you to be...

B) Learn to Be Happy with Whom God Made Us To Be:

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

1) We may not be perfect—nobody is!! /Sure, we’ve got some flaws—all of us do!! /But to be truly free, we must have a healthy respect for ourselves in spite of those “Imperfections.”/

Some people are always putting themselves down. “I’m so slow.” “I’ll never break these bad habits.” /“I’m unattractive.” /“Look at my nose; what am I ever going to do with my hair?” (I have not figured out yet what happen to mine!!)

2) Don’t be so hard on yourself!! /Certainly, there may be some things in your life that your aren’t happy about; you may have some habits you need to break. /But remember, God is not finished with you. /He’s in the process of changing you. /(Sanctification)

3) The Scripture says we are God’s workmanship. /The word workmanship implies that you are not yet a finished product; you are a “work in progress.” / Throughout our lives, God is continually shaping and molding us into the people He wants us to be. / (We have to be a willing vessel...) /

One of the keys to future victory and peace is not to be discouraged about your past or present while you are in the process of being, “Completed.” (Boat Ill. Scrape, putty, paint etc.)

a) New Living Translation says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. /He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”

b) Define Masterpiece: 1) An outstanding work of art or craft. / 2) The greatest work as of an artist or “Creator.” /Now stop and think about that for a moment. / How valuable are we to God because we are His Masterpiece? /

c) He created us in His image. /He has plans for us. /Plans to give us hope and a future, plans for good and not calamity... /Plans that empower us to be a worker in His Kingdom work... / (The benefits from this job are out of this world.) /

He cares so much for us until He never stops working on us or in us to make us better... /He provides all we need... /Not all we want, but what He knows, we need.../He loves us so much until He provided payment for a price we could not pay, (the payment for our sin.) /

He provided His Son, Jesus to die on the cross, as payment for our sins. / Then, as we are growing into His image, He provides an Instructor or Guide to help us along the way when we start getting of course. (Holy Spirit)

4) The Bible indicates that we go from glory to glory as we are being transformed into God’s image.

2nd Corinthians 3:18, And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the LORDS glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which come from the LORD, who is the Spirit.

5) Whether you realize it or not, right now God is moving you onward toward greater things... /The path of righteous gets brighter and brighter.

Proverbs 4:18, “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”

6) When we work with God, each new day can become a new bright start... /When we walk in His righteousness, we shine like the first gleam of the early morning dawn... / As we trust Him and grow in Him, we become brighter and brighter... Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.”

7) When we are tempted to get discouraged, we need to remind ourselves that according to God’s Word, our future is getting brighter... /If we trust Him, we are always on our way to a new level of glory... /

8) Often it seems like we have a long way to go, but we need to look back at how far we have already come... /We may not be everything we want to be, but at least we can thank God that we are not what we used to be. ..

C) Our Value is Natural:

1) This value is not something we have earned; without a doubt, we cannot earn it... / God built value into us when He created us... / To God, we are His ultimate creations... / That means we can stop being obsessed about all of our faults... / Every person has some weakness... / Even the great men and women of the Bible made mistakes... / They all had shortcomings, but that didn’t stop God from loving them, blessing them, and using them to accomplish great deeds for Him... / Besides, we need to learn how to keep our flaws in perspective... / You may think there is a lot wrong with you, but there is also a lot right with you. (God sees our good moves)

2) The great news is that God knows everything about us, both good and bad, and He still loves us and values us unconditionally... / God does not always approve of our behavior... / He is not pleased when we go against His will, and when we do, we always suffer the consequences and have to work with Him to correct our thoughts, words, actions, or attitudes... / And while we should work to improve in the areas where we fall short, nothing we do will ever cause God to love us less…or more... /His love is a constant you can depend on...

3) Understand, your value in God’s eyes never changes... / Some people want us to think that the moment we do something wrong or get off course, God gets his big marker out, crosses our name off His list, And says, “I knew they couldn’t do it. I knew they didn’t have what it takes...”/No, God is a forgiving God.../He is a God of second chances... /

No matter how many times you fail him or how many mistakes you make, your value in God’s eyes, remain exactly the same. (God did a wonderful thing, he took all my sins away)

4) Imagine that I handed you a new, crisp $100.00 bill... /Would you want it? /Probably so! Suppose I crumbled it up so it wasn’t quite as good looking as it was the day it came from the mint.../ Would you still want it? /Sure! But wait, what if I took it out in the parking lot, through it on the ground, and stomped on it until the picture on the bill was barely perceptible... /It’s now dirty, stained and soiled... / Would you still want it?

5) Of course... / Why? / Because it is still valuable despite the rough treatment it has experienced... / $100.00 is $100.00.../ It doesn’t lose its value simply because it has aged, it is not as pretty as it once was, or has taken some bumps and bruises and life...

6) That’s the way God sees each one of us... / We all go through challenges and struggles... Sometimes we feel like that hundred dollar bill all crumbled and soiled... / But just as that hundred dollar bills still has a value, we do too! /In fact, we will never, ever lose our value... / Our value has been placed in us by the creator of the universe, and nobody can take it away from us... /

7) Don’t let other people, systems, or circumstances influence your estimation of your value... / You may have gone through some hard times, painful experiences in which somebody mistreated you, used you, or rejected you... / Maybe your husband or wife walked out on you and you went through a bitter divorce... / Maybe a good friend turned on you for no reason, and you now feel alone and worthless.../

Maybe you felt rejected as a child, and you are living with feelings of guilt and shame... / Perhaps you have even convinced yourself that the negative things that happened in your past are all your fault...

Maybe you feel that you deserve nothing but heartache, pain, guilt, and condemnation;
Listen, nothing could be farther from the truth.

D) God Knows Your Value:
Matthew 16:26, What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul!

Reading this verse tells me that the value of a mans soul is worth more than the whole world... /

1) I talking to a young man, who had suffered severe rejection as a child... / His parents constantly beat him down verbally, telling him that he was never going to make it in life: that he’d never amount to anything... /Day after day, those destructive words pounded into his thoughts and his subconscious mind, destroying his self image and his sense of value. /He told me later how he believed the root cause of this problem was the fact his parents had hoped for a baby girl... / They had told him they were greatly disappointed when he was born... /Seventeen years later he was still living with tremendous guilt and shame... /And for what? /Being born! /Sadly he was convinced that he was to blame for all the heartache in his family... / That he was the reason his parents were so unhappy; that he had done something wrong... / He felt his life was one horrible mistake...

2) He had been battered with the words of his parents for so long, until he began to believe what they said was the truth... / My advice to him was that we cannot allow our self-esteem and our sense of value to be determined by how other people treat us or what they say about us...

3) For this young man and for each of us,, we should always remember that God is our heavenly Father and accepts us even if everybody else in this world rejects us... / We are His special Masterpiece, we are part of Him and He is part of us...

4) I love what the psalmist said in Psalm 27:10, “Although my mother and father have rejected me, the Lord will take me in and adopt me as His very own child.” /

God will never reject you. / He always accepts you. /

Don’t allow the rejection of other people to cause you to reject yourself. / By the way, we are not what people say we are, we are what God says we are.

5) Maybe you live or work with somebody who is emotionally abusive, always putting you down and criticizing you, telling you what a terrible person you are... / Let that misinformation go in one ear and out the other... / Constantly remind yourself, that you are made in the image of Almighty God... / Remind yourself that He has crowned you with glory and honor, that you are God’s own masterpiece. / Don’t let other people play games with your mind, deceiving you into thinking that your value has diminished.

6) You may feel that your ambition has been dashed by the choices you have made or the choices imposed on you by others... / You may feel trapped in a rut, but there’s hope!! /

God wants to restore your sense of value... /

David wrote in Psalm 40: 2-3, “God has lifted me out of the horrible pit and He set my feet upon a rock and He put a new song in my mouth.” /

God truly wants to put a new song in your heart... / He wants to fill you with hope... / He wants you to know that He loves you more than you can imagine and He can turn your dashed dreams into something beautiful...

E) God determines Our Value and Our Future:

1) No matter what we think, God knows the real deal. / He knows just what we are worth... He knows just what He wants us to do... / Often, we have our own future planed out and we think we don’t need any help... /

The Bible tells us that God has plans for us... / Plans for hope and a future. / Plans to prosper us with everlasting life. / If we do our best to follow His will, we will be doing the things in life that He would have us do.

2) I Recently heard again, the timeless story, “The Tale of Three Trees.” / This fictitious children’s story relates the lofty ambition of on olive tree, on oak tree, and a pine tree... / Each of these trees had a great dream to become something special in life... /The olive tree had dreamed of becoming a finely crafted treasure chest... / It wanted to hold gold, silver and precious jewels... /

One day a woodsman chose the one olive tree, out of all the trees in the Forest, and cut it down... /The olive tree was so thrilled... /But as the craftsman began working on him, the tree realizes they weren’t making him into a beautiful treasure chest, they were making him into a manger, to whole food for dirty smelly animals.../ Heartbroken, his dreams were shattered... /He fell worthless and demeaned...

3) Similarity, the oak tree dreamed of becoming part of a huge ship that would carry important Kings across the ocean... / When the woodsman cut down the oak, he was so excited... / But as time went on, he realized the craftsmen weren’t making him into a huge ship... / They were making into a tiny fishing boat... /He was so discourage so disappointed...

4) The pine tree lived on top of a high mountain... / Its only dream was to always stand tall and remind people of God’s great creation... / But in a split second a bold of lighting sent in down onto the ground the destroyed its dreams... / The woodsman came and picked it up and carried it off to a scrap pile...

5) All three of these trees felt they had lost their value and they’re worth... / They were so discouraged, so disappointed... /Not one of their dreams had to come to pass... /But God had other plans for these trees... /

6) Many Years later, Mary and Joseph couldn’t find a place to give birth to their little baby boy... / They finally found a stable, and when Jesus was born they placed Him in a manger made from, you guessed it, the olive tree... / The olive tree had wanted to hold precious jewels, but God had better plans, it now held the greatest treasure of all time, the Son of God... /

7) A few years went by, and Jesus grew up... / One day He needed a boat to cross to the other side of the lake... / He didn’t choose a large, fancy ship; He chose a small, simple fishing boat make from the oak tree. .../ The oak tree wanted to carry important king across the ocean, but God had greater plans... / The oak tree now carried the King of Kings and The Lord of Lords..

8) A few more years went by, and one day some Roman soldiers were rummaging around in the pile of scrap wood where the discarded pine tree lay... / The pine tree just knew they were coming to cut it up for firewood... / But much to it surprise, they cut only two small pieces out and formed them into a cross... / And it was on this pine tree that Jesus was crucified.... / That tree is still pointing people to God’s love and God’s compassion to this very day... /

The Point of this classic story is clear: all three thought they had lost their value, that their stories were all over, yet they became internal parts of the greatest story ever told.

God knows your true value, he sees your potential... / You may not understand everything you are going through right now... /

But hold your head up high, knowing that God is in control and He has a great plan and purpose for your life... /

You’re dreams may not have turned out exactly like you hoped, but the Bible says the God’s ways are better and higher than our ways... /

Even when everybody else rejects you, remember, God stands before you with his arms are open wide... / Always sitting on the front porch with His arms open wide!!!!

He always accepts you just like you are... /

God sees your good moves... /

You are his prized possession... /

No matter what you go through in life, no matter how many disappointments you suffer, your value in God’s eyes always remains the same... /

You will always be the apple in His eye...

God will never give up on you, so don’t give up on your self...

Genesis 2: 15. “The LORD God took man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”


ACCEPTING YOUR VALUE: "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God preordained before the creation of the world..."



Thanks.

Rev…Robert N. Graves. Sr.
Fisherman for Christ
July 14, 2008