YOU ARE NEVER WORTHLESS

A lot of us deal with issues of self-worth. We don’t think good about ourselves because of the things we have done or the things that have been done to us. 

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this."

He proceeded to crumple the $20 dollar bill up. He then asked, "who still wants it?"

Still the hands were up in the air.

Well, he replied, "what if I do this?"

And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.

"Now who still wants it?"

Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson," he said, "no matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20." 

While that $20 bill could have been used for a lot of good, chances are it has seen a lot of bad.  If it could think and had a mind, it might have a bad conscious. Maybe it has been used to buy drugs, maybe it was stolen once and someone died over it. Perhaps it was used to fund a terrorist organization.  Maybe it has been used by impure things like to purchase a prostitute. Any number of things could have been done with this $20 bill. I could take that $20 bill and rip it, scar it, put marks on it that are unsightly. 

"Would you still want it?"  Of course you would.  

Because an authority higher than us gave it its value and nothing can take it away.

The same applies to us.  No matter what we have been through, no matter what we have done, we still have worth. It is in you. Nothing can take it away.

There are things I wish I could go back in time and redo, undo or just never do at all. Even though my own conscious and heart reminds me every day that I did them, I have to remind myself that something with greater authority than me gave me a self worth.

Choose to remind yourself of that everyday.

Are You Really Blessed?

From Scott Dannemiller's One Thing Christians should stop saying: 

I've noticed a trend among Christians, myself included, and it troubles me. Our rote response to material windfalls is to call ourselves blessed. Like the "amen" at the end of a prayer.

"This new car is such a blessing."

"Finally closed on the house. Feeling blessed."

"Just got back from a mission trip. Realizing how blessed we are here in this country."

On the surface, the phrase seems harmless. Faithful even. Why wouldn't I want to give God the glory for everything I have? Isn't that the right thing to do?

No.

As I reflected on my "feeling blessed" comment, two thoughts came to mind. I realize I'm splitting hairs here, creating an argument over semantics. But bear with me, because I believe it is critically important. It's one of those things we can't see because it's so culturally engrained that it has become normal.

But it has to stop. And here's why.

First, when I say that my material fortune is the result of God's blessing, it reduces The Almighty to some sort of sky-bound, wish-granting fairy who spends his days randomly bestowing cars and cash upon his followers. I can't help but draw parallels to how I handed out M&M's to my own kids when they followed my directions and chose to poop in the toilet rather than in their pants. Sure, God wants us to continually seek His will, and it's for our own good. But positive reinforcement?

God is not a behavioral psychologist.

Second, and more importantly, calling myself blessed because of material good fortune is just plain wrong. For starters, it can be offensive to the hundreds of millions of Christians in the world who live on less than $10 per day. You read that right. Hundreds of millions who receive a single-digit dollar "blessing" per day.

During our year in Guatemala, Gabby and I witnessed first-hand the damage done by the theology of prosperity, where faithful people scraping by to feed their families were simply told they must not be faithful enough. If they were, God would pull them out of their nightmare. Just try harder, and God will show favor.

The problem? Nowhere in scripture are we promised worldly ease in return for our pledge of faith. In fact, the most devout saints from the Bible usually died penniless, receiving a one-way ticket to prison or death by torture.

I'll take door number three, please.

If we're looking for the definition of blessing, Jesus spells it out clearly (Matthew 5: 1-12).

1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him,

2 And He began to teach them, saying:

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I have a sneaking suspicion verses 12a 12b and 12c were omitted from the text. That's where the disciples responded by saying:

12a Waitest thou for one second, Lord. What about "blessed art thou comfortable," or 12b "blessed art thou which havest good jobs, a modest house in the suburbs, and a yearly vacation to the Florida Gulf Coast?"

12c And Jesus said unto them, "Apologies, my brothers, but those did not maketh the cut."

So there it is. Written in red. Plain as day. Even still, we ignore it all when we hijack the word "blessed" to make it fit neatly into our modern American ideals, creating a cosmic lottery where every sincere prayer buys us another scratch-off ticket. In the process, we stand the risk of alienating those we are hoping to bring to the faith.

And we have to stop playing that game.

The truth is, I have no idea why I was born where I was or why I have the opportunity I have. It's beyond comprehension. But I certainly don't believe God has chosen me above others because of the veracity of my prayers or the depth of my faith. Still, if I take advantage of the opportunities set before me, a comfortable life may come my way. It's not guaranteed. But if it does happen, I don't believe Jesus will call me blessed.

He will call me "burdened."

He will ask,

"What will you do with it?"

"Will you use it for yourself?"

"Will you use it to help?"

"Will you hold it close for comfort?"

"Will you share it?"

So many hard choices. So few easy answers.

So my prayer today is that I understand my true blessing. It's not my house. Or my job. Or my standard of living.

No.

My blessing is this. I know a God who gives hope to the hopeless. I know a God who loves the unlovable. I know a God who comforts the sorrowful. And I know a God who has planted this same power within me. Within all of us.

And for this blessing, may our response always be,

"Use me."

Now, my new response is simply, "I'm grateful."

Share your Best Seeds

"There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best grown corn.

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.

“Why sir,” said the farmer, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”

So is with our lives... Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches.

Prayer - Submitting to God's Will

I had to talk to God this morning about a hope that had not yet materialized.   As I prayed God's presence came in and flooded my soul....... This was my prayer: 

"God, I know that trials are painful circumstances allowed by you to change my conduct and my character.

So, God, I am going to submit to it.  I am going to accept it.  I am going to embrace it. You are a good and loving God.  You have allowed this for a purpose.  You are using it to refine me.  Your work is not finished yet.  My prayer will be answered according to your will.  I will not resist, rebel or resent.  I will not become bitter.

Forgive me God.  Forgive me for thinking I know better than you.  Forgive me for thinking I could have made a better plan, that I could have got there a better way.  Forgive me for my stubbornness.  I love you and I want to be in submission to you.  I want to embrace what you allow.

I fear this spiraling road.  So I stop here and now.  I hate the bitterness in myself.  Cleanse my heart of that resistance and stubbornness. Lord, I lift the hands that hang down.

Help me as I submit to you.  You are all that I need.  You are all that I want.  Nothing else really matters.  Help me as I draw close to you.  I choose to accept what you allow."

Forgiveness - One thing evil cannot stand

In the book, The Simple Faith of Mr. Rogers, Amy Hollingsworth relates a story Mr. Rogers told her about one of his professors, Dr. William Orr. 

Fred Rogers had gone to see Dr. Orr, toward the end of his life after a stroke left him partially paralyzed, but his professor was still bright in mind and spirit. Mr. Rogers asked Dr. Orr about something that was on his mind from the Sunday morning worship service he and his wife had attended earlier that day. One of the hymns had been Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. What puzzled Mr. Rogers was the verse that says:

         
The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him;

his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure, 
one little word shall fell him.  

 “Dr. Orr,” Fred Rogers asked, “what is the one little word that will fell the prince of darkness?" After a quiet moment, the professor answered “Forgiveness.  You know, Fred, there is one thing that evil cannot stand, and that's forgiveness.”

Forgive. It is one little word, but it turns out to be the gift to you, not so much a gift to the person you are forgiving. Forgiveness reaches to both people.  In forgiveness, there is the absence of all evil. Because there is one thing evil cannot stand, and that's forgiveness. 

Guilt - Even a Child Can Suffer From Guilt

My eleven year old niece was riding to church with me and asked, "Aunt Paula, can I ask you a question? What do you do when you have done something wrong and have asked forgiveness but the memory of it keeps coming to your mind?"  Her question rocked me. At the time I was going through my own struggle with guilt, but she is not even a teenager yet. It showed me the enemy does not wait until we are adults to start tormenting us with guilt and shame. He tries to get his ugly tormenting thoughts into our mind as soon as he can.

I explained through my own experience that condemnation was one of Satan's greatest tools he uses against us. It is an attack on our mind. Although we wish many times we could go back and change some things, some of the choices we make do have consequences, but if you have done all you can do to make it right, then you have to believe that what the devil would like to use to destroy us God will turn it for our good, whether it be a lesson learned, or to lead us toward a different path, or make new friends. The Bible tells to cast down every thought that is not from God as it comes into our mind. Even if we have to physically take our hand and pretend to pull something out of our head. We have to do whatever it takes to tear down those thoughts that try to destroy our peace of mind.

2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Why do you think God wants us to be new creations? Because He does not want your past to be a part of you anymore!

Psalms 103:12, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."

Now that our past failures have been forgiven, we need to leave them there and press forward towards the things God has for us:

Philippines 3:13, "...this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before."

A Hole In My Sidewalk

I came across this poem by Portia Nelson, "An Autobiography In Five Chapters" . It describes so well my own journey in life. No matter how much you may feel like you will always keep making the same mistakes over and over again there is hope. The ability to change old patterns lies within you.  It is ultimately up to you to see the hole, to make a change, and walk down a different path ......


‘I walk down the street. There’s a hole in the pavement and I fall in. I’m lost; it isn’t my fault. It takes forever to get out. 


I walk down the street again. There’s a hole in the pavement but I pretend I don’t see it, so I fall in again. I can’t believe I’m in the same place; still, it isn’t my fault. 


I walk down the street again. There’s a hole in the pavement. I see it, but I still fall in – it’s a habit. But now my eyes are open and I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately. 


I walk down the street. There’s a hole in the pavement. I walk around it. 


Finally, I walk down a different street.’