Sunday, March 17, 2013

March 18, 2013

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." I John 4:10

One way the need for significance manifests itself in 2018 is the phenomenon known as "social networking". Millions are texting or tweeting or posting on Facebook. Essentially, they are saying, "Notice me!" or "Let me know I matter!" or "Make me feel significant!"

The more friends you have or the more tweets you get the more accepted you feel. you want to be known and know you matter. I contend that the wild popularity of these social networks is fueled by the fear of not mattering.

I am sure God is beyond fear, BUT if He would have a fear I believe it would be the fear that He would not matter to us. He needs for you to recognize His significance. It is in your best interest as well as His.

So, God texted you! Yes, He did! He sent His Commandments through His servant, Moses! He made it clear what matters to Him. He showed you what should matter to you!

Next, God tweeted us! Through His Prophets and His Patriarchs He inspired the great Scriptures of the Old Testament to let us know what He was doing and what He was planning to do in the future. He did not want you to miss what He was doing in our behalf.

Finally, He posted on Facebook! Yes, He did! He sent His Son, Jesus - the God-man - to allow you to get a look at His profile. He wanted us to know what He looks like and what He loves. By posting His picture in the portrait of Jesus, God revealed His nature and His heart. He wanted to know you and to be known by you!

One way you can know you are significant to God is to understand through Scripture just how badly He wants to matter to you! He is the One Who created you and is the only One Who can recreate you into His image!

When you decide to let God know how much He matters to you, then you will begin to understand how much you matter to Him.

March 17, 2013

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

We are heading into the yard sale season. If you haven't done a yard sale, you may not relate to this article but for the other 99.99% of us, you know that the hardest part is tagging all the items with a price. The first 1,000 items you tend to estimate a little high because you know the hard-core yard salers will haggle the price anyway. But, after several hours of assigning value to items you don't value enough to keep, you reach a point where you stop caring and just start slapping price stickers on stuff.

Similarly, when the day of the sale comes you start the day with high hopes trying to hold the line against the bargain-hunters who show up seeking treasure among your trinkets. But as the day wears on and you still have piles of stuff, you come to the realization that your stuff is only worth what people are willing to pay for it. The thought of having to pick up all the remaining items and put them away somewhere causes you to begin throwing stuff into bags or boxes and selling them enmass for less than you sold stuff individually earlier in the day.

A day spent doing a yard sale may be the best education in economics that you could have. You learn that the ultimate value of something is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it.

As you struggle to find your own sense of significance and value, that same principle applies. You are worth what someone is willing to pay for you. So, be really careful who you allow to slap a price tag on you.

If you try to determine your own value or if you give that power to other people, you will spend your life bargaining and pleading and always feeling cheated or undervalued. You will find wild fluctuations in your value from day to day.

The way to know how much you are really worth is to understand the price that was paid for you! God bought you with the life blood of His own Son, Jesus. That means that He places equal value on you as He does His Son! That is the price tag He placed on you.

God thinks you matter! You are significant to Him! Why not accept His estimate? Why would you continue to under value yourself? Why sell yourself to the lowest bidder?