Today’s Scripture
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in
my mother’s womb. 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. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT)
Big Idea
Find your identity in God’s incredible workmanship in your life.
Today’s Thought
In case you haven’t heard, God loves you. But we have even better news: God also likes you.
Sometimes we don’t like the people we love. We’re supposed to love our family members, so we do — but given the choice, we’ll avoid Aunt Shannon and Uncle Will every chance we get because we don’t really like them! (Maybe it’s just the tacky homemade Christmas gifts we don’t really like.)
God loves us. And likes us — even when we don’t like ourselves.
Back in Exodus 3, Moses has a supernatural encounter with God at a burning bush. God called Moses to lead his people, the nation of Israel, out of captivity in Egypt. But Moses gave excuses. All he saw were his limitations. He didn’t feel worthy of standing before Pharaoh. He didn’t know what to say to the people of Israel. He wanted some ways to prove God had sent him. He claimed that he got tongue-tied too easily and wasn’t very good with words. And finally he just said, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”
You get the sense that Moses didn’t really like who he was! But when you read the words of Psalm 139, you discover that we should like who we are — unique and beautiful creations of God.
Many of us are held captive by shame — the same kind of shame Adam and Eve felt after they first sinned in Genesis 3. We live out of fear. We’re afraid to fail, to be who we are, to be honest, to be vulnerable, to try something new, to risk making a mistake. It all goes back to the identity issue. God uniquely created you. You are eternally valuable, and you have the opportunity to continue growing as an r12 Christian.
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in
my mother’s womb. 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. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT)
Big Idea
Find your identity in God’s incredible workmanship in your life.
Today’s Thought
In case you haven’t heard, God loves you. But we have even better news: God also likes you.
Sometimes we don’t like the people we love. We’re supposed to love our family members, so we do — but given the choice, we’ll avoid Aunt Shannon and Uncle Will every chance we get because we don’t really like them! (Maybe it’s just the tacky homemade Christmas gifts we don’t really like.)
God loves us. And likes us — even when we don’t like ourselves.
Back in Exodus 3, Moses has a supernatural encounter with God at a burning bush. God called Moses to lead his people, the nation of Israel, out of captivity in Egypt. But Moses gave excuses. All he saw were his limitations. He didn’t feel worthy of standing before Pharaoh. He didn’t know what to say to the people of Israel. He wanted some ways to prove God had sent him. He claimed that he got tongue-tied too easily and wasn’t very good with words. And finally he just said, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”
You get the sense that Moses didn’t really like who he was! But when you read the words of Psalm 139, you discover that we should like who we are — unique and beautiful creations of God.
Many of us are held captive by shame — the same kind of shame Adam and Eve felt after they first sinned in Genesis 3. We live out of fear. We’re afraid to fail, to be who we are, to be honest, to be vulnerable, to try something new, to risk making a mistake. It all goes back to the identity issue. God uniquely created you. You are eternally valuable, and you have the opportunity to continue growing as an r12 Christian.
And remember: God doesn’t just love you. God likes you, too.
Prayer
God, thanks for loving me and for liking me. Thanks for making me so
uniquely and wonderfully. I agree with what the Bible says: Your workmanship
is marvelous. Help me to have a greater appreciation of Your work and my
identity in You. I love You, God. Amen. Prayer
Really good message!-Elizabeth Calhoun
ReplyDeleteI read it- gabby :)
ReplyDeletehow did you know Aunt Shannon makes me tacky home-made presents........ :P - Ryan
ReplyDeleteI read it. :D -Jasmin
ReplyDeleteRead it :P - Tori Darden
ReplyDelete