Priceless

There's a billboard on Hwy 6 for a car dealership that reads, "A great deal is a deal you feel great about." The owner is declaring that the value of his vehicles is the price people feel good paying for them. Of course, we all love to find great deals. I was excited to find my car on the Saturn website because it had all the features I wanted and more that I hadn't even thought of, and because it was previously owned and had about 45,000 miles on it, I got it for half the price of a new car with the same features. It had obviously been very well cared for and was in great shape! I felt it was a great deal! Now, the value of the car was more than just what I payed for it...it represented reliable transportation and was meeting a need.

Think of the Master Card commercials which list the price for various things until they get to something that doesn't have a specific price...this thing they declare as "priceless."

As people, we struggle with determining our own value. We look for a sense of worth from a variety of sources such as the acceptance, approval and affections of other people, our ability to perform a task, our intellectual skills or how much money we have in the bank. The problem with basing our worth on these things is that they are all subjective (based on other people's whims) or at least subject to change. People are fickle, fragile and fallible. Circumstances can change and our supposed value could go flying out the window. We can't depend on our appearance, our finances, our abilities or our accomplishments to determine our worth. So, where does our value come from?

Value is defined as:

1) An amount, as of goods, services, or money, considered to be a fair and suitable equivalent for something else; a fair price or return.

-The Bible says, "...you are not your own, you were bought at a price..." (I Cor. 6:19b-20a). What is that price? Jesus' own blood. We are worth so much to God that He actually became a man and died in our place to buy us back from the Enemy! A fair price? According to our Creator...we are worth it!

2) Worth in usefulness or importance to the possessor; utility or merit [as in] the value of an education.

-Again, the Bible tells us that we are precious in His sight. This value is one of usefulness and importance to the God who made us, loves us and provides for us. We are a source of great joy to Him.

So, we never need to worry if we are valuable. We never need to question our worth. When you start to think you aren't good enough or smart enough or not enough people like you...remember you are supremely valuable. You are worth dying for. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You are priceless.

Peter Knows Best

I woke up this Easter morning thinking about Easter Sunday sermons. See, my grandmother (Me-Maw, as we all call her) is in hospice care with not much time remaining on this Earth and I was wishing she could attend church with us or at least have a service for today, most likely her last Easter. I got to thinking about what I would want preached in that sermon, and immediately I thought about the Apostle Peter.

It seems to me that no one on this earth knew Jesus as well as Peter did. Peter is one of the first disciples Jesus called. Jesus spent time at Peter's house when in Galilee (Matthew 8:14 and 17:25). He was the one who spoke up all the time with poignant statements and bold confessions. He was known for his passion. Here are just a few examples:

1) When Jesus walked on the water, Peter was the only one who had the faith to step out of the boat with Him.
2) Peter's the one who confessed that Jesus was the Christ.
3) Peter got to see Jesus transfigured and heard audibly the voice of God telling who Jesus was and to listen to Him. Peter speaks up and says they should build tabernacles for Jesus, Moses and Elijah who had also appeared.
4) Peter says the disciples had forsaken everything to follow Jesus.
5) When Jesus asked the disciples if they wanted to leave because His teachings were strange, Peter pipes up and says, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
6) At the Last Supper, Peter at first doesn't let Jesus wash his feet, then when Jesus explains, he wants Him to wash his head and hands as well.
7) Peter declared he will follow Christ anywhere, even to death.
8) Peter cuts off the soldier's ear when they come to arrest Jesus.
9) Just as emphatically, he denies any knowledge of Jesus as soon as things get scary at Jesus' trial.
10) Peter declares his love for the resurrected Jesus when the Lord appears to them on the beach.

Ok, that's not all, but that's enough for now. I went to the trouble to list all of the above to give you some perspective on the author of the following passage:

1 Peter 1:3-8
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

You see, Peter KNEW Jesus. He had experienced that mercy and KNEW it to be great. He had witnessed the death and resurrection of Christ and was fully aware of where His Lord was at that moment. He KNEW that Heaven awaited him. Because of this assurance, he could write these words of reassurance to the believers. He himself had gone through the trials and KNEW that they were the means to increased and refined faith, the faith that allows God's power to shield you from the Enemy and preserve you for Heaven. He didn't just wish or dream, he KNEW! And because he KNEW, he had hope. Not uncertain wondering, but real, living hope, the kind of hope that looks forward to a better future despite the pain of the present. Because he KNEW the Lord personally and KNEW the love that sent Him to the cross, he could assure them that even though they couldn't see Him they could love Him. Finally, this Peter who KNEW Jesus, KNEW that the refined faith, the living hope and the blind love were the source of "an inexpressible and glorious joy."

No matter what you're going through. No matter how imminent your death. No matter how bad things may seem. This life is not all there is. Peter wanted us to know this. And Peter knew best.

Waiting
On
WOW

WOW is an expression of amazement, wonder and surprise. Like many words in the English language, it gets overused and loses meaning, but I want to redeem it a little. WOW is that moment when you realize something that has previously escaped your notice or that catches you so off guard that you are stopped in your tracks and have no other word to use but WOW!

Isaiah had a WOW moment in Isaiah 6. He actually saw God and lived to tell about it. Isaac had one when he saw Rebekah for the first time. Peter, James and John had many as they walked with Jesus. These guys were actually WALKING with GOD around their own country, their hometown and watching Him heal the sick, calm storms, walk on water, be transfigured, raise the dead, feed 5000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish. WOW!

I think we fail to realize that that is the same God we know and worship. If we have recognized our sin and turned over our lives to Him, WOW has come to us. Why do we so often settle for less? A great missionary, William Carey once said, "Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God." His life was amazing and he saw God do amazing things in and through him. But we don't have to go to India to see God do great things, nor to be used of God to do great things.

I want to challenge us to wait for WOW. We must pray for it, expect it and go for it with God. Never settle for less than WOW in your life.

Perhaps you're in a dead end job and just getting out of bed to go to work everyday is a chore. Perhaps you're single and you doubt what they say about there being "someone out there" for you. Perhaps you're stuck in some rut and there seems to be no light at the end of your long, dark tunnel. Whatever your situation, God wants to WOW you with His power through it. This will require faith on your part. WOW can't be forced, manipulated or mustered up. God is the owner and purveyor of WOW. If God doesn't do it, it's not WOW.

Pray for God to work out your situation and then wait and watch for His answer. Don't settle for mediocre when you can have WOW. Don't even settle for good when you can have WOW. Wait on God. Wait On WOW.

Disappointment

Life throws us curves all the time. People get sick or even die. Relationships fail. Friends betray you or let you down. Injuries happen. Stuff breaks. Your team loses the big game. Jobs, promotions and raises go to other people. Conflicts arise and tough decisions have to be made.

Disappointment happens because we live in a fallen world where sin is rampant and every one of us has been the guilty party as well as the innocent victim. When stuff happens that hurts or that disappoints us, we have a choice of how to react. You see, disappointment is not sin. Being hurt is not sin. Sin connected to disappointment happens when you try to resolve the problem yourself. You may do this with anger, lashing out at the one who hurt you or worse, someone innocent who wasn't even involved. Or you may retreat within yourself, get depressed and refuse to allow healing to begin. You may whine and complain and throw a royal pity party. You may beat yourself up thinking the disappointment was somehow your fault and you could have done something to stop it from happening. Or, you may choose to give it to God and let Him take the pain upon Himself and heal you.

This final option, which of course is the right one, is very difficult. It requires letting go and surrendering your will and your desires to Someone else. The beautiful thing about surrender is that it opens the door for blessing. God hates pain. He hates sin. He loves us and like a parent that never wants to see his child scrape a knee or get made fun of at school, He is very protective of us. But life still happens and He allows it because so often the pain will bring us right into His arms. He wants to be the Comforter and the Healer. God could stop sin and one day He will, but in His love for us, He gave us the ability to choose to love or reject Him, to obey or disobey Him. He wants us to choose Him and disappointment is the result of people not choosing to love and obey God.

So, right now, if things are painful in your life. If you've been hurt or a disappointment has come your way, give it to the Father who loves you and who wants to make it all better. It may take time, but pray about it and thank Him for all the blessings you can think of, then the peace of God will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. Jesus said "My Peace I leave with you; peace I give to you. I do not give it to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27). Again, he says "I have told you these things so that in me, you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33)." We can trust that Jesus' death and resurrection will set everything right. We can trust that even though people will let us down in this life, God will never let us down. We can trust that even if our future looks bleak and our present is painful, there is a God who wants to hold us and who has something in store for us that is greater than we can imagine. The blessing in disguise that comes with disappointment is that when things finally do get right and you come out on the other side of it, you are stronger and you appreciate the joys in life that much more because you have felt the pains and known the heartaches.

Give it to God. Pray for peace. Wait for healing. It will come.

Procrastination

On the floor of my room, piles of Spanish projects collected over the last two weeks are awaiting my attention. So far, I have made a small dent in the work, but there is so much more to be done. And what did I do yesterday? I read a book, washed dishes, played softball, visited with family...basically everything but grade these papers. How hypocritical of me that I get on to my students for not turning in their work on time when I can't get it back to them in a reasonable amount of time. Oh, I'll get it done. I always do, but I'll have to sacrifice some sleep time and will probably end up not doing as good a job of giving them feedback as I would have if I had really sat down and applied myself to the task this weekend.

So, why do we procrastinate? Am I alone in this habit? Is it a maturity thing? A personality thing? A sin? What do you think?