Learning My Worth

Today's prompt from Writer's Workshop invoked a plethora of swirling thoughts.  (This is the second time I've used the word plethora in posting this week. Just sayin')

1.) A lesson you learned.

Well.

The moment I looked at that prompt, I thought, "Well, phooey, I can't remember anything I learned.  I mean, they don't want to know how I learned to cook, blog or master Microsoft Word, Powerchurch or practical things like that, do they?"

It was as if I had attained my fifty-something status and learned nary a thing.

I had to ruminate awhile.

Then, like dawn breaking over the horizon, came thoughts of how I learned to see myself as God sees me. Once you know that, you will feel peace like never before.

I'm no theologian, but some scriptures have spoken deeply to me, especially after the last couple years.  You wouldn't want me to hold out on you, would you?   Wouldn't you want me to share something I've learned if it brought me comfort?

I am loved ...

I'm incredibly, scandalously even extravagantly loved! I am so loved that the King of The Universe decided to come clothe Himself in humanity and offer Himself as a sacrifice in my place.

He knew from the very beginning He wanted me.

While my mother carried me, dreaming her hopes and desires for me and picking out a name for me, my Abba Father also had plans for me and intends to give me a new name - one that only He knows.

He also knew from the very beginning I would fail.

Since Jesus walked here on earth for 33 years, He knows my brokenness.  He knows what I am made of and what I am capable of doing.

He knew that I would need fresh mercy and new beginnings and every day He provides that for me.


I am His masterpiece.

Like a great work of art takes time, His molding of my life takes time.  The process is so slow that sometimes it is impossible to see any progress.  His word says that the work He began in me will be completed

He did it for you, too!

In fact, He calls everyone that is willing to come join themselves to Him in this unique love relationship.  He doesn't ask us to become slaves but instead wants us to be as brothers and sisters, or joint-heirs,  with Christ.  He even calls us friends.

All He asks is a repentant willing heart to come follow Him.

Don't believe me?  Just read the scriptures below - all taken from the Word of God. (It's a long list but well worth reading.)  Remember, you are worth more than you dreamed. You are precious in His sight!
 

~~~

John 3:16  English Standard Version (ESV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Ephesians 5:1-2 The Message (MSG)

Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

Psalm 139:13-16 The Message (MSG)

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.

Jeremiah 29:11 English Standard Version (ESV)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

 

 Revelation 2:17 New American Standard Bible

"To him who overcomes, to him I will give ... a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’

Psalm 103:14 New King James Version

For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.

 

Lamentations 3:22-23  Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

 Because of the Lord’s faithful love
we do not perish,
for His mercies never end. They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness!

Ephesians 2:10 New Living Translation

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago 

 

Philippians 1:6 New King James Version (NKJV)

 
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 

Romans 8:16-17 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
 

John 15:15 New King James Version (NKJV)
 

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

 

And my ultimate favorite passage that tells how He feels about those of us who have accepted Christ, repented from our sin, and become grafted into His family as seeds of Abraham:

Isaiah 43:1-4  The Message (MSG)

But now, God’s Message,
    the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
    the One who got you started, Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
    I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
    When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
    it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
    The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
    all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That’s how much you mean to me!
    That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
    trade the creation just for you.

~~~

I'm sharing this at Writer's Workshop at Kathy's blog, Mama's Losin' It.

Also, I'm sharing this at #TellHisStory because His story is that He loves me - and you! You can see other great writing at JenniferDukesLee.com