Our Worth

Psalm 139

Who are we?

How do we view ourselves?

How do we know our worth?

What makes up our self-worth?

These are questions we might ponder

If we are to be judged by our performances

Our values and worth can go up and down from day to day

But

How does God view us?

After all, He is our Maker

He saw our unformed body even before one day came into being

He hems us in behind and before

He lays His hands upon us

God knows our

Every thought

Every word

Every move

He is familiar with all our ways

For He knows us thoroughly

All the days ordained for us were written in His book

Even before one day came into being

This God

Our Creator

The Lover or our soul

Who knows us completely

Finds us worthy 

Of His love

Of His loving care

Of His creation

He calls us His Masterpiece

Our worth comes from Him imbuing us with worth

It is about the Creator and His worth

It is about the Creator and Him giving us worth

It is the Father Who wants a relationship with us

He then went about to form us in our mother’s womb

He hands us over into our mother’s arms

He raises us through our earthly parents

He is present in every moment of our lives

Constantly

Watching

Caring

Attending

Through the good and bad times

Through our times of joys and sorrows

God the Creator

God the Maker

God the Father

God the Lover of our soul

God and His Presence

His companionship even when we are unaware

HE LOVES US

We are unique reflections of Himself 

It is because of His love for us that 

We

Are

Counted

As

WORTHY

Worthy of His Son’s death on the cross

In order to redeem us

So that

We might find our worth 

In God

Through Christ

Experienced through the Holy Spirit

Do we see it?

Do we sense it?

Do we feel it?

Do we believe it?

It is God 

And all about God

That we get to have worth

We are worthy

Because 

God 

Gives us 

Our Worth

The Unseen and Unheard Man Born Blind

John 9 & Matthew 25

The man who was born blind and cannot see

Others treated him as one who would stay blind

His neighbors and others who have seen him around

Expected that he would never gain sight

Evidently they also were unable to hear his voice

After Jesus gave him sight

Those who knew him talked amongst themselves

In his presence

As if he was not there

They debated whether he was who he was

They thought he only looked like the blind man they saw around town

He had to say to them

I am the man

But they did not believe him

He not only did not have sight

He also did not have a voice

Even after he gained sight

Even after the Pharisees questioned him about his sight

They did not believe what he said

They went to this man’s parents and asked them about his sight

After his parents shirked the question 

The Pharisees asked the man who had been blind

Again

How did he gain his sight

He replied

I have told you already and you did not listen

Do we see

Do we have sight

Do we hear

Are we able to hear

Could we 

See and

Hear

The disenfranchised

The poor 

The down-trodden

The beggars

Those suffering from scarcity of

Resources

Finances

Health

Sobriety

Soundness of mind

Family

Friendships

Community

Human contact

The lowest of the low in our society

Do we see them 

Do we hear their voices

Those who do not have social capital 

Do we realize that 

They are God’s creation

God’s Masterpiece

God’s Workmanship

Just as we are

God’s Beloved

Might that be why Jesus said

At the End of Time

The Son of Man will separate

The sheep from the goat

Those who

Attended to people in need

Those who 

Fed the hungry

Gave drink to the thirsty

Invited in strangers

Clothed the naked

Visited the sick

Visited those in prison

Those who

See

Hear

Attend to in action

The blind

The voiceless

The weak

The needy

In our neighborhood

Who live among us

Now

Now while it’s still day

While we have breath

While we have resources

Financially

Timewise

Physically

Share with those in need

In practical ways

Now

Even

Right now

We Are Now Perfect Like the Father is Perfect

Oh the sweet and perfect love of God

For God so loved the world

That He gave His only Son

To die for us

That we might become 

One with Christ

One with God

One with the Holy Spirit

One with our Triune God

When we become cognizant of our sins

And we confess our sins for what they are and

Repent and

Turn away from

Our sins and

Turn toward God

He is quick to forgive us our sins

For His compassion fails not

His mercies are new every morning

For His love has already paid the price for our sins

The sin-less Son

Died for us sin-filled man

Therefore there is now no condemnation 

For those who have accepted what was completed on the cross

The Divine Exchange

The Sinless for the sinful

The veil that separated the

Holy from the Holy of Holies in the temple

Was torn in two

Top down

God 

Top down

Came from heaven to earth

God

Top down

Made the perfect sacrifice

God 

Top down

Died for us on the cross

And completed His work of salvation for us

We are now united as one

With God the Father

With God the Savior

With God the Holy Spirit

God

The Holy God

Is now

One with us

For we have become

Holy

Clean

Sinless

Perfect

Just as He is

Like Father God

Like His Son

We have been made one with this

Perfect

Holy

God

We too become

Like Father

Like child

Perfect Father

Perfect child

We are perfect

As He is perfect

What is keeping us from running into

The Holy of Holies

Where there is 

Perfect forgiveness

Perfect acceptance

Perfect love

Where we are being made into 

Perfect reflection

of the Perfect Father God

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen

When it is God Who justifies

Who then can possibly condemn us

When Christ Jesus Who died for our sins

Is now interceding on our behalf

At the right hand of God

No one

No one can bring any charge

No one can condemn us

Not a one

For the Only One

Who can save us

Has done so for us

On the cursed cross

And tore the veil

So we can

Enter in

Boldly

Confidently

Run 

Into the Throne Room of God

Blameless

Perfect

As the Father is 

Perfect

Run To the Throne of Grace

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Christ our Great High Priest

He was tempted in every way 

Just as we are

But He did not sin

He can therefore empathize with us

He gets it

He understands our temptations to sin

He feels it with us because

He felt the tug toward sin

To give into them

But because He was God

He did not sin

While Jesus 

The Son of God 

was on earth

He was also fully human

Fully God and perfect

Fully man and tempted

Tempted in every way

Just as we are

Yet because He was God

He did not sin

Jesus did not give into the temptations to sin

But because He was fully human

He can empathize with our temptations

To sin

To cuss

To rebel

To lash out

To be selfish

To be prideful

To be spiteful

To be impatient

To be unforgiving

To exact revenge 

To anger and rage

To write the script

To assign bad motives

To malign and slander

To wish ill on our enemies

To give into our sinful nature

To give into our human nature

To give into our base nature

To act out sexually

To be lustful

To be greedy

To be envious

Christ our Great High Priest

Who went into the Holy of Holies

And became our Perfect Sacrifice

To atone for our sins

The temptations we gave into

That He felt but did not indulge in

How precious His blood

His atoning blood

That washes away

All of our sins

Jesus saw us while He was on the cross

He saw us on the other side of the cross

He knew He was truly

The Only Way

To purchase our redemption

He gladly went on that cursed cross

Entered into the Holy of Holies as a high priest would

And sacrificed Himself once and for all

For our sins

The Perfect God

Died for us sinful humans

Perfect Atonement

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen

No one

For Christ died for us

He is now seated at the right hand of God

Interceding for us

The Risen Christ

The Perfect Atonement

Is now

Seated on the 

Throne of Grace

The door to the Throne Room is wide open

God the Father

Jesus the Resurrected Atonement

The Ever-Present Holy Spirit

The Triune God

Is seated on this 

Throne of Grace

The blood of Christ is beckoning us

To come

Come boldly

Come confidently 

Into this Throne Room

To receive

Grace

Mercy

Full acceptance

Full assurance of love and forgiveness

Run up to this Throne of Grace

Climb into the lap of God

Allow Him to pull us up into His bosom

To embrace us

To cradle us in His arms

To shower His love

To coo over us

To whisper His love

As He sings over us with rejoicing

Go

Now

 Into the Throne Room of Grace

To receive 

Mercy

Grace 

NOW

"The Throne Room" by Charity Gayle

God’s Thoughts Toward Us

I asked: “Lord, what are Your thoughts toward me right now?”

And He replied:

You are My Beloved

You are My chosen child

You are cherished by Me

I am well pleased with you

You are pleasing to Me

I am delighted in you

You are delightful to Me

In response I experienced:

His rejoicing over me

Embraced in His bosom

Gentle embrace

Warm hug

Fierce embrace

Firm hug

Tight squeezes

Cradling me in His bosom

Rocking me in His bosom

Swinging me in His arms

Twirling me with His arms

Dancing with me

Leading and coaxing me to follow

Waltzing

Free-style dancing

Throwing me up into the air and catching me

Laughing with joy over me

His eyes light up

Laughing eyes

Eyes glistening with delight and favor

Eyes crinkling with 

Smile

Laughter

Delight

Over His

Enjoyment 

of me

Whispers of love

Whispers of sweet-nothings

Cooing over me

Delighting in me and in my company

Pure delight

In me

His beloved

His creation

His reflection

Yes 

I am fearfully and wonderfully made

And I know it full well

Because God made me

Out of His own heart and love

As His reflection

To cherish

To enjoy

To shower His love

And to take JOY 

In

Me

 Heart’s Soil

It’s so easy to read the Bible for others

Listen to a sermon thinking of others

How this truth would be helpful for so and so

If only so and so reads or hears this

So thoughtful 

Thinking of others

Wanting to share with others

Wanting to bless others

This can apply to that person’s situation

This is just want the other person needs to hear

Meanwhile

Our own heart’s soil can be hardened

Thinking we are all good

These truths don’t really apply to us

We’ve got it

We’re in good standing with God

We’ve got no real struggles

Life is easy-peasy 

It’s what others need

We don’t have these struggles…

The problem of the elder son who

Stayed faithful serving his father

Never even asking for a party 

He kept his head down and hands to the plow

Dutiful

Diligent

Unable to enjoy the journey

Or pause to receive his father’s approval 

Unable to 

Stop

Rest

Delight 

Contemplate

Always working

Always serving

Missing out on the Father’s pleasure 

Working and not stopping

Giving and not receiving 

Missing out on the 

Tender 

Gentle

Heart of the Father

Some downsides of those who do right and have not faltered much are

The temptation to be 

Self-sufficient

Self-confident

Self-assured 

Of our own righteousness 

That our hearts can become hardened

No longer able to 

Hear the sweet whispers of the Holy Spirit of

His desire to pour His love into our hearts

Or allow Him to celebrate us

Soften our hearts O God

Melt our hearts

Cause our hearts to be like streams of water in Your hands

Where Your Sweet Holy Spirit can freely reign

and redirect our hearts 

Back to Your bosom

Back to Your gentle and firm embrace

Back to Your passionate love

Back to Your whispers of love

To gaze intently on Your loving face

To receive from You 

Your pleasure 

Your approval

Your enjoyment of us

Bring us back O Lord

To sweet fellowship with You

Back to the circle of love between

God the Father

Jesus the Son and 

The Holy Spirit 

Back into Your circle of love and fellowship

Joining You in 

Your Triune community 

Of 

Love

The Potter and the Clay

“Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?” (Romans 9:20-21)

God is the Potter and we are the clay

After He designs us

He forms us

Shapes us and

Makes us into His perfect creation

We see His handiworks in everyone

Some we see as beautiful vessels

Some not so attractive to the eye

Some seem to glisten in the light

While others appear dull

Some appear to be for practical use

While others might appear ornamental

From our human mindset

It makes sense for the beautiful ones

The glistening ones

The ornamental ones

To be on display

Front and center

For the useful ones to be placed in readily accessible spots

In God’s Kingdom

Yet

In what we see and experience

This is not always the case

It appears as if God tucks away

Some beautiful ones

Some glistening ones

Some practical ones

On a shelf

Away from the light

Not being showcased

Not being used

Yes we know that

“God uses the foolish things of the world 

to confound the wise

God has chosen the weak things of the world 

to confound things which are strong”

We get that

It is about God’s sovereignty

He is after all 

The Potter

And we are merely the clay

But Lord

What’s the purpose of making a beautiful vessel

And not display it

Why create someone who is gifted in something

And not place the person 

In the right spot to use it

If You have made the person into a potentially useful vessel

Why not put the vessel to use

Why leave it on a shelf

Or only partially use it

Oh the confounding thoughts of God

Oh the confounding ways of God

Your ways are higher than our ways

And Your thought higher than our thoughts

Will You then enable me to see 

Through Your eyes

Help me to see the world 

Through the unique set of eyes You’ve made in me

That my eyes might be a channel of 

what You see 

of my corner of the world 

Take my heart and make it Yours

That my heart might be moved and broken

According to Your heart

In my sphere

In my life

In my little corner of the world

Not according to my expectations

Not according to my desires

Not according to the giftings I see 

In whichever corner or spacious spot

You place Your vessels

Make my thoughts Your thoughts

Make my heart Your heart

That You might have Your way

First in me

Then in my loved ones

As I

As we

All 

Surrender to 

Your thoughts

Your purposes

Your ways

That 

Your Kingdom come

Your will be done

On earth

In our lives

As 

It

Is

 

In

Heaven