YOU ARE SPECIAL

You Are Special

Our Lord Jesus has chosen us and chosen to give us His love. That makes us special.  A couple of verses that reinforces my belief on this are: “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you.”  John 15:16 and  “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own” John 10:14.  The fact is that God knows and loves us by name, personally and intimately.  That fact should motivate us to seek after Him, so that we might know and love Him in the same way.

You are special to Him.  Even if you have been away from God, He is looking for you today. He is drawn to people who are weak and admit it, and who ask for help from Heaven.  “My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”   (2 Corinthians 12:9).  You are more valuable than you think you are.  You are more valuable than others think you are.  You are of great value to the God that created you and to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave His live for you.  The Earth, the plants and animals, the sun and moon were created for you.

You and God are a majority.  You have all the resources of Heaven on your side. You can become God’s partner in accomplishing things on Earth that God wants to do. You are only “one” person, but you can allow God to use you to meet the needs of another person who feels that they are only one.

In our technological world we are seeing the de-personalization of our lives. As we go through the day, we feel like a number instead of a person. A statistic instead of a human being. 

Did you ever notice how important individuals are in the Bible?  Individual men and women, with names, and families, and histories, and personalities, and strengths and weaknesses?

God has given us an event in the life of the prophet Elijah.  In this event, God choose one person to make a big difference in the life of Elijah.  I Kings 17: 8-16   The widow women, told Elijah that she only had enough food for one more meal for her and her son and that the two sticks she had was to build a fire to cook their last meal.

Then Elijah told her if she would do this one act of faith that God would bless her for many days.

There was “one” prophet.  At times He felt he was the only one left that was serving God until God showed him there were 7,000 more.  Then there was the “one barrel” and “one cup” of the “one” woman. Before Elijah got to this ladies house, the meal and oil barrels were empty. The barrels were filled by God and never went empty until the famine was over and the rain came.  After she  did what the Lord told her to do, both of them were full.  “For your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him.”  Matthew 6:8.

You may not think you have much today to offer the Lord.  You may be “hanging on by a thread”.  But you still have “one thing” more you can do, one more prayer you can pray, and one more promise from God’s Word you can depend upon.  

God likes to use individuals.  He likes to take “one” person to accomplish things for His glory and to meet the needs of others.  And when He chooses that “one” person, it is usually the person who others would be dismissed as weak or unable to perform the task.

Our Lord Jesus ministered to individuals. Yes, He taught the multitudes. Yes, He fed the five thousand. But when He healed people, it wasn’t in great masses. If He wanted to, He could have waved his arms and cured hundreds at a stroke. But instead, He placed His hands on them, one at a time, and He healed them, one at a time. In the same way, when Christ looks at you and me, that’s what He sees; not anonymous faces in the crowd, but his precious, beloved children, whom He knows intimately and cares for deeply. 

God’s plan for each of us is unique.  He loves variety and diversity. God is working in your life differently than He is in mine, or in someone else’s.  It doesn’t mean that He loves you more or less. His plan for you isn’t better or worse than His plan for someone else, it’s just different. 

You are more valuable than the mountains, flowers, birds, and planets, that God created.  Use your life to be a blessing to others and to show your love to the God who thinks you are more valuable than any other thing in His creation.   Memorize and say this verse to yourself every day.  “I will praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are marvelous and my soul knows it very well.” (Psalm 139:14).

When you or I go to God in prayer, He doesn’t say to Himself, "Oh, someone is praying." He doesn’t even say, "one of my children is praying." He says, "______ is praying.” (Put your name in the blank)

God’s personal love serves as a model for us to emulate in our love for one another.  We all have our own faith journey to follow, and someone else’s may not look like yours. That’s OK. Let God deal with them as He sees fit.

Just as we shouldn’t be satisfied with a superficial relationship to one another, we shouldn’t be satisfied to have a superficial relationship with our God. Christ, through His death, has removed every barrier; He has removed every obstacle; He has made it possible for us to truly know God; and He invites us to know Him; and desires that we know Him.

You are loved by God and that is something you need to remind yourself of every day.  You should love yourselves, because God loves you.  You will be able to stand before God one day and understand His love for you.