Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love  Ephesians 1:4

There’s a commercial on television, in which Pinocchio is giving a motivational speech to a room full of people. He says to the room something like “I’m here to really boost your confidence and help you to see your potential. I look out into this room and I see you“ and he points to this person in the crowd and he says “you have potential,” and his nose gets a little longer and then he points to A man in the front row and he says “and you have potential” and the man lights up for a moment, thinking “yes! I’m special! I’ve got potential!” but then Pinocchio‘s nose grows a little longer and you see the joy melt away from the man’s face as he realizes that Pinocchio lied and he thinks “I don’t have potential I’m not special.”

The enemy is just like Pinocchio, in that commercial.  A LIAR.  Sometimes he puts people in our lives to deceive us and sometimes it is just a subtle whisper that puts thoughts in our heads that, initially, seem like we are special, we have potential, we are valued, and then his nose grows longer and longer and like the man in the front row we start to think “that’s a lie, I’m not special, I don’t have potential, I don’t have value.

You see, He will build us up….hoping that we think enough of ourselves and that we are so capable that we do not need God, but if and when that doesn’t work, he will then tell us that we have no potential and no value.

But we know the enemy is a liar and a deceiver and he came to seek kill and destroy so why would we listen to him at all. Instead, why wouldn’t we test our value, our potential, and how special we are by comparing what we think to God’s Word.

As followers of Jesus Christ the scripture says that we are…

We were created in his perfect and loving image (Genesis 1:27 – So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.)

We were created specifically to be a part of God’s plan for redemption and He has works that He wants each of us to do (“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:10). 

We are loved (We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19).

We are His beloved children (See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3:1)

We are royalty…sons and daughters of the King of Kings, created to proclaim how awesome God is. (But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9)

We are the dwelling place (residence) of the Spirit of God. (Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16)

We are not our old sinful selves any longer, we are perfect in God’s eyes (once we have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives) we become a new creation, forgiven of our sins and (through the blood of Jesus) we appear sinless in God’s eyes. (Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come 2 Corinthians 5:17).

We are fully equipped and called by God and through His precious promises, we are able to walk in His divine nature and be more like Him. (as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Romans 8:37).

All of theses verses that speak to who we are, came from the Bible…the Holy, inerrant (without error), God breathed (spoken by God, to men for them to write), word of God. And because God cannot lie and because He is truth, all of these verse and any other declaration in the Bible is a PROMISE!

But, unless we believe God, unless we believe His word, unless we trust Him, it is of no benefit to us.

We can choose to believe what others say about us, we can choose to believe what we say about us, but if it doesn’t line up with what the scripture says about us as followers of Jesus Christ, it is a lie from the enemy.

So, who are we going to believe? The enemy who came to seek, kill and destroy or the lover of our souls who desires that we might have life, an abundant (blessed) life? (The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10).

God sees you and He says you are valued, you are special and you have potential.

I choose to believe God! I pray that you will too.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, the word of God is full of beautiful things that God thinks toward you. I pray that you would have a hunger to read it for yourself and more even more important…I pray that you believe what He says about you. I pray that you would recognize thoughts of love toward you as the sound of God’s voice and that you would immerse yourself, not just in His Word, but in His very presence. You are a beautiful creation, created with purpose and a plan and dearly loved by the God of all creation. But don’t take my word for it, read it for yourself.

If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, and you have struggled with a lack of a good self image, I pray that you would recognize (maybe for the first time) the incredible, abundant, spectacular love that God has for you. I pray that you would recognize that His desire was that no one would have to suffer eternity in Hell, to pay the penalty for their own sin (For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have ever lasting life. John 3:16). I pray that you would understand that Jesus didn’t come to condemn you…He came to rescue you and to pay the penalty of your sins (For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved John 3:17).

God wants a relationship with you, He wants to forgive you and spend eternity with you, please go to our Life Preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/) and pray the prayer that is outlined there. I promise that you will experience a love far greater than anything that you have ever known. Once you have prayed that prayer, please reach out to me and let me know so that I can be in prayer for you.

Luv Ya!