It’s incredible that God found us to be worth so much to him personally, that he gave up his own life; dying for us, and then allowing us to be raised with him, so that we could be united with his life forever! God, who rules the heavens in all glory; who owns not only the whole world, but the whole universe, found us so significant in his eyes that he gave up all that he had in the heavens and came down to meet with us.

Why did he do that? It was because his heart yearned for more than a meeting with us, but a permanent relationship: he came to us, so that all of us could be taken back up to his eternal level in glory and live with him forever.

In light of what God has done for us, we can ask the question: “how much is our worth?” Well, for starters, we are worth so much to God that he has freely granted us to be his very own heirs; heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. That’s right, you’re not just going to go to heaven one day, you’re going to own it!

Even if your ‘works and worldly accomplishments’ try to signal to you that you’re worth little or nothing, God’s ‘finished work upon the cross’ signals to you that you are the most treasured possession that God has! You are worth more than all the treasures found within the expanse of the universe. You have so much value; there is quite literally nothing to measure it against except God himself, and how much value and worth does God have?!

If we try to understand our worth by looking at our works, we will quickly conclude we are quite worthless. For what have we really accomplished? However, when we seek to understand our worth by looking at Jesus, then we quickly conclude we are worth more than all the riches of this world.

Now, in light of this wonderful reality, we have the opportunity to look to one another in this same light. What your brothers and sisters in Christ have ‘accomplished’ for God, or in the world, does not define their worth, but rather it is the love Christ has for them defines their worth. All of us in Christ are worth so much, we all have a value that can only be compared to the very value of God himself, and we are all significant because Jesus found us significant enough to die for.

I’m glad we don’t need to try to judge one another in Christ and try to define each others worth or value based on each others ‘works’, but rather we base our opinion on the ‘grace’ that has been given to each of us. We have been made new in Christ, co-heirs with him, and God’s eternal treasured possession.

You are worth so much. I believe it because God believes it, and if God believes you’re significant, then I choose to see you with the same significance too. ~ Mick

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:16-17

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It’s interesting to see that when God came to earth in flesh and blood, he chose some spectacularly weak men to be his Apostles. Think about it for a moment, Jesus could have chosen anyone, and yet Jesus purposely chose a bunch of men who were weak and who greatly misunderstood the true purpose for which Jesus came.

Jesus knew these men were weak when he asked them to follow him, yet he didn’t wait for them to get their act together, or get a better theological understanding of his purpose for coming, before he drew them closer to himself, but rather he went and publicly called them to be his Apostles. So now the disciples had been called to be Apostles, and yet they still didn’t really understanding Jesus at all. Throughout the gospel accounts the writers go out of their way to make it clear the Apostles didn’t really understand anything.

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. John 12:16

Yet Jesus walked with them, stayed close to them and continued to encourage them that they were a team; they were with him; they were one with him.

Even after the resurrection they still failed to understand the true purposes of Jesus, in fact it was about 8 years after his resurrections (Acts 11) before they even came to realise and accept that the New Covenant was actually also for gentiles! That’s the basic point of the New Covenant, and they totally missed it for years, and yet in all those years we read how the Spirit of Christ was amongst them, his grace was poured out greatly, he comforted them and united their hearts; Christ was still walking with them, staying close to them and encouraging them, despite their weakness and misunderstandings.

It was around 20 years after the resurrection that they all met again in the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) to try to decide if the gospel was a mixed covenant of law and grace, or a brand new covenant completely based on God’s grace, apart from law. It’s hard to believe that after 20 years they still had not settled this basic truth of the gospel! And yet throughout all that time Jesus still walked with them, still encouraged them and still poured out his love and grace upon them.

Peter wrote his letters to the church after all this, “testifying to the true grace of God” after he finally understood the fullness of the gospel and the purpose of Jesus. He would have reflected on all his weaknesses while with Jesus, all his misinterpretations while with Jesus; he would have realised all that he did wrong, and yet in all that time, Jesus still walked with him, still encouraged him and still make him secure that he was indeed a ‘rock’ in the eyes of God.

I believe Jesus chose weak men to be his Apostles to highlight the true strength of God: that God is strong enough to love us, and walk with us, in our weaknesses. That God doesn’t push us away in our weaknesses, but rather walks with us, stays with us, and continues to encourage us, so that when the day comes where we have become strong in him and understand his purposes, we won’t find our boast in how strong we are, but we will always find our boast in the God who loves people in their weakness. Our boast is in God, who is willing to walk with anyone, regardless of their weakness or failings, so that they may see the truth of who God is: The God of all grace; the God who loves.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the 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

What do we do when we find ourselves in restless times? You know, when you feel the temptation to just flick the switch on all emotions, turning them all off, both good and bad; shrinking back into numbness. When you just feel like either everything, or the lack of anything, is dragging you down.

In times like this we, even when our natural eyes are hiding in sadness, we can once again turn the eyes of our heart to Christ; remembering our united life with him, the depths of his love for us, and as a result we are reminded of where we are. We are not lost in a storm; we are actually in the very Rest of God. We are in Christ.

We don’t need to live in denial; it’s OK to recognise that we may be experiencing a restless season in this life, but how much more should we be assured that we are secure in our eternal Rest; a rest that will never end?

I’m thankful that it’s not my strength that secures me in God’s rest, and it’s not my weakness that removes me; it is my faith in Christ that secures me. Me, a weak man, with a huge hope in a God who loves me. It’s in remembering where I am, for I am in Christ, that I find my inner man returning to his natural inhabitants of divine rest.

Jesus said to his disciples: “In this world you will have trouble . But take heart! I have overcome the world .”

None of us wants trouble, but there are days and seasons when it comes nonetheless. Thank God we have a hope in Christ, who has already overcome the world, and it is this glorious over-comer who is committed to love us, hold us, and carry us. In restless times, take heart, for Christ has overcome all trouble, and just as he always does, he will prove himself faithful to you once more.

May the God of all hope fill your heart with his hope afresh today. Whereever you are, my heart, and heart of all your bothers and sisters in Christ are with you.

- Mick

In this life we all face disappointments. Some are larger than others; some break our bank accounts, others break our hearts. It is in these times we wish we could just transport ourselves to heaven and forget about the problems and burdens associated with this life, but it doesn’t seem to work all that often.

It seems to me, it’s in the moments of disappointments, when we just want to find ourselves in God, that God shows himself in us. We naturally think it would be better by far, in these sad moments, for us to have a vision of ourselves sitting in heavenly places with Christ, but perhaps God wants to show us a vision he finds more important for us in these moments; a vision of Him sitting with us here on earth.

God is not only the divinely powerful King who reigns high above all powers and authorities. He is the father who loves us so deeply he would rather strip himself of glory so he can sit with us in our humble state and comfort us. His word of promise is true for our lives in the good times and bad: He will never leave us, nor forsake us.

God is with us. He is with us right now. We have such a wonderful inheritance coming, an eternity where there will be no tears, and no disappointments. Until then, we may still face times of trouble, but Jesus encouraged us to take heart in these times, for he has already overcome the world.

God’s eternal plan is to take us all to the highest point of emotional glory, but he also wants us to know he will stay with us as we walk this journey of faith, and will hold us even in the lowest points of emotional distress we face along the way.

The waves of life may break over us, but the God who loves is still holding us. I pray you would feel his loving embrace today, and that his love and grace would bring you the comfort you need.

No matter what happens, God is with us.

When I think about God, I understand that he has the power to do anything. He is, after all, God. Although God can’t be limited to only two aspects, I believe these two aspects encompass everything else in one way or another. And so, I would say that there are, in my mind, two major aspects to God’s ability. One is that God has the ability to love, and the other is that he has the ability to judge.

Now, we have been made in his image, and that means that we naturally gravitate to God’s nature and want to live and act in accordance with that nature. But what part of God’s nature should we aspire to: To love or to judge?

I think it’s possibly for this very reason that God allows us to have all the weaknesses that we have, even after we have been made one with him in our new creation selves. When we think about it, it’s easy to realise that we show ourselves weak on a daily basis. We make promises to God and others that we break. We lie, even if they are little white ones, such as assuring people that we’ll pray for their needs but don’t, or using the company time to surf the Internet or make private phone calls. We walk by people in need without helping them, whether they are strangers or even friends. I’m not saying everyone does these things; we all have different abilities and some of us are more disciplined than others; but regardless, everyone could write a list of their own, and the list could just go on and on.

The bottom line is, we are simply weak individuals in these jars of clay.  We all have personality flaws, we all have weakness, we all fall short of our own expectations as well as the expectations of others. But here’s the thing; even in all these weaknesses, when others normally exercise judgement over us for our actions and motives, God doesn’t. It is in these very moments of our own weakness, when God could, in his perfect nature, exercise his ability to judge us,  he doesn’t; instead he chooses to love us.

God chooses not to judge, although he could; instead, he chooses to cover over our weakness with his strength. He chooses to comfort us and assure us that he’s not focused on our weaknesses; rather, he’s focused on our hearts. He chooses to see the child who longs to be like him living on the inside of us, not the weak jar of clay failing on the outside.

God can judge, it’s part of his perfect nature to have that ability, but he reveals to us how he chooses not to; instead, he lives out of the very core of who he is and he loves. Oh, and how he loves!

When we see this love, and allow ourselves to experience this love, despite our weaknesses, I believe it is then that we too choose to live in the same pattern as God himself. We don’t judge, even if we may be justified to do so; instead, we love. We cover over people’s personality flaws and weaknesses. We see the child within who longs to be strong and loving, we assure people of our acceptance of them. We love, because we have seen that God first loved us in this way.

I’ve seen God’s love; it’s incredible, and it inspires me to live a life that loves too.

Love: It’s God’s desired way of living.

Sometimes we face moments, days or long periods of time where we just can’t seem to think clearly, or see straight. Sometimes, even when we are rested in Christ, we can feel a little lost; a little hopeless even.

I really believe that this isn’t to do with our faith, but more to do with the fact we are still walking around in jars of clay. We have been made perfect in our new creation Spirit, but we still walk around in these earthen vessels.

And yet, even in our weak moments, when our bodies groan and our emotions try to overthrow us; in the very moments when we feel we don’t know the way forward, we can hear the Holy Spirit reminds us ever so gently: “I am the way, I love you dearly, and I will carry your through”

How wonderful to know that it is the power of God in us, that leads us, and even carries us, out of confusion and back to our rightful place of clarity, confidence and joy.

God isn’t upset or doubting our faith when he sees we are weak; rather he encourages us by saying: “My power is made perfect in weakness”

What an amazing God we have! When we feel weak, he tells us that it’s just an opportunity for his power to be perfected in our lives. God wants us to know, as his dear children, that we are always perfectly acceptable to him, and our weaknesses and confusion do not change that at all. We can’t help feeling confused at times, but we can always have confidence in God’s love for us, acceptance of us and devotion towards us.

You are God’s beloved. Don’t doubt your faith when you feel weak, but rather come to him with full assurance of faith, and receive the help you need in your time of weakness.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16

Some believers say that yes God loves us, but He also loves us too much to leave us where we are, but personally, I think it’s the opposite.

I believe He loves us so much that he promises to leave us where we are… Because right now we are in His Son! Right now we are seated with Christ in heavenly places! Right now we are standing His glorious grace!

God is not trying to change us, He is speaking words of life into our spirits daily that He has made us NEW! God is not trying to fix us, the gospel truth is that at the cross He made us a completely NEW creation!

You are loved, because you have become one with Love Himself. You are now a beloved Child of God, loved exactly as you are: The holiness, righteousness and redemption of God!

Jesus became sin on the cross, so that we could become the righteousness of God. That really is incredible, isnt’ it? And when we were placed in Christ, it was permenant.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  2 Corithians 5:21

We are now seated with Christ in heavenly places, we are now living in His glorious grace, we are now IN His Son…and in this place God promises us “I will never leave you, I will never forsake you”

Thank God that He leaves us where we are