Be Strong in the Lord

7045 and 2017 - That doesn’t mean anything to you yet - but it might later.

Is there a student who remembers without looking at any notes what I spoke about in my last chapel service here?

Ephesians 6:10 KJV 1900

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Sometimes strengths and weaknesses are a part of our identity

When we think of Samson we think of a strong man -

We identify as strong in some areas and weak in others

some of that is because of our education, our upbringing, some of that is good old fashioned hard work and practice, sometimes we are just gifted in some areas and don’t even always recognize or realize

I want us to look at the word “strong” today as a value

If you could place a value on how strong you are muscularly how much would that be worth?

I mean obviously with my brawny muscular 6 pack ab build I wouldn’t be worth very much -

But if the source of my strength is something else or if the source of my value is different than myself then that changes the value scale

Our worth our value comes not from who we are in ourselves - sometimes we have trouble figuring out exactly who we are even

But our value our worth comes from what God sees in us.

Let me explain what I mean by that

When you look at someone you see their hair color, their eyes, their facial features

you think quickly in your mind if you think that person is pretty or handsome or if they could use a good exercise program, or some other impression you get that quickly floats through your mind

and we tend to attach values to people based on those thoughts and quick judgments

But that isn’t really that person yet - you have only seen a very superficial glimpse of who that person is

If you decide to spend time with that person you might find out you have some very common interests and ideas and then the value you attached to that person begins to rise

But that isn’t how God looks at us.

God knows us from before we were even born

God tells Jeremiah - some fascinating information....

Jeremiah 1:5 KJV 1900

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

The first thing God is telling Jeremiah is that there are no mistakes -

You are not an accident or a mistake - God formed you - God created you - God knows you

He knows your name

He knows your pain

He knows your struggles

He knows all about you - because he made you

You have a purpose, you have reason to live, and you have a lot to discover about yourself that God already knows.

The Second thing I see - that God tells Jeremiah - is that God sees our soul and not our stories

We see people through stories -

That is the person who’s parents abandoned them

That is the person who was abused

That is the person who struggles with depression

That is the person who YOU FILL IN THE BLANKS

God sees us as an individual

Our trauma, our stories, our struggles, our pain -

and some of you have gone through more than I may ever encounter the rest of my life -

But your value your worth to God is not based on that

Our stories our struggles often cause us to see ourselves differently even

One psychologist rightly observed that

Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes Self-Esteem

We are not what we are. We are not even what others think we are. We are what we think others think we are.

—James Dobson, Hide or Seek

We go around beating ourselves up, maybe even saying we must be really bad and deserved all of this to happen to me

But that is not how God sees us - that is not the source of our value - that is not the source of our strength

Just as in the story of Samson his strength came from obedience to God - it came from an outside source

so our value our worth our strength come from an outside source -

It is not in us - we are not strong enough, we are not good enough, we are not enough

But God is - and he looks past our struggles our trauma our stories, our shame

You know there is a difference between conviction and shame - conviction says, “I did a stupid thing”

shame says, “I’m stupid”

that is a big difference - and it will bring about different results

Shame will trap you - conviction allows you to learn from your mistakes and struggles and do something different

Shame is an identification trap - you can’t move because that is who you are

But God doesn’t even see us as we see ourselves in our shame

We may have messed up, we may have really messed up, I mean really really messed up

But that doesn’t have to be the end - that doesn’t have to be your identifying mark

Samson really really messed up - I mean really really really messed up - it cost him everything - and yet he drew his value from God his strength from God and he is recorded in the hall of faith - not as a man who really really messed up - but a man who learned from that mess up - a man who didn’t stay there

You are created and loved by God

And when God looks at you he doesn’t see all that everybody else sees - he sees what he formed, he sees what he made, he sees someone he loves and their value however traumatized, scarred, bent, broken, and tore up - has never been lost.

Let me illustrate it with this $5.00

who would like this $5.00 bill? Someone will get it in a moment

but how much is this $5 worth?

What can it buy?

But wait what if I wad it up?

Now how much is it worth?

What if I crumple it up and stomp on it? Now it must have gone down in value right? Its dirty, its smashed, its nasty, it's done for right? NO IT”S STILL $5

Why is it still $5?

Because a Government Entity places the legal tender amount for this bill at $5

Don’t let culture, don’t let satan, don’t let your classmates or anyone tell you that now your value has gone down -

It's not the Government but ALMIGHTY GOD who has placed our value so high that he said “I WILL SEND MY ONLY BEGOTTEN SON TO SAVE THEM”

He went to the cross - he died, he was buried

Because when he saw you - he said you are that valuable - you are worth that much to God