“My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:15-16)

God spoke my son, Jeremy, into my wife’s womb, just as God spoke you into your mother’s womb. Jeremy was “fearfully and wonderfully made,” and God ordained his days, just as he’s ordained yours. (Psalm 139:14, 16 NIV)

Jeremy was one of God’s great ideas. Like you, Jeremy was an expression of God’s blue-ribbon brilliance. He was a Matisse-like masterpiece, lovingly, deliberately, and carefully created by the One True God, the creative Creator of the universe.

My son, Jeremy, died at birth because of a destructive DNA disorder called Trisomy 18, but that didn’t diminish the value of his life, his legacy, or his significance to God. Jeremy’s every chromosome fit intricately – and for now, unexplainably to us – into God’s flawless planning.

If you grasp this – “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:18-19a) – then you’re on your way to understanding the extraordinary value of every human life, how each individual is a masterpiece created by God.

You, too, are a masterpiece created by God.

Oswald Chambers wrote, “Individual lives are the expression of a pre-existing idea in the mind of God.” In other words, every human being is a unique, one-of-a-kind, never-to-be-repeated expression of God’s incredible creativity, and as a Christian you become a unique reflection of Jesus Christ as he works through you to serve others.

The point is, God thought you up (Jeremiah 1:5), and now he lovingly thinks of you.

You are of immeasurable worth to God, and your value is not determined by your appearance or performance, or how much time or money you can contribute, or how well you sing or teach – or how long you live. The value of any container is determined by its contents, and you are a one and only, custom-made container of Uncommon Stuff – as a believer, you contain the very life of God.

Rejoice in this truth, and be set free.

What does this mean?

· God’s love transforms – When you understand your value to God, you will be less likely to sin. His love will compel you to walk in the light. If you deeply and truly understood how much God loved you, how would your behavior change?

· We devalue others – When we think in such terms as “You’re valuable to me as long as you’re useful” or “You’re valuable to me as long as I enjoy your company.” This reduces people to mere tools or objects of pleasure.

· God’s masterpiece is on the couch – If you are God’s masterpiece, so is the couch potato in your house, or the person at church who you diplomatically describe as “contrary.” (That’s the Southerner (U.S.) in me coming out – ha!)

Question: How can the fact that you are God’s valued creation encourage you when it seems like everything is going wrong?

Related
Pray prayers that change lives and transform cities

Related
Inspire leaders from different cultural backgrounds to discover and experience the power of Jesus Christ

Related:
Want To Get Involved?

Please open your Bible and read Ephesians 4:11-16

We would be poor stewards if we ignored the special abilities the Holy Spirit has given to us.

We must use our abilities to glorify Christ, not to glorify ourselves, or some other person, or even to glorify the gift itself.

Peter says, “Are you called to preach? Then preach as though God Himself were speaking through you” (1 Peter 4:11)

Do you possess musical ability? Share it with the rest of Christ’s family. Peter goes on, “Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies, so that God will be glorified through Jesus Christ – to Him be glory and praise forever and ever.”

We have the obligation to use our God-given abilities in a scriptural manner to help equip others for Christian service. The apostle Paul writes that spiritual gifts are given “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12, NAS)

In order to live supernaturally, it is important for us always to exercise our abilities in the power and control of the Holy Spirit – never through our own fleshly efforts.

Today’s Action Point: My motivation for using my spiritual gift(s) and abilities will be solely to glorify Christ through helping to equip other members of His body to be more effective and fruitful for Him.

Are you feeling lonely? Do you need a friend? We are here for you.

The bright, cheerful-looking marigolds have long been one of my favorite annuals. They bloom in my area from May through October in just about any soil or situation. In the fall, when I clean up my vegetable garden, I scatter the marigold seeds around; and up they come in the spring. They rid the soil of nematodes and Mexican bean beetles, and various harmful insects dislike them.

I’ve heard that dried marigold petals can make a tea that settles nerves and helps a person to sleep if taken an hour before bedtime.  They can be used to flavor salads, omelets, hamburger, and stuffing, and with roasts, beef, and chicken.  They are said to kill certain germs in the body. Mixed with Vaseline or cold cream, they make a salve for wounds.

As I think of the protective qualities of this hardy plant, I’m reminded of the solicitude the Apostle Paul had for his fellow Christians. He wrote to the Christians at Rome, “I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to make you strong” (Romans 1:11). Paul cared about their sorrows and burdens; he earnestly desired that they would be knit together in love and come to know and experience the riches of God.

How our fellow Christians today need that same care shown to them! So many have fallen away from the Lord for one reason or another. Many of their marriages, their homes have fallen apart. Our young people today, as well as adults, are assaulted by temptations and mind defilers that many of us of the older generation never dreamed of, because in former times society as a whole upheld certain moral values.

Do we care what happens to our fellow Christians? In my counseling I have heard many tales of how badly lives, marriage, and children have been hurt in such cases. If we can just help one person keep from going astray, or help one come back to the Lord, we might save a world of misery, or we might even save a life.

If you have not been a marigold type of Christian up to now–one, that is, who is caring and protective of your brothers and sisters in Christ–why not ask the Lord to lay on your heart someone who may need your solicitude and help?

We can not only help those who have fallen away, but also those who need comfort, encouragement and physical or spiritual aid. Oh, how we need more marigold Christians! Joy fills a marigold Christian’s heart like a sunbeam and shines its light into the hearts of those who need it.

Questions: Is there someone in your life that you could give some encouragement and comfort to? What difference has it made in your life when someone has taken the time to comfort you in time of sorrow?

One of the prerequisites for being a servant of God is to think like a servant. This would be fine if it wasn’t so impossible. We are all naturally wired to think only of ourselves.

Learning to give preference to others is one of the true marks of a Christian because it is so contrary to human nature. That’s why desiring it comes from God, and doing it comes through the Holy Spirit.

Paul said of Timothy: “I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares for your welfare. All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ” (Philippians 2:20-21, NLT).

Hidden in these verses is the secret to making an attitude of servanthood become a part of your thinking. It starts with Jesus. When you fall in love with Jesus, you focus on Him and worship Him. As you do this, you find out about Him—you get to know Him as you would a friend—and soon you come to know what matters to Him, until finally, you start to realize that what matters to Him, matters to you. This is not just a factor of familiarity, either. There is a supernatural element at work here as well. What matters to Jesus connects with the Holy Spirit in you, and the Spirit answers from deep inside you to the call of truth.

Other people mattered deeply to Jesus. He could read their hurt and pain. Scripture says He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Well where did that grief and sorrow come from if it didn’t come from the suffering of people around Him? In other words, He was carrying their grief. He was empathizing with their sorrow. Once a woman touched him in a desperate need to be healed, and He could feel the compassionate power go from Him even though He didn’t see who touched Him in the press of the crowd. He was that sensitive to the needs of those around Him.

Now truly, thinking like a servant doesn’t automatically make you one, but it goes a long way toward getting you there. If you are thinking like a servant, you are noticing others; and the more you are aware of others, the more the Holy Spirit can use you in reaching out to them. All this increases the opportunity for the gospel. People are simply not used to being served.

Take it from me, a guy who is not by any stretch servant material, it’s actually a relief to get off my most popular subject—me—and on to someone else. Ask God to help you think like a servant today, and I’m certain you’ll get a chance to be one.

Question: Where are there opportunities in your life (at home, work, church, or elsewhere) to “think like a servant”?

Quiet heroes dot the landscape of our society. They don’t wear ribbons or kiss trophies; they wear spit-up and kiss boo-boos. They don’t make the headlines, but they do sew the hemlines and check the outlines and stand on the sidelines. You won’t find their names on the Nobel Prize short list, but you will find their names on the homeroom, carpool, and Bible teacher lists.

They are parents, both by blood and deed, name and calendar. Heroes. News programs don’t call them. But that’s okay. Because their kids do … They call them Mom. They call them Dad. And these moms and dads, more valuable than all the executives and lawmakers west of the Mississippi, quietly hold the world together.

Be numbered among them. Read books to your kids. Play ball while you can and they want you to. Make it your aim to watch every game they play, read every story they write, hear every recital in which they perform.

Children spell love with four letters: T-I-M-E. Not just quality time, but hang time, downtime, anytime, all the time. Your children are not your hobby; they are your calling.

Your spouse is not your trophy but your treasure. Don’t pay the price David paid. Look ahead to his final hours. To see the ultimate cost of a neglected family, look at the way our hero dies.

David is hours from the grave. A chill has set in that blankets can’t remove. Servants decide he needs a person to warm him, someone to hold him tight as he takes his final breaths.

Do they turn to one of his wives? No. Do they call on one of his children? No. They seek “for a lovely young woman throughout all the territory of Israel … and she cared for the king, and served him; but the king did not know her” (1 Kings 1:3–4).

I suspect that David would have traded all his conquered crowns for the tender arms of a wife. But it was too late. He died in the care of a stranger, because he made strangers out of his family.

But it’s not too late for you.

Make your wife the object of your highest devotion. Love the one who wears your ring.

And cherish the children who share your name.

Succeed at home first.

From Facing Your Giants
© (W Publishing Group, 2006) Max Lucado
Used by permission

Question: What are some of the mundane activities can sometimes come between us and what’s most important in our lives?

“We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.” 1 John 4:6

My mother gave me a great gift and that is sensitivity about giving gifts. She taught me giving a gift is an opportunity to show you’ve thought about the person, taking time to discover likes and needs.

What this translates into is you don’t use a birthday to give a household item you were going to purchase anyway: “Gee, honey, thanks for the vacuum cleaner.” Or, you don’t give your eighty-year-old aunt a power drill (unless that’s what she really wants!). The fact that there are so many returns after Christmas and so many gift cards purchased (okay, I buy them too) shows we’re not taking the time to make gifts personal.

Here’s the thing: just like gifts, love operates as personal. Jesus came in person. He didn’t come to us as a religion, a set of laws, or merely as an ideal; he came in person. Through his death and resurrection he brings us into the personal embrace of a passionate and loving relationship.

We live in an increasingly impersonal world where “don’t call us until you’ve read through all the frequently asked questions” is the norm, and when we finally do call, we get a recorded voice. We live as if better organization, perfect efficiency, and instant acquisition will somehow deliver us from our meaninglessness and hopelessness.

Yet, Jesus-one, we are from God, the Creator and Protector of all that is personal. Through our personalized expression of love for each other we proclaim: “Do you want to see who the person of God is and how he personally loves us? Watch how we love one another.”

Question: How will other people you meet know that you follow Jesus without having to ask?

3.5 million people die every year because of it

Water related diseases kill a child every 20 seconds

and cause 80% of illnesses and deaths in the developing world. (Source: World Health Organization)

It doesn’t have to be this way. Often, just 80 meters below their feet, pure disease-free drinking water is waiting! By drilling one deep-water well, Global Aid Network (GAiN) can help to break the cycle of disease and death and transform communities for a lifetime.

Learn more & how to help: Visit the GAiN Water for Life Initiative website, view the Water For Life Initiative brochure, or donate now. Your help is needed and can make a real and immediate difference in lives all over the world.