God Says You Are Valuable - by Rick Warren

“You have been bought and paid for by Christ, so you belong to him—be free now from all these earthly prides and fears” (1 Corinthians 7:23 LB).

God says not only are you accepted, you’re valuable.
How much do you think you’re worth? I’m not talking about your net worth; I’m talking about your self worth. Don’t ever confuse your valuables with your value as a person. You can be rich or poor but it has nothing to do with your value as a person.
What determines value? There are two things that determine value in life:

1. It depends on what someone is willing to pay for it. How much is your house worth? Not as much as you think it is, and probably not as much as it was a year ago. Your house is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. No more.

How much is a baseball card worth? To some of you, it’s worth nothing. To Matthew, my son, it’s worth a lot of money. Some people are willing to pay $10,000 for a baseball card.
How much is a piece of art worth? Whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

2. It depends on who owned it in the past. Sometimes something is valuable because of who used to own it. For example, would a car owned by Elvis Presley be more valuable than a car you owned? Probably. Or, would a guitar be more valuable because it was owned by John Lennon? I read about a pair of stinky, smelly, worn out basketball shoes that sold for $7,000 at an auction because they happened to be owned by someone named Michael Jordan.

Based on these two things, what’s your value? Ask yourself, “Who owns me?” “What was paid for me?” The Bible says, “You have been bought and paid for by Christ, so you belong to him—be free now from all these earthly prides and fears” (1 Corinthians 7:23 LB).
You have been bought and paid for by Christ. You belong to Jesus. How much does that make you worth?
Now ask yourself, “Who do I belong to?” The Bible says you belong to God. God exchanged his own Son for you! The cross proves your value. Jesus didn’t die for junk. You are incredibly valuable. Nobody has ever paid a greater price than God paid for you. You are acceptable and you are valuable!

Mark 14:72 And when he thought thereon, he wept.

Mark 14:72 And when he thought thereon, he wept.

It has been thought by some that as long as Peter lived, the fountain of his tears began to flow whenever he remembered his denying his Lord. It is not unlikely that it was so, for his sin was very great, and grace in him had afterwards a perfect work. This same experience is common to all the redeemed family according to the degree in which the Spirit of God has removed the natural heart of stone. We, like Peter, remember our boastful promise: "Though all men shall forsake thee, yet will not I." We eat our own words with the bitter herbs of repentance. When we think of what we vowed we would be, and of what we have been, we may weep whole showers of grief. He thought on his denying his Lord. The place in which he did it, the little cause which led him into such heinous sin, the oaths and blasphemies with which he sought to confirm his falsehood, and the dreadful hardness of heart which drove him to do so again and yet again. Can we, when we are reminded of our sins, and their exceeding sinfulness, remain stolid and stubborn? Will we not make our house a Bochim, and cry unto the Lord for renewed assurances of pardoning love? May we never take a dry-eyed look at sin, lest ere long we have a tongue parched in the flames of hell. Peter also thought upon his Master's look of love. The Lord followed up the cock's warning voice with an admonitory look of sorrow, pity, and love. That glance was never out of Peter's mind so long as he lived. It was far more effectual than ten thousand sermons would have been without the Spirit. The penitent apostle would be sure to weep when he recollected the Saviour's full forgiveness, which restored him to his former place. To think that we have offended so kind and good a Lord is more than sufficient reason for being constant weepers. Lord, smite our rocky hearts, and make the waters flow.

Man’s duty to God

Man was created by God as the crown of all his creation, in God's image and after His likeness (holy, righteous and good), with a reasonable soul, to rule on God's behalf over all creation.

Man forfeited this high privilege on account of his sin and the breaking of the covenant of works. Thus man became blind and ignorant; God had to speak to him in order to instruct him and bring him back to a right knowledge of God and his will.

The Bible therefore is a redemptive message: it shows man his duty to God, now that he is a sinner in need of redemption.

Naturally, the first and primary duty is for man to repent, to turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thessalonians. 1:9). God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17); a repentance that is genuine and credible by having good works. "Bring forth fruit in keeping with your repentance." Repentance is man's duty; he is held responsible to repent, though in his fallen state, he cannot repent or convert himself unless God convert him (Jeremiah 31:18; Lamentations 5:21).

Joined with repentance and inseparable from it is faith, without which it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). "This is his commandment, that we believe in the Name of the Son of God, and love one another, as he gave us commandment" (1 John). Likewise faith is a gift from God, instilled in us by exercise of the Holy Spirit. Where there's faith and repentance a man is in a right relationship with his Maker. He will realise that his duty is to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 3:17), even though it be such "trivial" things as eating and drinking (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Man was created for God's glory, that God might manifest himself and be magnified in, through, and above his creature.

Augustine's sentiment, "Thou has made us for thyself and our hearts are restless unless they find rest in thee," though not a quote from Scripture, is wholly scriptural (cf. Matthew 11:28).

Solomon's search for meaning in life came to this all-embracing conclusion: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

To wrap up man's duty to God, I find no better sentence, more comprehensive and far-reaching, than Paul's statement in Romans 11:36 "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."

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Man’s duty to God

Man was created by God as the crown of all his creation, in God's image and after His likeness (holy, righteous and good), with a reasonable soul, to rule on God's behalf over all creation.

Man forfeited this high privilege on account of his sin and the breaking of the covenant of works. Thus man became blind and ignorant; God had to speak to him in order to instruct him and bring him back to a right knowledge of God and his will.

The Bible therefore is a redemptive message: it shows man his duty to God, now that he is a sinner in need of redemption.

Naturally, the first and primary duty is for man to repent, to turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thessalonians. 1:9). God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17); a repentance that is genuine and credible by having good works. "Bring forth fruit in keeping with your repentance." Repentance is man's duty; he is held responsible to repent, though in his fallen state, he cannot repent or convert himself unless God convert him (Jeremiah 31:18; Lamentations 5:21).

Joined with repentance and inseparable from it is faith, without which it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). "This is his commandment, that we believe in the Name of the Son of God, and love one another, as he gave us commandment" (1 John). Likewise faith is a gift from God, instilled in us by exercise of the Holy Spirit. Where there's faith and repentance a man is in a right relationship with his Maker. He will realise that his duty is to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 3:17), even though it be such "trivial" things as eating and drinking (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Man was created for God's glory, that God might manifest himself and be magnified in, through, and above his creature.

Augustine's sentiment, "Thou has made us for thyself and our hearts are restless unless they find rest in thee," though not a quote from Scripture, is wholly scriptural (cf. Matthew 11:28).

Solomon's search for meaning in life came to this all-embracing conclusion: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

To wrap up man's duty to God, I find no better sentence, more comprehensive and far-reaching, than Paul's statement in Romans 11:36 "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."

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Having begun in the Spirit...

I was reading this morning in Genesis...

Gen 1:2-3
2 And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
NASB

I have often seen this as a type of when a man gets saved. His heart is without form and void of God. Then the Spirit of God broods over him and convicts him. Then the Lord speaks "Let there be light" and the man gets saved.

But this morning, the Lord showed me something else!

Gal 3:3
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
NASB

Often our heart still has dark places in it after we get saved. Often, we try to overcome these dark places through severe treatment of the body, through commands "do not touch, do not taste", etc. We strive before the Lord to become good. When what is really needed is simple trust in Him to speak "Let there be light". Then obedience can enter the picture. For what is there to obey before he has spoken?

Having begun in the Spirit, will I then become perfected by the flesh? Or will I simply trust Him to perfect me just as he saved me?

I hope this encourages you as much as it did me this morning.

A Kiss Is Just A Kiss?

There are those who would argue that it is not wrong to kiss before marriage. To refute this we could look at statistics of couples who thought they could start the fire and shut it at will, and found they were wrong. We could state the number of pregnancies that started as "innocent" goodnight kisses. We could look at all the practical reasons not to kiss before marriage. But those who defend the activity might still say, "Perhaps it's best to refrain, but I don't see it condemned in the Bible, so it can't be sin." This is a weak argument at best.

First, a definition of the term. Obviously, not every kind of extramarital kiss can be wrong. The apostle Paul expressly commands us, on several occasions, to greet one another with a holy kiss. (It would be a stretch to say that Paul was instructing husbands and wives to do something which normally requires no prompting). But premarital kissing does not fall under the same category as kissing a fellow believer, your sister, your dog or your parakeet. In Genesis 26 we read that God told Isaac to stay with the Philistines in lieu of going to Egypt. When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he told them that Rebekah was his sister, because she was beautiful, and he was afraid that the men would kill him to get at her. In verse 8 we read, "When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister?'" This shows that there is a type of activity which is only appropriate with a wife, and not appropriate with a sister.

What is premarital kissing? For the purpose of my argument, premarital kissing is engaging in that kind of kissing with someone other than one's spouse which is inappropriate with a sibling, in activity and motive. What is the purpose of such kissing? Some would say that it is a legitimate display of affection between a couple who is courting or (horrors) dating. But let's face it, it is not merely an innocent display of affection. It is a display of passion. See definition above. It is rather far-fetched to deny the intimate and emotional nature of a kiss. You would not kiss your mom or dad in the same way you kiss your wife or husband. If you're arguing for that type of kissing before marriage, no argument here. It's ok after marriage, too. But I am speaking of the type which is unique to a husband/wife relationship and imitators thereof. "If you wanna know if he really loves you so, it's in his kiss"?

Kissing in this way outside of the bonds of marriage neither proves nor enhances true love. Rather, it proves, demonstrates, enhances a physical attraction that is Biblically classified as lust when not consecrated in marriage. While the physical aspect is a necessary ingredient in a marriage, it is not necessary for a premarital relationship. Rather, it hinders true communication between the couple. Why is premarital sex wrong? Isn't one reason that we are to keep ourselves pure for the person who will one day be our spouse? We may not have sex with anyone who is not our lawful spouse. Those who are single do not have a lawful spouse. Therefore, singles may not have sex. End of story. Now let me ask you a question. How happy would you be if, after taking wedding vows, your beloved passionately kissed someone other than you on the lips? I daresay you wouldn't like it much. If you would, then you are not being an imitator of God in His jealousy for what is His own, and should repent. Well, what right have we to kiss someone now in a way that is not lawful later? Can we not extend this to say: We may not kiss anyone who isn't our lawful spouse; someone who's single has no lawful spouse; therefore singles may not kiss? Take a moment to look at it this way. Let's assume for the moment that premarital kissing is permissible. For the purposes of the argument, it is fine for you to passionately kiss someone when you're single. Is the person you're kissing your husband or wife? Obviously not. Therefore, we have a premise: It is OK to kiss someone who is not your lawful spouse. Logically extending that idea, what is to prevent a married person from passionately kissing someone she/he isn't married to? What's that you say? "No, they can't"? Why ever not? It must have something to do with the nature of marriage and the nature of a passionate kiss.

I maintain that the reason extramarital kissing is not permissible is that such kissing is sexual in nature. This agrees with both A and B. Working backwards, then, it would be wrong extramaritally, and it would be wrong premaritally. "Show me a verse that says 'No Kissing'", you say. "Scripture doesn't even mention it. You can't make me feel guilty for doing something the Bible doesn't forbid." There are many expressions of passion that are not specifically recognized in Scripture yet which are wrong to engage in outside of marriage. Can you find me a Scripture passage condemning petting, or other practices that don't go "all the way" to include the act of intercourse, yet involve passion and intimacy between unmarried persons? How about a passage that condemns homosexuals kissing? Or one that says you can't smash your neighbor's windshield? You can't, because they don't exist. And yet I hardly expect you to condone those practices. The key is that these actions are subsumed under the broader heading of "sexual immorality." I would submit that premarital kissing, because of its very nature, also falls into this category. The Heidelberg Catechism assures us that some sins are more heinous than others. Just because one sin is less heinous than another doesn't mean that it is not, therefore, sin. Christ himself warns us that if we hate our brother we have already murdered him in our heart. Therefore, hating our brother is sin. It is not punishable here on earth, but such a thought will be judged.(Matthew 5:22)

The Scriptures command us to keep a heart that is clean and free from sin. We should not, we may not seek to go as far as we can without violating the letter of the law. When we so seek, we are already violating the spirit of the law. Cain tried the same trick, and it didn't do him good. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart God will not despise. (Psalm 51:17) Whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. (Matthew 5:28) How much more, then, has someone committed adultery who does not just confine himself to looking, but also touches in an inescapably sexual way?

It is GOOD for a man not to touch a woman.(1 Corinthians 7:1) Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.(Galatians 5:16) Treat younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.(1 Timothy 5:2) Some have said that to them, kissing doesn't mean anything. I have acquaintances who kiss first and ask questions (like "What's your name?") later. This is dangerous, as demonstrated through the experience of one of those acquaintances. She felt that since kisses meant little, she owed something more than that to the boyfriend she "really loved." If such kissing is to mean anything, if it is to convey love and affection, passion and intimacy, as God ordained that it should, it is only properly done by a husband and a wife.

What do you think? Give us your FEEDBACK!

10 Lies Christian Teens Tell Themselves About Sex, Dating,and How Far Is Too Far

So, how far is too far? Is that a valid question to ask? In a world where sex is seen in every medium and condoms are being handed out in schools, what is a Christian teen to do when confronted with conflicting advice about what constitutes a sexual activity or abstinence? Here are the top 10 lies Christian teens tell themselves when it comes to answering the question, "How far is too far?"

1. Everybody Does It

Everybody? No. Not everybody is having sex. While the media and people in school may make it seem like everyone is having sex, there are just as many Christian teens (and non-Christians, too) waiting until marriage. Doing something just because everyone else is doing it is just giving into peer pressure. It takes a stronger person, or a person backed up by the strength of God, to resist temptation. When you stand up to peer pressure you are actually saving yourself from committing sin while being a good Christian witness to other teens around you.

2. It's No Big Deal

Sex is a big deal. Ask any Christian teen who struggles with having had sex before. There are a lot of emotions and spiritual struggles that come from having had sex outside of marriage. It is one of the reasons God placed such an emphasis on sex and relationships in the Bible. Sex is a beautiful act that comes out of the marriage covenant, and it means more than just an action.

3. Virginity is a State of Mind

Some people use the term "technical virgin" when describing their sexual status. Usually this means that the person has not had a sexual act that involved penetration. Virginity is more than that. Virginity is not a state of mind, but it is the conscious choice to not involve oneself in sexual acts until after marriage. Usually this excuse is used if someone wants to justify participating in sexual activity.

4. Sex and Love are the Same Thing

Sex and love are very different, but they are meant to complement one another. If you are in love it does not mean you should have sex. Sex is an act. Love is an emotion. They are very different, and it can be dangerous to mix them up. You should never feel like you have to have sex with someone just because you want to show them you love them. There are plenty of non-sexual ways to show your love to someone.

5. Sex is a Minor Sin

Pre-marital sex is sin. Sin is sin. However, it is dangerous to think that sex is a minor or equal sin to all others, because it can put you in a frame of mind to make bad choices. Sexual sin is still a defiance of God, and no sin is acceptable to God. Yes, you can be forgiven, but you will have to live with the sin you have committed, which can be difficult if you are not prepared to deal with sex emotionally.

6. Oral Sex Isn't Really Sex

Oral sex is a sexual act. Just because Christian teens are not having sex in the textbook fashion, it is still a sexual act that bonds a man and a woman together.

7. Third Base Isn't a Big Deal

Third base, also known as "heavy petting," is a big deal, because it can lead to other things. Not only is it a form of sexual action, but it can lead to sexual intercourse. It is very easy for Christian teens to get caught up in the moment and forget about any desire to stay abstinent. Sin is very tempting, and it does not always come with warning or stop signs. Going to Third Base can be a danger zone.

8. My Will Can Overcome Any Temptation

God's will can overcome any temptation. If you feel you have the strength alone to conquer any temptation, you are setting yourself up for trouble. Man is known for falling into sin, especially when there is an overconfidence in the self. Christian teens need to keep their eyes on God, and allow God to help set boundaries so they can resist the temptation. The Bible is full of helpful advice when it comes to coping with temptation, and it can be a useful tool.

9. Watching Porn or Masturbating is Less of a Sin Than Having Sex

A lot of people believe that pornography and masturbation are helpful in preventing a person from having sex. However, having sex is not just about the act, but it is about the frame of mind. If you have lust in your heart while you are watching pornographic movies or masturbating, then there is sin there.

10. I've Already Had Sex, So It's Too Late for Me

It is never too late. While the idea of "born-again virgin" may seem a little like "technical virgin," it is not the same thing. Many Christian teens that have already had sex choose to act as if they have never had sex and vow to wait until marriage. Having sex is not the end of the world. God is very forgiving, and He smiles at those who return to Him with a desire to do His will. While the temptation for someone who has had sex can be even stronger than the virgin, it can be overcome with God's help. God is waiting to welcome you with open arms.