You have value!

How often do you put yourself down in your mind? How many times in a week do you allow yourself to think that you don't have much value? It is easy to buy into the lies of shame, worthlessness, and cynicism.

We have done a powerful exercise periodically in the last 4 years in my weekly support group. We go around the circle to each man, allowing all the other members of the group to share a word of encouragement to that particular individual. We speak words of blessing, words of praise, words of that man's value. It is a unique, special time of affirmation.

You know what I have found to be true when affirming one's value? Whether the individual believes you or not, they receive a blessing. They are encouraged. They are lifted up.

You may feel beat up today. You may feel the world has ripped you off. Your relationships may be strained at best, absent at worst. These, and many other things, attack your sense of worth. But God is faithful, never wavering from His conviction that you have immeasurable value in His sight. His confirmation of such passion was the sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus Christ, on your behalf. What amazing love...

Are you struggling with thoughts of despair and shame? Take heart, you are valuable to the King of Kings.

Amazed and perplexed,

jonathan

I have sinned...

Those are three powerful words. They act as a doorway to freedom. Many have never tasted freedom from sexual sin because they failed to utter those words. Many more fail to enjoy fellowship with God by refusing to acknowledge that their sin was against Him.

I appreciate the honesty of King David in the Psalms. I believe God dubbed him "a man after My own heart" because of His forthrightness. His famous confession in Psalm 51 records, "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight." David understood something about His sin that is important for us to learn. All sin is an affront to God. It is all an offense against Him. Why is this important to understand?

God is self-existent. He wasn't created, and doesn't have need of anything. Therefore, everything else in existence is indebted to God. When God created mankind He gave us the ability to choose (this is known as our will). When Adam chose to act out of pride and self-centeredness, all fellowship with God was broken and sin entered the world. From that moment forward we have existed with the need for reconciliation to God (which is why we are so thankful for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ!).

When David proclaimed, "Against You, You only, have I sinned" he was accurately stating that the ultimate offense of sin is against our Creator. To act in a self-centered, prideful manner (to sin) is to snub our nose at God (the One who gave us life) and deceive ourselves into believing it has no effect on our lives. But, in fact, sin is the very thing killing us (Rom. 6:23).

The good news that comes from a humble heart willing to utter the words, "I have sinned" is that there is great hope and freedom offered to us from a forgiving, merciful, and gracious God. If we would only believe this were true, we to would cry out with King David, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

Seeking a clean heart,

jonathan

People are ministry

It's tempting sometimes to recoil from contact with people. After all, more times than not interaction with other folks just creates additional problems for me to deal with, especially in ministry. Oh yeah, ministry...

There are only two things that will last forever - God's Word and the souls of men. I received a phone call today that reminded me of this. A gentleman called into the ministry, desperate for help in overcoming his addiction to lustful thoughts and behaviors. His phone call caught me right in the middle of a pretty important task concerning our website. I found my attention divided. We spoke for about 20 minutes, and then he leveled me with a very simple request:

"Would you pray for me right now?"

I almost dropped the phone. Here I was, a "minister" of the Good News, being reminded of my whole purpose for being in ministry - it's about reaching people at the point of their need and offering them the wonderful news of Jesus Christ. How quickly I am prone to forget the essentials.

I did pray for this man. Silently, I was praying for myself as well. We both needed it. He needed encouragement for realizing new hope for freedom from his sexual dependency. I needed his phone call to give me renewed focus on the true meaning of ministry. I'm truly thankful for God's gentle, yet clear, reminder that ministry really is about people.

Refocused,

jonathan

Pride

The original sin was pride. Nothing has changed since the beginning of time. Every sin I commit begins with pride.

I was thinking today of how many times during the course of a single day I attempt to function on my own. My own agenda. My own thinking. My own solutions to problems. I spend more time each day trying to "figure out" life than I do submitting to the Creator of life. Today I was awakened to my serious struggle with pride.

Pride really isn't anything more than telling God, "Not Your will, but mine." I'm amazed at how patient, kind, and merciful God is to me each day, especially considering how much time I operate out of pride. Sometimes it's as if I'm in a daze and when I snap out of it I realize half my day is gone and I haven't acknowledged God's presence and power in my life even once. How many times did my heart beat in that time? How much of God's air did I inhale to keep me alive? How many moments did God protect me physically, mentally, or spiritually? And my response? Pride.

I'm grateful that God in His mercy brings about moments of clarity where I can see clearly what a gracious Savior He is. In such moments I am reminded that I am nothing apart from Him. Nothing. I have nothing to give, nothing He needs, nothing of value compared to His glory. Yet, amazingly, I do have something He wants: me. Astoundingly, God desires me - my time, my fellowship, my life. And He wants me to enjoy Him. So, today I lay down my pride that I might experience intimacy with my Father.

What will you do with your pride today?

In humble adoration,

jonathan

The GREAT Encourager...

God has an amazing way of encouraging me when I let me feelings drag me down. We had a tragedy occur in our church body this past week that has cast a cloud of heaviness over me for the past several days. A wife and mother was killed in an auto accident. I didn't even know the family that well, but she periodically cared for our kids in the childcare department. Regardless, this event stirred up emotions from my own past of losing my father when I was only 18 years old.

As I have struggled through old emotions, prayed for this grieving family in our church, and thought about the brevity of life I have felt pretty down. Often when my emotions go south so does my focus on maintaining my personal purity. My flesh tells me the most important thing in my life is "feeling good." Sometimes I buy into that lie, other times I resist.

Today I was feeling particularly gloomy. I was wondering if I was making a difference in life or just taking up space. God was faithful today, even in the midst of my pity party, to encourage my soul and remind me that He has a purpose in my life.

I received a phone call from a man I never met. This man had a lifelong struggle with masturbation. He said earlier this year he did a search on the Internet for help and our website came up. He shared with me how much that helped him to take the first steps toward freedom and purity. He said he felt he needed to call me to tell me personally what a blessing my story and our ministry had been to him. Isn't God good?!

I'm constantly amazed at God's compassion and unfailing love for us. I pray you are experiencing the goodness of God - even in the midst of roller coaster emotions.

encouraged,

jonathan