Weather report from heaven: Sunny and bright with an abundance of light, and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Scripture- “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”- 1 Peter 2:9
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”- 2 Corinthians 13:14
Insight: I called this post “Seeking affirmation, finding grace,” for a very personal reason. Here’s some details on why and what Jesus has done for me. I have been seeking affirmation most of my life, since my dad walked out the door when I was 12 years old. When you don’t get that fatherly affirmation as a young boy, it leaves you feeling unworthy. I spent a lot of time in my life trying to get others to validate me, striving to prove my worth and receive praise, but they never could fill the void left by my father. I really wanted his affirmation and his alone. I was on a constant mission to fill that void, but it was never satisfied. Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever felt invisible? Have you ever felt discarded- maybe a bad break-up, or a bad boss, or a bad relative made you feel like you just weren’t good enough? It is a painful place to be. So, like many, I moved to the next phase on the coping spectrum, which was anesthetizing that pain with anything I could get my hands on. The buzz would be a temporary elixir but when it wore off, I was worse off than before. This was a slippery slope, and I could feel it was heading for a bad ending.
But just in time I met Jesus and His love rescued me from the void in my life. He let me know pretty quickly that He was all I really needed to feel my worth, because He had paid a great price to redeem me from my sins and He had never stopped pursuing me. He told me I could stop running and seeking other’s affirmation because He was God, He forgave me for every wrong decision I had ever made and He loved me. More importantly, He let me know through His word in the Bible that He knew everything about me, ( Psalm 139:14 ) He chose me as His child ( Ephesians 1:4 ) and that I was His prized possession. ( 1 Peter 2:9 ) What a burden I felt lifted off of my back! No more weight of trying to prove my worth and value to other people. I didn’t have to spend the rest of my life seeking the affirmation of others, because I have it in Christ. The transformation from my encounter with Christ was life changing, as a deep contentment quickly displaced a hollow longing. While it still rears its ugly head up from time to time, after all these strongholds are sometimes huge boulders in our life, I can now quickly pivot to remembering that Christ’s acceptance and grace is greater than any human affirmation, and all I will ever really need. So I say humbly, thank you Jesus, you are worthy of all of my praise. You filled the Grand Canyon size hole in my soul when no-one else could, and your grace removed all the shame of past mistakes in an instant. There is truly nothing else like You!
Prayer: Father God, thank You that You care so much about us that You sent Jesus to heal the wounds deep in our soul that nothing or no one else could heal. I praise Your Holy Name. Amen!
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