You Matter to GOD
Junior Level

This week I want us to look at God’s word and see just how much we matter to Him.  In today’s world you hear so many people wondering why they are even on the planet, calling themselves worthless and feeling like losers.  However, if you have been washed in the Blood of the Lamb of GOD which is Christ Jesus, you can NEVER be a loser.  All people matter to God, that is why He sent His darling Son to die for our sins.  Don’t give in to that lie of the devil that you don’t matter, you certainly do.  God loves you and He shows His great love everyday.  We are blessed, favored, and protected by our Father.  If you have not been born again, you matter too and God wants to bring you into His family.  All you must do is believe and call upon the name of the LORD, repenting and asking Him to be the LORD Of your life, surrendering your life and your heart to Him and He wills save you by His marvelous grace! 

Handout : You Matter to GOD

I read this story and wanted to share it.  I hope it encourages you as it did me.
The Ant and the Contact Lens
Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she Was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff.
In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her Contact lens. Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below Her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there.
Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff.
She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole Earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."
Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"
Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it!
Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know why you want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what you want me to do, I'll carry it for you."
I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it is so heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will." God doesn't always call the qualified, but HE does ALWAYS qualify those He calls!
This story is supposed to be a true one.  In a 1995 book titled Keep a Quiet Heart, by Elisabeth Elliot.  Ms. Elliot attributes the story to a first-person account sent to her by Brenda Foltz of Princeton, Minnesota, who wrote it based upon an event that occurred during her first rock-climbing experience. 

Can GOD do such a thing…YES…YES…and YES!  HE can do all things!  Would HE do such a thing for His children?  YES again!  GOD will move Heaven and Earth for His children who call out to HIM by faith!  The Bible is full of records where GOD fought battles for His children and in 2 Kings 20 we read where GOD actually turned back time for a while…HE IS ALL POWERFUL!  Why would He do this for us?  Because HE loves us so much, that is why HE gave the best He had…Jesus Christ…Himself to die, and rise again so that we could be saved from the place called hell that we deserved. 

Satan will come at you and I and tell us that we don’t matter but we do!  I heard a quote once that said…If GOD had a wallet, your picture would be in it, and it would.  You are not just tolerated by GOD…YOU ARE LOVED, and loved dearly!   GOD thinks about you and I and HE knew us before we were formed.

Jeremiah 1:5a “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;”
Psalm 139:17-18 “17How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!18If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.”
You may be out there and feel like a no body and you may not be well known here on this earth...but trust me brothers and sisters in Christ.  You are well known by Your Creator so much that even the hairs on your head are numbered!
Matthew 10:29-33 “29Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.31Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. 32Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”

Praise the LORD He knows when a sparrow falls and HE feeds the little birds everyday and how much more are you worth to HIM than those!!!

Luke 12:24 “24Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?”

We can trust our FATHER! If you are feeling low...Humble yourself in the sight of The LORD Beloved and HE will lift you up!
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
Our GOD is an AWESOME GOD, The FAITHFUL ONE and YOU ARE LOVED BY HIM!!!

If satan is fighting you, trying to discourage you, coming at you from all sides…let’s rejoice!  There is no greater honor than to be a child of GOD, in His army on the battlefield!  Here is a passage that I wrote this week, I want to share it because I know that the devil is working over time trying to discourage God’s children.  When he comes at you, just start to praise the LORD, and think of the many blessings in your life, and you will see that through it all…GOD IS GOOD!

January 28, 2011
It's been a hard week...as I struggle on a new journey...a new mountain to climb...I feel as if I haven't made much progress...and I've wanted to just sit down and cry...today I was so tempted to "feel sorry for myself" but The HOLY SPIRIT inside me stopped me and began to remind me of all the blessings in my life...First, the LOVE of my FATHER...MY JESUS...then my family...my friends...my health...my home, my house...food on our table, vehicles to get to where we are going, my husband's job, bills being paid, and gas in our tank to get to work and church, shoes on our feet and clothes on our backs.

There are so many more blessings that if I listed them all would take to long to list them.  Everyday I am blessed abundantly and beyond my wildest dreams.  Today I will choose to be thankful and to think of those less fortunate than myself.  There is much suffering in the world and anything that I have to endure is nothing compared to what some are going through.  Today I will not think of myself, but I will pick myself up by the help and the grace of GOD and I will hold my head up and I will keep running this race in front of me.  I can do that because I have a helper...HIS NAME IS HOLY!  He is going to be there for me no matter what and HE Is going to help me do that which seems impossible!  Because NOTHING is impossible with God. (Matthew 19:26)   He says in Jeremiah 32:27 "Behold I am the LORD, The GOD of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?" NO, NO, NO!  There may be times when we don't understand...we may not know how, we may not know when...but HE will do it again!!!  No matter what you may be facing and going through...Trust and Obey HIM and HE will deliver again!!!  Just like Daniel...Just like Moses, Just like Shadrach, Meshach; and Abednego...HE WILL DO IT AGAIN!  I Praise HIM today that we who are in Christ JESUS are more than conquerors!

Romans 8:38 "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through HIM that loved us." 

We matter to GOD, we are somebody to Him and He is not going to forget us or forsake us!  We are loved by the Creator of the universe because HE is good and nothing can change it!  Keep moving forward Dear Ones, we have come to far to turn back now.  I will end with one of my favorite quotes and it says this: 

Life Seasons: "If you give up when it's Winter...you will miss the promise of your Spring, the beauty of your Summer, and the fulfillment of your Autumn." Rest if you must...but NEVER give up! :O))

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Dearest Heavenly Father,

I bow before You today, in thanksgiving for all the many blessings in my life and in the lives of all Your children.  You are so good and Your mercy endures forever.  Father You are HOLY, Righteous and there is NONE like You!  I praise You today because You are always in control.  I may be up or I may be down but You remain steadfast!  Praise Your HOLY name!  Father, today I ask that You help us walk in Your Spirit and remember our blessings when the devil is trying to discourage us.  Help us to run this race that You have set before us knowing that You have set us up for Victory and that we will always matter to You.  Father thank You for loving us, for forgiving us and for being so good all the time.  We love You and we praise You.  Please help this ministry to reach all the world with Your love, and grace and Your only begotten Son JESUS CHRIST.  We will ever love and worship You…In the name of Lovely Jesus we pray…Amen.

~*Cindygirl*~
June 5, 2022