OUR ESTEEM IS GRACE-ESTEEM

“Now God has us where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all His idea, and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough to let Him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.”  (Ephesians 2:7-9 MSG)

The greatest need of any person is to be known and loved. The cry is strong; the human desire is deep. "I want to be somebody. I want my life to count." Closely related to the feeling of worth is the perception of who we are. When we esteem something or someone, we highly value it or the person. To esteem ourselves is to have high regard for ourselves. Many of the problems in human relations stem from a person's lack of self-esteem.

[However,]... our worth and value is given. We are called not to muster it up within ourselves, but to receive the gift given to us, a gift of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. God has declared our value. Our value is not rooted in self-esteem, based only on ourselves. Our value is discovered in grace, which is rooted in the greatness and graciousness of God...

God's love makes it possible to know we are valued. We cannot put ourselves down or debase ourselves. We can know our true worth because we are children of God. Our esteem is rooted in the amazing grace of God. Our esteem is grace-esteem.

-- H. Eddie Fox in “Grace-Esteem” 

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PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT?

“When you present grain as an offering to the Lord, the offering must consist of choice flour. You are to pour olive oil on it, sprinkle it with frankincense, and bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. The priest will scoop out a handful of the flour moistened with oil, together with all the frankincense, and burn this representative portion on the altar. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.”  (Leviticus 2:1-2 NLT)

Musical perfection does not exist. We were taught “practice makes perfect” --  that’s a lie. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t try though!

I didn’t know this in my college years. Our grades depended on “perfection.” We worked for applause. And so, when notes went wrong, even if the error was small, to me it was failure. That’s even tougher for a church musician. You get one shot, but end up reliving the mistake. I couldn’t even take a compliment, because I focused on the flaw. You know that’s pride, right?

It’s taken quite a few years to unlearn that. For me, practice is like gathering up the grain for an offering to the Lord. The more I practice, the more “choice grain” is chosen. I don’t hastily throw it in, just to fill it up. While the world only sees those magical five minutes, … hours, weeks, months have preceded. I want my basket to be filled with the BEST I can give. The work isn’t for people….. it’s for the Lord.

The gift I receive in return is that I no longer focus on the flaws because I KNOW He’s deemed it WORTHY. 

 -- Allie Sewell McGuire

#6406

WORSHIP AND STUDY GO TOGETHER

Now we must not worship without study for ignorant worship is of limited value and can be dangerous.  We may develop "a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge" (Romans 10:2) and do great harm to ourselves and others.  But worship must be added to study to complete the renewal of our mind through a willing absorption in the radiant Person who is worthy of all praise. 

Study without worship is also dangerous, and the people of Jesus constantly suffer from its effects, especially in academic settings.  To handle the things of God without worship is always to falsify them.  In worship we are ascribing greatness, goodness, and glory to God.  It is typical of worship that we put every possible aspect of our being into it, all of our sensuous, conceptual, active, and creative capacity…

Worship nevertheless imprints on our whole being the reality that we study.  The effect is a radical disruption of the powers of evil in us and around us. 

-- Dallas Willard (1935-2013) in “The Divine Conspiracy”

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THE MOST WORTHY

During one of the crusades, Philippe Auguste, King of France, gathered his noble knights and men to call them to be strong in battle. He placed his crown on a table with the inscription “To the Most Worthy.” He pledged the crown as the prize to be given to the bravest fighter.

They went to battle and returned victorious and encircled the table on which the crown had been placed. One of the nobles stepped forward, took the crown, and put it on the head of the King, saying, “Thou, O King, art the most worthy.”

On the great Day you’ll hear billions of voices make the identical claim about Jesus Christ. “Every knee will bow to the name of Jesus – everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” (Philippians 2:10-11 NCV)

Multitudes of people will bow like a field of wind-blown wheat, each one saying, “Thou, O King, art the most worthy.” 

-- Max Lucado in “God’s Story, Your Story: When His Becomes Yours”

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