Merry Christmas glorious one!

Do you know HOW MUCH YOU ARE WORTH?  YOU ARE WORTH the blood of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.  He suffered and died a horrific death for you because YOU WERE WORTH IT!  In Isaiah 53:4-5 we read,

  • Surely He has borne our griefs and sicknesses and carried our sorrows and pains for us…He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities…And by His stripes we are healed.

JESUS bore all our pain ~ any pain that steals our peace.  Things like the pain of rejection, sorrow, grief, disappointment, torment, anguish, depression, etc.  The Scripture declares in Hebrews 4:15,

  • This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin.

Imagine the pain of rejection JESUS faced?  The Scripture declares in Mark 3:21,

  • When His family heard about this, they went to take charge of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind!”

All of His family rejected Him.  Even His disciples abandoned Him.  In John chapter 6 we read,

  • When many of His disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?  But JESUS, knowing in Himself that His disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?”…After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.  So JESUS said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”  Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life…”

God’s will for your life is prosperity and health.  3 John 2 says,

  • Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

God wants this above everything else!

Be encouraged because there will always be challenges in life, but JESUS tells us in John 16:33,

  • I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence.  In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]!  For I have overcome the world.  [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

HE HAS DEPRIVED IT OF POWER TO HARM YOU AND HAS CONQUERED IT FOR YOU!!!

Praise You, Lord.  Did you know that because we are born of God, and our faith is in the LORD JESUS and in His Word, WE are victorious over the world?  This is what 1 John 5:4 says.

I exhort you this Christmas season and throughout the New Year to stay close to JESUS.  This is what being His disciple is all about.  John 8:31-32, 36 says,

  • Then JESUS said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in MY WORD [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples.  And [then] you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.  So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men], then you are really and unquestionably free.  

I encourage you to dwell in the secret place of the Most High ~ remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty, Who power no foe can withstand.  This one is from Psalm 91:1.  Verse 2 goes on to say,

  • [Then], I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!

Wow, how can I stop here?  Verses 3-4 goes on to say,

  • For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.  [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His Truth and His faithfulness are a shield and buckler.”

I strongly urge you to meditate on Psalm 91 and recall that all the promises in this Psalm are hinging on verse 1.  You’re going to want to do this so that you can always come under His protection.

Through the Word, prayer, and fellowship with JESUS, you are allowing Him to minister the love of the Father to you and show you what you are truly worth.

In closing, Psalm 139 says,

  • O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and known me.  You know my downsitting and my uprising; You understand my thought afar off.  You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and You are acquainted with all my ways…You did form my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb…My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].  Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.  How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours and remember HOW MUCH YOU ARE WORTH because of JESUS!

All my love,

Lisa Gordon

Assistant Pastor

Jesus City Church