Have You Discovered Your Value?

Malachi 4:1-2 [NLT], The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, …2 “But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings.  And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.”

The Hebrew word for “healing” means; “health, deliverance, sound mind, wholeness, healing (cure) of diseases.”  It also speaks to “a reverse of any injury (damage) that has taken place in our lives (physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually).”

Q—Do you know that God has something that is really valuable and special to Him too?  

• He values His prized possession so much He left heaven and died for it.

• In our culture we determine the value of something by the amount for which it can be exchanged.

"The price Jesus paid on the cross ultimately determines the value of the people He purchased."

Q— Do you see yourself as one who is valued highly in the eyes of your Creator?

Proverbs 23:7 ”As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."

• The #1 thing God wants to come and heal in your life, is your identity.

Luke 5:1-8, So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. 4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

• The Greek word for “sinful” means; “to be devoted, loyal, committed and faithful to sin."

• When we don’t know our value, we will unknowingly devalue it by living well below His view of us..

• The name Simon means; "broken reed.”

Broken means; "reduced to fragments"  

                                           "not functioning/operating properly.”

                                           "divided into parts violently"

Reed means; "the straight stalk of a plant/grass."

Q—How do you think Jesus responded to Simon's confession?

Luke 5:10, And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid.  From now on you will catch men.” 

• Jesus wants to help us overcome the distance between our perceived value and the God-given value which is determined not by our past, but by the shed blood of Jesus.

Psalm 139:16, Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

John 1:41-42, The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.  Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John.  You will be called Peter.”

• The name Peter means; “a rock.”

"Simon" moments:

Mark 14:37-38, Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping?  Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”

Luke 22:31-32, And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” 

Luke 22:34, Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."

"Peter" moments:

Acts 4:5-14, And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, 6 as well as Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in them midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.  And they realized that they had been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.