ANGELS: A Party in Your Honor

This may come as a surprise to you, but someone would love to have a party in your honor - the angels in heaven. It would be hard to say "No" to a party!



Jesus said in Luke 15:4-7 of God's Word, "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."


Rejoicing in heaven when one person comes home spiritually is a great picture! It seems that the angels break into a celebration - a welcome home party—when someone turns from their sin to Jesus. Some of us stumble over that word "sinner"; we don't like to think that applies to us. That's somebody else, right? The Bible clearly says, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23 ). Every one of us has missed the way that we were created to live.


We were supposed to live centered around the One who gave us our life. Instead, we've lived with ourselves in the center. Sin is deadly and the Bible says it literally carries an eternal death penalty.


Jesus is our only hope! He is that loving Shepherd who came after us lost sheep. "Lost" may be a good word to describe how you feel - confused about why you're here, wondering why there's a deep loneliness that never really goes away, wondering where peace and fulfillment are really found. All that is because you're away from the One who made you, who is the One who loves you most. Jesus came after you and went all the way to a cross where He died to pay the sin-penalty that you could only pay with an eternity in hell.

The day that you finally put your trust in Jesus to be your own Savior, the angels begin the party in your honor. They know how much it cost to rescue you. They saw the Son of God return to heaven with something He didn't have when He left for earth - nail prints in His hands and feet and a spear wound in His side. They also know what's at stake in your decision about Jesus. They know this is life-or-death; this is heaven or hell.


Maybe with all you know about Jesus and with all your religion, you've never actually been born into God's family. Maybe you've never told Jesus that you're turning from running your own life and totally trusting Him to forgive your sin and get you to heaven. Don't risk another day without Jesus.


This could be the day the angels have been waiting for in heaven for a long time—the day they have a party in your honor because you have finally come home!

ABUSE: Hurt and Hiding

Do you feel alone and have been too hurt to trust anyone? Somewhere along the way you've been hurt, abandoned, betrayed, or mistreated.


You're afraid to let anyone get close. In fact, you may have built up some pretty elaborate defenses to make sure no one does. You're really just afraid that they'll hurt you like someone else did.


Do you feel like no one else knows or understands what you're going through? There is someone today who does understand. He is waiting for you with His arms wide open, and He's the healing that your heart has always wanted. His name is Jesus.


Jesus is seeking you and wants to win your trust. He only wants to love and help you. His love will break through all of your fear and hurt. You've probably been looking and longing for this real love for a long time. It can be yours.


Jesus is waiting for you. He wants to comfort you and be your healer. Read these words from the Word of God that describe Him in Isaiah 61:1-2 , "The Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners." You see, Jesus is the healer of broken hearts and broken lives, the liberator from the darkness.


You might wonder if He can be trusted. The answer is found in Romans 8:32 , "He who did not spare His own son but gave him up for us all - how will He not also graciously give us all things." Later in that chapter it says, "Nothing can ever separate us from His love."


So, can Jesus be trusted? If you walk up that hill and stand in the pouring rain at the foot of His cross, you will see the agony Jesus suffered there. The nails in His hands and feet, the thorns pressed on His brow, the spear wound in His side, but most of all the total separation from God. You will then realize that He died to pay the death penalty for your sin.


Yes, you can trust this one who loved you enough to die for you. He's been waiting for you to turn your life over to Him so He can start the healing process that only He can bring. First you have to tell Him that you're putting your total trust in Him to be your Savior. That word "trust" is a hard one after what you've been through, but you can't just go on hurting, hiding, and feeling alone.


This one who loves you so much that He gave everything He had for you; He's the one person you can finally trust!

ABUSE: Hope for Banged-Up Lives

Have you been treated poorly, made to feel that you will never measure up, treated like a loser, or undervalued? Maybe you've ended up pretty hard and angry inside, but there is hope.


While you may not be excited about horse racing, the story set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, illustrates some pretty inspiring things. It was #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and then a major motion picture - the story of one of the most famous race horses of all time, Seabiscuit. Seabiscuit was the son of a champion but was definitely not like his father. He had been forced to run with better horses so they would gain confidence by beating him. When he raced, he did what he was trained to do - lose. Because of the poor treatment Seabiscuit received, he became an angry, almost uncontrollable horse until he was given a chance by a trainer who many considered to be too old and a young man most thought was too big to be a jockey.


Seabiscuit thrived in the care of people who believed in him and became one of the greatest horses of all time. The trainer saw in him something that others had missed. When Seabiscuit's eventual owner was deciding whether to buy this apparent loser, he said, You don't throw a life away just because it's been banged up a little.


There is someone who has never thrown away a banged up life, who sees beyond what's on the outside to the wounds on the inside and the potential He built into you when He made you. Jesus is your hope of a new beginning where the future doesn't have to be just an extension of a broken past.

In Isaiah 61:1 , the Bible says of Jesus, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives. Jesus has done that for millions of banged up people for over two thousand years. He can do it for you because He died on the cross for every sin ever done by you or against you. Isaiah 53:4-5 says of His death on the cross: Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.


With someone who loves you so unconditionally and so completely, you don't have to ever again trash yourself, trash other people, or trash your future. When you surrender the steering wheel of your life and put the rest of your life in the hands of the Man who died for you, you can tear up that name tag that identifies you as victim and replace it with the new identity Jesus gives you, Child of the King.


If you've never done that and you want to begin your own personal relationship with Jesus, tell Him that right now with all your heart. Jesus, who's God's one and only Son, sacrificed Himself to become the ultimate banged-up life for you. Even though you have been betrayed, you've been hurt and rejected, you can trust Him and count on Him to never alone. Your new beginning can start this very moment. 

ABUSE: Stepped On but Still Precious

There are many people today who have been treated poorly. They feel beaten up, mishandled, treated badly, crushed, and trampled on. When someone's been treated like that, they begin to believe that they aren't worth much. If they were, why would anyone treat them like that?



Most people, if they were offered a $20 bill, would take it. What if that nice $20 bill was crumpled up, crushed into a little wad, beaten up, and then stomped on? Would you still want the $20 bill if it was offered to you? Well, of course you would. That's the point. No matter how abused and beaten up that $20 is, it's still worth just as much, and so are you.


When you think you're worthless, you start making choices based on that—throwing yourself away, settling for junk, doing anything for a little love. The truth is, you're just like that mistreated $20 bill. No matter how you've been treated, you're still just as valuable. You're still precious because God gave you your worth, and no one on earth can take it away.


We can go to God's Book to get the real truth about your value and find three worth-givers that cannot be taken from you.

• First, your worth is based on your being made in God's image. In Genesis 1:27 , the Bible says, "God created man in His own image." God made you as a reflection of Himself, so don't think you're not worth much!

Secondly, your worth is based on your being God's one-of-a-kind masterpiece. In Psalm 139:13 , David says to God, "You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful." When you believe you're not worth much, you're insulting the One who designed you. From the moment the egg and the sperm came together to start your life, you have been God's unique creation. If you don't believe it, look at your fingerprints. There's no one else like you.

• Most importantly, you are infinitely valuable because God paid for your sin with the life of His Son! Galatians 2:20 says, "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Imagine the blood-stained cross at the top of Skull Hill near Jerusalem. That's where God's one and only Son thought you were so precious that He poured out His life for every wrong thing you have ever done or will ever do. He did that for you because that's the only way you could ever be forgiven of your sins, the only way you could ever have the love relationship with Him you were made for, and the only way you could be with Him in heaven forever.

The children are so right when they sing the song "Jesus loves me, this I know." He really does love you, and you can never experience how much you're worth until you experience the One who gave you your worth. That's what Jesus has come to give you today. He stands ready to enter your life upon your invitation and begin that love relationship He gave His life to give you. The life you were made for and the love you were made for, begins when you let Jesus into your life. No one loves you like he does!

ABUSE: Where Trust is Born

Maybe you've been betrayed, abused, abandoned, or deeply hurt by people you should have been able to trust and it's hard for you to trust anyone. You've been hurt too often. That's Gal's story, too.


Most dogs are pretty aggressive in meeting strangers by coming right up to you, maybe even on you, but not Gal. She retreats when she sees people. She cowers and she trembles because she had been severely abused by several previous owners before she came to a safe home. She has a hard time even trusting people who want to treat her right, but she's missing a lot of loving that way. Wounded, afraid to trust, and missing a lot of love - that's not just the life story of abused dogs, it's the life story of millions of people.



It might be hard for you to trust someone who wants to treat you right, maybe even the Person who wants to give you the deepest love a human being can ever experience — God. You're not even sure how you feel about Him. There have been tragedies you don't understand and questions unanswered.


Even though the children sing, "Jesus loves me, this I know," you can't join their song because you haven't really trusted Him with everything you have. You've never really experienced this one "never leave you" love. That is, in fact, the promise Jesus makes to those who belong to Him. "Never will I leave you; Never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).


If you struggle to trust even the God who has the love and healing you need, consider Romans 8:31-32 , "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?"

God says if you want to know that you can trust Him, go to His Son's cross. The only way for you to belong to God is to have the death penalty for your sin paid, and God gave up His Son to pay it. God doesn't want to lose you, because He really does love you. Just look at His Son, hanging on that bloody cross, pouring out His life in exchange for yours. Stand at the foot of that cross. You have finally found the one person you can totally trust. This Savior who loves you enough to die for you will never betray your trust. He will never do you wrong!


Trust is born at the cross of Jesus when you let the walls around your wounded heart finally come down and you say, "Jesus, I need a Savior. I need to be forgiven. I need Your love. Jesus, I'm Yours." If you've never done that, let today be the day the healing begins.


There's more love waiting for you than you ever imagined you could have. The arms of Jesus are wide open, extending to you hands with nail scars in them—proof of how much He loves you. Now, it's your move.

LIFE ISSUES

Are you looking for answers to life's deepest questions or real life issues? Do you feel that no one cares? Does your life feel out of control? Are you facing something big right now in your life? Sometimes life and its troubles seem overwhelming. You are not alone. There is hope in the issues that come your way.

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