IS HE WORTH IT?

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Yesterday I had the wonderful honor of attending Briana DuPree’s ordination. What an amazing young woman of faith and true testimony.

Following her service, Bri shared a poignant talk entitled “Glory Shift”. It could have been sub-titled, “It’s Not About Me” as well; and many of you who know me, this little topic of “not about me” strikes a real a resonant chord. It is something I battle and attempt to guard against daily. Not with much success sometimes...

But it wasn’t the title that stuck with me as much as a little passing challenge she levied. I even texted it to myself in the service.

“Is Jesus worth it?”

In my line of ministry, dealing with folks suffering with substance abuse, relational strife and the like, I am often finding myself asking another question over and over again; is IT worth it?

“Is the HIGH worth another stint in jail?”

“Is the 15 minutes with the “other” person worth 20 years of relationship?”

“Is one night on the town worth losing custody of your kids?”

But Bri asks the tougher yet more important question.

Is Jesus worth it?

Is our walk with Him worth it? Are we willing to put up, deal with, hang in with, and suffer through anything for our relationship with Him? Are we willing to take HIS position on the tough choices in life or are we quick to choose the comfortable; the “all about me” avenue when the heat is on?

Peter says we should be for making “Jesus worth it”; it is the true measure of our faith!

1 Peter 1:6-7

…even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime…Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.

But ask yourself today. Is Jesus worth it?

Or when life’s pressures mount do we cash out? Go back out? Cave to the peer pressure? Let our faith falter? Make it all out us?

Brutal question huh? To be honest I don’t like it either!

But Jesus is truly worth it!

In tough times? Stick with Him.

Hard decisions? Trust His guidance.

Unforeseen frustrations and trials Pastor Josh? Stay the course!

Why Pastor Eric? HE IS ABLE! Why Bri? He is most definitely worth it!

Matthew 10:22

…don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end.

So let’s ask ourselves that question today. Is this day about us or is this day about demonstrating to those around us that Jesus is worth it?

Is this day about His glory or our comfort?

Thanks again Bri for the tough question.

Thank again Jesus for the hope in the right answer; YOU are certainly worth it!

2 Corinthians 4:14-15

…And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up…Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory…

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney