CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 696

“Precious, Honored, and Loved”

Isaiah 43:3 (ESV) For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior … you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…

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These are the words of God to you and to me. Read them again, slowly, and contemplate their meaning to you.

He is LORD. ‘LORD’ is Jehovah, the existing one. He is beyond time and has always been and always will be. He is the creator of all things and you are precious to Him.

The word ‘precious’ in the original text means to be appraised as valuable and costly. It carries with it the idea of being weighty. Even in our limited understanding we know that when comparing two similar items, the weightier one, the one that is more solid and that has more heft to it is considered the more valuable. We apply this appraisal technique when selecting items from gold jewelry to fruit and vegetables as well as jelly-filled doughnuts. Our salvation came at a heavy price – It cost Jesus His life – It cost God His only Son. We are truly His precious children.

He is your God. He is the only one, true God and He is your God and my God. All the other ‘gods’ of this world are false, empty, lifeless, and powerless creations of man. Only the LORD, Jehovah is the living God and He who is worthy and deserving of all honor and praise chooses to honor us.

It boggles the mind to consider that we are honored in the eyes of God. The word ‘honored’ in the original text also carries with it the idea of being heavy. However this heaviness indicates having the substantive ability to bear up and endure adversity. We are honored in the sight of God because He sees the life of His Son, Jesus in us. He sees the power and strength of His Holy Spirit dwelling in us and upon us.

I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength— Isaiah 49:5

He is your Savior. He is the one who saves us from our sin and its penalty. There is no other way to salvation and eternal life with Him except through Jesus Christ, His Son. God says that He loves us and He demonstrated that love on the cross.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

God’s Word is truth. Why then do we live in fear and anxiety? Why are we depressed and feel unloved? Why do we worry and fret about the things of this world? Why do we feel powerless in the face of adversity? Why do we feel that there is no hope beyond life in this world? These feelings and emotions are distractions of the devil. He seeks to take your eyes off of God and place them on the false gods of his creation. He wants to drag you down and destroy you.

When these feelings and emotions rise up in you, turn to God and to the truth of His Word and receive His power and strength and rest in the knowledge that you are precious, honored, and loved by Him.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & rededication of your work to the glory of God