Luke 21:36 Watch therefore, praying in every season that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things which shall occur, and to stand before the Son of Man.
Luke 21:36 was a foundational scripture when I began Worthy News in 1999. The concept was to provide watchmen with prayer points from the news each day and to prepare the body of Messiah to be found worthy of Him.
Our true value was expressed at the cross of Messiah, where God valued us according to the redemptive work of His only Son. In the light of our identity in Christ our value is inestimable. We are worthy in Him. Much of our spiritual battle, however, is about maintaining and expressing our true identity and worth, day by day.
One of the names of our enemy, Satan, is "Belial", which literally translated, is "worthlessness". How apt! In his rebellion, the enemy has become worthless, and his motive is to persuade us to be and feel like him.
In this post-modern age, where meaning and purpose are reduced to instant gratification, relationship is superficial and expedient, good and evil are relative or inverted, and the value of life is cheapened and ephemeral, our sense of worth is assaulted at every turn. The success of our "worthless" enemy is astonishing and presents the greatest challenge to our life of faith.
Yet our greatest challenge is also our greatest opportunity. Our true value in Yeshua is non-negotiable. It simply needs to be remembered, expressed, and presented to the darkness of our time. This is why spiritual disciplines are so important; prayer, scripture, and fellowship. These activities activate our spirits, instill our sense of value, and help us realize our worthiness in the Lord.
Your life is not 'worthless.' Yeshua has powerfully conveyed its worth. Now, more than ever, this truth can bring hope and real life to everyone you meet.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]"If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer..... but our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior."
As we mentioned a couple of days ago, Chanukah commemorates of the desecration of the holy temple of old, (just another attempt of the enemy to wipe out the Jewish people and the things of God), God's great grace and the rededication of the temple to Him.
D. L. Moody told the story of a man who was crossing the Atlantic by ship. He was terribly sick and confined to his cabin. One night he heard the cry “Man overboard!” He felt that there was nothing he could do to help, but at second thought, he said to himself, “I guess I can at least put my lantern in the porthole.” He struggled to his feet and hung the light so it shined out into the darkness.
Chanukah, a time of celebration and rededication, began last Thursday night here in the Land and for Jewish people all over the globe. Those of us who are grafted in through the atoning work of Messiah, we who know God, have an opportunity to see the deeper significance in the Jewish holidays and are not only welcome but encouraged to celebrate as well!
These first two scriptures are speaking of the same "Stone", the prophesied Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), the "head of the corner" or "rosh pina", in Hebrew. This stone is laid in Zion, a common synonym for Jerusalem, where mount Zion rests. The stone is "tried", that is, tested in every way that a stone can be; the stone is precious and excellent to be set as a sure, reliable, accurate, even everlasting foundation, and a stone which is prepared and set in place by God, Himself. Can you think of a "Stone" more perfect or beautiful than our Messiah?
"In the washroom of his London club, British newspaper publisher and politician William Beverbrook happened to meet Edward Heath, then a young member of Parliament, about whom Beverbrook had printed an insulting editorial a few days earlier. "My dear chap," said the publisher, embarrassed by the encounter. "I've been thinking it over, and I was wrong. Here and now, I wish to apologize." "Very well," grunted Heath. "But the next time, I wish you'd insult me in the washroom and apologize in your newspaper."
Years ago, I heard an anointed missionary and personal friend speaking on the consequences of sin. He told a story about a pair of brothers he knew quite well.