Healing grace

(The following is an outline of the message that was preached by Michael Larsen on Feb 3, 2019)

Nobody has it easy all their life. We all have problems. We all have hurts and some emotional scars. One of the causes of those hurts is rejection. We all face it at different times in life. Rejection from parents or friends, or when applying for a job, or from someone you hoped to marry. Some of you can even remember things that were said to you on the playground 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago and they still hurt today. We don't let those things go lightly. 

Today, I want us to look at God's Healing Grace and how He heals the hidden wounds of our life. Psalm 147:3 tells us that God, “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” How does God heal hidden wounds? By changing the way we think. By changing our minds. By changing how we see God, how we see the pain, and particularly how we see ourselves. In Romans 12:2 says that God transforms us by the renewing of our minds. If you want to change your life and be healed of your emotional wounds, you have to change the way you think. 

Today I want us to look at five things that God says about you that are true because of His grace. 

1. I AM ACCEPTABLE. 

Jesus tells us that this issue is settled when we accept His grace. Romans 15:7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 

2. I AM VALUABLE. 

I am valuable because of His grace. There are two things that determine value in life: 1) who owns it, 2) what is somebody willing to pay for it. Who do you belong to? You belong to God.  How much was paid for you? The greatest ransom ever paid was when Jesus Christ paid for your sins with His life. That's how valuable you are. Jesus died for you because you are valuable to Him. 

3.  I AM LOVABLE. 

Isaiah 54:10 says, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. There are two characteristics that make God's love different from human love. 1. God's love is consistent. 2. God's love in unconditional. It's not based on performance. 

4.  I AM FORGIVABLE. 

The Bible says in Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” God is a forgiving. God does not hold grudges. If you have received the grace of Jesus Christ and made Him number one in your life, He says, "I'm not going to hold your sins against you. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." 

5.  I AM CAPABLE. 

God says this in 1 Peter 2:10 “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” When you fill your mind with the truth of God, then Romans 15:13 will be true in your life, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. God wants to fill your life with the radiance of hope. In Christ, you are worthwhile.