Author: Sodwana Bay

Addressing the first converts of the early church, Peter said according to Acts 2:38, “…Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.“ You will receive the Holy Spirit. It’s inevitable that when you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit takes a place in you. And it’s true because after all, as Paul says, we were meant to be temples of the Spirit of God. Humans are very well spiritual beings before we are physical beings. Man is flesh, soul and spirit all at the same time, and while it’s important to build an awareness of a lifestyle that builds on our spirituality, there can also be an extreme to the belief. To embrace our spirituality means that we embrace the idea that without the Holy Spirit, we can accomplish nothing. And it’s important that we have a very firm grasp of this because even being to “spiritual” can remove us of the enabling power of the spirit of God. However, many Christians today tend to over-mystify living in the Spirit by placing too much emphasis on signs, wonders and manifestations pushing God’s will into the background. As a result, some will think that just because demons don’t manifest, mouths don’t foam or jewels and gold don’t appear, God isn’t moving. There is nothing wrong with seeking signs and wonders and by all means we should strive to see God move miraculously. However, the pursuit of signs and wonders must never overshadow the ultimate pursuit of God. How are we to have a healthy view of our spirituality without losing the essence of what it means to be spiritual? Spirit-empowered but rooted in the Word God’s truth exists not only in prophecies, words of knowledge and discernment, but also in the written Word of God. In fact, God’s prophetic words will never go against what has already been written in scripture. That’s why it’s healthy to weigh out spiritual movement with the Word of God. Spirit-empowered but practical To be spiritual means to believe that God can move miraculously in the area of healing, but also firmly acknowledging that God can do so by miraculously working through doctors, medication and proper diet and exercise. God is Spirit and therefore is power, but He is also truth and thus exists in the realm of form. Spirit-empowered but not distracted Many Christians can get too distracted by signs and wonders, and may often conclude that when people don’t get healed or congregations don’t get slain that God doesn’t appear. Remember that the greatest miracle happened through a seemingly normal Baby Boy who was born in a stable and who would become the Saviour of the whole world.

How valuable are we? In the eyes of others that worth can be very variable depending on what they can get out of you, but in the eyes of God you’re worth more than you think you are. Economics teaches us that the value of something is highly dependent on how much someone would be willing to pay for it. If we follow this principle when determining our self-worth then we are worth a whole lot because God was willing to pay for the price of His own Son’s life to have you. So if I am that valuable to God, why do some people feel worthless? It’s too much of a reality to deny that people are losing hope, losing peace and losing their very lives to the lie that they aren’t that valuable. Here are 4 lies that steal our perspective of just how valuable we are to God. Lie #1 | You are what people around you say you are People around us can look at us and see the bad things in us, and even though their observations are accurate, that doesn’t mean what they say is true. The things that we do and the things that people see us do do not reflect our worth at all. It may show our performance, our responsibility and our trustworthiness, but never our worth. God has determined your worth, and He says your worth enough to be called sons and daughters, and sons and daughters never lose worth based on what outsiders think. John 15:15 says, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” Lie #2 | Your net worth determines your overall worth The world can lie to us by saying that our bank accounts and net worth determine how much we are truly worth. According to Gift Economy, 23.6 percent of the deaths amongst the wealthy from 2008 to 2010 were cause by suicide. People who base their worth on their wealth are blinded because only the blood of Christ is payment enough to determine how much you are worth. 1 Peter 1:18-19 says, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” Lie #3 | Your failure affects your self-worth When we fail, we can feel like we become worth less compared to when we were successful. That is far from the truth. Even when man fails and misses the mark, God loves us and makes a way to build us up. In fact, it is his grace that makes us successful and not our own works, and even when we fail, God never fails. Lamentations 3:22 promises to us that “because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.” Lie #4 | Your sin has destroyed your identity Some people get caught up in their past and still others are haunted by the struggles they presently face thinking that our sin degrades our worht. And, yes, sin can be destructive and it does have the power to steal and destroy our worth and even our lives, but God gives life irregardless because He knows you’re worth it. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here.”

I once paid a visit to a friend of mine at his home. It was a beautiful and huge house with many rooms and my friend was happy enough go give me and a couple of other visitors a tour. He showed us all the rooms except for one that remained shut the whole time and had a big red “No Entry” sign on it. That was because that was where my friend kept his eighty-pound German Shepherd. When he told us all that, no one even bothered to check that room out. It’s so funny how many Christians find themselves in a spiritual parallel with this house visit. God takes us around a tour through life and shows us all sorts of wonderful things, but many people keep their eyes glued to that shut door that is shut tight. We want that door opened and we ask God constantly to open it for us, and the sad part is some people pry that door open on our own only to find an eighty-pound heap of trouble pounce on us. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us that we are to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” When God closes a door, he closes it for a good reason and that is because He has a path already set out for you. He knows which way you are to go to fulfil His good, pleasing and perfect will for our lives, but sometimes we just want to “lean on our own understanding.” Those shut doors could be anything for you right now. It may be a business venture, a relationship, a ministry opportunity, a client or a job offer. When God closes that door, He closes it because He loves you and has all the best intentions to protect and guide you. He is our Shepherd constantly guiding us to green pastures and still waters. Often it’s easy to fall for the trap of thinking that we know what’s best for ourselves. Though are intentions may be right, good intentions without the trust of the Lord can only bring trouble. We must always trust that God knows best because this life was always His from the beginning. When He bought us by the price of His own Son, it wasn’t because you deserved it but because He loves you and wants to make your paths straight. What closed door is God allowing you to face today? Have you trusted in God to open the right doors for you or are you still prying your own doors open?