(Somebody Special, Someone Valuable - Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5)
Let me say right here at the beginning that there is hope for you. It was never God’s idea or His plan that your life should turn out the way it has – so far. It is His idea that you should be one of His children and that your life should be filled with His good things. He even has a way of escape out of the mess you’re in.
Introduction
“I’ll never make it on the outside.”
“When I get out, it’s going to be the same old story.”
“Some people are just born losers.”
“There’s no hope for me.”
Is this how you feel? Are your days and nights filled with anger, sorrow, and despair about what is happening to you? About your present circumstances? About your future?
Let me say right here at the beginning that there is hope for you. It was never God’s idea or His plan that your life should turn out the way it has – so far. It is His idea that you should be one of His children and that your life should be filled with His good things. He even has a way of escape out of the mess you’re in.
Prayer
“God, I’m in terrible trouble. Will you show me the way out?”
God loves you.
I can imagine some of you laughing bitterly when you hear someone say that. Sure, He does, you think. Well, if God loves me so much, how come I’m in this awful place? How come my life is such a mess? Why do I feel so hopeless?
You’ll find the answers to these and many more of your questions as we continue this study, but right now, let’s concentrate on the fact that God loves you. How do I know that God loves you?
I know it because I’ve personally experienced that love. I know it because the Bible says over and over again that He loves me and that He loves you.
Personal Questions:
- Who is the person who loved you most in your live?
- Or was there anyone?
- If someone did love you, how did it make you feel?
- Does that person still love you even though you’re in jail or prison?
Whether or not you’ve experienced human love, you may not have yet experienced God’s love. So let’s see what the Bible has to say about that love.
Read Genesis 1:1, 27, 31.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. So God created man in His own image…male and female He created them. God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.
- Who created man (mankind)?
- How did He rate His creation?
- Who was mankind like?
The book of Genesis is the story of how the world began. First, God made the earth, the heavens, the seas, and all other living things. Finally, He made people. As He finished making each thing, God stepped back and evaluated it. Each time, He called it “good”. But when He created mankind, He called His work, “very good”.
Personal Questions:
- How does that make you feel?
- Do you find God’s evaluation of you hard to believe?
- Why or why not?
But God did far more than just make you. He also is the one who designed you. He understands all about you. As a matter of fact, He even knew you before you were born.
Read Psalm 139: 13-16 in the Living Bible.
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body, and knit them together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous – and how well I know it. 15 You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! 16 You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe.
Every day was recorded in your Book!
4. What do these verses tell us about how well God knows you?
5. How are you described in verse 14?
Not only did God create you and say you were “very good” and “wonderfully complex”, He had a reason for making you, a plan for your life. You are no accident.
Read Ephesians 1:4.
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.
6. When did God choose you?
7. What did He choose you for?
8. What did He predestine (plan in advance) for you to be?
9. How did He predestine you?
Whew! That’s a lot to take in at once, isn’t it? I wonder where people ever got the idea that we are accidents. The Bible says God has been thinking about us since before our world was ever created. That’s a long time.
Some people are willing to believe that God created us, but they’re not sure about what happened after that. Did He just walk away and forget about us? Does He know what’s happened to us since? Let’s get more personal. Does He know what’s happening in your life today? Does He ever think about you – right now – for instance?
Read Psalm 139:1-5 in the Living Bible.
1Oh Lord, You have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2You know when I sit or stand. When far away, You know my every thought. 3You chart the path ahead of me, and tell me where to stop and rest. 4Every moment, You know what I am going to say before I even say it. 5You both preceded and follow me, and place Your hand of blessing on my head.
10. What does God know about you right now?
Everything! Think about that! There is nothing in your life God doesn’t know about.
The psalm writer also had this to say about God:
I am poor and needy, yet the Lord is thinking about me right now! Psalm 40:17
How precious it is, Lord, to realize that You are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day Your thoughts turn toward me. Psalm 139:17
Personal Questions:
- Did you ever think you could do something and no one would ever find out?
- Can you share a time when that happened?
- Did anyone find out?
Whether anyone found out or not doesn’t matter that much. What’s important is that God knew and continues to know everything about us. We can’t have any secrets from God.
Read Luke 12:7.
The very hairs of your head are all numbered…
11. How well does God know us, according to this verse?
That’s knowing a person pretty well, isn’t it? Do you have any friends who know how many hairs you have on your head? Well, God knows.
Does this sound like a God who just created you, then said, “You’re on your own now, kid. See you later if you make it”?
No, we’re talking about a God who loves you so much, He wants to be deeply involved in every area of your life and wants to help you become the kind of person He designed you to be. He wants to help you get out of the mess you’re in right now.
Perhaps you’ve seen the cereal commercial on TV, where the father says to his little son, “Guess someone must think we’re pretty special,” and the little boy answers, “It’s Mommy.”
Well, someone thinks you’re pretty special, too. It’s God. As a matter of fact, God thinks you’re so special, He even sent His Son to die for you.
Scriptures to Memorize
God saw everything that He had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:31
You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in Your Book! Psalm 139:16
(Somebody Special, Someone Valuable - Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5)
Answers
- God
- As very good
- God
- He knows all our parts: He was there when we were being formed. God saw us before we were born: He scheduled every day of our lives before we began to breathe. Every day of our lives is recorded in His book.
- Wonderfully complex
- Before the creation of the world
- To be holy and blameless in his sight
- To be adopted as His son through Jesus Christ
- In love
- Everything – He knows when we sit and stand, our thoughts, the path ahead of us, what we’re going to say before we say it
- He knows the number of hairs on our heads.
All scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible, New International Version
(unless otherwise indicated)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, New International Bible Society
Copyright © 1992 by JoAnne Sekowsky