We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
Brothers, pray for us.
I Thessalonians 5:12-25
6 Reasons why we keep “stuff” we ought not to.
- Fix it.
- Sell it.
- Might need it….someday.
- Made room for it.
- Gift.
- Forgot I had it.
Let’s talk. . .
Is It important that you realize your value?
Pride attitude or personal sense of value is self-achievement.
Often our base-line value is determined by. . .
- What we have accomplished . (past)
- What we can do . (present)
- How useful we might be . (future)
How valuable are you to God, His kingdom, and His plans?
Problem:
Too often we equate our value to God with our usefulness .
“It’s never a question of being of use but being of value to God Himself.”
Oswald Chambers
Remember:
God doesn’t love because we are valuable .
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Isaiah 64:6
“God loves me. And that is significant. Choices in life are a result of that value, no longer an attempt to gain significance. I now have become His treasure.”
Pastor Fine
Rather, we are valuable because God loves us .
Why are you so valuable?
God is the one who determines value and worth.
Because God says so !!
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Luke 12:6-7 ESV
Because God says “You are..”
- God’s creation .
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139:14
God’s redemption .
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
Colossians 1:20, 22
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
Revelation 5:9
God’s adoption .
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
I John 3:1
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. -Galatians 4:4–8
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
I Peter 2:9-10
God’s protection .
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:19-20
God’s salvation – eternal life.
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”
John 14:1-4
Because you are valuable, you must only allow goodness in and goodness out.
The valve test.
but test everything; hold fast what is good.
I Thessalonians 5:21
1. Is it a stepping stone or a stumbling block?
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
Mark 9:42-43
2. Will Jesus be glorified or ashamed?
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
I John 2:28
By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
I John 4:17
3. Is, is real or counterfeit?I
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
I John 4:1-3