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"God heals the brokenhearted and binds up= their wounds."

Ps. 147= :3 (NIV)

GOD HEALS YOU…

BY CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK.

"Let God transform you into a new person = by changing the way you think." Romans 12:2 (NLT)<= /span>

HOW GOD SEES YOU BECAUSE OF HIS GRACE

1. YOU ARE ACCEPTABLE=

"... Christ has accepted you." Romans = 15:7 (NIV)

"You have been chosen by God Himself.&quo= t; 1 Peter= 2:9 (LB)

2. YOU ARE VALUABLE

"You belong to God..." 1 John = 4:4

"God says, `You are precious to Me.'"= ; Isa. 43= :4 (GN)

3. YOU ARE LOVABLE

"The mountains and hills may crumble but = My love for you will never end; so says the Lord<= /p>
who loves you." Isa. 54= :10 (GN)

4. YOU ARE FORGIVABLE=

"I am the God who forgives your sins, and= I do this because of who I am. I will not hold

your sins against you." Isa. 43= :25 (GN)

5. YOU ARE CAPABLE

"I can do all things through Christ= who strengthens me.= " Phil. 4= :13 (NKJ)

"Once you were less than nothing; now you= are God's own!" <= span style=3D'font-family:Tahoma'>2 Pet. 2:10 (LB)

March 29, 2009: 5 Lent

Rev = Ken Wratten at St. Stephen’s, San Jose

The = Grace of God

Part= 3: Grace Heals

=

This week I want to pick up our discussion on God’s Grace. I have offered the premise that Lent is a mental space for us to reflect on the amazing gift of God’s Grace, wh= ich we receive through the life, sacrifice, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A= nd so we have been studying attributes of this thing called ‘Grace’= ;. God’s Grace saves us, and sustains us. These sermons are on the church website, b= oth in text and as audio files. Today I want us to look at the way God’s Grace heals us.

We all have hurts. We have some emotional scars that nobody else sees but they're there and they hurt. One = of the deepest causes of this hurt is rejection. We all face it at different t= imes in life: Rejection from parents, or from a brother or sister, from an ex-spouse, or from a so-called friend. I’ll bet that many of you can remember things that were said to you on the school playground 20, 30, even= 50 years ago and they still hurt today. We don't let those things go very easi= ly, do we?

Psalm 147:3 says, "God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." That’s pretty good news to he= ar, isn’t it? God fixes our brokenness. But just how does He do it? How d= oes God heal hidden wounds? The Apostle Paul tells us that God does it by chang= ing the way we think: By changing how we see God, how we see the pain, and particularly how we see ourselves. Romans 12 says, "Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Your self-perception, how you think about yourself, is powerful; for good or for bad. If you see yourself as a victim, you will tend to s= ee everything that happens in life as an assault aimed just at you; it’s always somebody else’s fault; you think you are powerless to protect yourself. If you believe you are not a creative person, you won't create mu= ch in life; you won’t even try. If you see yourself as a failure, you te= nd to reinforce what you feel about yourself and you have more than your share= of failures. It's dangerously simple. The way we think determines the way we a= ct. (band-I can’t sing; guidance counselor-won’t make college)

The problem is that many of our be= liefs are wrong. You and I picked up a collection of beliefs growing up. Because = some adult said something to us, we accepted it as fact. We have believed it for years, and you may still be acting on those beliefs today, even though they= are not true. Today, I want us to look at what God says about you.

I want us to look at five things t= hat God says about you that are true because of His grace. Because of God's gra= ce, the Bible says...

1. YOU ARE ACCEPTABLE. =

Remember as a kid when you were da= red to do something. It was probably something stupid, like eating a bug, or Coke = and milk, but you did it anyway. Why? You wanted to be accepted.

Jesus tells us that this issue of = being accepted is settled when we accept His grace. Romans 15:7 "Christ has accepted you." Notice that there is no condi= tion. It doesn't say, "Christ will<= /b> accept you if you go to church every week." It doesn't say, "Chri= st will accept you if you promise to= be perfect.” It's unconditional because it's based on God's grace; not o= n your performance. God has accepted you just as you are without any conditions because of His grace. 1 Peter says, "You have been chosen by God himself".

Being chosen does self esteem a wh= ole lot of good. I was chosen by Ruthie. You have no idea what that means for me because you don't know the competition I beat out for her (Fred and boys I’d never met in Camden). The Bible says you were chosen by God. You = are acceptable by His grace, not because you deserve it, but simply because of = His grace.

God doesn't = leave it there.

2. God sa= ys YOU ARE VALUABLE.

When you come to Christ and say, "Jesus Christ, I accept Your gift of salvation, I accept Your gift of grace," and you step across that line of faith, God places you in His family. Now you belong to God. 1 John 4:4 "You belong to God. Everyone is created by God, but not= everyone belongs to God. If you have asked God to make you part of his family, you belong to God. That means you're valuable.

The greatest ransom ever paid was = when Jesus Christ paid for your sins and God exchanged His own son’s life = for you. God said, "You are valuable enough that I will give My own Son to= die for you." That's how valuable you are to God. In Isaiah 43:4 "God says, `You are precio= us to me.'" You'= re not only acceptable, you're valuable because of God's grace. =

3. The Bible tells us because of G= od's healing grace YOU ARE LOVABLE.

That sure feels good to know when you've been rejected by some= body. Most of us have been rejected by somebody: a girlfriend, boyfriend, husband= , wife, or parent. You feel like a failure; you feel useless. You're wrong. God says in Isaiah, "`The mountains and hills may crumble but My love for you will never end,' so says the Lord who loves you." G= od's love is always there, never go= es away, even for an instant.

God says tha= t you are acceptable, you are valuable, and you are lovable. Even when you don't = feel very loveable, God still loves you.

4. The Bible says because of His g= race YOU ARE FORGIVABLE. <= o:p>

There was a time in my life that I= believed anything that went wrong was about God getting revenge for something stupid= or bad I had done. But the fact is that this is NOT how God works. The Bible s= ays in Isaiah 43:25 &= quot;I am the God who forgives your sins and I do this because of who I am.= ” It's not based on our deserving= it. It's based on God being a forgiving God. God says, "I will not hold your sins against you." This sa= ys that God doesn't carry out revenge; God doesn’t carry grudges. <= /o:p>

God says I'm= not only acceptable and valuable and lovable, I'm forgivable.

5. God says with Christ in your li= fe YOU ARE CAPABLE.

It doesn't ma= tter if other people say, "You'll never amount to anything," the Bible sa= ys with Christ you are capable.

Philippians 4:13 "I ca= n do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

If anything b= esides God is number one in your life, you're going to be plagued with insecurity.= For real security in life, you have to have something that's number one in your life that cannot be taken away from you. If you base your security on how m= uch money you've got, that can be taken away. If you base your security on your status or your image, that can be taken away. If you base your security on = how good looking you are, I hate to say it, but good looks will someday fade. You have to have security in somethin= g that can never be taken from you. There's only one thing that is that sure: A relationship with your creator God, and His Son, Jesus Christ. <= /span>

Scripture says in 1 Peter 2:10 "Once you were less than nothing; now you are God's own."

<= /o:p>

Having invit= ed Jesus Christ into your life, having given your life to him,

NOW YOU ARE GOD’S OWN.

<= /o:p>

May you know= the purpose God created you for;

May you accept that in God’s eyes you are accepted, valuable, loved, forgiven,

and capable of fulfil= ling the purpose God has for you.

May you accept God= 217;s healing Grace

Amen