INTRODUCTION

There is a fierce battle going on between God and Satan over you. God wants you because You are the prize. You have immeasurable worth whether you know it or not. You are an immortal soul created in God's image. Just the fact that God created you means that you have worth. Have you ever created anything that you did not value very much? The items I created that were flawed I did not value very much but you are not a flawed creation by design. After God created mankind He said that it was good. He loved what He had created and He was happy with it. You are His creation and He is happy with you. God is not an angry, shaming, condemning, and judging person. You are pleasing to Him if He is your Father.

Satan's job is to lie to you and try to convince you that you are worthless. But I don't want you to believe him. You are not worthless as an individual and mankind is not worthless as a race. If he can convince you personally that you are worthless then you will have little or no self esteem. This will affect how well you get along with others, what kind of a job you take, how much you will earn in wages, and will affect other areas of your life.

If Satan can convince mankind to believe this lie then catastrophic results will lead to man's inhumanity against man in all of it's devilish ways.

If you have no worth then you can be abused and sexually exploited as a child.

If you have no worth then you can be aborted before you are born.

If you have no worth then you can be herded into gas chambers and exterminated.
And, unfortunately, Satan has many more strongholds.

In high school chemistry I was taught that I was worth $1.98 at the time. Somebody figured out that if you take all of the chemicals in a human body and sell them- then that is how much you are worth. This is what the world tells us- that we are worthless.

One reason the Romans crucified Jesus Christ was because Satan had lied to Pontius Pilate convincing him that Jesus Christ had no worth. What a lie that was! Jesus was a trouble maker who needed to be executed. Well, you know what happened...

Human life had little value to the Romans at that time because they were pagans. And Judas Iscariot valued Jesus at only 30 pieces of silver. This is a stronghold of Satan and I applaud any Christian who has a ministry of encouragement, intercessory prayer, or helps whereby hurting individuals can be valued.

This is why one part of the church's job in every nation of the world today is to declare the high value of each person's life. That is why Mother Teresa was so successful in working with the destitute people in India.

Yes, Satan has strongholds. It's our job as part of God's church to get busy and tear down Satan's strongholds...

Now, let's look at some examples from God's Word that prove that you and I are the prize that God values. Many times in God's word we find that God deals with individuals. We can easily see that each of these individuals had worth to the Lord.

God valued a specific individual named Noah. He was the only man on the face of the earth who God valued enough to keep alive in olden times when flood waters covered the earth. Noah was the prize that God wanted.
This man, as well as others, is listed in God's Faith Hall of Fame in the New Testament book of Hebrews chapter 11:

"What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see."

"God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith."

"By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen."

"It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. God accepted Abel's offering to show that he was a righteous man. And although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us because of his faith."

"It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying- "suddenly he disappeared because God took him." But before he was taken up, he was approved as pleasing to God.

"So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him."

"It was by faith that Noah built an ark to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about something that had never happened before. By his faith he condemned the rest of the world and was made right in God's sight."
(Hebrews 11:1-7)

God valued a specific individual, Abraham's nephew, named Lot. God sent two angels to the ancient city of Sodom to bring Lot and his family to safety outside of the city. Then the city was destroyed because of it's wickedness by fire from heaven. Lot was the prize that God wanted. This is another example of how valuable one person can be to God.

God valued a specific individual named Moses. Moses was the prize that God wanted. Satan wanted this prize also but did not receive it,
"But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse Satan of blasphemy, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you." (This took place when Michael was arguing with Satan about Moses' body.)"
(New Testament book of Jude 1:9)

God gave the Ten Commandments to mankind through His chosen people (the Jewish nation) on planet earth to show the value of each human being.

Each person is not to commit murder because each life has value to God.

Each person is not to worship idols because behind the idol is Satan who is receiving the worship. And so much human sacrifice and human abuse is associated with idol worship that demeans human life that God does not intend.

In a nutshell mankind is taught by God to love God first and then to love one another and to treat each other with dignity and respect. And the teachings of Jesus Christ in reference to the Golden Rule also confirm this.

In His Sermon On The Mount Jesus gave us many illustrations on how we are to highly treat our fellow man. He also taught that you and I have great value,
"Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are."
(Matthew 6:26)

Once you are in Christ you should no longer base your self-worth on your own accomplishments or the opinions of others. Self-worth is found not in your accomplishments or what your friends and family think of you, but in God's love for you.

We Are Worth A Lot

"Though some earthly parents might lose their love for their children, the Bible says, God won't."
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."
(Isaiah 49:15, 16)
"There are countless accounts in the Bible where God, and Jesus, call us His children. We are created in His image to receive His inconceivable love, and give our love back to Him. When we see ourselves as children of the King of the Universe, we must accept that we are worth a lot- princes and princesses of noble decent."

The above article came from the web at
http://www.miraclesforyou.com/e-room/worth.html

"What Is Your Worth To God?"

"The price paid for an object establishes its value. In fact, every buyer subjectively attributes worth to his or her purchases, and the purchase price reveals the buyer’s personal opinion regarding the value of that purchase."

"For some incomprehensibly gracious reason, and despite the fact that we are all hopelessly bruised by sin, God chose to make of us something infinitely more wonderful, His sons and daughters and His dwelling place, in order to change us into His likeness. He doesn’t just declare us righteous, but He makes us righteous as well. And what is the purchase price God paid to accomplish his goal? "The precious blood of Jesus, His Son."

"Yes, I know it sounds impossibly grandiose to say it, but by the price he paid, God has openly established our worth. For when it came to our purchase price, God was more concerned about what He "redeemed" or purchased than what He spent."

"Man has been seeking to fill that empty void within himself that only God can fill. Man has been seeking to find his value and worth in other things, such as job, title, status, material gain, looks, family members, relationships, etc."

"Only Jesus can give you what you are hungering and thirsting for inside. Like Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well who was seeking value, worth and acceptance from men, "I am what you are hungering and thirsting for."
"Come unto me saith the Lord and I will in no wise cast you out." I am that source of life that you are seeking. You won’t find it in any other thing because I created the void and only I can fill it."

"Jesus paid the same price for every human being and every human being is just as loved and valued in the eyes of God. God is not a respecter of persons. Let us come to the Lord and receive our Life, value and worth from Him because in Him is life and the life is the light of men. You cannot be a light if you get your value and worth from some other source, like your works, title, degrees, status, etc."

"If you believe that you are more loved or valued by God than others, or less loved and valued by God than others, then your belief system is based on your works, not the finished work of the cross. This is an unbeliever, not a believer."

"To believe in Jesus means that you put your faith and trust in His work, not yours."

"God redeemed or purchased us, not because of what we are or what we are not. He purchased us because of who HE IS and He is love. Let us learn to see ourselves and others as God does and treat them and ourselves as someone that the God of the universe died to redeem or purchase. That is how valuable you are and the price for you has already been paid. You were worth the life of my Son, saith the Lord. Now enter into My rest."

"I love you."

"Your Heavenly Father"

The above article came from the web at
http://www.latter-rain.net/articles/your_value_worth.html

"First, the Scriptures teach that we are worthy of salvation! No, I do NOT mean to imply in any way that we, of ourselves, can do anything to merit salvation. But think a minute. How is worth determined? Is it not determined by the price the purchaser is willing to pay? And Peter says,
"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, - but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."
(1 Peter 1:18,19)

"We who have been redeemed by God have been made His sons..."

"Each of us can believe we are worth nothing or worth very little. However, this belief is a false belief. Each of us can believe our life has no meaning and no purpose but this belief is also a false belief. To rid ourselves of feeling worthless we must go beyond just saying we feel worthless or just recognizing we feel worthless. To rid ourselves of feelings of worthlessness we must understand the cause of these feelings and understand how to fix our lack of self-worth."

"Sin in us makes us feel worthless. Sin in us makes us feel we have no value. However, there is a fix for this lack of self-worth and that fix is to see us as God sees us. God always sees past our surface layer of sin. In God's eyes, beneath your surface layer of sin, you are the most remarkable being ever created. In God’s eyes, beneath your surface layer of sin, you are capable of giving love, giving compassion, giving understanding, experiencing joy, and giving in God’s name. God is a being of ultimate truth and God sees your surface layer of sin /selfishness is preventing you from giving love, preventing you from giving compassion, preventing you from giving understanding, preventing you from counting your blessings, and preventing you from rejoicing."

"The fix for the problem of our lack of self-worth is to deal with the sin issue. The fix for the sin issue is casting off your sin by turning to Christ, confessing your sin, and then surrendering all of who you are to Him. In return, your sin will be washed away and a new person, a new creature , a new being, a new you will be born. Then in God’s eyes and in your eyes you will see your worth as He sees your worth."

This article comes from the web at
http://www.findthepower.com/dailydevotions/DevYourWorthToGodHebrews10_22.htm

Article on
What Jesus Said You Are Worth

"So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
(Matthew 10:31)

"At one time or another in our lifetimes we have all probably felt worthless. The devil usually can make us feel this way when we experience tragedies or face other trials in life. While it is natural to experience grief and hurt when serious misfortunes come our way, we should never feel worthless."

"God wants us to have a high regard for ourselves, after all, He created us in His image. And if you are a Christian, you are an adopted son of the most high God. So it is not practical for THE King’s son or daughter to be a worthless individual? And even if you are not a Christian, you were still created in God’s image, and you could still accept Jesus as you Lord and Savior right now (there is no guarantee, though, that you can put it off for a later time). So there is no valid reason for any of us to ever consider ourselves as worthless people."

"In the verse above, we get an indication from Jesus what value His Father in heaven places on us. Now if you’ve never read this account, you might be thinking "well, I certainly hope I’m worth more than many sparrows". The point Jesus was making here was that God cares a great deal about ALL of His creation, of which each of us is a part. Jesus said that a sparrow at this time cost one-half of one penny, but that not even one sparrow could fall to the ground unless God willed it. Jesus went on to say that every hair on our heads is numbered. Now if my heavenly Father cares about the very hairs on your head (and His word says that He does), in my opinion that makes you a person of great worth."

"If not even one sparrow can fall to the ground unless God allows it, then my friend, nothing can happen to you without God allowing it to happen. This fact makes you a very valuable person in God’s evaluation system. Now some of you might want to get angry with God for some of the things that have happened to you in the past. But before you do, look very closely at what I said. I did NOT say that God caused these bad things to happen to you (although He could have), I said that He allowed them to happen. I am convinced that most of the bad stuff that happens to us is the work of the devil. After all Jesus said that the thief (devil) is out to steal and kill and destroy. So when you experience bad things in your life (and we all do), more than likely it is the work of the devil. And if it isn’t from the devil, it is a direct result of a bad decision on our part. God would never punish us or discipline us or otherwise let bad things happen to us unless we absolutely brought it on ourselves."

"So friend, when you are lured into thinking that you are not worth much, do what I do. I tell the devil to leave me alone, in the name of Jesus, and then I reflect on this verse, or other verses that describe God’s great love for me, and I begin thinking positive thoughts of me and God, and I refuse to indulge in pity parties organized by the devil. Remember that you are either a child of the most high God, or that you can be."

This article comes from the web at
http://www.internetdisciple.com/Worth.html

Here is an article from Rev. Michael Panachikal V.C. explaining to us that God prizes each of us so highly to make us His friend.

"Christ on the cross is crushing the head of Satan and thus proving that man has intrinsic worth. It is the Creator who has given his creation, man, human worth. God proved how great that value was. There is no need to come in search of a worthless thing. God came down from heaven in the form of a man in order to give mankind the awareness of man’s worth. Jesus makes it clear that he has come to find and save the lost."

"The value of an object is determined by the creator of that object. Therefore man’s worth is what God the creator assigns to him. Genesis 1:26 says, "Then God said, let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness". God has made man worthy to live with him. The symbolic references in Genesis that God placed man in the garden of Eden and came to walk with him, are indications of this equality. Jesus tells his disciples, "I have called you friends..."

This document comes from the web at
http://www.datanumeric.com/vlm/11-99/20.html

"Have you noticed that Jesus was unusually attracted to people who had emptiness in their lives? And not just sometimes, but often. Losers and loners, the sick and the lame, the weak and the hungry- these were the ones He came for and whose needs He met. These were the ones He chose as His disciples.
When you think about it, you realize that Jabez shouldn’t have made it. Into the record books, I mean. He began life as one of Israel’s certified nobodies. No fortune. No social standing. No special talents. No promising future."

"You’d expect the mention of Jabez, then, to be dust in the back pages of Jewish history, along with Ezer, Koz, and Anub (and his other kin mentioned only in passing in 1 Chronicles). Yet we see that Jabez’s life ended up with significance, fulfillment, and honor."

"The truth is, God loves nobodies! Have you ever heard of Agnes Bojaxhiu? She never went to college, married, or owned a car. Instead, she spent her life caring for the starving, the sick, and the dying on the streets of Calcutta, always insisting that her vocation was not social work, but "to belong to Jesus."

"You know her as Mother Teresa, Nobel Prize winner and founder of the Missionaries of Charity. Her stooped frame and wrinkled, joyful face became one of the twentieth century’s most recognizable symbols of faith in action. Today, the order she founded cares annually for five hundred thousand hungry families and ninety thousand lepers worldwide."

"Yet a few years before she died, a journalist asked her, "What will happen, Mother Teresa, when you are no longer with us?" Her answer: "I believe that if God finds a person even more useless than me, He will do even greater things through her."

"Perhaps you feel uniquely unworthy of any kind of special blessing. You go through your days feeling vulnerable and weak (although you’ve probably learned to fake it pretty well). And you go to bed wondering, Will I ever get it together?"

"Let me gently clear up your confusion. The answer to that question is "No." (Same answer for every other human, by the way.) But God has big plans for "useless" servants."

"Take a moment to grasp this amazing truth: Jesus is attracted to you! He loves to be needed by people like you and me who are absolutely convinced of our own inadequacies, people who know that without His unmerited generosity toward us, we would be and have nothing."

"Have you been letting an exaggerated sense of your own inabilities or status keep you from the blessed life? You can change and leave that prideful trap behind. The very fact that you are so keenly aware of your weaknesses and limitations makes you a most promising candidate for God’s best."

"From the dawn of time, your Father has known you and loved you. He’s not waiting today for you to get it together. He’s waiting for you to come to Him with open, empty hands."

"My Jabez Journal: "Lord, thank You that You have big plans for a nobody like me! Now I beg You to pour Your extraordinary favor on me today. Bring to my mind the "small thing" You want to bless in my life."

This document comes from the web at
http://www.worshiptogether.com/bibleresources/bibleStudy.aspx?iid=215708

You are valuable to God, not for what you do or don't do for God, but because of who you are. You are the prize that God wants. You are special to Him and you have dignity and worth. You are worth so much that He died for you.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
(John 15:13)

And if you had been there God would have put you on Noah's boat. Why? Because God loves you- you are the prize that God wants.

If you had been there- one of the two angels in the ancient city of Sodom would have taken your hand to bring you and your loved ones to safety outside of the city walls before the city was destroyed because of it's wickedness by fire from heaven.

When you accepted Christ you chose which side to be on. You made the right choice. And if your goal is similar to mine then you want to take to Heaven as many others with you as you can. This is a great goal but always remember that: