[Faith-talk] FW: [thefamilyoffaith] "Unwanted" - Ron Hutchcraft

[Eric Calhoun]

Original Message: 
From: "thefamilyoffaith" <TheFamilyofFaith at tampabay.rr.com>
To: <thefamilyoffaith at yahoogroups.com>,
<INTERCESSORS-ALLNATIONS at yahoogroups.com>,
<dfpprayerwarriors at suddenlink.net>, <unitedprayermail at aol.com>,
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Subject: [thefamilyoffaith] "Unwanted" - Ron Hutchcraft
Date: 
Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:51:42 -0400




     
        
     
     
     
              
            Unwanted 
            Tuesday, March 20, 2012

            I felt a little rejected when they chose teams for softball.
Yep. Last one chosen. Poor me. And how about the time when I was the only
one on the hayride without a date? Poor me. 
            I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today
about "Unwanted."
            Actually I feel a little ashamed about some of those "poor
me" flashbacks when I read about those girls in India. Hundreds of them
whose actual names mean "unwanted" in Hindi. Every day of their lives
they've answered to the name "Hey, Unwanted." Some of them got the name
simply because they were a disappointment when they were born. Whatever the
reason, "unwanted" is a horrible way to be branded for life.
            But those girls made the news lately because they just got
new names. Names that have meanings like "beautiful." They came wearing
their best outfits, with barrettes and braids and bows, as district
officials in their part of India gave them certificates with their new
names on them.
            Sadly, there are tons of people, maybe even someone listening
today, who have felt like they've been "unwanted" most of their life. You
don't have to carry the name to have the feeling. And in this often cruel
world we live in, people really do make you feel like you don't belong,
that you're never good enough, that they don't particularly care if you're
there or not.
            Honestly, if we put our sense of worth in the hands of other
humans, they are almost surely going to drop it, crush it or stomp on it
sometime. On purpose or unknowingly; either way, it feels crummy.
            Then along comes Someone who says, "I have loved you with an
everlasting love." That's our word today from the Word of God in Jeremiah
31:3; someone who never lies; someone who always delivers. There really is
Someone who has always wanted you so much that He's pursued you at great
cost. All the way to a rugged old cross where He gave His life so He
wouldn't lose you.
             
            Actually, the problem isn't that God doesn't want us. It's
that we don't want Him. Oh, we're okay with a God who runs the universe as
long as we can run our own universe. We want God as a belief, a religious
pacifier, a cozy blanket when it's cold, a spiritual ace to play when we
die. But when it comes to God actually running our lives, just call Him
"unwanted."
            So we've cut ourselves off from the One who loves us more
than anyone. All our God-ignoring sins have set us up for an eternity
without Him, because sin separates us from a sinless God.
            But Jesus was God who came looking for us. In His words, he
came to "seek and save what was lost" (Luke 19:10). He suffered for your
sinning so you would never have to; so you could be with Him for all
eternity. That's how very wanted you are by the most important person in
the galaxies.
             
            There's a story of a little boy who built a toy sailboat with
his Daddy. His father let little Scotty glue it and sand it and paint it
and name it. He called it "Arthur," for some reason. And Scotty couldn't
wait to get his masterpiece in the lake nearby. But on "Arthur's" maiden
voyage, this big storm came up and quickly blew that sailboat way beyond
the little boy's ability to get it. Scotty ran to his Daddy heartbroken.
His father just said, "I'll just buy you another one." Scotty was adamant.
He said, "I want my boat back."
            Then came the amazing discovery at that little store
downtown. Scotty saw his boat in the window! He ran into the store and
asked the man if he could have it. "Sure," the owner said. "Twenty bucks."
That probably sounded like a million dollars to a little boy, but he went
back home and went to his neighbors, asked for any job he could get paid
for, and one day he walked into that store proudly and he plunked down his
hard-earned 20 bucks.
             
            He ran all the way home with that sailboat wrapped tightly in
his arms. His father was home, so Scotty jumped into his lap with one arm
around Daddy and one arm around "Arthur." And he gushed out what his heart
couldn't contain: "Daddy, I love this boat so much, because now it's twice
mine; once because I made it, and once because I paid for it!"
            That's how Jesus feels about you. He loves you so much
because you're twice His; once because He made you, and once because He
paid for you with His life. And today He stands with open arms waiting to
welcome you into His love, into a forever relationship with Him. Would you
tell Him, "Jesus, no one's ever loved me like You do. I am Yours."
             
            Our whole website is there to help you be sure you belong to
Him. Would you go there today? It's YoursForLife.net. And come home to the
love you were made for.
           
     

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Arkansas 72601