Wanted! - From His Heart - Week of March 17, 2016

I love the movie, October Baby.  Have you ever seen it?  (If not, I need to warn you of a spoiler alert.)  October Baby is the story of beautiful young Hannah who finds out the horrible truth that her biological mother tried to abort her.  The people she believed to be her natural parents had actually adopted her after her life was miraculously spared from the unsuccessful abortion.  Hannah is angry with her adoptive parents for not telling her the truth, and she goes on a summer search to find her birth mother.  When she finds her, their meeting does not go as she had hoped, and Hannah feels the tremendous sting of rejection all over again. 
 
Through it all, God teaches Hannah about His love and provision for her.  Hannah is able to forgive her birth mother and go on with life.  As the story ends, Hannah’s parents are getting her situated in her dorm for her freshman year in college.  They say their goodbyes and walk away.  But suddenly, Hannah turns around and runs back to her dad.  She gives him a big hug and says these profound words, “Thank you … for wanting me.” 
 
My eyes fill with tears every time I see that scene.  Hannah’s adoptive father loved her with all his heart.  Her birth mother may not have wanted her, but he certainly did.  She was special and precious to him, and there was no price too big to pay for Hannah.
 
ARE YOU HURTING LIKE HANNAH?
 
Maybe life has been especially cruel to you.  Maybe you have experienced the pain of rejection to the core of your being.  Maybe you have been used and abused and cast away like yesterday’s newspaper.  Maybe you feel worthless and unwanted.  You are not alone.  So many people feel this way.  I believe the reason multitudes of people live trashy lives is, deep down, they feel like a piece of trash.  And Satan works overtime to foster that destructive feeling.      
 
BELIEVE THE TRUTH
 
But the truth of the matter is you are not a piece of trash, you are a priceless treasure to your Creator.  Each of us is like Hannah in October Baby.  We are loved and wanted by God the Father, the King of the universe.  He paid the highest price to redeem us—the blood of His own dear Son.  That is how valuable we are to Him. 
 
I hope you will let the truth of His unfathomable love for you sink deep into your heart.  When we understand that we are unconditionally loved and greatly wanted, it changes everything.  That truth lifts us out of the garbage pile.  It fills us with joy and peace, and it gives us a desire to please the One who saved us. 
 
Listen, the Christian life flows from love.  We fulfill the greatest commandment—to love the Lord with all our hearts—by understanding and receiving His great love for us.  John said, “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). 
 
Will you rest in His love today?  Will you fill your mind with the immeasurable blessing of knowing that you are wanted?  It may be hard to believe, but it is true.  And the sooner you believe it and receive it, the sooner your whole life will change. 
 
I love the story of Iris Blue.  She was a troubled young girl on the streets in Houston, involved in drugs, crime and prostitution.  When she was told about Jesus and His love for her, she struggled to believe it.  But one day, she did.  She gave her heart to Christ and was forever changed.  She described her salvation this way, “I knelt down a tramp and stood up a lady.” 
 
She realized she was loved and wanted.  Have you?

P.S.  I would love to hear your thoughts on this.  Direct questions and comments to pastorjeff@fromhisheart.org.