I’m not worthy, really not worthy.

Steve Brown:
I’m not worthy, really not worthy. Let’s talk about it, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
God’s grace changes everything, how we love, work, live, lead, marry, parent, evangelize, purchase and worship. This is Key Life with practical Bible teaching to get you home with radical freedom, infectious joy, and surprising faithfulness.

Steve Brown:
Thank you, Matthew. Hi Jerry. Boy, this has been a great week.

Jerry Parries: Oh, man.

Steve Brown:
We’ve had a great time sitting around. We’ve been talking, if you’re just joining us, we’ve been sitting around, Jerry’s one of the voices of Key Life. He’s a pastor. Give us the website again.

Jerry Parries: My website is CFWCorlando.com

Steve Brown:
And if you’re in Central Florida, you want to check it out. But anyway, Jerry is one of the voices of Key Life. And he’s my beloved friend for a very long time. And we’ve been sitting down and talking about some of the lies that Christians believe. It’s the reason our faith is not vibrant. It’s the reason we fail so much cause we don’t really, I mean we teach it, we sing about it, we preach it, but we don’t believe it.

Jerry Parries: Yeah.

Steve Brown:
And instead we believe the lies that have been told us either by Satan himself or by friends who don’t know what they’re talking about, or even from preachers. And one of the things that we get often is this. I am not worthy. There used to be a song, I’m just a servant sitting here in the hall, waiting for him to call. Well, that’s true. That’s what you are, but you’re a lot more than that. I have a friend who said to me one time, Steve, you keep talking about your working for, you’re not working for God. You’re the son of God.

Jerry Parries: That’s right.

Steve Brown:
You live in the big house.

Jerry Parries: That’s right.

Steve Brown:
You don’t live down in the barracks with all the, all the peons that are out. You are the son.

Jerry Parries: Yes.

Steve Brown:
So, quit saying you work for God. You’re an heir of God and there’s a, but at any rate.

Jerry Parries: That is no, that’s, that’s you on top. You on, you preached, you preach.

Steve Brown:
Alright. That really is a major thing. You know, we have a pandemic, if you will, of people who have shame in their lives, who’ve been through abuse, who’ve been told that they’re nobody, who’ve been put down.

Jerry Parries: Yeah.

Steve Brown:
And they, and then they’re told about a loving God and their first reaction is, no.

Jerry Parries: Right.

Steve Brown:
No, not me.

Jerry Parries: Yeah. And that’s, you hit on something and you just jumped in my spirit. You know, there’s a Scripture in the Old Covenant that says.

Serve the Lord with gladness.

That’s not talking about us, we’re not servants, we are his sons and daughters. He has moved us from servantship to sonship. And that’s a huge thing because it shows how you enter into his presence based upon how you feel about yourself. You are worthy to go into God’s presence because you are his son. If you come into my house and you’re not my son, you can’t go into my refrigerator. You can’t just walk into my bedroom. But my children have keys to my house. And so, they’re able to go into the refrigerator, they’re able to go into my bedroom, they’re able to come into my house without announcing, they’re my family, they’re my children. And you and I are now sons and daughters of God. And that’s huge because when you become the son and daughter of God, he’s chosen you. I like what I Peter says.

But you are not like that. You are a chosen people. You are a royal priest, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God for he has called you out of darkness into a marvelous light.

You are chosen by God. Do you know what it means to be chosen by God that you are worth? He doesn’t choose unworthiness. He chooses things that are valuable, that are worthy, that are great, and God’s called you and chose you. How do you know that he’s chosen you? Because you answered the call.

Steve Brown:
There you go. That makes you valuable.

Jerry Parries: That makes you valuable. So, the enemy will tell you that you’re not valued in God’s eyesight, that’s a life from this pits of hell. God does not choose or make junk. God creates valuable people and you are valuable in the sight of God, and don’t you ever allow the enemy to tell you anything different. God values his children.

Steve Brown:
Now, you need to recognize guys that we’re not talking about the book you have in your library on how to create a self-image with your children. Tell them they’re wonderful and the world owes them and everything. There is only one reason you’re valuable. And that’s because the only person who sets value, the only one who can say what is valuable and not, has declared you valuable.

Jerry Parries: Yes.

Steve Brown:
And you are valuable to him. And that kind of self-image will last for a lifetime.

Jerry Parries: Absolutely, you’ve got to continually to look at yourself and say what God says about you.

Steve Brown:
Yes.

Jerry Parries: As I said yesterday, I’m holy. When you stand up in the mirror in the morning, you speak blessings over your own life. I’m holy. I’m righteous. I’m redeemed. The favor of God is over my life. Why? Because you’re valuable. God wants his children to prosper. I don’t never want to see my kids crying. And what are you crying for? What’s the matter with you? And they tell me, I say, I got that, don’t worry about that. I, don’t worry. That’s why he tells you in Matthew, don’t worry where you’re going to eat, where you going to sleep, where you going to lay down because your heavenly Father knows you have need of all of these things. Even your Heavenly Father, not your master, your Heavenly Father knows you have need of these things because you are his child. And since he knows you have need of these things, you can have full confidence and trust that God’s going to take care of you. He loves you. You don’t have to worry. The enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy, that’s his whole purpose. And that’s what we’ve been talking about all week, Steve, that he really have the enemy is trying to kill, steal, and destroy your relationship with God, your relationship with the body of Christ, your relationship with your spiritual family. He is doing everything to kill that, but God says.

I’ve come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.

You can’t have abundant life if you feel that you’re not worthy.

Steve Brown:
Does the Jesus parable of the Prodigal Son play into this?

Jerry Parries: Oh, I was going to mention that and yes. I just thought if I start talking about that, I’m going to run out of time. The Prodigal Son is so an incredible story. The Prodigal Son, everybody knows that he goes away and he squanders all of his money. And the Bible even says he squanders it in ravenous living, drinking, prostitutes, all of that. And he comes back to God, and God kills the, he comes back to the father, which represents the Jesus. And he kills the fattest calf, and he puts him on a robe, he puts him on a coat and he says, man, I’ve been waiting on you to come back home. And here’s the good part about this, some of the church people because the son that stayed in the house represent some of the church people, who gets mad at God blessing you. And loving you after you have screwed up royally. God loves, values his children, that’s the whole story of the Prodigal Son.

Steve Brown:
That is so good. And he gets, I had a, a guy teaching at a conference one time and he had a pen, a ballpoint pin. And he said, you know how much of this is worth? People were thinking, well, maybe $3. And he said, no, it’s worth a thousand dollars. And do you know why it’s worth a thousand dollars? Cause it’s mine, I own it and I get to set the value on it. So, if you want it, you have, he was saying what God says. I own you, you’re mine, nobody gets to tell you who you are except me.

Jerry Parries: Wow.

Steve Brown:
Nobody gets to set a value on you, but me.

Jerry Parries: Yes.

Steve Brown:
And you are mine.

Jerry Parries: And that, and once you realize that you belong to, I oftentimes said that once you believe you belong to Jesus, you have, your value just goes up. I just thought if Oprah Winfrey would adopt me, how my value would go up.

Steve Brown:
Not going to happen Jerry, I just want you to know that, but it would, wouldn’t it?

Jerry Parries: My value would go up. I mean, there would be people who will start calling and wanting to be my friend, want to hang around with me, but then I say my value is much greater in Jesus than anyone that can adopt me. And because I’ve been adopted by Christ, I am more valuable than anything on this earth. And when you realize that you walk differently, you talk differently, you, you live differently. And that’s what the, that’s what we want to share with you this week, is don’t let the enemy devalue you. You are valued by Christ.

Steve Brown:
So good. I saw a bumper sticker the other day, said.

Jesus loves you, but don’t let it go to your head.

And I wanted to stop the car and say whoever wrote that was wrong.

Jerry Parries: Right.

Steve Brown:
Jesus loves you, let it go to your head.

Jerry Parries: Yes.

Steve Brown:
Cause it’s the absolute truth against the lies that people will try and tell you.

Jerry Parries: Absolutely. And you better receive it, you better stand firm on it, and don’t let the enemy ever tell you anything different. You are loved and valued by God and you, and I want to say this, you deserve the blessings that God will give you because you are his child.

Steve Brown:
There you go. We live in a culture of lies. Don’t you dare believe them. Don’t you listen to them. You listen to God, listen to the Scripture, and rejoice. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve and Jerry. And that concludes a fascinating week of teaching on lies from the enemy, such good stuff. And if you missed any episode, do drop by keylife.org to stream those for free, any old time you like. Also, hope you’ll join us again tomorrow for Friday Q&A, one of the questions that Steve and Pete will tackle. If God’s not mad, what about hell? Now, that is a question. So, tune in tomorrow to hear the answer. Control, the mother of all addictions. Our addiction to control is the reason we lament so little, and laugh even less. Well, that’s an idea explored in Steve’s new book Laughter and Lament: The Radical Freedom of Joy and Sorrow. It’s all about how laughter and lament are often found together in unexpected places. You’ve probably heard about the book by now, but here’s something new. We’ve created this special Laughter and Lament booklet with actual excerpts from the book, kind of a, you know, try before you buy, free sample kind of thing. Can we send you a copy? Just call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that booklet. Or to mail your request, just go to keylife.org/contact for our mailing addresses. Just ask for your free copy of the Laughter and Lament booklet. Finally, would you partner in the work of Key Life through your giving? You could charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or simply text Key Life to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.