Valued and Needed

Hello my friend,

During my worship time with God, He laid on my heart to share this word of encouragement. Someone reading this may feel discouraged in the Lord, but know that you are valued and needed by the Lord. Your value does not lie in the confirmation of men, pastors, leaders, or your family! Your value comes from the Lord first, and then from your natural relationships. I want you to know that God needs your spirit, your voice, your gifts, your abilities, He needs you! Even if you are bedridden, elderly, or

limited in anyway, God needs you! We are in a time in which the world needs to hear the gospel, the true gospel.

I remember reading a book about the persecution of Christian believers in China. There was one young lady who won a whole jail full of criminals to Christ. Did she go to bible college, no. Did she wait until her pastor gave her permission to speak to these women, no. Did she sit, focusing on how she is unqualified to speak to these women, no. What she did was receive a few scriptures from her fellow sister's who smuggled them in, and she meditated on those few scriptures, and the power of God moved in that jail. The power is not in us, it is in the name of Jesus and the word of God! So, stop waiting to tell people about God, the time is now! Stop waiting, and fearing what people are going to say about you, they are not your God, your Lord, or your Savior. You have to be able to hear the voice of God for yourself, otherwise, satan will easily deceive and discourage you to stop the work of the Lord!

Mark 9:38-40 (NKJV): Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us." But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side."

Anyone who calls themself a disciple of Jesus Christ, but becomes angry when they see or hear of another disciple of Christ encouraging others, sharing the Word of God, uplifting the name of Jesus, and the power of Holy Spirit; you should be weary of that person. If another child of God gets angry because a believer wants to pray, fast, spend time with God, etc... you may be entertaining another spirit that is not of Jesus. If Jesus gave you instructions to follow how dare any man, minister, disciple, evangelist, or anyone instruct Jesus' disciples to do the opposite. It is one thing for a person to choose not to consecrate themself, or obey God's instruction, but it is another thing when that person starts forcing their opinions that oppose of what Jesus taught His disciples.

We do not serve men, we have only one God, one Savior, one Lord, learn to hear His voice; and another voice you should not follow. Jesus said in John:

John 10:27-30 (NKJV): "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one."

Does this mean that you ignore your pastor, or woman of God, of course not, but what it does mean, is that you should be reading your bible and spending time in God's presence so that no one is able to mislead you with opinions that do not line up with the word of God. Or lead you based on what they see and assume, versus what God has said.

Matthew 24:24 (Amp): For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and they will show great signs and wonders so as to deceive and lead astray, if possible, even the elect (God's chosen ones).

Galatians 1:8 (Amp): Not that there is [or could be] any other [genuine Gospel], but there are [obviously] some who are troubling and disturbing and bewildering you [with a different kind of teaching which they offer as a gospel] and want to pervert and distort the Gospel of Christ (the Messiah) [into something which it absolutely is not]. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to and different from that which we preached to you, let him be accursed (anathema, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment)! As we said before, so I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel different from or contrary to that which you received [from us], let him be accursed (anathema, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment)! Now am I trying to win the favor of men, or of God? Do I seek to please men? If I were still seeking popularity with men, I should not be a bond servant of Christ (the Messiah). For I want you to know, brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by me is not man's gospel [a human invention, according to or patterned after any human standard]. For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but [it came to me] through a [direct] revelation [given] by Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

I shared this with you to point out, that there is no monopoly on the word of God, it belongs to all men, saved and unsaved. Jesus came to give it to all men, some accept it, and others do not. So my friend, do not let anyone condemn you because you fast, because you intercede for others, because you spend much time in prayer, it is not sin, and it is not works of the flesh; and it is not begging God. God loves to have His children at His feet, to love on Him, to sacrifice the things that they love to Him. God will not reject your offer of love. Because one man is not compelled to do such things does not mean that it is obsolete and no longer needed, or accepted by God. If another person is not led to fast, intercede, etc.., then that is not sin either. We cannot corrupt the word of God to conform to our personal choices and decisions. Let God be God!

Romans 12:3-8 (NKJV): For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophesy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in extortion; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Please understand that because others do not understand why God instructed you to pray, intercede, fast or do something else for Him, you should not be discouraged. Especially when others seek to down play, point out your flaws, mistakes or suggest that you did not hear from God. They do not understand, "the why," because God did not present the request or instruction to them. You have flaws, I have flaws; you've made mistakes, I've made mistakes; and guess what the same is true of anyone who attacks you. It's not for them to understand, God spoke to you; obey God and know that you are valued, loved and needed!

By Alva Williams

02/12/2021