Valued Treasures: Christ's Pursuit and Our Transformation

There have been way too many times in my life when God was not on my mind or in my thoughts. But there's never been a time that I wasn't on his mind. Never been a time that I wasn't in his thoughts. I'm so thankful that there was the merchant man. He came seeking. [00:41:15] (30 seconds)  #AlwaysOnHisMind

``He could have called 10 ,000 angels, but he didn't. He went on. He could have said, I've given enough. Friends, only, only when his precious blood was drained from his body did he say, it is finished. Paid in full, my sin dead and yours is paid for. The merchant man sold all that he had. Jesus gave up the glories of heaven that you and I might go there. He gave up comfort and cried, I thirst, so that you and I could experience living water. He became sin, separated from his Father, so that you and I might be reconciled to God. He became sin that you and I might be made the righteousness of God in him. [00:44:12] (71 seconds)  #ItIsFinishedSacrifice

No matter how expensive a pearl turns out to be, it was just a grain of sand, or let's just call it a piece of dirt. That pearl, it was started by a worthless piece of dirt. It was on the bottom. That alien substance made its way into the shell of that oyster. It actually wounds the oyster. It actually causes some pain, irritation, this grain of sand, piece of dirt. And then every natural pearl starts that way. It conceived in pain and suffering. So the church, because I was that worthless piece of dirt. I was on the bottom. I was without hope. It was my sin that pierced the side of my Savior. The soldier's spear was the instrument, but it was my sin and yours that caused it. [00:50:13] (76 seconds)  #FromDirtToPearl

I was just like that grain of sand. It was my sin that pierced my Savior's side. It's my sin that caused my Savior pain. I bowed on my knees, confessed my sin, took Jesus as my Savior, and that covering process began for me. It was the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus began to cover me. And once that had been covered, it becomes accepted. It's accepted completely. I was that foreign substance. I was that alien. But then when I was covered by the blood of Jesus, I was accepted. [00:52:45] (56 seconds)  #CoveredByHisBlood

When a grain of sand is covered, not only is it accepted, it's adopted. That alien substance not only is accepted. If it's just accepted, you could say, well, it's tolerated. But a whole lot more than that. After that oyster is covered, that foreign substance, it now becomes part of itself. I was eight years old. I became aware of my sin. I had a sense of being alienated from God. And I asked God to save me, and he covered me. He covered me with the blood of his son. And then not only was I accepted, I was adopted. Part of God's family. [00:53:41] (57 seconds)  #AcceptedAndAdopted

To be turned from a piece of dirt to a gorgeous pearl takes a miracle. I think of the prodigal son. When he came home, he was filthy. Nasty. What did his father do? He took his robe and put it around him. That works. When we, by faith, get covered by the blood of Jesus, we're covered by his righteousness. When God looks at me, he doesn't see my old filth and sin anymore. He sees me in his own righteousness. [00:55:14] (54 seconds)  #CoveredByRighteousness

You watch my life, you'll see some flaws. If I watch yours, I'll see some flaws. We all have flaws. Sometimes we're inclined when we see somebody's flaw that we throw dirt at them. Just remember this. This is a word of wisdom for you to take home with you. Anytime you're throwing dirt, you're losing ground. [00:56:37] (34 seconds)  #ThrowNoDirt

Now, God's going to work. He's still working on me. He's still working on you. One of these days, all the blemishes and wrinkles and spots are going to be removed, and he's going to present us, the church. He's going to be put on display. You know, if you were to ask God about his greatest work, he wouldn't talk about the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, everything that we adore and love and are amazed at. He's talking about us, the church. He said, oh, they were a mess. But now, we're going to be in his likeness one day. We're going to be reflecting his image. [00:57:35] (57 seconds)  #GodsMasterpieceChurch

I came to just remind somebody what a treasure you are to the Lord. When the devil tells you you're a nobody, you remind him you're one of the pearls of great price to the creator of this universe. [00:59:14] (18 seconds)  #PearlOfGreatPrice

If there's something in your life, when we ask him to forgive us, the book of 1 John says he won't just forgive you. He will cleanse you of all unrighteousness. [00:59:46] (17 seconds)  #CleansedByForgiveness