Table of Contents

1    Fearfully and Wonderfully Made!

2    You are God's Workmanship

3    Society's Standards of Value

4    My Struggles With Human Value Systems

5    God's Standards of Value

Prayer

Personal Prayer of Commitment

1

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made!

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

How precious also are Your thoughts of me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.

Psalm 139:14-18

God's thoughts of you are as numerous as the sand on the seashore! His thoughts of you are continuous and wonderful! You are valuable in God!

Some people have the concept, "I don't know whether God likes me or not." Some think God is going to hit them with a club. Some feel like He has laid a trap for them. They say, "Well, I'm doing okay right now, but you never know what God's going to do!" You will live in self-condemnation and fear if you don't understand that God values you. He is for you. Satan is the one who wants to devour you (John 10:10). When you realize you are valuable to God, your whole life will change.

At one of our apartment crusades in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, a man stood outside the tent watching all we were doing. He was a terror to the people in the neighborhood. His lifestyle of ungodliness was so bad that everyone in the complex knew him, and many had been treated badly by him.

As the Spirit of God fell inside the tent, his heart was opened, and he began to walk toward me. He came forward and gave his life to Christ. He testified, "For forty-four years I have lived without knowing God, but now I know Him."

This man has been transformed by God's grace and rides the church bus to Sunday morning services. Today, this man believes in himself. His whole attitude toward life is positive and joy fills his heart. For years he had thought he was worthless, and the bitterness in his heart had come out in anger toward others. Jesus changed all that and made him a new man.

A lot of people today wear nice suits and dresses, but they're running, tormented by the devil just like this man, because they don't know they have value.

2

You are God’s Workmanship

Your value isn't based upon the net worth of your assets and bank deposits or your holdings and investments. Your worth is related to Almighty God!

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, just as the others.

Ephesians 2:1-3

This is a powerful word. Paul is saying, "Before a person is born again, he lives like the devil. He succumbs to the devil's control in his mind, in his actions, in his thought life, and as a result, he's under the wrath of God."

We were caught up in sin and living under the control of it, like a raging river carrying someone downstream to destruction.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

Even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

And raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:4-7

We've only scratched the surface of the riches of God's grace that will be revealed to us. The best is yet to come.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Not of works, lest anyone should boast.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8-10

When you were born again, you were created in the image and likeness of God on the inside. You may look the same on the outside, but you become a brand new person on the inside.

You were created in Christ Jesus unto good works. You are the workmanship or handicraft of God, created and ordained by Him for good works, which He has already prepared for you. In other words, you're walking out a script that has already been written. You're literally following the blueprint of God's Word and Spirit in a supernatural way to fulfill the thing God has preordained for your life.

God says to you personally in His Word:

Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each of My hands...your walls are continually before Me.

Isaiah 49:16, AMP.

3

Society’s Standards of Value

Because of the value standards established by society, there has been a distortion in the minds of people concerning their personal worth. Their value has been degraded. They have seen themselves in the light of natural, outward things as being either valuable or not valuable.

For instance, people have judged beauty or appearance on the outside and have said, "This person is valuable, because of his/her outward appearance." On the other hand, "This person is not valuable, because of his/her appearance."

Education is an area which has been used to judge a person's value. "This person is valuable because of his education. This person doesn't know as much, so he's not as valuable."

Talent is another area we've used to judge a person's value. Some people have the ability to play an instrument, to sing, to play sports, or to do something in a business sense, and they are considered valuable, while others who may not have the same talent aren't considered as valuable.

People with great personalities are called valuable, while others who may not be able to clearly express what they feel are often degraded.

Achievements and success have caused some people to be elevated as valuable, while others who haven't achieved or succeeded on the same level are considered of less value.

Some people exalt a nationality because they're born in a certain nation. They're considered of greater worth than a person born in a less populous nation. Or someone of a certain color is exalted, while someone of another color is demeaned.

Parents at times have honored and lavished love on one child because they were intelligent and achieved, while ignoring another child who was not as bright and perhaps not as successful in athletics, music, or in other endeavors. Without being aware of it, parents have exalted one child and put down another. Perhaps your life has been affected because of a distorted value system either by your parents or in peers.

The value system in our society has created internal turmoil in many people. Putdowns and terrible things have happened because of distorted values.

People who compare themselves to the world's value system often fall into terrible insecurities. They're frustrated, tormented, and spiritually dwarfed because they are intimidated from the outside. Therefore, like a little tree that's tied at the roots, they never grow and expand because they see themselves in the light of how the world values them. When this process continues, it not only goes into insecurity, but it also leads to depression and discouragement.

The way people view themselves is back of the poverty spirit in America and throughout the world. If you don't know your worth in God, then you don't have hope. Without hope, there's no motivation. And without motivation, you'll live under whatever circumstances choose to oppress you, whether it's drugs, alcohol, poverty, depression, discouragement, or self-pity.

Others go beyond depression into suicidal tendencies. Most people who have taken their life have been affected by the world's value system. Their inferiority feelings were tremendous because the putdowns from society made them feel small and embarrassed. If people don't measure up, the ultimate end of rejection and depression for many is suicide.

They have been judged, either externally or by their own life, in seeing themselves as of no value and, therefore, they think, "What's the use of living?" Or because someone has judged them that way, they take their life to get back at someone or to prove that they were somebody. What a warped way of thinking that you prove you're someone by taking your own life, but when a person gets into this thought pattern, many horrible things happen.

If you're hung up on the world's value system, you'll never become what you're destined to be as an individual, and the army of God, of which you are a part, will never become what it's supposed to be. It is time to accept God's value of your life and begin to say, "I am valuable."

4

My Struggles With Human Value Systems

I have been affected by outward judgments. When I was a sixth grader, my feet grew faster than any other part of my body. For you, it may have been your ears, your nose, your arms, or maybe your legs grew so fast your britches came up to your knees! Even after you rolled them down, they still didn't fit!

One of my brothers wore a size 13 shoe when he was a teenager. He had a firm foundation! In anticipation of the great expectations of me, Mother bought me some Hush Puppy shoes that were about an inch longer than my feet. The only problem was that my feet quit growing, so I had a pair of shoes that dipped down in the front! After a while, they looked like an alligator with his snout sticking out! I can remember stuffing tissues in the toes so they'd fit better!

When I was singing in the church choir in high school, the men would say, "You sit by him today!"

I can remember the pressure of having a crew cut haircut in seventh grade. All of the boys in elementary school had crew cuts, but when they reached seventh grade, they let their hair grow longer. The girls in the seventh grade started a club called "RASH"—RIGHTS AGAINST SHORT HAIR! They bugged me, because I still had a crew cut.

More than once I've had the feeling of not being like everyone else. I'm sure you have also had some of those experiences where you didn't feel up to par, whether it was the way you looked, your grades, the side of town where you grew up, the kind of car your family drove, or whatever measure people put on you to classify you as valuable and important. The way out is discovering God' s standards of value.

5

God’s Standards of Value

You can be delivered from the world's value system once you understand God's standards of value. I want to give you six external facts upon which you can base your value. It's vital to know these, because you must understand how valuable you are to understand the value of others.

1. You are valuable because of the PURCHASER Who loved you. When you were dead in sins, God bought you.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

I Corinthians 6:19-20

You were bought at a price. You may feel like you're on a junk heap, but God says, "I think you are salvageable." The word salvation and salvage are from the same root word. God salvaged you! The world may have thrown you out on the junk heap, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love..." has changed that (Ephesians 2:4).

Your value isn't just resident in your own life, but in the One who purchased you and brought you into His family.

How much is God worth? The One who owns you owns the earth and the fullness thereof! (Psalm 24:1). His worth is literally out of sight!

When you realize who bought you and that you are now linked up with God, suddenly your net worth goes up!

2. You are valuable because of the PRICE that was paid for you.

Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

1 Peter 1:18-19

You weren't redeemed of yourself. It's the gift of God. The gift of God's salvation was not cheap. It may be free to you, but it cost God the blood of His only begotten Son (John 3:16).

How much are you worth? Your worth is linked directly to the price that was paid for you.

Your worth can't be measured in dollars and cents, because your worth exceeds all the gold, silver, land, oil and gas reserves in the universe!

The blood of Christ, measured by any of those items, tips the scales! It's more valuable than anything. God's life was in the blood of Christ. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. What are you worth? You are worth the blood of Jesus Christ.

Millions of people have built their lives on the world's false value system, and they are grieving in nursing homes or old age retirement centers, tormented with a sense of no worth and no value in their lives.

3. You are valuable because of the POSITION in which you have been placed.

Even when we were dead in trespasses,

[He] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

And raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:5-6

Have you seen people fuss over getting into a position at a banquet so they could sit close to the host or sit in a position of responsibility and prestige? Jesus said:

But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ’Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.

For whoever exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 14:10-11

It's time to wake up! You are seated by the Man who is above all other men who have ever lived. You have joint seating with Him.

People often try to compare themselves with others. They look at this one, and they look at that one. They say, "Well, I've arrived. I'm valuable now. I have this kind of car. I have these clothes. This house really makes me valuable. I've achieved this position in the company. Now, I am valuable."

That's arrogance and pride. The value system of the world either degrades or exalts people in pride and arrogance and causes them to have a false impression of who they really are.

A person without Christ who has millions of dollars is still lost and on his way to hell, though he may walk around like a proud peacock, strutting as if he owns the world. He's controlled by the system of the world.

Like the prodigal son, the Father views you not only as a son, but as a friend. You've been brought into a friendship relationship with God. In this position, you've been made an heir of God. An heir is one who inherits that which the owner bequeaths. We've inherited all that God is! We're not only heirs of God, but we're joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.

You need to quit talking down on yourself and on other Christians. Remember, you're speaking to someone God calls a royal priest. When you look in the mirror, you need to say, "I'm looking at royalty."

Charles Duncombe, a famous English preacher who taught at Rhema Bible Training Center years ago, had letterhead imprinted with, "ROYAL    AMBASSADOR—CHARLES

DUNCOMBE," and in another spot, it read, "ROYAL AMBASSADOR OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD." You may think, "That's arrogance." No! That's revelation! It's one thing for men to gloat over who they are in the natural, but it's another thing to believe what God has done for you through Jesus Christ. You've been made a king and a priest (Revelation 1:6).

When you accept your position in Christ as a king and a priest, as a son or a daughter of God, suddenly, the competition, the striving and the putdowns in your life will come to an end. The war on the inside will cease.

4. You are valuable because of the divine PURPOSE to which you have been called.

God has a master plan for every person. You have a divine purpose that is vital to the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

Jeremiah 29:11, AMP.

It's necessary that you assume your position and achieve your purpose and realize, "If I don't do what God has called me to do, I'll miss God's best and people will be affected."

Adam missed what could have been. Judas missed what could have been in his life. Saul failed to see his purpose and, therefore, renigged on his walk with God and at a critical hour, he missed out on God's blessings. History is full of people who didn't realize they had a divine purpose.

You ask some people, "How's it going?" and they respond, "Well, I'm making a living." You've got to be kidding! Life is meant to be more than that. People turn on the tube and watch it all day until they can hardly see. People who are mesmerized by the tube and addicted on other things haven't discovered their purpose. If you have a purpose in life, then you'll begin to set priorities.

Abundant life is the result of setting the right priorities and making the right choices. The blessings of God will overtake you when your priorities are in proper order.

Life finds meaning when you have a purpose that goes beyond this life. If your purpose is only for this life, then it's empty, because it has no lasting value. When you have a purpose that goes beyond this life, then you have continual joy, for that which you've invested will go into eternity.

5. You are valuable because of the PEOPLE you can touch.

To me, this is the most powerful of all, because it puts everything in perspective. Why did God make you the way you are? Why have you gone through things you've gone through? Why weren't you born when Columbus sailed? Has that ever crossed your mind? Why did you come on the scene during this time?

You were born at the time you were born, because God knew the world would need you now. You and I were born at a time in history with certain gifts, talents, abilities, and callings that God knew would be needed in this hour of history to touch, change and mend broken lives. You're not a wandering entity. You're not a spare part in the Body of Christ looking for a place to fit. There's a divine purpose, a holy calling, a special place for you. You are a vital part in the Body in which God has placed you. When your part is in place, then other things happen in the Body of Christ that need to happen. Life takes on new meaning when you find a purpose that outlasts life on this earth.

Don't check out on life, because what's in you is needed to fulfill the purposes of God. To the world, that which we do in God may look like a failure. The world thought Jesus Christ failed when He died on the cross, but He did exactly what the Father sent Him to do and the resurrection proved it.

The world would have looked down on Paul and Peter, who gave their lives in martyrdom, and said, "What a waste of life." But today, they're both in the Hall of Faith in heaven because God doesn't measure the same way men measure.

You're not an accident looking for a place to happen. God said of Jeremiah:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.

Jeremiah 1:5

In God's divine plan and purpose, He prepared you in such a way that you could reach certain people that others wouldn't be able to reach. When I began the television ministry, I questioned God about it, because many others are preaching basically the same Gospel that I'm preaching. He said, "There are people who will listen to you who wouldn't listen to anyone else because of the way I made you."

It's the same way with you. There are people who will listen to you because of your experiences, successes, failures, talents, intellect, personality and background. You were called into this earth to touch people for eternity.

I used to want to hide my laugh. When I laughed, one guy said, "I thought a chicken was loose!" It's like Sharon with her dancing and happy hopping. One family came to our church, and the wife leaned over to her husband and said, "Who is that nut down there dancing?" As she looked through the bulletin, she turned to her husband and said, "That's the pastor's wife."

It's good just to be you. Many people want to look and act and talk like someone else. People look the craziest when they try to be someone they're not. If you're just you, then you can minister to the people that only you can touch.

Not everyone is put into the same vocation in life. Perhaps you've asked, "Why am I in this plant, this company, this store?" Remember, you are where you are for a purpose, and that purpose is to touch people. Your purpose goes beyond that which is temporary. The amount of money you make and the promotions you receive will all burn, but the people you touch will go into eternity.

The greatest service you can render to humans is to get them in touch with God, that they know Jesus Christ and know they're loved.

If you don't realize your value, then you'll go through life treating people as numbers, faces, or unimportant entities, but once you have a revelation of your value, then the entire human race takes on importance. If you're valuable, then they're valuable.

Some people believe because prisoners have committed crimes, they're not worth anything. People behind bars are still valuable. They still count to the Lord. Your bars may be visible or they may be invisible, but we've all been in prison at one time to our own evil desires and lusts. That's what Paul said. We all had our lifestyle under the control of the devil and were by our old nature children of wrath. That means every one of us were on death row at one time!

Sharon and I went with Charles Story, a member of our congregation who heads up a prison ministry, to McAlester State Prison to visit the prisoners who were on death row. We went with a message of love and mercy.

Prison guards handcuffed ten men on death row and brought them into the hall for a service. (They were on death row because they had killed someone. However, these prisoners had all been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.) What a joy to watch these men who were handcuffed lift their hands to praise and magnify the Lord!

6. You are valuable because of the POTENTIAL that's inside of you.

You have potential for greatness because of the God who lives within you! "...He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

You have unlimited possibilities, because all things are possible to him who believes. Nothing can stop what God puts in the heart or mind of a believer who knows Him.

Benson Idahosa was born as a sickly baby in Nigeria, West Africa. His father didn't want another mouth to feed, so he told his mother to throw him out. He was wrapped in a blanket and thrown out on the trash heap. They thought he was dead, but that same evening, rain began to fall. The blanket got wet, and the baby cried out in the middle of the night. The mother retrieved him and raised him in hiding from the father.

God saw his worth. He never wore a pair of shoes until he was 17 years old, but today, over 5,000 churches have been raised up in Africa through his ministry. He has preached in over 100 nations. God has put potential for greatness in you, too.

You may have been thrown out on the trash heap by the world, but when God brings you in, you become valuable. God can set you free from all the hangups you've had, the insecurities, inferiorities, depression, and discouragement that's related to a distorted value system. Receive your release today, look in the mirror and acknowledge, "I AM VALUABLE!"

Prayer

I come against those lying thoughts of the devil that have tried to distort your worth and value. I break the power of judgmentalism, of comparisons, of the works of parents, teachers or of others who have put you down and degraded you.

In the powerful name of Jesus and by the authority of His Spirit, God is giving you a revelation that you are valuable because of the One who purchased you, the price that was paid for you, the position in which you've been placed, the purpose that God has for you, the people you can touch and your unlimited potential.

Lord, root out all of the ungodly attitudes and the wicked works which have caused people to want to take their own lives. In Jesus' name, no suicide thought should come into your life from this day forward, no depression or discouragement to cause you to check out on life.

I thank God for releasing the mighty anointing of His Spirit into you now. Amen.

Personal Prayer of Commitment

Heavenly Father, I believe You raised Jesus from the dead and that He paid the price in full for all of my sins. I repent of all my sins. I renounce the devil. I receive the forgiveness and cleansing You provided at Calvary just for me, Lord Jesus, and I receive You as my Lord and Savior.

Lord Jesus, empower me with the Holy Spirit so I can be a witness of Your life, light and love.

Father, thank You for saving me and making me a person of value in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Signature ________

Date ________

BILLY JOE DAUGHERTY is founder and pastor of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Victory has a Christian school, Bible Institute and Missions Training Center. Other Victory outreaches include taking the gospel via radio and television to North America, along with shortwave radio and television to other nations, plus the distribution of nooks, tapes, and videos. He and his wife, Sharon, minister God’s healing, saving, and delivering power as a team. They have four children and a son-in-law who work alongside them in the ministry.

Table of Contents

1 Fearfully and Wonderfully Made!

2 You are God's Workmanship

3 Society's Standards of Value

4 My Struggles With Human Value Systems

5 God's Standards of Value

Prayer

Personal Prayer of Commitment