Feeding Reading

You are important

by Carlos Viana

But you don't feel like that! You think about all the people that are "more important" than you. People that have more favour with God and men because they are "good", they are "loving", they are "more blessed", and they don’t have all these weaknesses that you have.
In your eyes, somehow, they are way above out of your reach. You try not to get jealous, or bitter. You struggle with all these thoughts and feelings, and you feel such a mess.

But remember, you are more important than you think, all these people you are thinking about, Jesus leaves them all out in the desert to look for you when you are lost.

Mattew_18:12-13  How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goes into the mountains, and seeks that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoices more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

So, actually you are more important than them all in Jesus eyes. That’s a fact! You are! So take courage! Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Some shepherds on earth couldn’t care less about little old you if you are not of much advantage to them. But not Jesus! He would never let you go and will look for you until He finds you.

John_10:11-13 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf catches them, and scatters the sheep. The hireling flees, because he is an hireling, and cares not for the sheep.

Hebrews 12:12-13 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame [discouraged] be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.


You can’t disappoint Jesus.

By Steven Furtick

Just ask Peter.

On the surface, it looks like Jesus’ prayer failed (Luke 22:32). After all, last time I checked, this is the same Peter who would go on to deny Jesus three times. It seems that Jesus would have every reason to be disappointed... But that’s only if we assume that Jesus means He’s praying that Peter’s faith would not fail at all.

Peter’s faith did fail.

But it did not fail completely.

Jesus knew Peter was going to deny Him. Jesus wasn’t praying against that. He was praying that it wouldn’t be the final word for Peter. And, of course, His prayer was answered. Peter faltered in his faith. But he returned and became the leader of the early church.

Peter couldn’t disappoint Jesus. And neither can you. Do you know what “to disappoint” means? It means give somebody an outcome other than what they expected. That’s less than their hope.

How can you give God an outcome that He didn’t expect?

God knows you’re going to fail. That thing you did yesterday: Jesus already knew you were going to do it before you did it. The same with the thing you did today, and the thing you’ll do tomorrow.

That might sound scary at first, but it should actually encourage you. God knows about it already, has known about it from eternity, but He hasn’t given up on you. So why have you given up on yourself?

And even more than that, it should encourage you, because even if your faith does fail for a moment, you will ultimately succeed. The same God who knows you’re going to fail is the same God who already has a plan in place to restore you when you do.