God Sees My Potential

In 1 Corinthians 2:9 I read, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” (NLT)

God has amazing plans for me! But if I’m not connected to him, I’ll lose out on everything he wants to do in my life.

Yesterday I looked at two things people lose when they’re spiritually lost: their direction and protection. Today I’ll look at a third thing. The loss of potential.

My potential to do good things in the world is dramatically limited when I’m disconnected from God.

It’s a lot like coins. Put enough of them together, and they have great potential for good. I could feed a family, start a business, or even save a life. But I can’t do any of those good things if the coins are lost.

The story of the lost coin in Luke 15:8-10 is a good example of this. It’s about a woman who has 10 valuable coins. But, somehow, one of them gets lost. She doesn’t say, “I’ve got nine coins, so I’m not going to worry about the lost one.” Instead, she turns her house upside down to look for it and celebrates when it’s finally found.

Just because her coin was lost doesn’t mean it had lost its value. It still had great value! But what it lost was its potential to do any good.

God made me, to do great things, far greater than I could possibly imagine. In fact, if God showed me what he wants to do with my life when I completely place it in his hands, it would be astounding!

The Bible says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT).

Maybe I’ve been disconnected, and I think it’s too late for him to use me. It’s not too late! He’s my Creator. He sees me as highly valuable, and he knows my potential.

If I surrender every part of my life to him today, I’ll start to see all the things he has prepared for me come to life.

In summary, God has amazing plans for me! But if I’m not connected to him, I’ll lose out on everything he wants to do. Yesterday I looked at two things people lose when they’re spiritually lost: their direction and protection. Today I’ll look at a third, the loss of potential. My potential to do good things is dramatically limited when I’m disconnected from God. It’s a lot like coins. Put enough of them together, and they have great potential for good. But I can’t do any of those good things if the coins are lost. The story of the lost coin is a good example of this. A woman who has 10 valuable coins. One of them gets lost. She turns her house upside down to look for it and celebrates when it’s finally found. Just because her coin was lost doesn’t mean it had lost its value. What it lost was its potential to do any good. God made me, to do great things, far greater than I could possibly imagine. Maybe I’ve been disconnected, and I think it’s too late for him to use me. It’s not. He’s my Creator. He sees me as highly valuable, and he knows my potential. If I surrender every part of my life to him today, I’ll start to see all the things he has prepared for me come to life.

I cannot imagine all that God has in store for me, both in this life and for eternity. He will create a new heaven and a new earth, and we (including myself) will live with him forever. Until then, his Holy Spirit comforts and guides me. Knowing the wonderful and eternal future that awaits me gives me hope and courage to press on in this life, to endure hardship, and to avoid giving in to temptation. This world is not all there is. The best is yet to come.

God Directs and Protects

In Isaiah 53:6 I read, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.” (NLT)

God sees everyone as valuable and worth seeking, finding, and saving. The Bible says, “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4 ESV).

But many people are spiritually lost. This means they’re following their own plan for their lives rather than God’s plan.

But what do spiritually lost people actually lose? They lose five things, here are the first two: They lose their direction and their protection.

I can see this in the story of the lost sheep in Luke 15:3-6. It’s about a shepherd who leaves 99 saved sheep to go out and search for the one lost sheep. He doesn’t say, “I’ve got 99 saved sheep, so forget the lost one!” No, they all matter to him. And when he finds the lost sheep, “he joyfully puts it on his shoulders” (Luke 15:5 NIV) and goes home to celebrate.

Like sheep, people who are spiritually lost lose their direction. In fact, all humans are this way. I didn't intend to get lost. I just think, “That grass looks greener over there.” And soon I follow my own way and lose my direction.

The Bible says, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own” (Isaiah 53:6 NLT). 

Another thing spiritually lost people lose is God’s protection. Like sheep who wander away from their shepherd, I too am vulnerable when I don’t have a shepherd to protect me from the wolves of life. That’s why I need to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Otherwise, I am alone and defenseless—and I lose God’s protection.

The Bible also says, “My people are wandering like lost sheep; they are attacked because they have no shepherd” (Zechariah 10:2 NLT).

But when I place myself under the Good Shepherd’s care, I get direction and protection. This doesn’t mean I will be free from trouble. But it does mean that God will work “all things together for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28 BSB)

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who sees everyone as extremely valuable and “desires all people to be saved.”

In summary, God sees everyone as valuable and worth seeking, finding, and saving. God desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Many are spiritually lost. They’re following their own plan for their lives rather than God’s plan. Spiritually lost people lose five things, here are the first two: They lose their direction and their protection. I can see this in the story of the lost sheep. A shepherd who leaves 99 to go out and search for the one lost sheep. They all matter to him. When he finds the lost sheep, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home to celebrate. Like sheep, people who are spiritually lost lose their direction. All humans are this way.“That grass looks greener over there.” And soon I follow my own way and lose my direction. Another thing spiritually lost people lose is God’s protection. Like sheep who wander away, I too am vulnerable when I don’t have a shepherd to protect me from the wolves of life. That’s why I need to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Otherwise, I am alone and defenseless—and I lose God’s protection. When I place myself under the Good Shepherd’s care, I get direction and protection. This doesn’t mean I will be free from trouble. But it does mean that God will work “all things together for the good of those who love Him”. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who sees everyone as extremely valuable and “desires all people to be saved.”

Isaiah speaks of Israel straying from God and compares them to wandering sheep. Yet God would send the Messiah to bring them back into the fold. We have the hindsight to see and know the identity of the promised Messiah, who has come and died for our sins. But if we can see all that Jesus did and still reject him, our sin is much greater than that of the ancient Israelites, who could not see what we have seen. Am I still going my own way like a wandering sheep?

The Only Distinction That Matters

In Luke 19:10 I read, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” (NLT)

In God’s eyes, there are only two kinds of people—saved people and lost people. Every one of us falls into one of these two categories. And, ultimately, no other human distinction matters.

God loves all people—regardless of gender, race, or culture. And he doesn’t distinguish people by their education, looks, wealth, or talent. What matters most to him is whether people are spiritually saved or lost.

The terms “Saved” and “lost” imply value. The two words mean that God sees me as being worthy of seeking, saving, and finding; “saved” and “lost” are expressions of his love.

The Bible says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost” (Luke 19:10 NLT). That’s how valuable I am. Jesus Christ came to earth to seek and to save me.

Only valuable things get lost; invaluable things just get misplaced. In other words, nobody loses a toothpick. You may misplace a toothpick, but I don’t lose it, because it’s not that valuable.

If I lost my wedding ring, it would be a real loss. I would never misplace my wedding ring; I would lose it.

So, when we talk about whether a person is spiritually saved or lost, they’re incredibly valuable.

But God doesn’t want anyone to be spiritually lost. Why? Because it means they are disconnected from him and don’t have a relationship with him.

In God’s eyes, there are only two kinds of people, saved people and lost people. Ultimately, no other human distinction matters. God loves all people, regardless of gender, race, or culture. And he doesn’t distinguish people by their education, looks, wealth, or talent. What matters most to him is whether people are spiritually saved or lost. The terms “Saved” and “lost” imply value. The two words mean that God sees me as being worthy of seeking, saving, and finding; “saved” and “lost” are expressions of his love. “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost”. Jesus Christ came to earth to seek and to save me. Only valuable things get lost. When we talk about whether a person is spiritually saved or lost, they’re incredibly valuable. God doesn’t want anyone to be spiritually lost, because it means they are disconnected from him and don’t have a relationship with him.

When Jesus said Zacchaeus was a son of Abraham and yet was lost, he must have shocked his hearer in at least two ways: (1) They would not have like to acknowledge that this unpopular tax collector was a fellow son of Abraham, and (2) they would not have wished to admin that the sons of Abraham could be lost. But a person is not saved because of good heritage or condemned by a bad one; faith is more important than genealogy. Jesus came to save all the lost, regardless of their background or previous way of life. Through faith, the lost can be forgiven and made new.