God Sees You As Valuable And Significant | Victoria Osteen

0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:03.160 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:05.960 our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:08.440 If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:10.039 blessing and share it with a friend. 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:13.040 We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:13.560 your life. 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:16.520 Nay Man, What a powerful name we have. 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:21.119 Amen. When I was a little girl, I love to 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:25.080 handmake cards for my parents. I always liked to tell 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:27.400 them how much I loved them and show my affection 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:30.880 with these hand made cards. And I used to put 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:34.680 my signature butterflies and flowers all over them. You know, 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:36.920 I did the same kind of butterfly and the same 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:40.479 kind of flower every time. Not long ago, I was 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:43.400 going through a stack of scrap books that my mother 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:47.800 had so you know, carefully saved and put together, when 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:51.320 I came across one of these signature cards that I 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.960 had made, and there it was my butterflies and flowers. 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:58.000 As I was looking at it, I noticed at the 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:03.240 bottom of the page, written in yellow pencil, were these words, 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:08.200 I feel like we are somebody important and I know 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:14.440 that we are. When when my eyes dropped to those words, 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:17.880 I thought, what in the world was I thinking? As 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:21.640 a little girl. I feel like we're someone important and 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:24.760 I know that we are. What was I thinking? 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:26.640 Why can't I feel like that? 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:33.280 Now? You see? I feel like I am something important 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:36.520 and I know that I am. It really it made 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.840 me laugh, It made me chuckle. But you know what, 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:43.600 I couldn't let those words slide by. They kept going 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:47.040 through my mind the next day and the next day 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:51.160 because I thought what was I thinking? And then it 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:56.280 was if I realized in sight of every single one 0:01:56.320 --> 0:02:00.200 of us is the voice of God saying, you, who 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:05.960 are made in my image, you are valuable, you are significant, 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:11.960 and you are important in this life. You see, inside 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:15.880 of every one of us there is a voice that 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:24.440 is speaking out value, significance, and importance. But sometimes life 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:29.280 truest to change and drowned out that voice. It tries 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:33.639 to devalue us. Unfair things happen, People talk about you, 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:38.760 somebody walks out on your life, struggles problems, They distort 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:43.800 that voice. They try to speak louder than that voice. 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:48.119 You know, I realize, though, God has put that in 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:50.840 each and every one of us, and we have to 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:54.600 allow that voice to come out of us, because see, 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:59.000 doesn't matter what we think. It matters who we are. 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:04.080 You may feel insignificant, but God sees you as valuable. 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:09.080 He sees you as important to his plan. You see, 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:13.280 doesn't matter how we feel. It doesn't change the value 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.640 of our life in the eyes of God. You know, 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:20.600 I have this nice, crisp hundred dollar bill. Andy. It 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:23.079 doesn't look like it's been handled much. It doesn't look 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:26.639 like it's been spent a whole lot. It's beautiful, isn't it? 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:27.520 Does anybody want it? 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:29.640 Who wants this. 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:32.840 Hundred dollar bill? Anybody? Here? 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:33.040 You go? 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:38.480 Here? You go up? Sorry, my sweet lady, of course 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:42.360 you want that beautiful hundred dollar bill. It's Christine. It's 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:46.840 it's amazing, isn't it? And it'll spend well. Oh, don't worry, 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:50.640 I have another one. Oh, but this one looks like 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:52.920 it I'm sorry, just a minute. It looks like it's 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.560 been in the washer and the dryer. It's not so pretty. 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:59.440 You probably don't want this one. This one's all ugly 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:04.120 and mess No, do you think anybody anybody want? You 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:08.640 want this one? All right? My sweet sister was there. 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:12.960 I'm sorry. Of course you want that one hundred dollars. 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:20.200 It doesn't matter what it looks like it holds tremendous value. 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:25.159 Doesn't matter if life has put some wrinkles in you. 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:29.560 It doesn't matter if you feel like you've gone through 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:36.000 the ringer. You have value, and you have importance, and 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:45.440 you have significance today. You know, God doesn't make mistakes. 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:52.160 God only makes masterpieces, and you are a masterpiece in 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:56.680 the eyes of God. He's already qualified you, and He's 0:04:56.760 --> 0:05:00.240 left nothing out of you. You know, we we all 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:05.560 have a responsibility to keep that voice of God clear 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:10.159 and free from the debris of life. We all have 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:14.200 a responsibility to spend our life well and to make 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:17.359 it count. You see, this great God has put so 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:21.800 many amazing things in us. He's already put assignments in 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:26.120 our path. We have a responsibility and how we live 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:29.680 our life it matters, you know. It matters how I 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:34.000 live my life, matters to my children, matters to my husband, 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:38.360 it matters to my neighbor. You see, when I realize 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:41.880 that God's placed this value in me, I'm going to 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:44.640 spend my life well. And you know, when I spend 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:48.840 my life well, it helps others spend theirs well. When 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:53.440 I have God confidence, it helps others rise up and 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:58.160 have confidence in themselves. You see, how you live your 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:01.760 life makes a difference, and that's why God want you 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:06.440 to keep that voice free and clear, keep that child 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:10.960 like wonder in the things of God. I read the 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:15.640 letter that day and I realized, you know what, I 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:21.040 may feel unqualified, I may not have confidence, I may 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:25.000 feel like I lack the ability, but God doesn't see 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:30.120 me that way. He sees me as strong, capable to 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.560 do what He's called me to do. You know there's 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:35.000 a guy in the Bible. His name was Gideon. You 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:40.600 may know his story. He lacked confidence, he lacked the 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:44.760 feeling that he had the ability to do anything. One day, 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:47.720 an angel the Lord came to get in and he said, 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:52.359 get in. The Lord is with you, you, mighty man of 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:58.280 fearless courage. Then the angel went on to say, gide In, 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:02.839 the Lord wants you to help the Israelites his children 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:10.120 defeat the enemy, the Midianites. Isn't that interesting? He addressed 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:13.520 him as a mighty man of fearless courage, and then 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:16.920 he asked him to do something. But this is what 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:20.040 Gideon replied. He said, Lord, wait a minute, how am 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:24.000 I going to do that? I have a family, and 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:26.640 our family amounts to nothing. In fact, we are the 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:30.400 least of all the families in the area. And not 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:35.080 only does my family not have what it takes, I'm 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:39.840 the least in all my family. You see his reply. 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:45.960 There's such a contrast in the voice of God telling 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:50.160 him a mighty man of valor speaking up to what 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:55.520 Gideon's reply was. You hear the voice that tries to 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:59.840 drowned out God's voice. See, God is saying the same 0:07:59.880 --> 0:08:03.120 thing to you today, whatever is in front of you. 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:07.280 He's calling out those things that you are, that you 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:12.080 have on the inside of you. But the voice of 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:16.360 life wants to be so noisy, wants to distort the 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:24.160 voice of God. Very interesting the difference between God's voice 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:29.280 and Gideon's voice. You see, Gideon didn't see himself as strong. 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:35.640 But you know what's interesting, didn't change God's perspective. Gideon, 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:38.679 he talked himself out of it when he replied to God, 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:43.760 God didn't talk himself out of it. Gideon felt weak, 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:49.840 but God sighing as capable, as able as a champion, 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:57.640 a fearless, courageous champion. You see. The good news is this, 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:04.400 Gideon fine took hold of that voice, took that strength 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:07.800 of that voice and let him go out and lead 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:11.240 the charge, and he won the victory for God that day. 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:15.360 You see, whatever's trying to hold you down, you need 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:18.679 to shake it off. You need to let the voice 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:22.880 of God come booming out loud and clear. You may 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:27.559 feel weak, you may feel small, but your weakness can 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:31.520 be turned into strength when you take hold of God. 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:38.559 I saw this animated cartoon one time that made such 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:42.199 an impression on me. It was this tiny little mouse 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:47.120 and his friend was this big, huge elephant, and they 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:52.280 were about to cross this thatched bridge that was high 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:56.760 in the air. As they crossed that bridge, that little 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:01.440 thatched bridge started swinging and shaking all the way across. 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:05.080 It was rickety swinging and shaking. But when they got 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:09.720 on the other side of that bridge safe, that little 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:13.040 mouse was so proud. He looked up at his friend, 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:16.320 that great big elephant, and he said, we really shook 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:20.880 that bridge, didn't we. You see, you may feel small, 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:24.840 but when you grab hold of God's strength, you have 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:28.559 the power of an elephant. You can look at God 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:32.959 and you can say, we really shook that bridge, didn't we. God? 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:37.280 You see, at the end of the day, what matters 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:43.400 most is what you believe about yourself. Protect the voice 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:46.320 of God. He's put it in you. He speaks it 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:50.040 out every single day. See unfair things happen to us. 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:53.760 God said, in this world there'll be trouble, but you 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:57.440 be a good cheer because you've got an overcomer in you. 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:02.000 You've got an overcomer in you. You are a mighty man, 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:08.200 a mighty woman, a valor. Don't lose that childlike on wonder. 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:13.920 Go out of here today and shake some bridges with God. Amen. Amen, 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:15.160 He's an awesome God. 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:20.360 What if every plan you set, every habit you formed, 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:24.360 and every decision you made became a pathway to see 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:27.080 God move in your life. 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:30.080 We all have hopes and dreams, things we're believing for. 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:33.880 When you start the year in faith, expecting God's goodness, 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:36.640 you are setting the tone for a blessed new year. 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:39.160 And we'd love to send you our twenty twenty six 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:42.600 Faith for Today planner. You can write down your dreams 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:45.760 and goals and plus use it for your everyday activities 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:46.640 and reminders. 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:49.840 It's important to feed your faith on a daily basis. 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:53.000 This planner it's not just a calendar, it's filled with 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:56.800 scriptures and inspiration to help you stay encouraged and keep 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:58.960 believing for what God has put in your heart. 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:01.720 Twenty twenty six is your year to see the goodness 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:04.520 of God in greater ways, let go of what didn't 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:07.079 work out, and get ready for the new things God 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:07.840 has in store. 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:11.120 As our way of saying thank you for your gift 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.800 of any amount this month, we would like to send 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.360 you a copy of the twenty twenty six Faith for 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:20.839 Today Planner. Each month features a fresh theme of encouragement, 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:25.599 a guiding scripture to stand on, room to write your goals, prayers, 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:29.920 and vision space for faith steps. Because faith isn't passive, 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:34.079 it's active, a monthly QR code linking to a message 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:37.360 or video to keep your spirit lifted. With a twenty 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:40.960 twenty six Faith for Today Planner, you'll be reminded that 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:44.400 living by faith makes room for God to do what 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:48.600 only He can do. Break through in your business, God's 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:53.400 healing touch. Loved ones returning to faith, request your copy 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.920 of the planner and step into the new year with 0:12:56.080 --> 0:13:00.559 bold faith, fresh hope, and daily encouragement. To strengthen your 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:04.000 spirit and face every challenge with confidence. 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:07.240 No matter what's happening around you. Faith can rise up 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:10.920 in you, keep believing and expecting a blessed twenty twenty 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:13.880 six Victoria and I pray for you and your family 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:17.400 every day. Thank you so much for your prayer and support. 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:21.360 Your generosity is helping people around the world. As we 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:24.600 finish this year, I hope you'll consider making a special 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:28.120 year in gift to help keep the ministry strong. We 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:30.920 so appreciate all the Champion of Hope partners for your 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:34.280 monthly support. We wish you and your family a very 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:37.240 merry Christmas. Until we see you next time. May the 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:38.920 Lord bless you and keep you. 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:42.360 Be sure to request your copy of the twenty twenty 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:46.520 six Faith for Today Planner. Visit Joelostein dot com or 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:50.080 call eight eight eight five six seven Joel for a 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:53.320 special year end gift. This month, we are also offering 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:57.600 the Faith to Share Bundle, Keep One, Give One, Give 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:01.480 the gift of faith, focus and fresh hope for someone 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:05.160 special in your life. You can also request the God's 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:10.160 Word Work Study Collection. This empowering collection includes the NIV, 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:15.160 the Message, Parallel Bible, a beautifully crafted leather bookmark and pen, 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:18.400 and how to read your Bible and Enjoy It, along 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:22.520 with two planners. You can request these inspiring resources by 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:26.240 calling eight eight eight five six seven Joel or logging 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:30.560 on to joelostein dot com today. Call or click anytime 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:35.080 twenty four hours a day, Stay organized, encouraged, and full 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:59.760 of faith all year long. Request these resources today