You are Uniquely and Awesomely Made!
By Gary and Michelle Amirault
(Please pass this onto someone lost and confused or send them a link to this article. GA)
As is stated in the Desiderata by Ehrmann, "You are a child of the universe.you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." You have more than a right to be here, you have been destined to be here before the universe was ever set in motion.
"Who Am I?" Does Science Have the Answer?
Probably every human being has in common the desire within themselves to know who they really are. "Who am I?" "What is life all about?" "What is my purpose?" "Is there a God?" "Why do I exist?" "Does God exist?"
Are we just "stuff?" - A bunch of chemicals - a few moments of consciousness under the sun and then destined to disintegrate back to dust? Are we just a clod of dirt? One would think so from the way we treat each other. But perhaps we treat each other like dirt, not because that is all we are, but because our thinking is eschew. Are we just a chain of mistakes that pop up as "life" for a few paltry years which only ultimately have no meaning or value? Your answer will have a great deal to do with the quality of your few moments under the sun. One person sees a dull whitish rock on the ground and throws it at another human being. Another picks up that same rock, cuts and polishes it and sells it for a million dollars. The value of a diamond is in the eyes of the beholder. How you see yourself in this world, will greatly determine what you will do with the time you have.
Are you a mistake? Are you the nth mutation in a long chain of accidents in matter that produced a thing we call "life?" Are you just a bunch of chemicals that accidentally sparked and brought into existence what we call "conscience?" And will that "conscience" one day vaporize into nothingness? If so, what is the meaning of life? What is its worth? For what reason would one want to be a dull stone laying on the ground? You see, dear and precious friend, this kind of thinking leads one to serious depression. It leads one to having a dull stone life instead of a fine diamond quality life.
You are NOT a mistake; you are not a random event that is meaningless in the scope of eternity. Your origin is not a gas, or a soup, or some single-celled blob of matter than doesn't matter. Intelligent life did not "chance" to come into being-it was purposed by a Higher and more Intelligent Life. Yet many intelligent so-called "scientific" people would have us to believe such things about ourselves. And we wonder why we treat each other with such little respect and honor. After all, accidents, chances, mutations, blobs of matter don't call for honor and respect, do they? They have little value in our eyes.
Does Religion Have the Answer?
It is sad but true, that most of the priests and preachers of the world's religions do not offer us much more hope. In some ways, they offer even less hope. Both scientific humanists and religionists pretty much predict the same end for most of mankind, that is, doom and hopelessness. With some extra effort, the right kind of lifestyle, and the right kind of prayers, the preachers of the world's religions offer a ticket to an eternal paradise. To draw a bigger crowd, the religious pundits manipulate a basic instinct in humans called "fear" and teach, instead of an ultimate destruction for all life as do the scientists, that our souls will go on forever in a never-ending life of terrible tortuous torments-unless one gains the right knowledge in this lifetime to avoid this inevitable conclusion of the universe (salvation is up to us) or unless one comes into this world with the right lottery ticket in their pockets (salvation is predestined by God).
Yes, if the devotee follows the prescribed steps given by these prophets for profit, one "might" escape being thrown into the future eternal junkyard, the perpetual incinerator, the forever flesh fry in the sky. Imagine, God creating billions of souls that belong to Him, and He couldn't think of anything better to do with most of them but to create an eternal ghetto in which these creatures made in His own image will be endlessly miserable. No wonder so many sincere seekers would rather become atheists and agnostics than to believe such rot! I believe religions of the world, especially Christianity, really created most atheists. Hear what one of the main voices in atheism and secular humanism had to say regarding the traditional church teaching of a God who trashes most of mankind:
"Nothing could add to the horror of hell, except the presence of its creator, God. While I have life, as long as I draw breath, I shall deny with all my strength, and hate with every drop of my blood, this infinite lie." (Robert Ingersoll)
Billions of people have bought into the schemes of these pundits of science and religion. Perhaps you have too. But if you've bought into their schemes for any length of time, you will have discovered they leave one empty. None of these schemes offers much hope---and without hope, the human spirit falters. We are just built that way. We then try to fill this void with just about everything under the sun, but nothing satisfies, nothing fills this void--not fortune and fame, not sex, not drugs and alcohol, not education, not religion-nothing! There is only one thing that will fill that void and bring peace to the soul and it is not of this world. Allow me to share with you another possibility--nay, much more than a possibility! Allow me to share with you a reality that causes the human spirit to soar with hope!
A Better Design
You are uniquely and awesomely created with forethought and purpose. You are NOT junk destined to destruction or eternal agonies. Look at a wristwatch. What do you see? Gas? Soup? Blobs? Explosions? No-you see intricate, intelligent design. And your incredible mind tells you that design demands a designer who is more intelligent than that which was designed. Now look at your wrist. It is millions of times more intricate and complex than the watch--truly awesome in design. Study the different components of your wrist; research the systems at work, the skeletal, muscular, circulatory, and nervous systems. A lifetime's study of these awesome systems will not yield a fraction of the wisdom behind the parts of human wrist, let alone the entire body, soul, and spirit. Yes, you were indeed "uniquely and wonderfully crafted by the most skilled Craftsman of all time.the Creator of the universe.
Dear incredible human being.if you would just take to heart the reality of what is presently being expressed to you, you would never be the same again. Dwell on this thought for a moment. Doesn't the purpose of a created thing or person reside in the one who created it? Thought precedes creation. In the manner in which we create, so does OUR Designer. The world's most published and read book calls your Designer and your Creator, your heavenly Father! If thought precedes creation, then your Creator had you in His mind long before you actually came into being.
Such precision went into your creation that even the hairs on your head were numbered. Do not compare yourself with others. If you do, you will surely underestimate the glory that your Designer, your Creator, your Father intends for you. We suffer depression because we lack a sense of purpose and our lives lack meaning. We've lost our reference point. We don't know who we really are. Believing that life is a chain of accidents or mutations certainly devalues our sense of worth and mutilates purpose and meaning. Believing that we are all going to some kind of Hell unless we do something to circumvent it also maligns the nature, wisdom, power, and love of our Maker. If in His plan for mankind, He allowed for most of mankind to be trashed, and we are made in His image, is it any wonder why we treat each other so badly? Surely the images of our Creator the world's religions have given us are not very noble and honorable. They give little hope which makes the heart sick.
Think....If you were uniquely designed and awesomely made (and you were), then your purpose in life is hidden in the mind of your Designer, your Creator. THERE is where you must go to begin to understand who you are and your purpose for being.
Until you get into the Mind of your Creator, you cannot know what your reason for being is. The proverb, "Know thyself," can never be realized in one's self; we must get out of our own mind; we must get into the very mind and heart of our Creator.
Who Dares to Make These Claims?
There is One who said He came out of God and returned back to God. He was called the Logos, the Word, The Mind, if you will, the Creator of the universe. There is One Who said, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." There is One whose will was one with our Creator. There is One, Who said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." There is One Who said He came that you might have life more abundantly. There is One Who said that to know Him is to have everlasting life. There is One Who said He would send His Spirit to lead you into all truth. There is One Who said He was the resurrection-YOUR resurrection from the grave. There is One Who will reveal the purpose for your existence to you. There is One of whom it was said that ALL THINGS are of Him and to Him and through Him. There is One.
This One did not come to start a new religion, nor did He come to start a new sect or denomination of an old religion. He came to give you purpose and meaning. He came to reveal to YOU who you really are in your Maker's eyes, not in your own eyes. You see, we have all lost our reference points. We don't truly know the beginning nor the end. We don't know where we came from or where we are really going. This One came to reveal that for all of us. As a matter of fact, He said that He WAS the beginning AND the end.
You can be absolutely certain your life will be without fullness of meaning until you discover why you were created. Dwell upon the wisdom that went into the design of your wrist. Then think upon the miracle that your body truly is. And what you are contemplating upon is only the shell of that which your heavenly Father has designed in you. The soul and spirit is FAR more intricate and complex than your body. Truly you are uniquely and awesomely made!
See With New Eyes
Some of us have a hard time focusing on the miracle that we are because we have been called anything but a miracle by those around us. Perhaps you have been abused, misused, and accused--in short, you've been trashed and you've come to believe that maybe they are right-maybe you're just worthless trash. There are denominations of Christianity that actually teach that most of us were born for the very purpose of being perpetual trash fit only for being burned forever in an eternal inferno with our senses of feeling pain still in tact. Well, you've allowed their mind, their thoughts to dictate to you who you really are. But they didn't create you. And YOU didn't create you. Before you accept this verdict on your life, why not go to your Creator and let Him reveal to you from where you began and how you will finish up?
Life is like looking at the backside of a tapestry where everything is rough with unsightly dangling threads hanging everywhere, everything out of order or reversed. You may see yourself and your life as ugly and meaningless, full of painful memories and sorrows-nothing noble, nothing glorious. The threads seen on the bottom are hidden from the top and vice-a-versa. It's like seeing the negative of a photo; it's almost impossible to make out who the person is in the negative. It is difficult to see from the bottom side of life the purpose of our sufferings and abuses. Not until we get a glimpse of the top side where we begin to REALLY see the value of qualities like compassion, thanksgiving, gratefulness, mercy, etc. do we begin to see the value of being dipped into a world of such stark contrasts between good and evil, right and wrong, selfishness and giving of oneself, light and darkness. What we might call "bad" on the bottom side, we might call glorious on the topside. There are some stitches in our lives the pain of which seems almost unbearable. But when viewed from the Light from above, these stitches become our strength. Failures are but steppingstones to success. It takes adversity to build strength of character and that is what our time here on earth is all about-to develop character that will carry us through eternity.
When that character is perfectly formed, everything will be seen in new light. Everything will become beautiful and good when viewed in the Light from above, even those moments in your life which presently appear dark and are very painful. When viewed from the Light above, ALL things work to our good, truly all things.
There is a saying that a sculptor merely removes that which hides the beauty that is already in the wood or clay. He/she chips away the veil so that we can see what the artist saw before he/she began their work. I KNOW, dear precious person, there is something ever beautiful inside your clay body even if you may not presently be aware of it! How do I know this? Because I know the Creator and everything He makes is good!
For now, most of us don't look "exquisitely beautiful" on the outside. Few of us can say we have truly glorious bodies. And many souls "seem" to have been so greatly marred that it seems impossible to restore them. But all this hopelessness and unbelief truly disappears when we see our whole life intricately weaved into a huge pattern the Great Designer has been creating since the beginning of time. When we see everything in True Light, when we discover that we are NOT an island unto ourselves, that we belong to something greater than ourselves, then we will behold glory beyond our wildest imaginations. It is in the "inward parts," that is, the soul and the spirit where true life truly resides. Here is where eternity dwells and here is where you are being created "marvelously" beyond words. Enter Hope's womb and behold the glory waiting for you.
Heaven's True Gate
The Door to this place is Jesus the Christ, the Savior of the world. "I am the Door." (John 10:9-18) There are many who say that Jesus was a good man, some say that He was a prophet. Listen, the things that Jesus said about Himself must prevent us from saying that He was merely a good man or prophet. He said that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He said He was the Resurrection. He said He and the Father were one. He said all power and authority in heaven and earth was given to Him by His Father. He said He has the keys to death and Hades; that He was both Lord of the living AND the dead. He said He came to save the entire world. The Scriptures call Him the beginning and the end of all creation. If this is true, the very reality of who you REALLY are, is locked up in this man, Jesus Christ. If this is true, your very purpose for being, your very existence is locked up in Him!
If this man is NOT what He said about Himself, then we shouldn't call Him a good man or a prophet, we should call him a deranged lunatic or the greatest liar that ever walked this planet. We should despise His name and put it in the Hall of Infamous names along with Hitler, Mao Tse Tung, and Stalin . . . if He is not who He says He is.
But if He is Who the Scriptures say He is, then your very reason for existence is locked up in Him. "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." (Col. 1:16, 17) If He is indeed who He said He was according to the Scriptures, then our very purpose for living is locked up in the man and God, Jesus Christ.
When all that is not of Him, is chipped away -- the cares of this world and the lusts of it, the "traditions of men which make the Word of God of no effect (Matt. 15:6-9), the vain imaginings which come from pride - yes, when all these things are chipped away from you, then you will find God within you and you will perfectly reflect His image, the image He purposed for you from the foundation of the earth.
Jesus said that He was in the Father and the Father was in Him. That is perfection. In order for us to enter that perfection, we must enter Jesus and Jesus must enter us. We must totally yield ourselves to Him as He has yielded Himself to us. In regards to this transaction, Jesus did His part 2,000 years ago, He laid down His life for you. He gave Himself for you and to you. He bought you, redeemed you. His part is done. Now He waits for you to do your part, lay down your old life that you may enter into His new and eternal life. " That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.'" (Romans 10:9-11, NIV) Jesus, the word of God, came out of the Father and all creation was formed through that. When you confess the truth that Jesus is Lord of YOUR life and believe it in your heart, something miraculous happens, a new world is opened to you by faith, the faith of the only begotten Son of God.
You are Known
You may not know me, but I know everything about you.Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up.Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways.Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image.Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being.Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring.Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived.Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation.Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book.Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live.Acts 17:26
Clay Balls (author unknown)
A man was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it until he dropped one of the balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone.
Excited the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure.
He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he just threw it away.
There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.
May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay.
May we see the people in our world as God sees them. (end of story.)
So then my precious one, come to Jesus Christ and let Him reveal the precious treasures He has deposited in YOU! With all our love, given by the Son, Gary and Michelle Amirault and Mercy Aiken.
For more information about who you really are and your purpose for being, visit:
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------------------------The Weaver (Author Unknown)
My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I do not choose the colors,
He worketh steadily.
Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow,
and I in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the underside.
Not til the loom is silent,
And the shuttle ceases to fly,
Will God unroll the canvas,
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful,
In the skillful weaver's hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.