Kindle Notes & Highlights
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. (Isaiah 53:3)
Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. (Psalm 69:20–21 nkjv)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. (Ephesians 1:3–6)
“To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). That is the remedy for rejection—the realization that Jesus bore your rejection so that you might have His acceptance.
“God has no second-class children. If you are a child of God, you are highly favored. The favor He affords His Son Jesus is also offered to you.” God does not push us away from Himself into a corner, saying, “Wait over there. I’m busy. I don’t have time for you now.” Instead, He says, “Come here. You are welcome. I am interested in you. I love you and want you. I’ve been waiting a long time for you.”
First, Christ bore our rejection on the cross, along with all of the betrayal and shame, agony and heartache. In fact, He died of a broken heart. Second, we are accepted because of His rejection. We are accepted in the Beloved. It was an exchange. Jesus bore the evil so that we might receive the good. He carried our sorrows so that we might have His joy. Sometimes, all you need in life is to grasp these two facts.
Father God, I thank You that You love me; that You gave Your Son, Jesus, to die on my behalf; that He bore my sin; that He took my rejection; that He paid my penalty. Because I come to You through Him, I am not rejected; I am not unwanted; I am not excluded. You really love me. I am really Your child. You are really my Father. I belong in Your family. I belong to the best family in the universe. Heaven is my home. I really belong. Oh, God, thank You. Thank You!
John, the Beloved Apostle, told us, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). As we develop this love relationship with God, it leaves no room for guilt, insecurity, or rejection.
STEP 1: ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR PROBLEM Recognize the nature of your problem and call it by its right name: rejection. God always has to bring us to the moment of truth before we can receive His help—even though the truth may seem devastating and extremely painful to us.
STEP 2: FORGIVE THE OFFENDING PARTY Take Jesus as your pattern. “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).
Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you. (Deuteronomy 5:16; see also Ephesians 6:2–3)
To honor your parents doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything they say or do. It doesn’t mean you have to do everything they demand of you, either, especially if it is unscriptural or unpleasing to God. But it does mean that you have to respect them as your parents. This is God’s requirement.
The failure to forgive—especially in the case of our parents—is one of the most common barriers to God’s blessing.
As we have noted, it is not the one who is resented who suffers the most. It is the one who resents. Somebody once said about a man who had an ulcer, “It’s not what the man is eating; it’s what’s eating the man.” We must realize that forgiveness is not an emotion—it is a decision. Do not say, “I can’t forgive.” When you do, in actuality, you are saying, “I won’t forgive.” Recognize that if you can say, “I won’t,” you can also say, “I will.” Your fleshly nature may not be able to forgive, but you can choose to forgive by asking God to work His forgiveness in and through you. When the Holy
...more
STEP 3: ELIMINATE THE BAD FRUIT Make a conscious decision to get rid of the bad fruit that rejection has produced in your life, such as bitterness, resentment, hatred, and rebellion. These feelings are poison. If you nourish them in your heart, they will infect your whole life. They will cause you deep emotional problems and, quite likely, physical problems too.
STEP 4: RECEIVE GOD’S ACCEPTANCE In this step, you simply need to believe and receive what God has already done for you: [God] made us accepted in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:6 nkjv)
STEP 5: ACCEPT YOURSELF Sometimes the hardest step of all is simply to accept yourself. I regularly encourage Christians, “Never belittle or criticize yourself, because you are God’s handiwork.” Romans 9:20 says, “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” God knows what He is doing. You need to trust Him. It is not Christian humility to criticize yourself. Actually, it is rebellion. Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “We are God’s workmanship.”
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are [“all this is” niv] of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17–18 nkjv)
Every time aimless, negative, or unedifying thought patterns reassert themselves, I encourage you to stop and say, “I am in Christ. Therefore, I am a new creation. The old things have passed away. All things have become new, and all things are of God.”
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I believe You are the Son of God and the only way to the Father. You died on the cross for my sins, and You rose again from the dead. I repent of all my sins, and I forgive every other person as I would have God forgive me. I forgive all those who have rejected me, hurt me, and failed to show love toward me. I trust You to forgive me as I forgive them. Lord Jesus, I believe that You do accept me. Right now, because of what You did for me on the cross, I am accepted. I am highly favored. I am the object of Your special care. You really love me. You really want me. Your
...more
