We Are Worth It

Those who know me know I like a good bargain. When Jim and I first married, we went to our favorite Mexican food restaurant on Sundays and bought one of the specials for that day. The chips, queso, salsa, and tortillas were free—and they brought plenty. We drank water and left our ten-dollar bill on the table, which included the tip. I wouldn’t say we were poor—impoverished might be more accurate. I don’t guess I’ll ever forget fretting each month about the bills. But, I didn’t need to. God always provided for our needs. Why? Because He thought we were worth it.

I spent the summer studying Samuel, Saul, David, and Solomon. None of them were perfect—although Samuel came close! They did great things when they obeyed God and blew it when they didn’t. But God always had a plan to discipline and redeem their mistakes for a higher purpose. Each of those men arrived in heaven, forgiven, loved, and rewarded. I like to imagine them entering those gates of pearl and glimpsing the glory of God. I can almost see the Lord smiling at them as they bow in gratitude and hear God say, “You’re welcome. You are worth it.”

All of us will do great things for God when we obey his word and his calling on our lives. When Jesus saved our souls, he gave us his Holy Spirit so that we could prosper in our calling. God loved us so much he gave us Jesus (John 3:16). We never should live a day wondering if we are saved, forgiven, and blessed with eternal life. He made sure we were sealed with his promise. How amazing to realize the God of the universe thought we were worth Jesus, his Son.

This won’t be a long blog post because I need to ask a favor of you. I do this about twice a year. Tomorrow is North Texas Giving Day and our ministry needs your help. This is an important day for us—but I will give you all a warning in advance: I’ll ask again toward the end of the year.

I’m still careful how I spend my money, and I still like a good bargain. I can honestly say that, when people give to our ministry, they get a lot for every dollar. We are blessed to do what we do on the internet, where postage is free. When you combine the ministries of the Denison Forum, the statistics indicate God’s great blessing on what we do. Jim’s articles, books, and podcasts, Craig’s First15 devotions and podcasts, my blog posts, Advent books, and teaching, and our ChristianParenting.org ministries have a combined reach of more than 200,000 people each day. That number reflects just the subscribers, not the people who are reached by social media and forwarded content on email.

I want to ask you to pray about including us on your list of ministries that you support. We will honor your gift by honoring your Lord with what we do. We receive letters every week from people who have chosen to stay married, chosen to receive Christ as Lord, chosen to live with higher purpose in their lives, and even some who have chosen not to end their lives. People have given up sins, learned truth from God’s word, and have gained a wider Christian worldview.

We have a wonderful staff to pay and several websites to maintain, and it costs money to help people discover our websites. So, I would ask you to pray and consider putting us on your list of ministries that you think are worth it. And we will keep writing, speaking, and providing God’s word to people who need it. Because God thinks they are worth it too.

So, thank you for your prayers, your words of encouragement, and your financial gifts. We are blessed to be supported by people like you. You can schedule your tax-deductible gifts by using the links below: