How many times have we tried to be good enough, pretty enough, or smart enough for others? Have we invested more of our time towards building our outer image rather than our inward heart?

It’s easy to value things we can see, but true value cannot always be seen from the eyes. Rubies are found to be of value because they are pleasing to the eyes, but according to God, we are worth far more than rubies.

Why?
Because of our love and fear of the Lord. 

A noble character can only be developed from one’s fear of the Lord. 

Proverbs 31:30 says, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” There is nothing more important in this world than our relationship and love for the Lord. When you truly love the Lord you will automatically fear him out of reverence, and from there you will start to develop your noble character.

Both men and women in the Bible who were of noble character could be trusted by others. Proverbs 31 talks more about the noble women and says in verse 11, “Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.” Your fear of the Lord and noble character will be valued by others and take you far in life. You will be trusted with what must be entrusted, and others will put their confidence in you.

Have you forgotten where your true value is found? Don’t let the things of this world devalue what you have in Christ. Your true value is found only in Christ. Those who fear the Lord have a hidden beauty that surpasses all.

You don’t need to try so hard to be perfect on the outside.

You’re worth far more than rubies despite your flaws and imperfections. 

Find a spouse who will value your fear in the Lord and see your hidden beauty. Find that someone who will see you as worth far more than rubies.

Cherish what you have in the Lord and hold on to him always.

You’re worth far more than rubies.

Many of us believe that the more we have control over our lives, the more secure we will be. But the truth is, the more we let go of our lives, the more God will hold it securely.

Psalm 23:1 says the Lord is your shepherd. Just as the duty of a shepherd is to watch and protect its sheep, so is that God’s duty to you. God desires to protect you, but you must let him do so.

Surrender your life to God and know that your life will be in good hands.

God is the only cure for your worries, and to receive that cure comes in our surrender to him.

It’s when we refuse to surrender our lives to God that we become filled with worry because we know there is no 100% guarantee that our ways will work. But God promises that he will always give us the best. God’s ways will always give us 100% assurance that everything will be ok. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.“

Have you truly given up your life to Christ? If you have, then why are you still worrying about your life? The day you accept Christ is the day you agree that your life is no longer yours but for God. God calls us to abandon the worries of our lives – to remove our ownership of our lives and let him take ownership of it.

Because you no longer own your life, it is no longer your responsibility to take care of it. When you surrender your life to God and submit to his will, you are giving the responsibility for God to take care of you. Give your burdens to God and rely on him to take care of you. If an almighty God is offering to carry your burdens, why wouldn’t you let him?

If you are overwhelmed with worries and fears, then it’s time to surrender your life to a God. He will replace your worries and fears with his peace and love. Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you..” God wants to be your shepherd; the protector and provider of your life. It’s in your surrender to God that you will find his beauty and power evident in your life.

There is beauty in surrender.

A lot of us are quick to point our fingers to God when things are tough and no sense of help is coming our way. Where is the God who is supposed to help us? How do we get help from God? 

Instead of making accusations that he isn’t real or that he isn’t helping, have you tried calling on him as if he’s your only hope? God will not help those who don’t ask for his help.

So how do we get from the Lord? By simply calling on him.

Just as if you were to ask help from a lifeguard, school teacher, or even your family, it all starts with you making the request for help. A lifeguard won’t come down to save you if you don’t cry for help.

The good news is, you have a God who wants to help you, save you, and be real to you, but you must first accept him and call for his help. God is not just a God – he is your loving father who cares for you and has abundant blessings for those who are ready to accept it.

The first step to getting help from God is to understand that you are God’s and God is yours.

The order of psalm 30:2 is worth noting. David first acknowledges that he belongs to God, then he calls on God for help, and then God healed him. For God to help you, you must first call for his help. But before you can call on God for help you must believe that you belong to God that he is for you. God loves you and is the only one who can save you.

God will never neglect the call of his children. Peter, a disciple of Jesus who was drowning in the sea cried out to Jesus and Jesus immediately saved him. Matthew 14:30-31 says, “..Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.”

Just as Jesus reached out his hand to help Peter, he also wants to offer his hand to help you. Call on God and you will find his helping hand in your life.

Call upon the Lord because he is strong enough to save. 

Romans 10:13 says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Call on your heavenly father because he longs to be there for you. Only God can be your savior.

Get help from the Lord.

Suffering is not something we look forward too, but rather dread. However, God calls us to suffer and takes it a step further by asking us to rejoice in our sufferings. Why would God ask us to rejoice in our sufferings? Because our sufferings have a purpose.

As much as suffering can seem like an unnecessary waste of time, it really is not.

Your suffering has a purpose. God has a plan to use your suffering for His good.

When we suffer in accordance with the will of God, the end result will always glorify God. We can rejoice in our sufferings because we know it will lead to something greater. Suffering for Christ is not like suffering from partaking in sin. The suffering that comes from partaking in sin leads to death, while the suffering that comes from partaking in Christ leads to life. 

Just as Jesus’s suffering on the cross gave us salvation, so will our sufferings open the door of salvation for others. If you are going through a hard time, persevere because your suffering will produce a testimony that will lead others to find true life which is Jesus.

Romans 5:3-4 says, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope.” Your sufferings were meant to give hope to the world.

Jesus suffered so that you could have hope, and now he passes the duty along to you – to suffer for His glory.

Your suffering has purpose.

When times are tough, there might seem to be no reason for you to praise God. But no matter how bad your situations may be, you still have a reason to praise God because he is still faithful.

You can praise God at all times because of who he is, and not for what’s going on around you. God wants you to worship him regardless of how bad your situations may be. Your praises were made to go to God, and not to your circumstances.

When we praise God through the dark times, it is not the dark times that we are praising for, but that God is still sovereign despite it all.

Isaiah 40:8 says, “the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Nothing in this world can stop God’s power and truth from invading your life. But, it all starts from your lips.

May your praise to God always be on your lips. When you praise God, his presence inhabits your praises and he lifts up all of your burdens.

When we praise God, our burdens get exchanged with his presence. 

God becomes real in your life through your praises to him. God is faithful, and you have access to his faithfulness through the power of your praise.

You have a reason to praise God. 

We all desire to be pursed with love, but there is no one on this earth who can pursue us as how our father in heaven pursues.

The Lord is truly faithful, and not for a single moment does he keep his eyes off of us.

He knows just what we need and his unconditional love for us cannot be compared to any other love that exists. He will never give up on us, and will continue to place things in our lives to draw us closer to him.

There is only one thing that God desires, and that is is you.

Just as the shepherd in the verse goes after His lost sheep, so does God go after us because we are His. No one on this earth is hidden from God’s loving eyes.

God pursues us like no other.

His love for us is a love that even our minds cannot comprehend. No other love besides God’s love was made to complete us. We were made to be loved, and by a God who was made to love us.

He will always leave his arms open wide for us, waiting for us to run to him.

He is a God who pursues you.

We all will face many trials in life, each one more unbearable than the one before. There will come a time when you will realize that your strength isn’t strong enough to get you through the struggle.

Even asking God to make you stronger will not be enough. But here’s the good news:

You don’t need to be strong, you just need to lean on a God who is strong enough.

Admit to God that you can’t do this by your strength, but by His strength you can. May the Lord’s strength be your strength.

God will never leave you alone to figure out how to get through the troubles in life. He wants to be your strength and He wants to help you each step of the way.

Even if you know where you need to go, you will never be able to make it through without God. It’s like going through a heavy storm alone. You need a fortress to protect you through the storm, and that fortress is God.

Allow God to be your fortress through the storm you are facing. You need God not only in the beginning or the end, but through the whole process of your struggle.

The Lord is your strength. 

It can be scary to walk the path of the unknown, the path that requires such great faith.

However, God tells you to be strong and courageous because he is with you. Only through faith can you attain his greatest blessings. God doesn’t only leave you with “do not be afraid”, but he also promises to be with you every step of the way.

Through the good and bad, God promises to be with you.

You do not have to fear because you have a good father who loves you and promises you that He is all you need.

Fear can’t stop you unless you let it stop you. God has given you the gift of courage – the ability to do the things you fear to do.

Let God be your source of strength and courage. He was created to give you strength to go through anything and everything.

Be strong. Be Courageous.

Doing God’s work is not our only requirement from God. He also wants us to have an intimate relationship with him; to be one in him. Even in the midst of Jesus’s busy days of serving others, he still made time to be alone with God.

Jesus walked his life with God, and that’s what God wants from you too. He wants you to remain in Him.

It can be easy to get ahead of God and do the work he’s placed in our hearts, but we must remember to put being one with Jesus as a priority in our lives. The minute we lose touch of Jesus, we lose the purpose of doing His work.

Doing work for Jesus without Jesus means nothing.

Apart from Him we can do nothing. Our work is for His glory and how we do it can only be through Him. The only way to complete God’s amazing plan for you is to complete it with Him.

Be one with Jesus.

This verse gives us a glimpse of the joy that we will experience in the midst of our King Jesus. It shows us the beauty of the hard works that we have committed to as followers of Christ; the sacrificing, giving, and loving to others will be worth it all.

When we invest our time towards the kingdom of God, we are working with God to paint a beautiful picture that this verse portrays. The hope that we hold on to is that every prayer and effort we put into the kingdom of God will point all to Christ, and in return save multitudes of people in the end time. 

Missionaries who risk their lives to reach all tribes and tongues from all over the world can have assurance that none of their work is a waste of time. Because of them, every nation, tribe, and tongue will be able to stand before Jesus in joy. 

Every moment we spend for the kingdom of God is precious. 

Never take for granted the honor that you have to serve the Lord and partake in His mission to reach the lost.  Your work is an eternal investment.

Jesus isn’t preparing heaven for a limited amount of people – He is preparing for a full house, and He plans to use you to make it happen.

You are precious in the eyes of Jesus – He wants you to join him in heaven.