Sermon Summary – Sunday 4 August 2019

REJECTION (Calven Celliers)

Calven’s personal testiomony – https://thenewharvest.org.za/rejection/

“4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him.” (1 Peter 2:4NIV)

Rejection has a way of destroying a person's life in a way that few other things can. In fact the number of people who are affected by rejection is staggering. One highly experienced deliverance minister notes that spirits of rejection are among some of the most common demons that he has encountered throughout his ministry. It seems that almost everybody is affected by rejection to some degree. It's vital for us who are in a living relationship with Jesus, to understand, as well as work through this if we want to be all that God has created us to be. Overcoming rejection and the effects of a mistaken identity is absolutely essential.

The reason rejection wounds us so deeply is because it attacks the very core of who we are. It destroys our self-esteem, and attacks our purpose in life. This is why it is one of the most common tools the devil will use to destroy a person's life. God never wants us to feel rejected or abandon. He desires for you to know who you really are, and to live in the knowledge of how deeply He loves, accepts, and appreciates you, so that you can live out the fullness of all that He has ordained you to be.

Read Ephesians 3: 17 – 19The apostle Paul tells us that without being rooted and grounded in the love (and acceptance) of God, we cannot experience the fullness of God in our lives.

Rejection causes emotional wounds, which if left unresolved, will grow and fester into spiritual wounds. Those spiritual wounds open us up to evil spirits which love to take advantage of an opportunity to invade us. You see the goal of the enemy is to get us clogged up with emotional baggage and negative feelings in our hearts against ourselves, one another, and even God.

Rejection has a lot of fruit which can widely vary from one person to another. Some of the common symptoms of rejection include:

Rebellion Fabricated personalities (being somebody you aren't, in order to be accepted) The tendency to reject others, so that you aren't the first one to be rejected The need to fit in or be accepted by others and be a part of everything Self-pity Inability to be corrected or receive constructive criticism A tendency to blame God Pride and the need to always be right Feelings of worthlessness, insecurity, or hopelessness Seeking approval (a sign that you’re basing your identity upon what others think of you) Envy & jealousy Fear of confrontation (because your identity is based upon what others think of you) Performance orientation (basing your identity on how well you perform in life)

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Rejection is primarily rooted in a misplaced identity. Often, we feel the pressure to define ourselves through our jobs, financial status, successes, grades, appearance, what other people say about us. Whenever we base our identity on somebody or something other than what God's Word has to say about us, we make ourselves vulnerable to the damage of rejection. If you base your identity in somebody or something else then what happens to your identity when you experience failure? Or you lose someone’s favour? Or you become burnt out in your jobs or place of service/ministry? The very foundation of your identity is shaken and altered, resulting in you hustling to define yourself by something or someone else. A stable sense of self cannot fully exist when we place our identity in external things. When circumstances change, our identity constantly changes too.

What or who defines who you are? Is it your job? Is it what your parents thought or think of you? Is it what your friends think of you? Is it how well you perform in the workplace? Is it how much money you have? Is it how clever or not so clever you might be? Is it what you think of yourself? Is it how physically strong, fit, or tall you are? We may receive an overwhelming amount of messages telling us to define ourselves by external measures, but consider for just a minute how different your life might be if you were to base your identity solely on the way God sees you?

Anytime we base our identity on what we think of ourselves, or what others think of us, we are virtually entrusting that person with our identity. And nobody, not even we ourselves are capable of truly determining who we are; only God is qualified for that job. That is why it is absolutely vital for us to understand the person that God has made us to be, and who we are as new creations in Christ Jesus. We were never made to live apart from God or base our identity on things of this world. But when we base our identity upon what the Word of God has to say about us, we can become virtually rejection-proof.

“An identity grounded in God would mean that when we think of who we are, the first thing that would come to mind is our status as someone who is deeply loved by God.”

(Dr David Benner – Christian psychologist & author)

So what exactly does God's Word tell us about who we are in Christ? Because of God's great love for us, we are adopted into His family [1 John 3:1], and made

joint heirs with Christ [Romans 8:17] We are made to sit in heavenly places (of authority over all demons, sickness, etc.) with

Christ [Ephesians 2:6] We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ [Ephesians 1:3] We are the righteousness of Christ through faith, thus being made right before God

[Romans 3:22] We are entitled to a clean conscience before God because of the Blood of Jesus and can

have full assurance of faith when we go before Him [Hebrews 10:22] Our sins have been removed from us as far as the east is from the west [Psalms 103:12], and

God Himself has chosen not to remember our failures [Hebrews 8:12] We are loved with the same love that the Father has for Jesus Himself! [John 17:23]

When we are in Christ, “we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” [Romans 8:37] and can rejoice in our Saviour, who makes all things possible [Philippians 4:13]. In Christ we are loved, forgiven, and secure. In Christ we are adopted, justified, redeemed, reconciled, and chosen. In Christ we are victorious, filled with joy and peace, and granted true meaning in life. What a wonderful Saviour is Christ!

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