Unwanted, Abandoned, Or Rejected

This came in my morning devotionals and I felt compelled to share it with you all.  And Thank You, once again for being patient while I updated the website.

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If You're Feeling Unwanted, Abandoned, Or Rejected,
It's Time To Rejoice!

By Rick Renner

And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen.
-1 Corinthians 1:28

Have you ever felt unwanted, abandoned, or rejected? If your answer is yes, I relate to your feelings entirely. There was a time in my life when I felt very inferior to everyone else, even though I had no reason to feel this way.

Because I was sick for a prolonged period of time when I was in junior high school, I missed a great deal of school. I especially felt the pain of this loss when it came to the subject of mathematics. As a result, I missed all the essential elements of mathematics that my fellow students were learning. When I finally returned to school, I was far behind everyone else.

As I started my first algebra class in junior high school, my teacher ridiculed me for not understanding the basic elements of mathematics that everyone else in class seemed to understand. I tried to explain my situation, but she responded by calling me "Stupid." In fact, every day when she called the roll, instead of calling my name, she'd say, "Stupid Renner," and I'd always answer, "Here, Ma'am."

My teacher's words negatively affected my self-image when I was a young junior high student. Other students laughed at me and thought it was funny to call me "Stupid." Outside of class, they started to call me by the same name until, finally, the word "stupid" became my nickname that many of the kids used that school year when they spoke to me. Everywhere I turned at school, people yelled out, "Stupid...hey, Stupid!" I allowed this petty name-calling to create feelings of inferiority in my life that affected me for several years.

Everyone remembers feeling unwanted and rejected at some time or another in his or her life. Some people recover from these experiences; however, the devil has used memories of rejection to keep others in an emotional prison for the rest of their lives. These are the people who never feel wanted and accepted, nor do they feel like they can measure up to other people.

It could be that I'm describing something you have experienced in the past. Perhaps it is a recent event that is still very fresh in your memory.
Personally, I am thankful that what happened to me had no long-term effect on my life; in fact, today I even laugh about it. However, I know many people who were devastated by rejection at some point in their lives and never recovered from it.

I've had many other opportunities to feel rejected since my junior high years. For instance, after my family and I moved to the former Soviet Union in 1991, we poured our whole lives into this land. We invested our monies, energies, and nearly every ounce of our strength into establishing churches, broadcasting the Word on television, and enriching the lives of the people in this region of the world. But time and again I've been shocked by the editorials and newspaper articles that accuse me and our ministry of being criminals, cult leaders, a dangerous sect, and so on.

Regardless of who we are, we all deal with these issues from time to time. Therefore, it is essential that you and I make a decision about how we are going to react when something occurs that makes us feel unwanted, abandoned, or rejected. Personally, I have always turned to First Corinthians 1:28 when I've felt tossed aside by friends, by the world, or even by the Church. This scripture has always been a source of strength to me, for it says, "And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen."

When Paul wrote that verse, he was writing to the Corinthian believers, who were being ostracized and deemed stupid by the unbelieving community in the city of Corinth. The unbelieving citizens didn't understand the Christian faith. But instead of trying to understand, they just decided that Christians were stupid and out of touch with society. In fact, their disdain for Christians was so intense that Paul said they "despised" the Corinthian church.

The word "despised" is the Greek word exoutheneo. This Greek word means to make light of, to despise, to treat with contempt, to disregard, and to neglect. It pictures someone low and detestable whom others perceive as hideous, disgusting, despicable and nauseating. In fact, this word describes a person who is such an outcast and so low in other people's opinions that they don't even consider him worth recognition.

People just want to shut their eyes and pretend this person isn't there - to ignore him and to go their own way. But notice the end of the above verse: It boldly announces that the people whom the world rejects are the very ones whom God has chosen!

First Corinthians 1:28 could be translated:

"God has picked out people who are laughable, and through them He is confounding those who think they are high and mighty. Low-class, second-rate, common, average, run-of-the mill people - those so low that the world doesn't even think they're worth the time of day - these are the ones whom God has chosen."

Have you noticed that the lost and unbelieving world still tries to ignore believers and pretend they're not there? This is nothing new. In the verse above, the Greek tense indicates that the lost world's terrible opinion of Christians will continue to prevail.

In First John 5:19, the Bible explains why the world refuses to acknowledge those of us who are believers: "The whole world lieth in wickedness." As long as the world lies in the grip of wickedness, we may as well accept the fact that the unbelieving world will mock and make fun of us, no matter what we do to try to change their opinion. It's just the way a lost world is going to act!

Rather than let other people affect your self-image and confidence, you need to know who you are in Jesus Christ and hold your head up high. You have no reason to be embarrassed or ashamed. From the beginning of time, the lost world has ridiculed, made fun of, sarcastically accused, and debased the people of God. There is nothing new about this at all.

The devil may try to use your friends, your family, your business associates, or your school teachers to make fun of you and drag you down, but you don't have to let the devil's plan work against you. In times like these, remember that Jesus was also "despised and rejected of men" (Isaiah 53:3).

You are in good company with Jesus! So if the world makes light of you or treats you with contempt - if it disregards, neglects, and overlooks you - take heart! You are exactly the kind of person God wants to use! He has big plans to use you as a demonstration of His almighty power to your friends, to your family, to your business associates, and to the unbelieving world!

Lord, I am so thankful that You chose me! Even though the devil has tried to use people to tell me that I would never be worth anything, You wanted me and sought me out until I finally heard Your voice and surrendered to Your call. I am so grateful that the opinion of the world about me wasn't true. I'm so glad that You pursued me with such a mighty love and that You refused to give up on me. What else can I say to express my heart to You? I can only say, "Thank You, Jesus!"
I pray this in Jesus' name!

Renner Ministries | PO Box 702040 | Tulsa | OK | 74170

Being Community Ready,

by Greg Ewert  November 6, 2011

Are You Community Ready?
In today's economy, thinking about emergency preparedness is low on just about everyone's list, of priorities. Being prepared isn't about the destructive power of an earthquake, flood, tsunami, or tornado; alone.

Being prepared isn't about a giant emergency, its about a sudden unexpected loss of services (electricity, communications, medical, food, transportation ect..)

Its about you and your neighbors being prepared to face the unexpected; things that will affect everyone on your street, building, or cul-de-sac.

This is especially true if you live in a community of people on fixed incomes. One persons hardship can quickly become a community event... one can quickly become two, three, four... and so on. Networking and Sharing are the keys to peace of mind. Sadly, some actually think that their landlord will come to their rescue. They are so institutionalized, and dependent on the housing authority and social services, that they have lost the ability to think and/or plan on their own.

Their landlords are under no obligation to help them in any way, and their landlords have no plans to assist them in organizing for a disaster or helping them afterwards; I know because I asked them.

When preparing, it is a lot easier to not think about a particular natural disaster. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard these words; "Oh sure, I remember Y2K and its all a bunch of hysteria and propaganda". But we have seen the devastation of the mighty hurricanes and tsunamis over the last decade. We have witnessed, for ourselves, the heartache and even death, brought on by those who were not prepared, and thought Uncle Sam or Big Brother was coming to the rescue.

Before Hurricane Katrina, we were told that the mighty FEMA or our military would come to our rescue. We seen it in movies, all over the Internet, and in the news. After Hurricane Katrina, we were told that you need to learn to survive on your own for up to three days. But even that is a stretch. In most cases, federal emergency responders will not arrive for weeks.

In places like the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and Washington, you can't go anywhere without crossing a bridge. And a moderate earthquake will make 90% of the bridges in the Pacific Northwest impassible.

In researching this subject, I asked a lot of people in low income housing, how they were prepared in case of a natural disaster in Oregon. All but a few said they were going to go to a relatives. So I asked them, how many bridges do you cross getting to your relatives? almost everyone had to cross at least three bridges to get to where they think they will be safe.

Odds are, those bridges will not be there after an earthquake.

Some of the people I talk to are pretty well-to-do. What will you do after a big earthquake and how have you prepared. I was amazed at how many have property up in the mountains that were fully stocked and ready for an emergency. Yet they had done little to nothing to prepare to stay where they are. I asked him the same question, how many bridges will you have to cross to get up to your cabin, and how many big trees are along the road? Not a single one of them had thought of that.

When I questioned local emergency responders about what they were going to be doing after a big earthquake, every single one of them responded with...

"I already have a place picked out, where I will take me, my family and my gun, until the chaos is over".

When planning and preparing, it is best to do so as a community, a neighborhood. You will be the first responder in your community, and your community will be your first responder. As we look at the natural disasters of the last few years, here in the United States; we always hear, my neighbor had to dig me out of my house, apartment, or grocery store. It was always, hours, days, or even a week before emergency responders arrived.

Now you consider the amount of damage that will be done over three states, Oregon Washington and California, the responders will be spread really thin. The smaller communities may never see, FEMA or the military come rolling into their community. These people will be told where to go to find emergency help, it's not going to come to them; or you.

Get to know your neighbors, and have a potluck.  Get to know each others skills, needs, what you have as a community.

Thank You All For Visiting

Greg Ewert