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I Don’t Deserve This Have you ever heard anyone say,
"I don't deserve this!!" Or better yet, have you ever heard
yourself saying “I don’t deserve this”? And you may be
right, there may be times in our lives that we were treated wrongly, gone
through situations that weren’t fair, that weren’t right. We expect life to be easy, to be
fair; and it doesn’t always work out that way. In 1970, there was a song sung by Lynn
Anderson – “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose
garden.” When we look around, we see people
who are suffering for their wrong doings, and we may think that the thing
they suffer from is what they deserve. For example, it is hard to think that
a murderer does not deserve to spend time in jail. The guy at work who is
always late and does a bad job probably deserves to lose his job. deserve
(verb) - To acquire as a result of one's behavior or effort: earn, gain, get, merit, win. To be worthy of; merit. Psalm 28:4 - Give them
according to their deeds, And according to the wickedness of their endeavors;
Give them according to the work of their hands; Render to them what they
deserve. We understand when it is obvious
that “bad” people suffer for their actions. BUT I DON’T DESERVE THIS - That is really quite a statement
and it may be ABSOLUTELY TRUE. The Bible is absolutely FULL of
examples of people who did mot DESERVE what happened to them. Joseph was thrown in a pit by his
brothers; sold as a slave in chains; thrown into jail, falsely accused by
Potiphar’s wife, and forgotten about for years after he helped the
King. Did he deserve this? The answer is very easy
“NO.” Genesis 39:2
says, “The Lord was with Joseph.” Daniel was shipped off to a
foreign country, thrown into a lion's den, and hated by those that he worked
with while he served the King. Did he
deserve this? Again,
“NO.” But look at the
result when he was delivered from the circumstance that he “Did Not Deserve.” Daniel 6:26 - I make a decree that in every dominion of my
kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the
living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be
destroyed, And His dominion shall endure to the end. John the Baptist was beheaded. Did
he deserve this? Again, “NO.”
Luke 7:28 – “For I say to you, among those born
of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is
least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." Paul was cast into jail, ship
wrecked, stoned, and beaten with rods. Did he deserve this? Again, “NO,” Colossians 1:24 - “I now rejoice in my
sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the
afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.” Our ultimate example: Did Jesus
deserve to be beaten, whipped, stripped and then hung on a cross? NO, NO, NO! Hebrews
12:2 – “Looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured.” None of these men DESERVED
(earned) the treatment that they received; yet, even as great men of God, it
happened. “The undeserved circumstances, events, and treatment we face
will either defeat us or develop us more into the likeness of Christ,
depending on how we respond.” “I have my rights”
– you are
absolutely correct. Galatians 2:20 – “I
have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives
in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son
of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” IT IS NO LONGER I WHO LIVES
– YOU ARE DEAD to this world, YOU ARE DEAD to the way the
world conducts itself. You are alive
in CHRIST. You have rights, every
single thing that the WORD of GOD tells us are our rights. We have a different set of
RIGHTS. Luke
6:27 – “Love your enemies, do good to those who
hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who
spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer
the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your
tunic either.” And it goes on to list some of our
other RIGHTS as a Christian. We are
told in Romans 12 that we are NOT to conform to
this world. We are to be a
different people. How different? Galatians 5:22 –
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control.” It is really all about having the
right perspective and the right attitude. I have slowly been reading
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs – A woman watched her child scalped and then
beheaded. Then they took her, whipped
her, removing patches of skin. Then when she would still not deny Christ,
they heated an iron chair till it was red hot, sat her in it; and she praised
God while she cooked. Thanking and praising God –
that is quite a testimony! Stephen in Acts 7:59 –
“And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying,
"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then he knelt down and
cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this
sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” If we can keep a right attitude,
we will not seek revenge on people. Hebrews 10:30
– “For
we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the
Lord. And again, "The Lord will judge His people." I DON’T DESERVE THIS –
Think about this -- Do We Deserve
Salvation? Romans 3:23 –
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus.” Romans 6:23 –
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.” Do we deserve to be called the
Children of GOD? Do we deserve to have a
relationship with Almighty God, the creator of it all? Do we deserve the blessings that
HE gives us? Do we deserve to have HIS HOLY
SPIRIT dwelling within us? I remember thinking how
UNDESERVING of all this I was. It was
during a praise and worship service in 1986 while I was attending Christ For
The Nations. The presence of GOD was
so real; yet with 2000 people around, it was just me and HIM. I began to cry when I realized Who I had
been, who I was and who HE was. I did
not deserve any of what He had given me.
I didn’t deserve the love that HE had given me. From that
experience, I have tried to keep an attitude of thankfulness. I could have died in 1975 in a car accident
where I had been pronounced dead. I
was not a Christian at that time. If
it weren’t for HIS mercy, where would I be today? I pray that each of us would
always remember that, and that each of us would have an experience with
Almighty God that would give us a true perspective of what we deserve. CONCLUSION: James 1:2 –
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But
let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking nothing
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