By the Word of the Lord, the heavens were made. (Psalm 33:6)

Beloved. Valuable. Precious. Beautiful. Blessed. Free. Redeemed. These are the words God uses to describe those who love Him. Words are so powerful. Someone can use hateful words toward us at a very young age that will stay with us forever. Today I want to invite you to not so much forget those hateful words that have been spoken to you and over you, but to replace them with the words God speaks into us.

As I drove the other day, I began to remember a time I like to call rock bottom. I was desperate for Jesus; I cried out to Him, and He heard my cry. He led me to a verse in Ephesians which read,

You are God’s masterpiece. (Ephesians 2:10)

Me? A masterpiece? It couldn’t be. I certainly didn’t feel like a masterpiece. I felt more like the canvas one would paint on and then have the urge to throw away or paint over it. But God said otherwise; God said I was His masterpiece because I had been made new in Christ. The truth is, I was a work in progress, and the state I was in wasn’t by accident but would become a part of my testimony. It’s not that I was a mess-up; it’s just that the painter wasn’t finished with me yet.

It was by the words of the Lord, I too was made. His words spoke life into the lifeless shell of a human I had become. Perhaps the greatest gift was learning that even on my darkest day, I am loved, precious, redeemed; I am His masterpiece.