Meeting Them Where They Are...

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." ~Luke 19:1-10

What an awesome thought.  Jesus comes to meet us where we are.  Through his love and grace He calls us from our perches to come walk with Him.  Jesus knew Zacchaeus was a tax collector, He knew where he lived and He went to Zacchaeus' home to meet with him.  He reminded him of his destiny and his place by stating the obvious, He called him 'a son of Abraham'.

During the entirety of Jesus' ministry He always sought out the lost.  Then through His love, they were drawn to Him.  Jesus wasn't a preacher on some high pulpit demanding that people come to Him.  He walked among the sinners, He wanted them to feel His love because it's only in that love that they were willing to drink of the Living Waters that He alone possessed.  Jesus isn't a man of condemnation, but of a love so strong that people began to examine themselves through His eyes.  He spoke blessing to them, with a love and a mercy that no one else could conjure up on their best day.

I love the story of the woman at the well.  Jesus went into a land that was not somewhere that Jews would have been caught dead.  He had a mission to free a woman from the bondage that had held her the entirety of her life.  He asked her to be truthful with Him about her lifestyle and when she was, He was able to administer a double dose of grace and mercy which changed her heart.  Even in a land void of the inheritance of Abraham, she knew of the Savior to come.  He met her at the well, knowing that she would be there and that she was searching for healing through her hurts.  He walked out of His way to meet with her.  He sought her out on her own terms and left her a new creation.

So often we want to sit in judgement of others especially of where they are in their journey to reconciliation.  Reconciliation takes a lifetime, if your receiver of love has been broken.  There is no way to force feed people any faster, as you try, their usual reaction is to push you away as they gag on the judgement that you are laying on them.  There is a moment in time when they have submitted to the Lord, and the Lord has met with them, the love of Jesus, the mercy and grace has to filter through every fiber of their being.  If they have been abused or neglected there are a lot of dark places that can take longer for that mercy and grace to filter into.  It doesn't mean that they aren't saved, it doesn't mean that they are lying awake at night praying for the grace and mercy, it may be as simple as they are processing at their own speed and that may not be the same speed as the person who is trying to minister to them.  Their need for ministry, their need to be fed may not be as great as the need of the one giving it.  A lot of people define themselves by the amount of ministry they can pour out.  In trying to live in holiness, to ease their own pain and shame, what they really do is bring more condemnation on the others around them.

People live in enough condemnation without us adding to it.  The Holy Spirit through love, grace and mercy brings a conviction to change.  It is out of knowing and coming to that understanding that people begin to reconcile with the Word of God.  Not through our battery.  We don't need to beat people us with our holiness.  We need to wrap them in our arms and remind them over and over again of the love of Jesus.  It is what spurred us on.  We don't need to be pharisees teaching law, we need to be the donkey that carried a loving sacrificial Jesus into their lives. Love them like Jesus, not beat them down like Satan.



Lord, let us meet people where they are.  Let us be willing to walk out of our own safety and learn to live a life that reflects You.  Let us not point fingers, let us not hold onto our way so tightly that we can't meet someone where they are.  Lord rescue us from ourselves so that we can be free to go share our testimonies and your love with others around us.  It is through you alone that people can enter into the gates of heaven.  Let us not assume that we  have it all figured out.  Enable us to get out of the way so that others around us don't see us, but see You. Let us live a life of sacrifice, so that the ones that we love will be drawn and not bullied into your kingdom.
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JenniLee Personified

So what do you think of my new graphic?  I love her! Love her!  As I was searching the internet yesterday for a perfect personification of myself I stumbled upon deviantart.com.  Searching for women images can be rather uhm, scary.  There is a lot of pornographic images of women out there, photos, illustrations, characatures.  I live in my own little world and everyone here loves me, I know that stuff is out there but I am not exposed to it.

I really liked this piece for quite a few reasons, I like her hair.  It is similar to mine, I love her abs which are so not similar to mine.  I love the coffee cup.  I love the empty chair an the reserved sign that sits on the table.  It personified what I am feeling most of the time.  A favorite slang around here is, "He's here, he's just not here". Something we picked  up on our family mission trip to Nicaragua.  That's how I typically feel about my husband. He's here, in our hearts, our minds, our prayers, but physically he's not here and that leaves an empty chair and a reserved sign telling others that he will be back.  That chair is reserved for someone special and not just anyone will do. I also love that she has a smile on her face.  Because even through the wait, it appears she has found something amusing to keep her eyes on.

I related to her on such a personal level.  It reminds me of Barnes and Noble, and date night.  It reminds me of nights that I sleep alone, or times that I take the kids out without him.  It reminds me of sitting alone in church.  All things that I really abhor.  However, that smile, that cutting of her eyes, she doesn't have her eyes focused on the chair.

I have spent years fretting about my marriage.  When you have had a past like we have that fretting is just in innate habit that can't be controlled.  I never realized how much time I spent looking at the chair instead of letting other things catch my attention.  My kids are my comedians. They are so witty, and quick, and they do bring a lot of smiles to my face.  Daily.  However, the true thing that has caught my attention is so much bigger.

For the past few months, there has been very little distractions between God and I.  It's not that I have always felt him, but, there is a deep enough sense of faith in me to know that he is here.  He isn't limited to occupying a chair, he is omnipresent and able to be with me in every situation.  The closets that He has opened, the softening of my heart towards myself and then for others.  It has been powerful.  There is joy in freedom.  There is joy in looking at your greatest fears and your most deeply buried feelings of hurt, and allowing God to show you them through His eyes.  He is such a God of compassion.  We run down the path of destruction and He pursues us, He never "takes" us, but when we turn around and realize that we are in some dark alley, He is there, always, to "receive us".

Listen! My lover!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
My lover spoke and said to me,
"Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, and come with me.
See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me." Song of Solomon 2:8-13

Though we might walk through the valley of death, He seeks us out, and He asks us to come with Him. Never against our own will.  The Lover of our souls, He calls us beautiful, He loves us in only a way that He can.  He meets us face to face.  What an awesome, extravagant, exhilarating love that He has for his bride.  So though I sit alone at the table, in my heart, I sit with peace because I know that I know, that I am loved, accepted and desired.  The man that I wait for, doesn't have to "make" me feel those things.  He has been released from the pressure of making me "feel" good enough.  Because with him or without him, I am secure in myself, and in the love of my Creator.  My husband, he just adds a spice of life and is the icing on the cake of life.

***I also want to give credit to the artist that did this piece.  He was very kind to a woman that wrote a rather random email asking to use his artwork.  You can find Joe and his pieces at http://poorboy-comics.deviantart.com/. Thank you Joe, for your prayers and for allowing me to showcase your piece.  Blessings on you, my friend.***


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Excuse the Dust...

When I am really chewing on something you will find from time to time that decorating around here is my release.  So please pardon my activity and know that I am out to make this a cleaner, easier,  more friendly to read site.

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Finding Hope and Strength When You Just Don't Wanna...

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." ~Galatians 2:20

Oh, thank goodness.  I woke up this morning feeling like a dead man walking.  I have been really struggling the last two days with just putting one foot in front of the other.  Last night I went to a new bible study at our church about Esther done by Beth Moore.  It was all I could do to get there.  It's not depression as much as it is just ready to push the "enough" button.  I am quickly tiring of this period of transition.  I know that I have submitted to the process, I am going to finish the fight, but some days you just look around and wonder if you are the only one standing there.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ~2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Grace is such an awesome thing.  It's God provision for days you don't wanna.  God says, "I know you don't wanna and that's okay, because I do." Then I get to write blogs about how "hohum" I feel and know that Christ is resting on me because I am boasting about my weakness.  *giggle*

All kidding aside, what an awesome God that we serve.  He says that there are going to be trials, there are going to be days that we are weak.  That we can't put one foot in front of the other.  There are going to be insults, hardships, persecutions & difficulties.  I don't believe that the God we serve wants to us "Buck Up" and "Fake it until we make it".  I think he wants us to be honest, with how we are feeling, with what we are going though, and turn to Him in those times and say, "Lord, I am here, broken and frail, and tired."

He wants us to share that with fellow followers.  It's when He gets to shine, it's when He gets the glory because we aren't doing it of our own accord.  He is growing us up.  Growing deep roots.  So that when the big storms come, that we are anchored in Him. It's only in that honesty with Him and others that we mature and learn to persevere.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ~James 1:2-4

Pure joy.  I don't know that I have considered this transition pure joy.  I am thinking that there will come a day that I will.  When I can look back on it and see how big God was in it.  Now I see it in glimpses but there will be a day when I look back and can see it in more fullness.  Today I just hold onto to the hope that day is coming.  There will be a day when I have my own kitchen again, when I have my own nest and that my family will be reunited.  Until that day there will probably be times that I long for the journey to be over.  That I long for the completeness of the transition.

I have always found strength in the arms of my husband, or in the voice of my Grandfather.  As God has removed those from my life I have had to learn to draw my strength directly from the source.  I have had to get comfortable on my knees crying out for His strength.  I am just a woman, with three kids, and two dogs, wandering in the desert crying out to our Savior and saying, "Lord, all of my pillars are gone". He is teaching me more and more every day through my weakness that He meets me, He sings over me, He draws me to Himself.  He receives me.  He doesn't take me, He receives me.  I just have to be willing to lay it all down and allow Him to love me.  Allow Him to show me his grace, through my shame, through my loneliness, through my ineptness.  He alone is where my strength and courage come from.




Be blessed and be a blessing, consider it pure joy to follow a Savior that leads you through the dailies and loves you with an extravagant love.  A love that always wins.


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Scars, The Common Bond

But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, "We saw the Master." But he said, "Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won't believe it." Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, "Peace to you." Then he focused his attention on Thomas. "Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don't be unbelieving. Believe." Thomas said, "My Master! My God!" Jesus said, "So, you believe because you've seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing." ~John 20:24-29 The Message

Even after resurrection, Jesus had scars.  He literally had been to hell and back, had risen from the dead. Thomas would not believe it was Jesus until he himself could see Jesus' scars.  The wounds were no longer gashed open, they were no longer oozing, the had become scars.  Scars no longer hurt, but they become almost a calling card of our past.  They represent new life, they represent being more than an overcomer.

As I attending a retreat with our wonderful little church this weekend there was a time set apart to just go listen to what God has to say to us. I love nothing more than to hold a pen in my hand and allow God to write me love letter.  He is always so good to meet with me and to tell me His words.  That's one of the main reasons I blog, because even as I write I trust Him to talk me through my own crisis.  It's how He talks to me.  As I was sitting there and listening this is what He laid upon my heart.

"Sometimes when you think you know it all especially about yourself I will come and mess with your theology.  I love you unlike anyone else can.  When are you going to understand that? I have called you to myself despite your self, despite your scars, I have scars, too. Trust me.  It's not what you expect.  It's so much more. Quit limiting me in your life.  Take the lid off.  Hold on Beautiful. Fear not, let me handle this."

The realization is that I am still walking around with bandages on.  Not because I am still in pain, not because the wounds need care, but because I still have lived in shame of them.  I have hid them from others around me.  I have shared only glimpses of my life with others.  I have only given them my best side and have not shared the scars that have remained not only to remind me, but others around me, of my past.

Saturday night, after this nice conversation He and I had, there was an opportunity to open up to with someone and to share my testimony. I was able to share the view of some of my scars to someone who is still dealing with wounds that are very painful.  God was able to let my scars give this person hope that God is still healing people just like them.  What a beautiful restoration, for both of us.  I don't live in the land of disqualified just because I have scars.  They don't have to live in the land of pain because God is still in the healing business.   What a blessing, what a great moment of reassurance.

"And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die." Revelation 12:11

It takes Jesus, and us talking about our resurrection through Him, but the only way to have scars is to be hurt.  Sometimes that comes at the death of ourselves our desires, our dreams.  Sharing our testimony can feel pretty death like.  We just want to sweep it away.  We fret the judgement of man.  We wonder if we will be accepted, we live in the pain of our wounds instead of the salvation of our scars.  Scars mean we are still alive.  I have a friend whose husband is a wounded warrior.  Yes, he has scars, but scars mean that he is still here with us.  20 some surgeries later, his wounds are healing and all that will remain will be scars.  He has a testimony of conquering death and overcoming.  He doesn't see it that way, yet.  Until we accept our scars as a sign of life, we continue to lick them and keep them open.  We allow their pain to be an excuse to cause pain to others around us.  Collateral damages.

Wounds take time to become scars.  I envision WWII vets sitting together and showing each other the scars that give them a common bond.  They fought the good fight, they survived when they know so many others didn't and they share their scars as a testament of a life that continued.  I think that's what we the church need to be doing.  Sharing our scars, sharing the life that God has given us.  Not live in pain and shame of what God has done in our lives just because we don't want others to know of the places and the wars that we have fought. There is hope in scars.  There is life in scars.  There is a common bond in scars.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. ~Isaiah 53:5


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