HURT BY THE WORLD- loved BY GOD

Who is it that you feel is a person not worthy? Who do you look differently at or or perhaps down to? We all do it? Most often it is us.... Mathew was a tax collector. He was looked down on. People revered him with disgust. JESUS called Mathew to follow HIM. Mathew put it all down and followed JESUS. JESUS had a meal with Mathew and many people like taxpayers; whom today we would equate as the bottom feeders of society. Who is that for you ? The lonely woman who sleeps around looking for love; the beggar on the corner; the angry man who hits his wife; the addict who robbed a store or ..... Is it you?? JESUS did not come to save the saved; he sat with those who needed him? Why? Because HE came to save us all from our sin, our shame.

I'm going to discuss a difficult subject to follow here ...... A little girl with a sparkle in her eye; filled with hope and wanting of love. She dreams with her big eyes and big heart. Perhaps she is someone you know? She is maybe 7 years old , maybe 12 but her innocence is taken; stolen and shakes her life at the core. She spends her life trying to compensate for it; perhaps she uses drugs; perhaps she gives so much of herself to others she dies a slow death inside or perhaps she destroys her inner and outer fiber- you may know this woman...... She could be sitting in a bar laughing and flirting; or the heroin addict abandoned on the side of the road or that perfect coiffed lady at church OR maybe it could be the writer of this blog or perhaps it is you? 

GOD is here to hold her, not to shame her! JESUS came to remove her sins not to judge her. The LORD loves her right where she is at all times. She is not alone! 

Like the leper, tax collector, and adulteress - JESUS invites us all in for a meal .... Leave your shame at the door - it is not yours to bear any longer. YOU are who the LORD loves most! GOD wants us humble so HE can work in us; it is the haughty  who judge others and think they sit above other people who separate themselves from the only true love. They think they do not need the LORD! They are the ones who JESUS most! They need prayers!

That little girl - 

she is going to be alright. Oh sure, her heart hurts, her flesh may be weakened- she struggles every day to keep it together but she LOVES HER LORD! And nothing will separate her from the love of GOD. She accepted HIM and gave her life over at 17 not even fully understanding why. That is HIS grace. That little girl.... She is going to be wonderful! The evil one - he comes knocking but she wears the SHEILD! She is a child of GOD! 

So, when you go down the path of looking at someone a certain way...... look beyond what you see..... That is what JESUS did. Try loving instead of hating - accepting instead of rebuking- hate the sin not the sinner, because you do not know what is there but JESUS does!

Thank you FATHER for holding me always even when I feel undeserving. Thank you JESUS for carrying me when I felt too shamed to walk. Thank you JESUS for revealing to me it is never too late to heal and never to late to forgive. Thank you JESUS for it all because it all does work to the good for those who are called by you and love you and thank you JESUS for loving a schmuck like me. 

 

(Mathew 9:9-13)