Hello lovely friends!
A quick update on fundraising and my preparation for the Race so far: I’m officially more than 20 percent funded thanks to the generosity of my supporters. I am so, so, SO grateful for your faith in me and this mission!! I’ve been praying a lot and often for God’s Provision for the Race and I have to say, it’s absolutely amazing to be a witness to his gifts. Please be praying that I would continue to trust in him as I roll through this support raising journey with joy and gratitude.
I’m still running my Adopt-A-Box fundraiser and there are plenty of boxes to be adopted! If you aren’t familiar with this fundraiser, check out my post on Instagram for details.
I’m also hosting a virtual bake sale of sorts to help you celebrate the day of ~love~ and support this cause at the same time! Instead of setting up a table somewhere, I’m taking orders for baked goods between now and Valentine’s Day via online orders. Check out my Facebook event for more information. I would love your support!
Be on the lookout for more opportunities to get involved with supporting me in the coming months. You can support me anytime by clicking the “donate!” button at the top right of this page.
In other news, the Lord has been teaching me some real stuff per usual. I absolutely love reading the Bible and gleaning new truths from parts of Scripture I’ve read many times before. God is so cool like that!
I’ve been meditating on John 14:1-7 throughout this past week and I’m just now seeing that this teaching of Jesus carries much more weight and depth than a simple lesson of “how to be saved” would allow.
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
First, Jesus tells his disciples not to worry that his physical body is leaving them because he’s secured eternal life in heaven for those who believe in Him. That alone is such a marvelous gift. Death has no power thanks to the sacrifice of our God.
He also tells his disciples (his followers) that we know the way to this place (heaven) he’s prepared for us. While I completely trust the authority of Jesus, I sympathize with Thomas in his questioning of this statement. After all, how can weak, broken humans hold the ability to find their way to heaven? We’re so beyond limited on our own.
Jesus goes on to tell us exactly how: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.”
Wow. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. Please let that sink in. While I’m so grateful for the access Jesus gave us, it’s crazy to think that no one, not even the most moral, most successful, most well-meaning person comes to the Father unless they know Jesus.
I recognize that could sound absurd and extreme to some, but I’d contest that it’s an amazing gift that all we have to do is believe in him for our souls to live forever in heaven with a God who has such a personal, outrageous love for you and me.
So, how exactly is a broken, sinful world supposed to come to the Father through Jesus? It’s as simple as getting to know Him through an authentic, two-sided relationship.
I would love nothing more than for every person on this planet to experience the everlasting freedom that God has to offer us. I say this because I stand here today no more than a witness to his promises in my own life. I have no agenda, no reason to convince you that Jesus is God for my own personal gain. All I have is a powerful story of what I have personally experienced.
I remember my pre-Jesus self running in the opposite direction of spirituality, organized religion, and the idea of any god existing in general. I had met many people who wore the cloak of Christianity and acted in ways that glaringly conflicted with the God they claimed. Yes, I had a part in my distaste for these people and my judgement against God because of their brokenness. Nevertheless, if this religion-thing was what made them so awful, I wanted no part in it.
Fast forward to today. I thank God that He brought specific people into my life to show me his true character through the way they live in relationship with Him. I somehow opened a Bible and learned about God for myself. It was then that my fogged perception of Jesus was cleared away and I got to know His character in truth. Praise God that he made himself so accessible!
Okay, so, what’s the point? How are people supposed to be saved by their faith in God if they don’t have the opportunity (or conscious desire) to know him? How are they supposed to know that He is all they need in a world that literally throws false fulfillment at us from every direction?
While God can save people all on his own, He wants to use his disciples to do it more often than not. So how do we get to accomplish the will of God? We share Him with people through our words and actions on an every day basis. Whether at work, in the checkout line at Sephora, or running next to a stranger at the gym – may the lives of God’s children serve as a witness to the power of the Gospel for the whole world.
May our lives be a reflection of Jesus. May they share that He is the way, the truth, and the life. This requires us to look hard at our own relationship with God and take the necessary steps to clear away the debris that may be blocking us from knowing Him more intimately. If it means even one person will come to know the profound joy of life with Jesus, so be it.
When I’m focused on myself, going through life in a hurry, or reacting to whatever trials my day throws at me – I’m giving up an opportunity to show the world who Jesus is. I want His will on earth as it is in heaven, and poor conduct definitely doesn’t help make that happen.
I’m not perfect in the slightest (duh), but I am a witness. I’m a witness of the transformative power of God’s love. I’m a witness of what it means to go from death to life. I’m a witness of being set free.
My prayer is this:
Lord, help us make the entire world a witness to your wonderful works. Use your children to bring people home to their Father. May we walk in a way that communicates who you are accurately to the world. Help us rise above doubt, anger, gossip, judgment and hipocrisy. We carry your name, and I ask that your spirit would guide us to honor the call you’ve placed on each of our lives. Heighten our awareness of the opportunities for us to share the Gospel with people in our lives. Take away our fear of rejection from the world. May the weak and burdened find rest and renewal in this free gift of new life that you’ve shone upon us. Let the way we live speak louder than the words we say. Keep our paths straight, Lord. You are the Good Shepherd. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for allowing us to be ambassadors for you. Thy will, not mine, be done.
Amen.
