That’s Jesus?!?!
My eight-year-old son beamed to show off his class picture. We were equally excited—the new parents that we are.
He pointed to a fair-skinned boy with a floppy hair-cut and cute ears.
“This is so-and-so.”
Then he pointed to a dark-skinned boy with a mini-afro.
“This is such and such.”
And then he pointed to a Hispanic boy with a Mohawk.
“This is Jesus.”
“That’s Jesus?!?!” asked my six-year old daughter in disbelief.
“Not Jesus, Jesus,” I replied—trying to keep my composure. “His name is Jesus, just like in the Bible.”
“Oh.”
They carried on as if nothing happened, but I laughed about it on and off throughout the day. It still makes me laugh.
But it also makes me think.
- Do I know Jesus?
- Do I know His love?
- Do I know His voice?
- Do I tell others what Jesus means to me?
- Do I show them what He’s done in me?
- Do I dare say, “This is my Jesus!”
Do I know Him?
Well-known Pastor, S.M. Lockridge, of Calvary Baptist Church in California, knew Jesus. And he wasn’t afraid to say that his Jesus—my Jesus, the one and only Jesus—was—and is—King.
Enjoy this brief message, “That’s my King,” by S.M. Lockridge.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqTFNfeDnE
Do you know Him?
New Article Published Out of Scotland: “In the Fullness of Time”
Imagine my excitement to hear from a magazine editor in Scotland!
Judith Keefe contacted me after reading one of my other publications and requested that I write a story about my adoption journey so far. Of course, I agreed.
Judith has since published my article, “In the Fullness of Time,” at her magazine, Under the Rainbow.
Here is a little more about Under the Rainbow–from their website:
UtR is a collaborative Christian resource launched in Glasgow in 2011 to support parents who have lost children particularly before or soon after birth. The main aim of UtR is to encourage people in their walk with God. Through Biblical resources, people’s personal stories and other information, it is hoped people will be upheld and comforted and glory and honour will be brought to God.
The resource is developing to also include support and information on fostering and adoption.
Judith Keefe initiated and developed UtR with support from many people who have directly experienced loss or want to support the work. Through her and her husband’s own experiences of miscarriage over a number of years and travelling the road of grieving with a friend after her baby son died, God brought about the desire to see a Biblical, God honouring resource available to those grieving.
I am so honored to have this ministry reach people not only in the United States but also throughout the world.
I hope you will read “In the Fullness of Time” and share Under the Rainbow with your family and friends.
Big hugs,
Daphne
Guest Post: Love Twisted. Love Defined.
I am honored to have my dear friend, Sara Robillard, as my guest blogger for today. Sara and I have known each other several years, and she is truly the sister I never had. She is my “Sissy.” Sara is one of the best lyricists I know. She writes recovery testimonies and recovery-related blogs. She’s also a ghost writer for a non-profit organization. Sara’s story is one of hope and healing. I’m honored to have my Sissy share her heart with you today and hope you will be blessed by her story, “Love Twisted. Love Defined.”
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“Love Twisted. Love Defined.”
by Sara Robillard
Find Sara on Twitter
Love.
Love twisted. Love Defined.
That’s been my life thus far in a nutshell.
As a victim of physical, sexual, spiritual and psychological abuses for the first 20+ years of my life, it’s safe to say I felt pretty screwed up coming out of it. I had seen despair, I had felt hopelessness, but never as profoundly as I did entering recovery. I began to understand that I was being held accountable, and I needed to trust God if I had any chance of surviving. I fought it at first. I had my own way of dealing with things, but God began to break through all my mechanisms, drawing me to Himself. At the end of a long, weary battle, I found myself on my knees, my heart absolutely crushed, and throwing myself at Christ. He finally became my source of life, of hope, of love. No more idols. No more ideals. No more disappointment.
I struggled with how to handle this love relationship I had with God. I had been told I was “loved” before, but that was the twisted sort. Taking and demanding. Using and abusing. Based on merit and emotion. I turned to His word, looking for the truth. And I found it. I found it in the example of Christ, in His action upon the cross out of love for me (1 John 4:9). I found it demonstrated through His people as they ministered to me (1 John 4:11-12). I found it as I began to understand how to express my love to Him through simple obedience (1 John 5:2-3).
He chose me. He set me apart to be His own before the world began. I know that I have never been alone. And I am constantly being romanced by Him in all that is around me. Somehow, I have found myself desperately in love, going from one extreme to another. I have no idea how it happened…it was so subtle, so profound, so beautiful.
And to think, this is what He desires for us all.
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Come alongside…Has love been twisted for you? Can you allow God to define it? Comment below.
Do you have a song?
Do you have a song that moves you to the core?
A song that makes you raise your hands in utter abandonment?
A song that makes you bow your head with gratitude?
Do you have a song?
I have several.
We sang one at church on Sunday: “Beautiful the Blood” by Steve Fee.
Every time I hear this song, I wish I could show God how thankful I am for Jesus’ death on the cross. But all I can do is bow my head or raise my hands toward Him. The weight of what Jesus did for me–how He gave himself to rescue me, to free me from a life of darkness and deep depression–it overwhelms me.
I have a song. I want to share it with you today.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8az9qn1_U
Come alongside…Do you have a song? Will you share it with us? Will you share this post with someone who needs to hear the love of Jesus today?
(Remember… January is book giveaway month. The more you comment below, the more chances you have to win a copy of my new book, Women of the Secret Place.)
Two Years Full of Assumptions
At a Christmas gathering over the weekend, we read the Christmas story–a children’s picture-book version.
Kids and adults alike gathered in the living room to listen to the reason for this joyous season.
As the story progressed, some children–and adults–listened intently, while others half-listened, buzzed from an evening full of treats and sweets.
It was an interactive story–with questions and answers–mostly from the children.
In the middle of the story, a child asked, “What’s a manger?”
Minutes later, an adult–the mother of the child who had asked about the manger–interrupted the story with another question, “What are shepherds?” My head slowly turned to them, realizing that this precious single mom and her child whom we’ve known now for almost two years had never heard the Christmas story–the true Christmas story, the story of Jesus’ birth.
In two years, we have increasingly spent time with them–they have become part our extended family.
But in those two years, I’ve mistakenly assumed they’ve known about Jesus all along.
Two years full of assumptions.
Two years empty of intentionally talking to them about Jesus–the blessed hope for all the world.
I felt a strong pressing on my chest as I listened to the rest of the story.
Father, forgive me for assuming they knew. Forgive me for not asking them straight out.
I could say that I hope my actions and words have been a good example to them of what it means to be a true Christian, but I know that my example could not possibly be good–or distinctive–enough if it hadn’t yet pointed them to Christ.
Father, forgive me.
Are they the only ones?
- How many people, I wonder, surround me on a routine basis who I assume know Jesus?
- How many do I walk by without telling them of the Man who forever changed my life?
- How many are hurting and looking for hope that I have not yet offered?
- How many?
Two years full of assumptions.
Two years empty of intentionally telling them about Jesus.
For me, those two years end now.
When will they end for you?
Father, help me not only to live a life that resembles Christ but also to speak more of Christ in my life. Help me to be ready to speak the Good News of Jesus–anytime, anyplace (2 Timothy 4:2).
Give me the wisdom and opportunities to speak up and tell anyone who asks why I’m living the way I am (1 Peter 3:15). Help me not to assume but to share Jesus freely.
Thank you, Father, for your love and your patience with me. Amen.
Come alongside…Who have you assumed knows Jesus? Are you sure they do? Will you set some time to talk with that person? How will you go about it? How can you share this story with others?
