Category: Jesus

Thrilling Guest Thursday: Jeanie Kelley


“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
(Jesus, Hebrews 13:5b)


Jesus is the faithful one, the good shepherd, who looks for us when we wander away. And a bright light in the dark, who draws us back to Him, when we’ve lost our bearings.

Thank you for joining us today, as my friend, Jeanie Kelley shares the faithfulness of Jesus, in her recent post titled,
MY SHEPHERD: 

When I was twelve years old I realized that I had a friend whose name was Jesus. He was a true friend since the “friends” I had at school ridiculed me and made fun of me and made my life miserable. I found Jesus right when I needed him. Right at my heart wanting to come in. (To read more click here.)

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Gate: A Means of Entrance or Exit

I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
(John 10:9-10 The Message)

See the freedom Jesus has provided?
 To enter and exit
as He watches over you and me.
He is the gate from death unto life.
Cemeteries are for the dead.
Come and live the incredible life
that surpasses the grave.
This gate reminds me of the night Jennifer Dukes Lee bravely stood before us to share her dream journey, to bolster our courage in order to remove the obstacles of sin and fear from our path.
She said, “Gates are made to pass through.” As I look back over my notes, I can’t remember if the invitation to write our sins on the rock came before or after the gate illustration, but now it doesn’t seem to matter. I just remember the hard struggle I had to identify my sin or at least the one I was willing to write on the rock. And as I struggled, I realized I had to write the word that was keeping me from passing through the gate or I would never get to those green, lush pastures that Jesus promised.
I didn’t want to write my word because it didn’t seem as important as other sins (comparison points out my sin).  I thought my sin was more difficult to overcome. Fear and self-doubt seemed easier to release in light of God’s love. (I’m not saying that it is, it just felt that way to me in the moment.)
My struggle to even write the word on the rock indicated my sin. I was afraid I might get the wrong word or that I might make the wrong choice. Most of my life I have been afraid of getting it wrong. And in that moment, clear as the glass pebble, we would receieve Sunday morning, I knew I had to write PRIDE on my rock.
Both fear of failure and fear of success are rooted in pride, in the belief that I control my accomplishments and in the doubt that if I don’t get it right, I somehow don’t measure up to God’s standards. Pride in my life has often worn two faces: self-sufficiency and self-pity. Two sides of the same sin.
Placing the rock in the basket was a simple, physical act that released a rush of joy into my soul. And to see Jennifer’s daughters throw them into the bottom of the lake is a visual reminder of how God has triumphed over and over again in all of our struggles, and that we are not alone.
But I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that He is ABLE 
to keep that which I’ve committed
unto Him against that day.
(I Know Whom I Have Believed David Whittle, 1883)
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Guest Poem from Marijo Blair

 
I count it a great joy to introduce to you today, my dear friend Marijo Blair. Over the years we have prayed together, shared our writing with  a writer’s group she helped found, and encouraged one another to cling to God in the good times and the hard times. Marijo is both an artist and a poet. Her works convey her steadfast love of Jesus and a heart tuned to His voice.
 
And without further ado, her poem and artwork:
 
As He Has Done So Should We
Holding his foot,
He washed it clean.
Sprinkled, refreshed,
What did it mean?
As He has done,
So should we,
May the Lord’s hands refresh
a sojourner through me.
 
(Marijo used scraps of paper and glue,
with pen and ink technique to create
 this tribute to our Lord Jesus.)
(2013. Copyright. All Rights Reserved. Poem and Original Artwork by Marijo Blair)
 
 
So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?  You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.   If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.   For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.   Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
(John 13:12-17 NKJV)
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Amen: It Is Done!

 
 
For all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus]. That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
(2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV)
 
 
 
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Mercy There Was Great

 
 
 
Answer me, Lord,
out of the goodness of your love;
in your great mercy turn to me.
(Psalm 69:16 NIV)
 
 
 
A bittersweet thought crossed my mind this morning as I pondered the above image: How would I spend this Lenten “honeymoon” with my Beloved, if I knew that He was facing certain death 26 days from today?
 
 
As we journey toward Calvary, how will I bear what Jesus was going through those last days on earth? Will I accompany Him to the cross, clinging to His side, hanging on His every word, pouring out my adoration and even mourning with tears at His feet?

 
 

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