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So I've been thinking. Jesus is often so misunderstood. I think He must look at us sometimes and beg us to truly know him, to spend time with him and ask him what he thinks. Now I'm not saying I am an expert. No way. But I do know Him. And He knows me. And he has been real faithful to reveal a few things to me about who he is. I am always so blown away. SO much grace.

The Jesus I know is a man who had a rugged bunch of followers. The broken, the sick, the prostitutes, the doubters, the addicts, the ones cast out by society, the adulterers, the depressives, those with mess.
These were the ones that truly recognised who he was. These were the ones he made time for, the ones he saw worthy of being with. These were the ones that KNEW that in his presence they could be free, they could be healed. They were the ones who knew they needed his grace, his healing touch, who knew he was the only one that truly saw their hearts, saw their worth, saw past their pasts, their broken lives and saw the gems that were inside them. These were the ones crazy enough to take him at his word.

I love this quote by Charles Spurgeon
'But yonder are the men we seek for. Forlorn, and lost, full of evil, and self-condemned, you are the characters we seek. You that feel as if you were possessed with evil spirits, and you that are leprous with sin, you are the persons in whom Jesus will find ample room and verge enough for the display of his holy skill. Of you I might say, as he once said of the man born blind: you are here that the works of God may be manifest in you. You, with your guilt and your depravity, you furnish the empty vessels into which his grace may be poured, the sick souls upon whom he may display his matchless power to bless and save.'

A few months ago, I was facing some pretty broken pieces inside of myself. I was stuck in the mud, in a whole heap of stuff that made me feel so unworthy and broken. Pieces that made me think that Jesus would never have me, would never give me the time of day, pieces that I wanted to hide from him in shame and guilt. But in that time, with tear stained face, he came in his cleanliness and began to dig me out of the mud. With love in his eyes, and his robe getting messier and messier, he continued begging and pleading with me to know how much He wanted me, in my broken and dirty state. His grace is enough.

Jesus touched the leper, he knelt down beside the adulterer, he spoke to the Prostitute, he ate with the tax collectors. He is the one who tells the story of the son who left home, having stolen his Fathers money and off to a place where he frittered it all away on sex, drugs and alcohol. When the money was gone he began to remember all the love and acceptance he had at home, but he felt far too unworthy to return. He slowly began to walk home, hoping his Father would take him back. His sandals worn through, his clothes dirty and smelly and no money. As soon as the Father saw his son coming from afar he ran to meet him, clasped him close to his chest and announced to the town his Son had come home. The party was on. In the Sons broken-ness and mess, the Father took him back with great love.  Jesus is the Father who saw the broken, sees our hearts and calls us worthy.

I know a Jesus who is calling His prodigal sons to return. The ones who have been hurt, turned away by people, used and abused, messed up, the suicidal, the prostitutes, the addicts. We are the leper, the prostitute, the young mum, the depressive, the desperate, the broken. WE are those. We are all messy. When my brokenness becomes too much for me, HE is the one who encourages, heals and restores. He brings freedom to the bound up.

He looks past that, into our hearts and sees the real worth. With love in his eyes he touches us right where the pain is too much, where we feel our dirtiest or our most desperate and says 'It's enough! Youve dealt with this for too long. I am all you need.'
He is the Jesus that sees us tearstained and calls us to Him. He begs us to come home, to see what he has to offer - wholeness and fullness - to let Him show us our true worth, to see ourselves as he sees us.

'YOU whom the church has rejected, you whom have been spat out by religion, you whom have voices in your head and hardness or heart. You who are condemned and live life in the dark; YOU are whom God will use.You are whom God will pour himself out on to be used for his glory.You will be full, you will again be joyful, you whom society has given up on..You are whom God will use. You who have had the life sucked out of you and that feel as if you are on the bottom of the heap. YOU are who Chist spends his time with. You are who He is calling to be part of a church that is unlike any other.'

I truly believe that God is calling people to him that would never have believed that he had time for them, he is calling people that have been disillusioned by church, who have been hurt by people, who are the ones who make people feel uncomfortable with their questioning, the broken, the ones society has given up on to come to know Him. The real Him. The Jesus who heals and restores. The Jesus who gives LIFE to those who feel like death. The ones that would never have given 'religion' a chance, but when faced with the reality of Jesus, will rise up and begin to do church like no other. Broken, messy church.
Church where the music is loud and raucous, with tear stained faces people meet with Jesus. The addict and the prostitute stand in the presence of God, knowing that they are clean in his eyes, that they are of the same worth of those around. Where the air smells of alcohol, where the carpet is messy and the broken are made to feel at home. Where the Prodigal Sons are welcomed into the arms of Jesus - tear stained, messy, broke and so unworthy. Where people are free to be them in the knowledge and grace that Jesus sees them and welcomes them home.

His grace is enough. The ordinary everyday Jesus.
Looks into OUR hearts and when all we see is darkness HE sees real worth.
He is calling us home to Him.