He Came for Someone Like Me

I used to sit and think about how I didn’t measure up to a “good religious person.”  I knew God loved me in some way but I never felt “good enough.”  I looked around at other people at church or even certain social settings and thought, “I have so much work to do.” I thought about all my mistakes and sins and felt so unworthy of God’s love to the point that I would just separate myself from God even further. 

I also allowed people into my life that spoke negative words over me and treated me badly. They made me feel damaged and unworthy of God’s best. I questioned if I would even make it into heaven with all of my mistakes. 

But 2 years ago on August 18, 2013 I attended a Christian service (as opposed to the Catholic churches I attended in the past.) The pastor caught my attention when he said I was forgiven the day I believed that Jesus died for my sins. He said Jesus knew all my mistakes I had made and he knew all the ones I’d make in the future and still loves me more than any love I could imagine. That’s why he hangs on the cross. For a sinner like me. For my failures. For my sins- so that I could go to heaven!

I fell in love that day.  I fell in love with a man named Jesus. He became so much more to me then a person in a story that I should be good for.  All that I had ever done wrong was forgiven by God because this loving and sinless man loved me so much that he offered himself to be tortured so that I could live in eternity with him and his father.

Jesus said “It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”-  Mark 2:17

I’m so in love now. I have discovered the greatest love story of all….Jesus and Jill’s. I want nothing more than to please this man who saved me from hell. He changed my life. I know my worth now. I won’t accept anything less than God’s best. My life is filled with so much peace and direction.  And it’s all because he came for someone like me.

Why follow this blog?

Have you thought to yourself, “There has to be a better way!”? Or found yourself going through the same thing over and over with the same results? Or what about this question- “Is it me? Am I the reason for all of this pain?’ 

This blog will unlock the answers to those constant questions that you ask yourself every day, week or years after you have fallen yet again.  This blog will pick you up and have you leading a life you never knew was imaginable.  God loves you- ALL of you.  HE broke you so that you could be beautiful, he flawed you so that you see all the reasons you are fabulous.  You see a disaster where he sees a masterpiece. Through this blog I hope you FINALLY see what the Lord sees in you- flaws and all. I hope you FINALLY look in the mirror and see the most loving and beautiful faces of all- Jesus.

I have been down. I have been in some of the darkest of places. I have done the constant cycle of bad relationships, abusive relationships, codependency on men, codependency on alcohol when I was hurting, nights out to hide my pain that led to even more pain, the victim mindset, and more - I’ve been through it all! Now let’s look at that sentence- I’ve. Been. Through. It. All. Most people would look at that sentence and see it as horrible. I look at it and see ALL its beauty. That word “through” is magnificent. It looks simple but carries so much power.  I’ve walked through it. I’ve gotten passed it and here I am- I’ve arrived. Would you follow me on this journey? I’ll hold your hand, you hold mine and with God we will discover anything is possible.

A Purpose in Your Pain....

     Do you know that everything you’ve gone through has a purpose?  Every fall, every tear, every burn.  It shaped you. It taught you. It blessed you.  Now you may read this and say “how can pain bless me?”  But I ask you, is there any other way? Think about when you were a child and you started walking.  I’m sure when you fell down, it hurt.  But it gave you more perseverance to not fall the next time because you didn’t want to hurt again! Well the same goes with your life today. Your pain teaches you. It teaches you to grow and be strong even when it hurts like heck! 

     I read a quote one time that really zapped me to the core.  It was said by one of the most amazing women in history that had to overcome so much just to live in the world, let alone make history! Her name was Helen Keller. She said “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved!’ You are strong from your past. You see clearer from your experience.  Without all you’ve gone through, your soul would not have been awakened to even stumble across this blog.

     Use your pain today for a purpose. Write down how you’ve fallen and how you plan on getting back up stronger than ever so that that you don’t fall down again. Then most importantly, thank God today for allowing this pain to teach you. You’re a beautiful woman of the most high and you are royalty that belongs to the King of Kings.